PSY 3361 Exam 2

Who was Henry Molaison (H.M.) and who studied him?

Henry Molaison (H.M.) was a patient with severe memory loss due to the removal of his hippocampus and was studied by Brenda Milner.

What condition did H.M. suffer from?

Anterograde amnesia (inability to form new long-term memories) with mild retrograde amnesia (past memories from 1-3 years prior) but memories from his childhood, working memory, & implicit memories remained intact

What forms of memory were identified from H.M.'s case?

Explicit (declarative) vs. implicit (non-declarative) memory

How do explicit and implicit memory differ?

Explicit = conscious recall (episodic memory & semantic memory)

Implicit = unconscious skills/actions (skill learning, priming, & conditioning)

What is anterograde amnesia?

Inability to form new long-term memories while past memories tend to remain intact

What is retrograde amnesia?

Inability to recall memories or information before a specific event

Why did H.M. have only mild retrograde amnesia?

Older memories were already stored in cortex, not dependent on hippocampus

What did the mirror tracing task show?

H.M. could learn skills (implicit memory intact) without remembering practice

How long are memories dependent on the hippocampus?

Temporarily, until consolidated into long-term cortical storage

What is autobiographical memory?

Memory for personal life events

Which memories rely on the hippocampus?

Explicit/episodic memories

Which do NOT rely on the hippocampus?

Implicit/procedural memories

What is the capacity of long-term memory?

Essentially unlimited

What is the self-reference effect?

Information that one remembers better since it is related to oneself

What is the Pollyanna Principle?

Tendency to remember pleasant info better than unpleasant

What is encoding?

the selective processing of information into the memory system

What is encoding specificity?

Memory is best when retrieval context matches encoding context

Example of encoding specificity?

Studying in same environment as testing improves recall

What are flashbulb memories?

Vivid though not always perfectly accurate memories of emotional events

What is mood-congruent memory?

Recall of memories matches current mood

What are false memories?

Memories of events that never occurred or are distortions of real memories often caused by misinformation or social influence

What did Goodwin et al. (1969) find?

People recall better when intoxicated if they learned while intoxicated

What is the misinformation effect?

Memory is altered by misleading post-event info (Think of robbery video watched in class)

What is the tip-of-the-tongue effect?

Feeling that you know something but cannot retrieve it

What is the spacing effect?

Distributed or spaced out practice improves memory compared to cramming

What are Schacter's 7 sins of memory?

Transience, absent-mindedness, blocking, misattribution, suggestibility, bias, persistence.

What is metamemory?

Knowledge or awareness about your own memory abilities and processes

What is a standard police interview problem?

Can introduce bias and misinformation

What is the cognitive interview?

Technique using memory principles to improve recall

Key steps of cognitive interview?

Context reinstatement, report everything, varied recall order, perspective change.

Why does the cognitive interview work?

Uses multiple retrieval routes and encoding specificity.

What are desirable difficulties?

Harder learning strategies that improve long-term retention making them desirable

Expanding vs. massed practice?

Expanding (spaced) is better than massed (crammed)

What is retrieval-induced forgetting?

Recalling one item makes related items harder to recall

Why does the "name game" work?

Uses repetition, association, and imagery

What are imagery mnemonics?

Using visual images to improve memory

What is mental imagery useful for?

Problem-solving, memory, spatial reasoning

What is analog code?

Image-like mental representation (imaging pictures, shapes, maps, etc.)

What is propositional code?

Abstract, language-like representation of knowledge

Which code is closer to vision?

Analog code

Which code is closer to language?

Propositional code

What did Shepard & Metzler show?

Mental rotation time of 3D objects increases with angle → supports analog code

What did Kosslyn's scanning studies show?

Longer distances in mental images take longer to scan

What are demand characteristics?

Participants act based on perceived expectations

What are images as epiphenomena?

Thoughts or images that are produced during brain processes but are not essential to cognition

What did the U.S. states study show?

People use mental imagery for spatial judgments

What did Kanwisher's fMRI study show?

Different brain areas process faces vs. places.

What did Adrian Owen study?

Mental imagery in vegetative patients to detect awareness

What is a concept?

Mental representation of an object/category

What is a category?

A group of related concepts

What are typicality effects?

A cognitive phenomenon where individuals respond faster and more accurately to "typical" members of a category (e.g., robin for bird)

What is the feature comparison model?

Concepts are stored in memory according to a list of necessary features or characteristics

What are sentence verification studies?

Assessment method where participants are expected to quickly judge sentences and exhibit comprehension skills

What is a prototype approach?

Category based on ideal example or prototype rather than strict definitions

What is an exemplar approach?

Category based on comparing content to stored examples in one's memory

What are levels of categorization?

Superordinate (general), basic (intermediate, optimal), subordinate (specific)

What is a schema?

Mental framework for organizing knowledge

What is a script?

Expected sequence of events

What did Bartlett's "War of the Ghosts" show?

Memory is reconstructed and influenced by schemas

What is semantic memory?

knowledge about words, concepts, and language-based knowledge and facts

What is semantic dementia?

Loss of semantic knowledge due to temporal lobe damage

What did Huth et al. (2012) find?

Semantic meanings are organized across the cortex

How does semantic memory relate to stereotypes?

Categories can lead to overgeneralizations

How can stereotyping be reduced?

Increase exposure to diverse examples and individuate people