Week 12 Learning and Memory

What is a common feature of every occupational therapy intervention?

Every patient/client is learning through doing

What are components of cognition?

Processing information

Comprehension and formation of speech

Calculation ability

Visual perception and praxis skills

Information processing can be related to…

Attention

Memory

Executive function-planning, problem solving, self-monitoring

Cognitions is… (according to the AOTA)

A fundamental determinant of occupational performance and also can influence social participation and subjective well-being

What is ideation?

The ability to conceptualize a new or different activity

What is motor planning?

The ability of the brain to organize and sequence novel motor activities

What is execution?

The ability to perform motor actions

Functions of cognition of the ‘orchestra’?

Attention

Perception

Memory

Knowledge and skills

Language processes

Visual-spatial processes

Sensory inputs

Motor outputs

What is functional cognition?

Inter action of cognitive skills and self-care and community living skills; the thinking and processing skills needed to accomplish complex everyday tasks

Interventions to address cognition will focus on….

The relationship between the client‘s cognitive skills, functional performance, and environmental context to enhance the daily life experience of individuals with cognitive impairment

What is attention?

The ability to focus on specific stimulus without being distracted

What is involved in attention?

Simultaneous engagement of alertness, selectivity, sustained effort, flexibility, and mental tracking

What must be tested before attempting to test more complex skills?

Attention

What is sustained attention?

The ability to maintain focus on a task over time

What are examples of screenings that can be used to test sustained attention?

Continuous Performance Test (CPT)

Digit Vigilance Test (DVT)

What is the CPT?

A screening that presents stimuli at different intervals, requiring responses to specific targets while ignoring distract or

What is the DVT?

A screening that measures sustained attention by requiring a response to specific numbers in a long sequence

What is a example in daily life of sustained attention?

A person struggling with sustained attention may lose focus while reading a book or listening to a lecture

What is selective attention?

The ability to focus on relevant information while ignoring distractions

What are examples of screenings assessments for selective attention?

Stroop test

Test of Everyday Attention (TEA)

What is the stroop test?

A screening that involves naming the ink color of words while ignoring the word itself (‘red’ printed in blue ink)

What is the TEA test?

A screening including tasks like listening to specific auditory information while ignoring while ignoring background noise

What is a example in daily life regarding selective attention?

A person with selective attention deficits may struggle to focus on a conversation in a noisy restaurant

What is divided attention?

The ability to process multiple tasks simultaneously

What is an example of a screening assessment for divided attention?

Dual-Task Paradigm Test

What is the Dual-Task Paradigm Test?

A screening that requires performing two tasks at once (tapping in a sequence while reciting numbers)

What is an example in daily life of divided attention?

A person with divided attention difficulties may find it hard to drive while talking on the phone

What is alternating attention (task switching/shift)?

The ability to shift focus between tasks efficiently

What are examples of screenings assessments for alternating attention?

Trail Making Test (TMT) part B

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)

What is the TMT part b?

A screening that requires connecting numbers and letter in an alternating pattern (1-A-2-B)

What is the WCST?

A screening that measures cognitive flexibility by requiring individuals to change sorting strategies based on shifting rules (cognitive flexibility)

What is an example in daily life of alternating attention?

A person with alternating attention issues may struggle to switch from cooking to answering the phone and back to cooking

Alternating attention gets more into executive functional because…

The frontal lobe would play a role in shifting your attention efficiently without taking a prolonged period to understand what is going on with the task you switched your attention to

Where does automatic processing occur?

Subcortical level

What occurs in a focused attentional deficit?

When automatic response is replaced by controlled response (aka- you have to consciously process information that you previously automatically did)

What is controlled processing?

A mechanism used when new information is being considered

What occurs in a divided attentional deficit?

When functional or controlled processing is inadequate for the individual to process all the information needed for task completion

How do early theories describe memory?

Like a computer model- memories are like computer files that are placed in storage and pulled up into consciousness as needed

Memory is not ________ or ________ recordings of reality but recreations of specific events that become distorted over time

Passive, literal

Since memories are recreations of specific events, it is common that memories….

Make general sense and may lose accuracy (ex; family members remembering the same event differently)

What is memory?

Perception that has been stored and can be recalled

What do memory processes include?

Registration and encoding

Consolidation and storage

Recall and retrieval of information

What is the crucial first step to creating a new memory?

Memory encoding

What is memory encoding?

When the perceived item of interest gets converted into a construct that can be stored within the brain and then recalled later from short-term or long-term memory

What is a construct?

A way to categorize information in a way you brain understands and can conceptualize

Where are constructs stored?

Within a pre-existing construct (or scheme) or with similar constructs if it is new information

Multiple _______ structures are involved in memory functions

Cerebral

Memories are encoded by brain networks whose connections are already shaped by….

Previous experiences

What kind of memories are more readily remembered?

One’s with strong emotional significance

__ memories are subject to distortions over time

All

What are the steps of encoding memory?

Attending to the information and processing it

Once processed, the information will go to short term memory where it will either be forgotten quickly or encoded and sent to long term memory

What is the memory process?

Sensory input

Sensory memory

Short term memory

Long term memory

Retrieval of stored information

What occurs during the retrieval process of memory?

Reconstruction of that memory in different regions of the brain

Perceptual regions of the brain are connected with….

Sight and sound

Where do the perceptual regions merge?

Posterior multimodal association area

What occurs in the posterior multimodal association area?

Sensory fragments connect to preexisting information

What binds emotions to sensory input for storage?

The lambic association area