B&C Chapter 9

Memory

Learning

Acquisition of new information

What do memory and learning involve?

Cellular and circuitry changes in the nervous system

Memory

Outcome of learning

3 Stages of processing

1. Encoding: (acquisition & consolidation)

2. Storage: (retention of memory traces)

3. Retrieval: (access to stored memory traces)

Amnesia

Memory loss, mostly due to brain damage

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of memory before brain lesion

H.M. Patient

Famous patient with severe anterograde amnesia post bilateral hippocampus lesion

Double Dissociation

Strongest evidence for distinct systems.

• Area A damage impairs function A but not function B

• Area B damage impairs function B but not function A

2 main divisions of memory

1. Long term memory 

2. Sensory memory / Short term memory / Working memory

2 main divisions of Long term memory

1. Declarative Memory (Explicit memory)

2. Nondeclarative Memory (Implicit memory)

2 divisions of declarative memory

1. Episodic Memory (Events): specific personal experiences from particular time & place

2. Semantic Memory (Facts): world/object/language knowledge & conceptual priming

3 Areas of brain responsible for Declarative Memory

1. Medial temporal lobe

2. Middle diencephalon

3. Neocortex

4 divisions of Nondeclarative memory

1. Procedural memory (motor & cognitive skills)

2. Perceptual representation system (perceptual priming)

3. Classical conditioning (conditioned responses between 2 stimuli)

4. Non-associative learning (habituation & sensitization)

Areas of brain dedicated for procedural memory

Basal ganglia & skeletal muscle

Areas of brain dedicated for perceptual representation system

Perceptual Association Neocortex

Area of brain dedicated for Classical Conditioning

Cerebellum

Area of brain dedicated for nonassociative learning

Reflex pathways

Sensory memory:

1. Time course

2. Capacity

3. Conscious Awareness

4. Mechanism of loss

1. Milliseconds to seconds

2. High capacity

3. No awareness

4. Primarily decay

Short Term/Working Memory:

1. Time course

2. Capacity

3. Conscious Awareness

4. Mechanism of loss

1. Seconds to minutes

2. Limited (5-9)

3. Yes

4. Interference & decay

Long Term Nondeclarative Memory:

1. Time course

2. Capacity

3. Conscious Awareness

4. Mechanism of loss

1. Minutes to years

2. High capacity

3. No conscious awareness

4. Primarily interference

Long-Term Declarative Memory:

1. Time course

2. Capacity

3. Conscious Awareness

4. Mechanism of loss

1. Minutes to years

2. High

3. Yes

4. Primarily Interference

7 Processing stages of memory

1. Sensory buffers

2. Encoding

3. Short term storage

4. Consolidation

5. Long term storage

6. Working memory

7. Retrieval

Echoic Memory (auditory):

1. Persistence

2. Capacity

3. Time course

1. Unattended auditory information persists like an echo

2. High capacity (partially accessible)

3. Can last up to 10 seconds

Iconic Memory (visual):

1. Persistence

2. Capacity

3. Time course

1. Unattended visual info persists like an informational afterimage

2. High capacity & partially accessible

3. 300-500 ms

What did the Sperling paradigm show about how much information our brain can hold in a very short time?

Whole report: People can verbally recall ~4 items from a set of 12.
(short term memory)

Partial report: When cued to a specific row, people recall ~3–4 items from that row.
(sensory memory)

The Modal Model

Influential, hierarchical, serial model of memory.

Basis for account of partial vs whole report.

1. Sensory Inputs

2. Sensory register

3. Short-term storage

4. Long term storage

Debate over the Modal Model

Is it serial? Does information have to be encoded in short term memory before being stored in long term memory?