Module 5

What is semantic memory?

facts and general knowledge

What knowledge is immediately encapsulated in long-term memory?

-explicit (declarative)
-implicit (non-declarative)

Explicit memory encapsulates -

semantic and episodic memories

implicit memory encapsulates -

procedural and emotional memories

Verbalising memory is difficult for what type of memory?

implicit

What are the main distinctions of autobiographical memory?

-personal
-specific events

What are the main distinctions of semantic memory?

-knowledge about the world
-facts

is semantic memory and conceptual memory significantly different?

They're the same thing

Most everyday cognitive activities rely on -

semantic memory

Fluid and flexible knowledge manipulation. association and combination of concepts requires -

semantic memory

Reasoning, planning the future or remembering the past would not occur without -

conceptual content from semantic memory

What are the functions of semantic memory?

-Physical attributes of all objects
-Origin and history of objects
-Attributes of actions
-All abstract concepts
-Knowledge of how people behave and why
-Opinions, beliefs, knowledge of historical events
-Knowledge of causes and effects
-Associations between concepts and categories

A patient has a severe deficit in naming living things but can name non-living things. This is an example of -

category-specific impairment

Hillis & Caramazza (1991) utilised the name line drawings task on patients -

JJ and PS

Hillis & Caramazza (1991) patient JJ suffered what brain damage?

left temporal lobe and basal ganglia damage

Hillis & Caramazza (1991) patient JJ had catagory specific impairment for what?

naming non-animals

Hillis & Caramazza (1991) patient JJ - How did he score on the name line drawings task

-animals 91% correct
-all other categories 20%

Hillis & Caramazza (1991) patient PS suffered damage where?

the left temporal lobe and smaller damaged areas in the right temporal lobe and frontal lobes

Hillis & Caramazza (1991) patient PS had category-specific impairment for what?

Vegetables and animals

Hillis & Caramazza (1991) patient PS - How did they score on the naming line drawings task?

-Animals 39%
-Vegetables 25%
-Other categories 95%

PATIENT JJ RESPONSES: What is a lion? "A large animal, with four legs with long paws and a large head with a mane. It only lives in Africa" Does JJ have a cognitive deficit for animals?

No

PATIENT JJ RESPONSES: What is a Melon? "I'm not sure, it's a fruit, a soft material, I don't remember the colour" Does JJ have a cognitive deficit for fruit?

Yes

PATIENT PS RESPONSES: (picture of a bird) and responds with 'FISH' what cognitive deficit does PS demonstrate?

category-specific impairment for animals

PATIENT PS RESPONSES: What is an apricot? "Like a peach but smaller, you can buy then canned, dried or fresh". Is this indicative of cognitive impairment?

no

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW: had semantic impairment for things from the _____________ category compared to other categories and her deficit __________ extend to other living things

animal; did not

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW: How did she test for the picture naming task?

worse naming pictures of animals compared to non-animals

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW PICTURE NAMING TASK: matched familiarity and frequency for animals score -

12/2 - 55%

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW PICTURE NAMING TASK: matched familiarity and frequency for non-animals score -

18/22 - 82%

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW PICTURE NAMING TASK: matched visual complexity and familiarity for animals score -

7/17 - 41%

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW PICTURE NAMING TASK: matched visual complexity and familiarity for non-animals score -

16/17 - 94%

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW SOUND ID TASK: Based on sound characteristics, animal sounds tested _______ correct and non-animal sounds tested _________ correct

25% ; 63%

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW PICTURE NAMING TASK: what did this information tell us?

that her deficit was not limited to visually presented information

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW OBJECT DECISION TASK: EW's performance was significantly _________ normal range for differentiating between real and non-real animals; with __________ correct

below; 60%

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW OBJECT DECISION TASK: EW's performance was ___________ the normal range for differentiating real from unreal non-animals; with __________ correct

within; 92%

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW PARTS DECISION TASK: EW ____________ in this task for animals with __________ correct

impaired; 60%

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW PARTS DECISION TASK: EW ____________ in this task when stimuli were artifacts with __________ correct

adequate; 97%

Caramazza & Mahon (2003) PATIENT EW VISUAL PROCESSING TASK: EW performed ________ ________range on visual matching and face recognition tasks

within normal

Task differences may be the result of -

-familiarity
-frequency
-visual complexity

Processing difficulty hypothesis -

That the repeated finding of category-specific deficits for living things is due to living things trend to have a higher visual complexity

Funnel & Sheridan (1992) found support for __________________ hypothesis with PATIENT SL

processing dificulty

Funnel & Sheridan (1992) PATIENT SL: reported to have a category-specific deficit for _________ things. When matched items on ____________ (frequency), they had __________ deficit

living; familiarity; no

Stewart et al (1992) found support for __________________ hypothesis with PATIENT HO

processing difficulty

Stewart et al (1992) PATIENT HO: reported to have category-specific deficit for _________ things. They were shown items and asked to name them, they were much ________ for living than non-living things. BUT, when items were matched on ___________ ____________ and ____________ of the picture, there were non longer these category-specific effects

living ; worse ; familiarity ; frequency ; visual complexity

Capitani, Laiacona, Barbatotto and Trivelli (1994) results support for the processing difficulty hypothesis how -

non brain damaged participants found it harder to answer questions about living vs non-living things, even when items are matched

Gaffan & Haywood (1993) results support for the processing difficulty hypothesis how -

non-brain damaged participants found it harder to visually discriminate living vs non-living objects

T/F: After controlling for familiarity, frequency and visual complexity; category-specific deficits still exist

True

What support do we have to disprove the processing difficulty hypothesis?

Normative patients from young and old categories find living things harder to recall even when items are matched for frequency, familiarity and prototypically

What key principles identify how conceptual knowledge is organised and structured?

-neural structure principle
-correlated structure principle

Neural structure principle -

conceptual knowledge is based on neurally specific areas that store categorical information

What are the two MODALITY SPECIFIC THEORIES under the neural structure principle?

-sensory/functional theory
-domain specific hypothesis

correlated structure principle

conceptual knowledge is organised in the brain based on the statistical cooccurrence of different features of objects

Brain damage results is category-specific impairments for ____________ ___________

correlated features

What are the types of STATISTICAL COOCCURRENCE under the correlated structure principle?

-organised unitary content hypothesis
-conceptual-structural account

Sensory/functional theory adheres to -

the neural-structure principle

DEFINITION: sensory/functional theory -

Information about an object represented in a distributed fashion in the brain depends on the modality of input

Allport (1985) Identifies that each type of sensory information is represented by -

separate but interconnected nodes

Allport (1985) Node-specific information inputted by -

-action-oriented elements
-kinaesthetic elements
-visual elements
-tactile elements
-auditory elements

Warrington & Colleagues: sensory function definition -

semantic knowledge is organised into perceptual (sensory) and non-perceptual (functional) information

Warrington & Colleagues: naming of living things requires the use of -

visual/perceptual information

Warrington & Colleagues: naming non-living things requires the use of -

functional/associative information

Warrington & Shallice (1984) PATIENT SBY: scored 75% correct for non-living things and 0% correct for living things. This case study supports what?

sensory/functional theory

Warrington & Shallice (1984) PATIENT JBR: has categorical-specific impairments for what?

musical instruments, gemstones, metals, fabrics and food

Warrington & Shallice (1984) PATIENT JBR: scored 94% correct on non-living things and 4% correct on living things. This case study supports what?

sensory/functional theory

What is the first PREDICTION of sensory/functional theory?

Recognition for all living things depends on representations in the same semantic sub-system (visual/perceptual)

What patient case has been previously studies which VIOLATES the first prediction of sensory/functional theory?

patient EW - who had category-specific deficit for animals but did well for fruits and vegetables

How does Warrington & Shallice explain patients violating the first principle of sensory/functional theory?

Patients may only have a deficit to only animals or only plants if the category which has a deficit has an emphasis on the perceptual properties

Categories like fruits and gemstones rely on _______________ for colour and which may inhibit sensory/funtional memory

perceptual emphasis

T/F: Patients with colour processing deficits also have deficits in semantic categories memories which rely heavily on those features

False

Patients with category-specific deficits will also have disproportionate deficits for the modality or type of information tapped into via the impaired memory
WHAT IS THIS?

the second prediction of sensory/functional theory

Patient data shows that some CSI are associated with impairments for both ____________ and _____________ information for an entire category

sensory ; functional

What is the third prediction of sensory/functional theory?

Patients with a deficit for visual/perceptual or functional/associative knowledge should show a categorical deficit that is most dependent on that type of knowledge

The third prediction for sensory/function theory states that: A patient who is impaired in a visual domain should show greater impairment for _________ things

living

Patients have shown greater deficit for ___________ knowledge than ___________ knowledge but do not show performance differences in naming __________ and ____________ things

visual/perceptual ; funcional/associative ; living ; non-living

T/F: the third prediction of sensory/functional theory is well substantiated by patient data

false

Patients with visual processing deficits but do not have any category-specific deficits violate -

the third prediction of sensory/functional theory

Lambon-Ralph et al (1998) CASE STUDY - PATIENT IW: diagnosis?

problem with processing visual information but no associated category-specific deficit in naming comprehension

Lambon-Ralph et al (1998) CASE STUDY - PATIENT IW: results violate what?

sensory/functional theory

Lambon-Ralph et al (1998) CASE STUDY - PATIENT IW: the patient was asked to select a name from 5 choices when given perceptual vs non-perceptual information. WHAT WAS THEIR PERFORMACE?

worse when given perceptual information about an object

Lambon-Ralph et al (1998) CASE STUDY - PATIENT IW: ________ performance for living and non-living things

equivalent

Lambon-Ralph et al (1998) CASE STUDY - PATIENT IW: when the patient was asked for a definition of items, they were better at providing -

non-perceptual information

What is the first significant issue with sensory/functional theory?

sensory/function theory of semantics cannot account for patients with sub-category specific defects

what is the second significant issue with the sensory/functional theory?

early supporting studies had methodological problems

semantic knowledge is organised into categories (domains) that reflect evolutionary salient distinctions
WHAT IS THIS?

the domain-specific hypothesis

In terms of the domain-specific hypothesis, what stores of information are most important?

categories which require rapid and efficient identification for survival and reproduction

T/F: Domain-specific hypothesis organises the way in which knowledge is organised within the domain

false

What are the primary categories identified for survival by the domain-specific hypothesis?

animals, fruits/vegetables, other people and possibly tools

T/F: accounts for patient data sparing categories of animals, fruit/veg or body parts or patients with just one impaired category SUPPORTS THE DOMAIN-SPECIFIC HYPOTHESIS

true

developmental studies determine that by 9m old, infants can detect animals vs non-animals and biological motion vs non-biological motion. This data supports -

the domain-specific hypothesis

What is the first prediction of the domain-specific hypothesis?

that there are distinct neural systems dedicated to animals, fruits/vegetables, people and tools that other systems cannot compensate for when they're damaged

What support is identified for the first prediction of the domain-specific hypothesis?

that more patient cases show deficits for living than non-living things

patients with specific-category deficits support what prediction -

the first prediction of domain-specific hypothesis

What is the second prediction of the domain-specific hypothesis?

a conceptual deficit for a specific category is not defined by a modality deficit

Patients with category-specific deficits present with ____________ impairments to ______________ and function/associative knowledge

equivalent ; visual/perceptual

What is the third prediction of the domain-specific hypothesis?

perceptual stages of object recognition may be organised by domain-specific criteria. This predicts category-specific visual agnosia despite intact early visual processes

Patients who have equal impairment on tasks for visual/perceptual and functional associative conceptual knowledge for living things; BUT have visual agnosia for living things and not non-living things SUPPORT WHAT?

the third prediction of the domain-specific hypothesis

what is the main limitation for the domain-specific hypothesis?

it lacks specificity on how knowledge is represented within categories eg - plants, food or poison?

What does OUCH stand for?

Objective Unitary Content Hypothesis

what is the first concept of the OUCH?

we have an AMODAL semantic system

what is the second concept of OUCH?

members of a semantic category share attributes (eg, humans breathe)

what is the third concept of OUCH?

core semantic properties of an object tend to be highly intercorrelated (eg, breathing)