Cognitive Exam 2 LTM

long-term memory (LTM)

memory systems for storing lots of information for a long period of time

• long-term memory “archives” information about past events and knowledge learned

• long-term memory interacts with short-term and working memory to provide background and context

• long-term memory storage spans moments ago to as far back as you can remember

• however, detail often varies with remoteness

• either declarative or non-declarative

Types of recall

• free

• cued

• recognitition

• ex: seven dwards

STM vs LTM

• short-term memory (STM): memory system for storing small amounts of information for a brief period of time

• long-term memory (LTM): memory systems for storing lots of information for a long period of time

• STM and LTM both store information

• LTM stores more information than STM

• LTM stores information for longer than STM

STM and LTM in relation to Duration

• serial position curve: memory is better for words at the beginning (primacy effect) and end (recency effect) of a list

• primacy effect: better memory for words at the beginning of a list relies on long-term memory

• recency effect: better memory for words at the end of a list relies on short term memory (goes away if memory test is delayed)

Information coding

• visual coding: represent information in the mind as visual images

• LTM: This represents how you might visually remember your 3rd grade teacher — her face, classroom, or the way she held a book.

• STM: Visual information (like a graph or list) is temporarily held in short-term memory, and people often remember what they just saw — a hallmark of the recency effect.

• auditory coding: represent information in the mind as sounds

• LTM: Remembering song lyrics—e.g., Beyoncé’s “Girls” lyrics are stored in long-term memory as a sound pattern

• STM: The phonological similarity effect—sets of letters like PGTCDZB are harder to recall than RHXMKWL because they sound more similar, making them easier to confuse in STM

• semantic coding: represent information in the mind in terms of meaning

• LTM: You learn classical conditioning by understanding and relating it to Pavlov’s dog experiment, helping you remember it over time.

• STM: You remember the word “apple” by thinking, “It’s a fruit I eat for lunch,” not just the sound of the word

• proactive interference: decrease in memory when previously learned material interferes with new learning

• switching to words with a different meaning increases memory via a release from proactive interference

STM and LTM: information coding

• short-term memory (STM): memory system for storing small amounts of information for a brief period of time

• codes visual, auditory, and semantic information

• long-term memory (LTM): memory systems for storing lots of information for a long period of time

• codes visual, auditory, and semantic information

Brain regions: Patients HM and KF

Patient HM

• surgery to remove the hippocampus (as part of epilepsy treatment)

• STM preserved

• LTM impaired

Patient KF

• suffered parietal lobe damage (motorbike accident)

• STM impaired

• LTM preserved

LTM: Declarative→Semantic

long-term, declarative memory for facts

• semantic memory encompasses lexical knowledge

• Knowing what the word “photosynthesis” means, how to use it, and that it relates to plants.

• semantic memory has a very large capacity

• You remember that the capital of France is Paris, that water freezes at 0°C, and that 2 + 2 = 4. These facts stay with you for years

• semantic memory encompasses general knowledge

• You know that whales are mammals, even if you’ve never seen one in real life.

• semantic memory encompasses conceptual knowledge

• You understand the concept of “justice” or what makes something a “vehicle,” even if you've never memorized a formal definition

LTM: Declarative→Episodic

long-term, declarative memory for events and experiences

• mental time travel: the experience of traveling back in time to reconnect with personal past experiences

• episodic memory has a very large capacity

• remember ppl from class 50 yrs ago

• episodic memories are linked to experiences from a particular place and time

• Who: Amy, Sam, Lex, Mel, and Jess What: Summer road trip When: August 2020 Where: PCH in Monterey, CA

• paired associates memory task: study and later remember which words were presented together

semantic vs episodic

Semantic vs Episodic: Patient KC and LP

Semanticization

• semanticization of remote memories: the loss of episodic details for memories from long ago

• remember/know procedure: test to assess memory for the original experience

Autobiographical memory

long-term, declarative memory for specific experiences from our life

• WE ARE THE SUBJECT EVENT

• episodic elements: memory for the event that we personally experienced

• semantic elements: memory for the facts related to an event that we personally experienced

LTM: declarative (explicit)

memory with conscious recall

• semantic

• episodic

LTM: Non Declarative (implicit)

memories WITHOUT conscious recall

long term memories that you are not aware of

non declarative memory occurs without awareness or intent

• procedural

• conditioning

• priming

Non-declarative: procedural

long-term, non-declarative memory for learned skills

• procedural memory automates our performance

• procedural memory includes the memory for actions when learning a skill

• ex: riding bike

• mirror tracing task: learn to trace a star while looking in the mirror

• reverse reading task: learn to read words written backwards

• expert-induced amnesia: well-learned skills are performed automatically and without awareness

• ex: playing piano

Non- declarative: priming

exposure to one (primed) stimulus affects the response to another (test) stimulus

• ex: semantically related words have primed u to unscramble OCEAN instead of CANOE

• ex: we saw picture of HARE and turtle earlier so you write HARE instead of HAIR

repetition priming

test stimulus is the same as or resembles the priming stimulus

• respond faster when a test stimulus is the same as the priming stimulus

conceptual priming

test stimulus has a similar meaning to the priming stimulus

priming: propaganda effect:

more likely to rate statements read or heard before as being true

conditioning

when a (neutral) stimulus becomes associated with a (conditioning) stimulus that elicits a particular response

levels of processing theory

memory retrieval depends on how “deeply” information is processed at encoding

how to improve encoding (STM→LTM) REHEARSAL

• maintenance rehearsal: memory is better if you repeat something over and over again

• elaborative rehearsal: memory is better if you relate a stimulus to its meaning or to other information

how to improve encoding (STM→LTM) VISUAL IMAGERY

memory is better if you form pictures in your mind

how to improve encoding (STM→LTM) SELF REFERENCING

memory is better if you relate the stimuli to yourself

how to improve encoding (STM→LTM) GENERATION

memory is better if you generate the material yourself

how to improve encoding (STM→LTM) ORGANIZATION

memory is better if the material is organized

• one word within a category could serve as a retrieval cue and prompt the memory for other words

how to improve encoding (STM→LTM) RETRIEVAL PRACTICE

retrieval cues

memory is better when one stimulus prompts memory for other stimuli

how to improve encoding (STM→LTM) MATCHING CONDITIONS

memory is better when we match the conditions at encoding at retrieval

1. encoding specificity CONTEXT

2. state-dependent learning MOOD

3. transfer appropriate processing TASK

Matching conditions: encoding specificity CONTEXT

matching conditions: state-dependent learning MOOD

• memory is better when you study and test in the same mood

matching conditions: transfer appropriate processing TASK

memory is better if the same type of processing is used during encoding and retrieval