PSYC 144 - MEMORY AND AMNESIA

MIDTERM 1

Memory

Process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information.

Clive Wearing

Patient with inability to form new memories.

Multimodal Brain

Simultaneous activation of multiple brain regions.

Hippocampus

Brain region essential for memory re-experience.

Encoding

Transforming information into a memory format.

Storage

Maintaining encoded information over time.

Plasticity

Brain's ability to change and adapt.

Retrieval

Accessing stored information when needed.

Atkinson-Shiffrin Model

Memory model describing sensory, short-term, and long-term memory.

Sensory Memory

Initial brief storage of sensory information.

Short Term Memory

Holds 7 +/- 2 items temporarily.

Primacy Effect

Better recall of first items in a list.

Sperling's Experiment

Tested recall of letters presented briefly.

Iconic Memory

Visual memory lasting about one second.

Recency Effect

Better recall of last items in a list.

Overt Rehearsal

Rehearsing information aloud for memory retention.

Incidental Learning

Learning without intention to memorize.

Speeded Lists

Reduced rehearsal opportunities affect memory recall.

Amnesia

Memory loss affecting recall and encoding.

Depth of Processing

Memory retention improves with deeper cognitive engagement.

Maintenance Retrieval

Repetition to keep information active in STM.

Elaborative Rehearsal

Adding meaning to information for long-term retention.

Cowan's Magic Number

Raw capacity of STM is 3-4 items.

Baddeley's Working Memory Model

Divides memory into verbal and visual components.

Phonological Loop

Component for speech-based rehearsal in working memory.

Visual-Spatial Sketchpad

Handles visual and spatial information in memory.

Slot Model

Working memory has limited slots for information.

Misinformation Effect

Altered recall due to misleading information.

Patient P.V.

patient who had a left-hemisphere stroke

• no phonological loop

• studied w word associations

  • word/non-words

  • never improved on non-words

Patient E.P.

• cannot remember LTM

• classic amnesic (severe anterograde)

anterograde amnesia

inability (or reduced ability) to encode new declarative (implicit) memories as a result of hippocampal lesions

• cant remember anything new (declarative: episodic and semantic)

retrograde amnesia

reduced ability to remember events encoded in the time leading up to the hippocampus lesions

• cant remember the past

visual chunking

being able to make shapes out of clouds (a bunch of circles can form an image)

recency effect

remembering items at the end of a list

• STM phenonmenon

primacy effect

remembering items at the beginning of list

• LTM phenonmenon

primacy effect [overt rehearsal]

• out loud

• first words must be rehearsed compared to the last

primacy effect [incidental]

• no primacy effect

• recency

primary effect [speeder lists]

• primacy reduced, recency unaffected