Quiz 7 Study Guide

What is long-term memory?

A high-capacity memory system that stores knowledge and past experiences for extended periods, ranging from moments to an entire lifetime.

What is the serial-position effect?

The tendency to remember items at the beginning and end of a list better than items in the middle.

What is the primacy effect?

Better recall for items presented at the beginning of a list.

Why does the primacy effect occur?

Early items receive more rehearsal, making them more likely to enter long-term memory.

Which memory system is primarily associated with the primacy effect?

Long-term memory.

What is the recency effect?

Better recall for items presented at the end of a list.

Why does the recency effect occur?

The final items are still active in short-term memory when immediate recall begins.

Which memory system is primarily associated with the recency effect?

Short-term memory.

Which list items are usually recalled least accurately?

Items presented in the middle because they receive neither the primacy nor the recency advantage.

What happens to the recency effect after a distracting delay?

It decreases or disappears because the final items are displaced from short-term memory.

Why is the primacy effect more likely to remain after a distracting delay?

Early items were rehearsed and transferred into long-term memory before the delay.

How does the serial-position effect distinguish STM from LTM?

Primacy reflects rehearsal and long-term storage, while recency reflects information still active in short-term memory.

Who used the serial-position curve to distinguish STM from LTM?

Murdock in 1962.

What is coding in memory?

The form in which information is represented and stored.

What are the three major types of coding?

Visual, auditory, and semantic coding.

What is visual coding?

Representing information according to its physical appearance.

What is an example of visual coding in STM?

Holding a recently viewed visual pattern in mind long enough to reproduce it.

What is an example of visual coding in LTM?

Remembering what the Lincoln Memorial or another previously visited location looked like.

What is auditory coding?

Representing information according to how it sounds.

What is an example of auditory coding in STM?

Remembering the sounds of letters immediately after hearing them.

What is an example of auditory coding in LTM?

Mentally hearing or repeating a familiar song.

What is semantic coding?

Representing information according to its meaning.

What is an example of semantic coding in STM?

Organizing a recently presented list of words into categories based on meaning.

What is an example of semantic coding in LTM?

Remembering the general plot or meaning of a novel read previously.

Which type of coding is often emphasized in STM?

Auditory coding, although STM can also use visual and semantic coding.

Which type of coding is often emphasized in LTM?

Semantic coding, although LTM can also contain visual and auditory information.

What did Della Sala and coworkers demonstrate?

People can use visual coding in short-term memory to retain and reproduce visual patterns.

What did Conrad’s 1964 research demonstrate?

People frequently confuse sound-alike letters, providing evidence for auditory coding in short-term memory.

What did Wickens and coworkers demonstrate?

The meanings and categories of words influence interference, providing evidence for semantic coding in short-term memory.

What did Sachs’s 1967 study demonstrate?

People often forget the exact wording of a passage but remember its general meaning, demonstrating semantic coding in long-term memory.

What is recognition memory?

The ability to identify a stimulus as something that was previously encountered.

Who was H.M.?

A patient who underwent bilateral medial-temporal-lobe surgery that removed much of his hippocampus.

What is anterograde amnesia?

The inability to form new long-term memories following brain damage or injury.

What happened to H.M.’s STM after surgery?

His short-term memory remained relatively functional.

What happened to H.M.’s ability to form new LTMs?

He became unable to form most new declarative long-term memories.

What types of learning could H.M. still demonstrate?

Perceptual learning, classical conditioning, and skills or habits.

What does H.M.’s preserved learning demonstrate?

Implicit memory can remain functional even when the formation of new declarative memories is impaired.

What does H.M.’s case suggest about the hippocampus?

The hippocampus and surrounding medial-temporal areas are important for forming new declarative long-term memories.

Who was K.F.?

A patient who developed impaired short-term memory following brain damage from a motorcycle accident.

What happened to K.F.’s STM?

He had impaired short-term memory and a reduced digit span.

What type of information caused K.F. the most difficulty?

Auditory information.

What happened to K.F.’s LTM?

His long-term memory remained relatively functional, and he could form and retain new memories.

What is a double dissociation?

A pattern in which one patient has impaired function A but intact function B, while another patient shows the opposite pattern.

How do H.M. and K.F. demonstrate a double dissociation?

H.M. had relatively intact STM but impaired new LTM, whereas K.F. had impaired STM but relatively intact LTM.

Why is a double dissociation strong evidence?

It shows that two abilities depend on partly separate systems rather than one ability simply being more difficult than the other.

What does the H.M.-K.F. comparison suggest about memory?

Short-term and long-term memory depend on partly separate cognitive and neural systems.

Which brain region was damaged in H.M.?

The medial temporal lobes, including much of the hippocampus.

Which brain region was damaged in K.F.?

The parietal lobe.

Which brain area is especially important for forming declarative LTMs?

The hippocampus and surrounding medial-temporal structures.

Where are established long-term memories represented?

Through distributed changes in areas of the cerebral cortex.

What is declarative or explicit memory?

Conscious memory for facts, events, or specific stimuli.

What are the two major forms of declarative memory?

Episodic memory and semantic memory.

What is episodic memory?

Conscious memory for personally experienced events connected to a particular time and place.

What is semantic memory?

Conscious memory for facts, meanings, concepts, and general knowledge.

What is implicit or nondeclarative memory?

Memory expressed through behavior without requiring conscious recollection.

What are examples of implicit memory?

Perceptual learning, classical conditioning, skills, and habits.

How did H.M.’s explicit and implicit memory differ?

He struggled to form new explicit memories but could still acquire some implicit memories.

Describe the serial-position effect.

1. People remember the beginning and end of a list better than the middle. 2. The primacy effect occurs because early items receive more rehearsal. 3. Rehearsal makes early items more likely to enter LTM. 4. The recency effect occurs because final items remain active in STM during immediate recall.

What are examples of visual, auditory, and semantic coding?

1. Visual STM involves holding a recently viewed pattern in mind. 2. Visual LTM includes remembering a previously visited location. 3. Auditory coding includes retaining recently heard letters or mentally hearing a familiar song. 4. Semantic coding includes categorizing words by meaning or remembering the general plot of a novel.

Describe evidence that STM and LTM depend on separate brain regions.

1. H.M.’s medial-temporal damage impaired his ability to form new LTMs. 2. H.M.’s STM remained relatively intact. 3. K.F.’s injury impaired STM while leaving LTM relatively functional. 4. Their opposite patterns create a double dissociation between STM and LTM.

How did H.M.’s case provide evidence for separate memory systems?

1. H.M. retained relatively normal STM. 2. He could not form most new declarative LTMs. 3. He could still acquire skills and other implicit memories. 4. This shows that STM, declarative LTM, and implicit memory depend on partly separate systems.

How did K.F.’s case provide evidence for separate memory systems?

1. K.F. had impaired STM and a reduced digit span. 2. His impairment was especially severe for auditory information. 3. His LTM remained relatively intact, showing that STM can be impaired independently of LTM.

Why does a distracting delay reduce recency but not necessarily primacy?

1. Final list items are maintained temporarily in STM. 2. A distraction displaces these items and reduces recency. 3. Early items were rehearsed into LTM, so primacy is more likely to remain.

Primacy effect versus recency effect

Primacy is better recall for early items due to rehearsal and LTM; recency is better recall for final items because they remain active in STM.

Visual versus auditory versus semantic coding

Visual coding represents appearance, auditory coding represents sound, and semantic coding represents meaning.

Declarative versus implicit memory

Declarative memory involves conscious recollection of facts and events; implicit memory is expressed through skills, conditioning, priming, or behavior without conscious recollection.

Beginning of a list

Primacy effect and long-term memory.

End of a list

Recency effect and short-term memory.

Extra rehearsal

Greater likelihood of long-term storage.

Information still active during immediate recall

Short-term memory.

Remembering exact appearance

Visual coding.

Remembering sound

Auditory coding.

Remembering meaning

Semantic coding.

H.M.

Intact STM but impaired formation of new declarative LTM.

K.F.

Impaired STM but relatively intact LTM.

Hippocampus

Formation of new declarative long-term memories.