PSYCH 104 - Chapter Six

memory

• a biological hard drive of information stored in our brain

• collectively make up our individual identity

encoding

the process of how information is initially learned

storage

the process of maintaining information over a short or long time

retrieval

the process involved in recovering informatino from memory to produce a response

search metaphor

describes the processes involved in memory by likening it to searching in physical or virtual space (e.g. linking to computers and recovering devices)

reconstruction metaphor

using memory to cobble together a useful response using both what we know and the situation around us

flashbulb memories

a vivid, long-lasting memory of a typically emotionally devastating event

• flashback memories are not better recalled than “normal memories” —> inconsistencies in recall still happen

sensory memory

type of storage that holds sensory info for a few seconds or less

• iconic: visual form

• echoic: auditory form

immediate memory

system that holds non-sensory info for more than a few seconds but less than a minute

• aka short-term/working memory

• can be manipulated and processed

“short-term” memory

holds a finite amount of new information for a finite amount of time, information storage in short-termed memory —> hippocampus

working memory

limited-capacity system for storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks, holding information to “work on” it, lasts about 20s

components of working memory system

• central executive: attention —> coordinates the system

• phonological loop: inner voice —> verbal info

• episodic buffer: temporary store —> references sources

• visuospatial sketchpad: inner eye —> visual info

characteristics of immediate memory

1. representation: type of information

2. duration: how long it is contained before forgetting

3. capacity: how much can be held at any time

duration

dependent and indefinite with rehearsal

rehearsal

the process of repeating information to yourself

maintenance vs. elaborative rehearsal

• maintenance: repeating the stimuli in the same form

• elaborative rehearsal: linking stimuli to each other in a meaningful way

memory span

number of items that can be kept active in immediate memory at one time

chunking

groupuing familiar stimuli for storage as a single unit

e.g. phone numbers —> chunking digits into groups —> “780”

serial position effect

describes the relationship between a word’s position in a list and its probability of recall

primacy effect

easy to remember things at the beginning of a list

recency effect

easy to remember things at the end of a list

long-ter memory

large, durable storage of past events and learned knowledge that can endure for a lifetime

encoding

how we initially learn information

elaboration

linking a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding

visual imagery

creation of visual images to represent words to be remembered

self-referent encoding

making information personally meaningful

levels-of-processing theory

structural, phonemic, and semantic coding are linked to progressively deeper levels of processing respectively

types of long-term memory

• explicit: can be verbalized

• implicit

explicit memory

semantic and episodic

implicit memory

procedural, priming, conditioning, habituation

episodic memory

memories whose contents pertain to specific events or “episodes”

semantic memory

memories whose contents related to specific facts and meaningful information NOT based on personal experience

procedural memory

memories whose contents pertain to how something is down

priming

ability to identify a stimulus more easily after we’ve encountered similar stimuli —> exposure to one influences the response to another

anterograde amnesia

inability to transfer new information from short-term to long-term

retrograde amnesia

inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a specific date

hippocampus

responsible for encoding, storing short-term memory, and emotional processing

clive wearing case study

• procedural memory and declarative memory are different systems

• procedural memory does not require the hippocampus

• hippocampus is important for formation and retrieval of semantic and episodic long-term memories

HM case study

• immediate memory does not require medial temporal structures

• immediate memory and long-term memory are different systems

• medial temporal structures re important in the formation of semantic and episodic long-term memories

KF case study

• long-term memory does not require functioning immediate memory to encode new information —> goes against the three-component mode

effective use of timing and system design

• effective encoding strategy

spaced practice is better than massed; improves episodic, semantic, procedural memory

hierarchies

organizing items based on how they are related, enhances memory due to associations

method of loci

link what you need to remember with a place that you know well

retrieval practice

the phenomenon that the repeated retrieval of information is more useful for long-term memory

retrieval

process of transferring information from long-term back into working memory (consciousness)

cues

stimulu that lead to activbation of information stored in long-term memory

• multiple cues lead to better retrieval —> deeper processing

• self-generated cues —> have personal meaning

matching retrial conditions

1. encoding specificity

2. state-dependent learning

3. transfer-appropriate processing

encoding specificity

we learn information together with its context

encoding specificity

memory recall is dependent on the external conditions

state-dependent learning

learning is associated with a particular internal state

transfer-appropiate processing

memory performance is better if type of task at encoding matches the type of task at retrieval

interference theory

information is forgotten because other items in LTM impair ability to retrieve it

proactive interference vs. retroactive interference

• proactive interference: old memories interfere with new memories

• retroactive interference: new memories interfere with old memories

errors of commission

memory errors where information cannot be brought to mind

1. transience: memory tends to degrade over time

2. absent-mindedness: memories are simply unavailable because of a failure to encode them in the first place

3. blocking: not enough distinctive cures are available to help us recover a specific memory

errors of commission

memory errors where wrong or unwanted information is brought to mind

4. misattribution: assigning a memory to the wrong source

5. suggestibility: misleading information alters a subsequent memory

6. bias: the use of schemas —> piecing together bits of information in ways that intuitively “make sense”

7. persistence: PTSD —> memories are difficult to suppress

hyperthymesia

rare medical condition that leads to near-perfect autobiographical recall

• amygdala is larger

• amygdala contains more connections to the hippocampus

infantile (childhood amnesia)

inability to remember childhood experiences as an adult

dementia

impaired memory and other cognitive deficits that accompany brain degeneration and interfere with normal functioning

alzheimer’s disease

severe retrograde and anterograde amnesia

• spreads across the temporal lobes, to frontal, and other cortical regions

associative networks

a theory that states memory can be represented as a network of associated concepts that are represented by nodes

neural networks

nodes are physical (e.g. neurons) and nodes do not contain a unit of information

anatomy of memory

anterograde and retrograde amnesia

• cerebral cortex, prefrontal cortex, hippocampus

• consolidation

prospective memory

remembering to perform a task in the future

repression

may protect us by the unconscious process of blocking the recall of anxiety-arousing/traumatic memories