Module 9 Memory

Encoding

transforming sensory imput into a form the brain can store and later recall

Storage

maintaining encoded information over time

Retrieval

accessing stored info and bringing it into conscious awareness

Semantic encoding

Encoding of words and their meaning. involves deeper processing,

visual encoding

encoding of images, concrete high imagery words

acoustic encoding

encoding sounds, like words, songs rhymes and rhythms facilitate this type of encoding

automatic processing (no effort needed)

unconscious encoding of info without effort or attention

where, when, how, and well learned information (word meanings)

Effortful processing

needs attention and work, the intentional encoding of information that requires cognitive effort.

Studying, learning new concepts, memorizing unfamiliar material.

Atkinson–Shiffrin Model

memory storage is a process of moving and transforming info across stages

Sensory Memory and two types

briefly holds incoming sensory info <2 sec, and then lost

• iconic memory: visual info that lasts fraction of a second

• echoic memory: auditory info a few seconds

short term/working memory

holds for about 15-30 sec (no rehearsal),limited to 7+- 2 items)

remembering a phone number

long term memory

relatively permanent, rembering childhood home or how to ride bike

rehearsal

process of actively working with info to maintain it in STM or tranfer into LTM

maintenance

repeating info a lot for stm, like repeating phone number, temporary

Elaborative

connecting new info to existing knowledge, creating meaning/associations. promotes tranfer to LTM because it uses semantic encoding

depth of processing

Shallow: surface features like font, sound, rhyme

intermediate: categories basic meaning

deep:meaning, personal relevance, connections

Key structures of brain

hippocampus: forming new memories

cortex: long term storage of knowledge

amygdala: strengthens consolidation for emotional memories

Semantic (associative) networks

instead of storing facts in isolation, and brain stores them as linked concepts.

connects and associates info/ideas

spreading activation (priming)

when one concept is activated, related concepts are also activated:

Dog: animal, pet, bark, fur, leash

episodic memory and semantic memory: explicit or implicit memory?

• episodic: info about events and experiences, associated with hippocampus

• sematic: concepts, words, lanugage based and facts, prefontral cortex

Procedural memory , priming, emotional conditioning: explicit or implicit memory?

Procedural: info on a skilled action like riding a bike

Priming: exposure to a stimulus affects the response to a later one,

Emotional conditioning: classically conditioned emotional responses. specific smell/song triggering emotional response

Memory retrieval: recall

accessing info without cues

Memory retrieval: recognition

identifying previously learned info after encountering it again

Memory retrieval: relearning

learning something again more quickly than the first time.

Misattribution

Confusing the source of information, meaning a memory is

attributed to the wrong source

Thinking you heard something in class when you actually read it online

Suggestibility:

False memories that are created from external sources, such as

leading questions from an interviewer

E.g., Eyewitness memory altered by how a question is phrased

Engram

specific set of brain cells or nerual connections where a particular memory is stored

key brain structures

Amygdala (the “emotion tagger”)

Hippocampus (the “memory builder”)

Cerebellum (the “skills center”)

Prefrontal Cortex (the “manager”)

The cerebellum

processing implicit memories procedural, classical conditions