Encoding & Retrieval

Bonnici et al. (2012)

carried out a recollection task for recent and remote episodic memories and used MVPA. Classifier could predict recent vs remote based on activity in the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and cortical structures. More info re remote memories in prefrontal cortex (than recent). Posterior hippocampus contained more info about remote memories (than rest of hippocampus).

Bower & Winzenz (1970)

looked at whether visual imagery enhanced memory, using paired-associate learning. Participants who had used visual imagery to imagine the items interacting with one another remembered twice as many as those who had just silently repeated the word pairs.

Brunet et al (2008)

looked at how reactivation of memory may help alleviate symptoms of PTSD using the drug propranolol (blocks stress hormone receptors in amygdala) - reduced emotional reaction associated with the memory of the trauma when retrieve again the following week.

Classifier

in multivoxel pattern analysis, the classifier is a computer program designed to recognize patterns of voxel activity.

Concept map (Bower et al. 1969)

map that organises many words according to categories to aid learning.

Consolidation

the process that transforms new memories from a “fragile” state, in which they can be disrupted, to a more permanent “durable” state, in which they are more resistant to disruption (coined by Müller and Pilzecke, 1900)

Craik and Endel Tulving (1975)

Experiment testing different levels of processing - found that filling in the blanks of a sentence (thinking about the word's meaning) associated with better memory than answering if the word was written in capital letters (= deeper processing). Illustrates impact of type of encoding on memory.

Cued recall

a procedure for testing memory in which a participant is presented with cues, such as words or phrases, to aid recall of previously experienced stimuli.

Depth of processing

The idea that the processing that occurs as an item is being encoded into memory can be deep or shallow. It involves attention to meaning and is associated with elaborative rehearsal. Shallow processing involves repetition with little attention to meaning and is associated with maintenance rehearsal.

Effective Studying

Elaborate, generate & test, organise, take breaks/sleep, avoid illusions of learning (e.g. highlighting), be an active note-taker.

Elaborative rehearsal

Rehearsal that involves thinking about the meaning of an item to be remembered or making connections between that item and prior knowledge. Results in better memory than maintenance rehearsal.

Encoding

The process of acquiring information and transferring it into LTM.

Encoding specificity

the principle that we learn information together with its context. This means that presence of the context can lead to enhanced memory for the information.

Free recall

a procedure for testing memory in which the participant is asked to remember stimuli that were previously presented.

Gais et al (2006)

found that students remembered learning more if went to sleep within 3 hours instead of 10 hours, supporting theory that reactivation process/consolidation particularly strong during sleep.

Generation effect (Slameka and Graf, 1978)

memory for material is better when a person generates the material him- or herself, rather than passively receiving. Participants who had generated the second word in a pair were able to reproduce 28 percent more word pairs than participants who had just read the word pairs.

Gilboa et al. (2004)

elicited remote episodic memories by showing participants photos of themselves engaged in activities ranging from recent to childhood

Godden & Baddely (1975)

"diving experiment" re encoding specificity - better recall if learn words in same place you learned them.

Grant et al. (1998)

background noise experiment re encoding specificity - retrieval better when study conditions matched test conditions.

Hebb, 1948

proposed that repeated activity can strengthen a synapse by causing structural changes, greater transmitter release, and increased firing. Proposed that changes that occur in multiple synapses activated around the same time by a particular experience provide a neural record of the experience.

Hupbach et al. (2007)

experiment with a "reminder" and "no reminder" group (being reminded of list A process before being asked to remember/recall B items) showed that retrieval of memories makes them fragile and vulnerable to being changed due to reconsolidation.

Leshikar et al. (2015)

demonstrated self-reference effect by asking participants to either indicate if a set of adjectives a) described them OR b) were commonly used. The self-group remember about 50% more words than the common-group.

Levels of processing theory (Craik & Lockhart, 1972)

The idea that memory depends on how information is encoded, with better memory being achieved when processing is deep than when processing is shallow. Deep processing involves attention to meaning and is associated with elaborative rehearsal. Shallow processing involves repetition with little attention to meaning and is associated with maintenance rehearsal.

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

increased firing that occurs in a neuron due to prior activity at the synapse.

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

increased firing that occurs in a neuron due to prior activity at the synapse.

Maintenance rehearsal

Rehearsal that involves repetition without any consideration of meaning or making connections to other information. Unlikely to result in recall later.

Mantyla (1986)

significant cueing experiment whereby participants asked to provide three words than described a noun, then later provided with those three words OR the three words that another participant had generated. Correctly named 91% of words when shown their own cues, and only 55% if saw others' cues. Indicates that retrieval cues are more effective if they are created by the person being tested.

Mnemonic

any memory strategy or technique that improves encoding, retention, and/or retrieval of information. Can be verbal (i.e. Acronyms or acrostics) or visual (i.e. method of loci or association).

Multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA)

a procedure for determining the pattern of voxel activation that is elicited by specific stimuli, within various structures. It goes beyond just determining which regions are activated.

Nairne (2010)

demonstrated that asking participants to rate a list of words in terms of their relative use for survival on a desert island was a powerful tool for encoding items into memory (more so than visual, self-reference or generation effect).

Paired-associate learning

A learning task in which participants are first presented with pairs of words, then one word of each pair is presented and the task is to recall the other word.

Reactivation

the process by which previously encoded memories are replayed or reactivated, reinforcing and stabilizing the memory for long-term storage. Helps form connections between cortical regions. Sees hippocampus as acting like “glue”.

Reconsolidation

a process proposed by Nader (rat hear tone and freeze) and others that occurs when a memory is retrieved and so becomes reactivated. Once this occurs, the memory must be consolidated again, as it was during the initial learning. This repeat consolidation is reconsolidation.

Retrieval

The process of remembering information that has been stored in LTM

Retrieval cue

cues that help a person remember information that is stored in memory, i.e. apple is a retrieval cue for other fruits, such as grape or plum.

Retrieval practice effect (Karpicke & Roediger, 2008)

when practicing memory retrieval increases elaboration, which increases performance on memory tasks. Being tested more increased memory more than studying more.

Self-reference effect

Memory for a word is improved by relating the word to the self.

Shallow processing

Processing that involves repetition with little attention to meaning. Shallow processing is usually associated with maintenance rehearsal.

Spacing effect (aka Distributed practice)

the advantage in performance caused by short study sessions separated by breaks from studying.

Standard model of consolidationproposes that memory retrieval depends on the hippocampus during consolidation, but that once consolidation is complete, retrieval no longer depends on the hippocampus.

State-dependent learning

principle that memory is best when a person is in the same state (i.e. mood) for encoding and retrieval (i.e. Eich & Metcalf 1989 study using music & word learning). This principle is related to encoding specificity.

Synaptic consolidation

a process of consolidation that involves structural changes at synapses that happen rapidly, over a period of minutes.

Systems consolidation

a consolidation process that involves the gradual reorganisation of circuits within brain regions and takes place on a long timescale, lasting weeks, months, or even years.

Temporal context model (TCM)

a cognitive model proposed by Sederberg et al. (2011) that explains how the temporal context of past experiences is used to cue and retrieve memories, with items encoded in a specific sequence being recalled based on their temporal proximity and order (i.e. associations, as opposed to reconsolidation hypothesis that suggests existing memories are changed).

Testing effect

enhanced performance on a memory test caused by being tested on the material to be remembered.

Multiple Trace Model of Consolidation

The idea that the hippocampus is involved in the retrieval of remote memories, especially episodic memories. This contrasts with the standard model of memory, which proposes that the hippocampus is involved only in the retrieval of recent memories.

Transfer-appropriate processing

when the type of task that occurs during encoding matches the type of task that occurs during retrieval. Can result in enhanced memory. Morris et al (1977) demonstrated that if you were asked to rhyme a word in the encoding phase, you will remember if a word rhymes with it at the retrieval phase (contradicts levels of processing theory).

Tulving & Pearlstone (1966)

presented lists or items that fell into different categories to two groups of participants. Free recall vs cued recall (where categories provided). Result

Verbatim memory

the ability to recall information precisely as it was presented.

Viskontas and colleagues (2009)

remember/know experiment supports the idea that the hippocampus response changes over time, but only for stimuli that have lost their episodic character.

Wilhelm et al. (2011)

found that expecting to be tested on a task improved consolidation - indicating that more important memories are consolidated during sleep