Chapter 9: Memory

Encoding

Acquiring information and transferring to memory

Storage

retention of memory

Retrieval

Recovery of stored information

What are the three types of memory storage?

Sensory memory, Short-term memory, Long-term memory

Sensory memory

taking in sensory information at the moment

Sensory memory duration

1 second or less

Sensory memory capacity

very large. Take in all this information at the same time. Won't retain most of it. Visual, touch (haptic), acoustic/ auditory (echoic)

Function of sensory memory

get rid of unimportant information. (filtering of what's important and what's not). Attention moves important information from sensory to memory process

Short term memory duration

several seconds (more important info compared to sensory)

Short term memory capacity

"magic" number of 7 +/- 2. Going to hold 7 bits or items (5-9)

Importance of rehearsal

practice to move information into long term memory. Will not remember unless it has importance or emotional value. Remember information to use in the immediate future

Chunking

grouping information into "bits", group similar information. Each "bit" can now be stored 7 +/- 2, increased STM capacity

Working memory

updated model of short-term memory. More active process of storage than original STM model. More complex processing than STM (adding detail)

Long-term memory (LTM)

importance of rehearsal to move information from STM to LTM

Long term memory capacity and duration

unlimited

Highly Superior Autobiographical memory (HSAM)

People that can remember everything

Spreading activation

think of one central idea then relate items to it

Schemas

sets of expectations about objects and situations (help with episodic memory)

Maintenance rehearsal

simple repetition

Elaborative rehearsal

Link new material to known material (active process)

Structural (looks like)

Is the word printed in all caps?

Phonemic (sounds like)

Does the word sound the same as (comparison word)?

Semantic (meaning)

Does the word mean the same thing as (comparison word)?

Levels of depth processing

Structural, phonemic, semantic

Declarative

Explicit, conscious

Semantic

General world knowledge (facts, concepts, meanings of words, etc)

Episodic

Observational information attached to specific life events

Autobiographical

Blend of semantic and episodic (things that happened to you specifically)

Nondeclarative

Implicit, unconscious (passive)

Procedural

How to carry out skilled movement (how to ride a bike, etc). Learning the first time is declarative since you have to learn how

Classical Conditioning

Stimulus-response associations

Priming

Exposure to a stimulus changes response to subsequent stimulus (like advertisements they have seen before more)

Encoding specificity

how information was encoded

Tip of the tongue (TOT) phenomenon

Hints at gradual retrieval process

How accurate is long term memory retrieval?

Retrieval as reconstructive rather than literal. Remembering little pieces of information and trying to piece together. Susceptibility to memory distortion

Mood congruence effect

Retrieve information more easily when same content as current emotional state

Weapon Focus Effect

Memory for detail. Focusing on weapons rather than any other detail.

Flashbulb memory

memories of huge events (Remembering where you were on 9/11) Remembering little details of the memory (highly charged emotional state)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

flashbacks of trauma

Synaptic level

Sensitization and habituation

Sensitization

Exposed to a stimulus, then more you hear it the more you will react to that stimulus

Habituation

Exposed to stimulus, repeated exposure to sound will reduce your reaction

Long-term potentiation

repeated stimulation will make the synaptic connection more effective. More and more you use a pathway (learning pathway) the stronger it will become.

Anterograde amnesia (Henry Molaison)

Old memories intact, Unable to form new memories (unable to process STM to LTM), Problems with declarative, but not nondeclarative memory

Parkinson's and Hunttington's disease

Degeneration of basal ganglia, Difficulty with procedural memory (nondeclarative), Fine with declarative memory

Alzheimer's disease Less affected

older episodic semantic, nondeclarative-procedural

Alzheimer's disease

More affected: formation of new memories

Often good memory for music

emotional connection (Alzheimer's disease)

Decay

Difficulty with retrieving information that has not been used in a long time

Measuring retention of "old" information

Method of savings, Information retaught after forgetting

Interference

Competition between older and newer information in memory

Proactive interference

Old information leads to problems remembering new information

Retroactive interference

New information leads to problems remembering old information

Distributed practice

Small bits of time to learn information

Massed practice

cramming information all into 1 day

How does exercise improve memory?

increases neurogenesis

How does sleep improve memory?

memory consolidation

Elaborative rehearsal

deeper level of processing

Loci

imagine you are on a route you know, linking the info to you.

Reconstruction

building of a memory out of the stored bits by blending retrieved information with new content presented in working memory

Gist

retain the general idea of events

When to use gist

Use it when a relatively vague level of information is sufficient.

Motivated forgetting

Failure to remember or retrieve unpleasant or threatening information. Retrieval is influenced by our motivation. Motivations can distort memories.

Acetylcholine

affects the encoding of new information

Glutamate

memory formation

NMDA

learning-related changes

Adenosine

implicated in the reduction of memory function in healthy aging

GABA

individual differences in working memory capacity are correlated with activity systems