VCE Psychology Unit 3 Psychology - Memory

VCE Unit 3 Outcome 2, The psychobiological process of memory

Acronym

a pronounceable word formed from the first letters of a group of words

Acrositc

in relation to a mnemonic, making verbal associations for items to be remembered by constructing a sentence, phrase or other composition using the first letters of the information to be remembered

Alzheimer's disease

a neurodegenerative disorder characterised by gradual widespread degeneration of brain neurons, progressively causing memory decline, deterioration of cognitive and social skills, and personality changes

Amygdala

a small structure in the medial temporal lobe, deep within the brain and part of the limbic system; involved in emotional reactions (particularly fear and anger) and formation of a wide variety of emotional memories

Aohantasia

Absence of visual imagery

What is the Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model?

A representation of memory consisting of three separate stores: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory

What are the three stores in the Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model?

Sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory

How do the stores in the Atkinson-Shiffrin model differ?

They differ in function, capacity, and duration

Autobiographical event

Experiences that have occurred at some point in our lives

What is the Basal Ganglia?

A group of structures deep within the brain

What is the function of the Basal Ganglia?

Involved in the generation of voluntary movements and long-term implicit memories involving motor skills

Brain lesion

Any disruption of or damage to the brain's normal structure

What are the main functions of the cerebellum?

Coordination of fine muscle movements, regulation of posture and balance, perceptual and cognitive processes

How is the cerebellum involved in memory?

Formation of long-term motor skill memories, storage of implicit memories of simple conditioned reflexes

Classically conditioned memory

implicit memory of a conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus acquired through classical conditioning, e.g. simple conditioned reflex responses

Consolidation

the neurobiological process of making a newly formed memory stable and enduring following a learning experience

Dementia

General term for symptoms like decline in memory, reasoning or other thinking skills.

Echoic memory

auditory sensory memory for incoming auditory information that stores sounds in their original sensory form for about 3 or 4 seconds

Encoding

in relation to memory, conversion of information into a usable form so that it can be neurologically represented and stored in memory

Episodic memory

the long-term explicit memory of personally experienced events associated with a particular time and place; compare with autobiographical memory and semantic memory

What is explicit memory?

Long-term memory that can be consciously retrieved and stated

What is the characteristic of explicit memory?

It is 'memory with awareness'

What are the types of explicit memory?

Episodic memory and semantic memory

How does explicit memory differ from implicit memory?

Explicit memory can be consciously retrieved, while implicit memory cannot

Habituation

the process of growing accustomed to a stimulus and decreasing responsiveness to it; also called habituation learning

Where is the hippocampus located?

In the medial temporal lobe, deep within the brain

What is the function of the hippocampus?

Plays a crucial role in the formation, encoding, and consolidation of new long-term explicit memories and their transfer to the cortex for storage

Iconic memory

visual sensory memory for incoming visual information that stores visual images in their original sensory form for about a third of a second

Imagined future

Imagining what might occur in the future

Implicit memory

long-term memory that does not require conscious or intentional retrieval ('memory without awareness'); see also procedural memory and classically conditioned memory; compare with explicit memory

What is Long-term memory (LTM)?

a memory store that holds a potentially unlimited amount of information for a very long time, possibly permanently

What are the types of Long-term memory?

explicit memory and implicit memory

What structures are included in the medial temporal lobe?

Hippocampal region, entorhinal cortex, perirhinal cortex, parahippocampal cortex

What is the medial temporal lobe?

A region within the cerebral cortex comprised of a system of anatomically related structures

Memory

processing, storage and retrieval of information acquired through learning; often described as neurological representation of learning; also see Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model of memory

Memory reconstrunction

The process in which we recall our memory of an event or a story

What is the Method of Loci?

A mnemonic device where items to be remembered are converted into mental images and associated with specific locations

What are other names for the Method of Loci?

Memory palace or mind palace

Mnemoic

any technique used to assist memory; see acronym, acrostic, method of loci, songlines

Neocortex

the largest and most recently evolved part of the brain's cerebral cortex

Oral culture

the cultural knowledge and information that has been passed down through speech from one generation to the next

Post-mortem study

a type of neurobiological research involving autopsy, which provides information to researchers and individuals

Procedural memory

the long-term implicit memory of skills that have been learned previously

Retrieval

In relation to memory, recovery of stored information and bringing into conscious awareness for use.

Semantic memory

long-term explicit memory of facts and knowledge about the world; compare with episodic memory

Sensory memory

the entry point of memory where new incoming sensory information is stored in its original, raw state for a very brief time; see also echoic memory and iconic memory

What is short-term memory (STM)?

A memory system with limited storage capacity where information is stored for a short time, unless renewed; also known as 'working memory'

What is the function of short-term memory?

To maintain information in conscious awareness and serve as working memory

Songline

a navigational route comprising a sequence of locations used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples which may also serve as mnemonic; also called dreaming track

Storage

in relation to memory, retention of encoded information over time

Storage capacity

In relation to memory, the amount of information that can be retained at any given moment

Storage duration

In relation to memory, the length of time that information that can be retained

Sung narrative

Knowledge and information such as stories told using song

Working memory

the part of short-term memory which is concerned with immediate conscious perceptual and linguistic processing

Written culture

the cultural knowledge and information that has been passed down through writing from one generation to the next