Cognitive Psychology Chapter 6

serial position curve components

the primary effect (meter recall for early items, reflecting LTM storage) and the recency effect (better recall for the late items, reflecting STM storage)

types of coding in memory

visual, auditory, semantic which occurs in both STM and LTM

Wickens and Sachs experiments

experiments proving that semantic coding occurs both STM (Wicken’s release from proactive interference) and LTM (Sachs study showing people remember meaning over exact wording)

Neuropsychological evidence from patients HM and KF

evidence for the separation of STM and LTM: HM had a damaged hippocampus and could form STM but not new LTM, whereas KF had damaged STM but intact LTM

Ranganath and D’Esposito’s experiments

studies showing that the brain mechanisms serving STM and LTM overlap more than previously thought, demonstrating that the hippocampus is involved in holding items over short delays when tasks are novel or complex

Tulvig’s definition of episodic memory

mental time travel, which involves self-knowing or reliving the past

double dissociation between episodic and semantic memory

demonstrated by brain-damages patients who have impaired episodic memory with intact semantic memory, and visa versa

Levine’s diary experiment

an fMRI study where participants listened to personal diary entries, indicated both shared and distinct brain regions activated for episodic and semantic memories

How semantic knowledge affects episodic experience

prior semantic information shapes how we perceive, interpret, and encode new personal events

personal significance effect

phenomenon where personal significance makes semantic memories easier to remember, which is lost or significantly diminished in people with episodic memory loss from brain damage

semanticization of memory

the process over time where detailed episodic memories gradually fade into generic semantic knowledge

remember/ know procedure

testing method distinguishing episodic memory from semantic (from remember to know)

constructive episodic simulation hypothesis

theory that episodic memories are extracted and recombined to construct simulation of future events

explicit memory

involves conscious recollection of events and facts

implicit memory

occurs when past experiences influence behavior without conscious awareness

procedural memory

how to carry out skilled actions, considered implicit because people perform tasks without consciously recalling learning them

Experiments studying LSJ

studies revealing connections between procedural memory and semantic memory by showing how learned cognitive skills interact with organized factual knowledge

expert-induced amnesia

phenomenon where well practiced procedural skills become so automatic that the person cannot consciously explain the step by step execution

priming and repetition priming

a change in response caused by a previous stimulus; occurs when the test stimulus matches the priming stimulus

Graf’s experiment on priming

supporting priming as implicit memory by showing amnesic patients performed well on implicit word-completion tests despite poor explicit recall

The Perfect and Askew advertising experiment

showing participants rated previously seen ads higher even without conscious memory of seeing them, demonstrating the propaganda effect as a form of implicit priming