Ch.8 Memory pt.1

Memory

persistence of learning over time thru storage/retrieval

Encoding

changing incoming sensory stimuli into form for usage/sending to storage

• Ex: Making note cards to help you retain information

Automatic processing

processing of info without effort

• Ex: Like learning how to hit a baseball. You don’t necessarily consciously try to remember each part – you just practice until you can do it

Effortful processing

requires attention/effort

• Ex: Think about your learning the material for the last exam – what kind of procedures did you use to help you remember information? You had to consciously try to remember the information

Semantic encoding

encode meaning of word, relate it to similar words

• Ex: Learning the meaning of effortful processing and relating it to the methods you use to study.

• provide better memory than visual or acoustic encoding

Visual encoding

encoding of images

• Ex: Remembering the logo of a particular company

Acoustic encoding

encoding of sounds

• Ex: Being able to remember the chorus of your favorite song

Self-reference effect

info that relates to oneself remembered better

• Ex: I have better memory for celebrities named Jenn or Jennifer than for celebrities who don’t have a similar name

Storage

maintenance of encoded info over time

The Stage Model of Memory

used to explain the basic structure and function of memory. Initially proposed in 1968 by Atkinson and Shiffrin, this theory outlines three separate stages of memory

1. Sensory

2. Iconic

3. Echoic

Sensory Memory

brief storage of incoming sensory info

Iconic Memory

sensory memory for visual info

Echoic Memory

sensory memory for auditory info

• EX: Asking someone to repeat what they said

Short-term Memory (def + 3)

info currently aware of, thinking about

1. Capacity

2. Working memory

3. Rehearsal

Working memory

processes used to temporarily store, organize, manipulate info

Rehearsal

conscious repetition of info to be remembered

Long-term memory

continuing storage of info

• Outside conscious awareness

1. Explicit

2. Implicit

Explicit Memory (declaritive memory)

intentionally trying to remember something

• use these memories every day, from remembering information for a test to recalling the date

• Episodic + Semantic

Episodic Memory

long term memories of specific events

• Episodes from your life-like diary entries

• Ex: 6th birthday party, your memory for going to prom, or high school graduation

Semantic Memory

facts, concepts, names, and other general info. Not tied to specific time or place

• Ex: first president of US?

Implicit Memory (non declarative memory)

we don't purposely try to remember (unconscious + unintentional)

• Procedural, priming, emotional conditioning, retrieval

Procedural memories

how to perform a specific task

• Ex: I can flip my pencil around my thumb

Priming

being exposed to info makes related info easier to remember/process

• Ex: If you see someone in a lab coat, you would then be quicker to recognize the word “nurse” than an unrelated word of the same length

Emotional conditioning

learned emotional reactions to various stimuli

• Ex: Many of our fears have been classically conditioned

Retrieval + Types (3)

bringing stored memories into conscious awareness

• Ex: remembering first grade teacher

• Recall, recognition, relearning

Recall

being able to access info previously learned, with minimal cues

• Ex: Answering a question on a fill-in-the-blank test – you get the question, but you have to recall the answer all on your own

Recognition

identifying info previously learned

• Ex: taking a multiple-choice quiz requires that you recognize the correct answer out of a group of available answers

Relearning

relatively quicker acquisition of info previously learned

• Ex: I took French in high school – I haven’t used the language in a very long time (could pick up quickly)

Lashley’s Search for the Engram

specific part of brain where a memory is stored

Localized

Karl Lashley

stored in a specific area of the brain

• rats in maze, lesioned their brains, retested

Equipotentiality hypothesis

if part of 1 area of brain involved in memory is damaged, another part of same area can take over that memory function

Amygdala

When we experience stress, our bodies release stress hormones that make more glucose available in the bloodstream, so we have extra energy available to respond to the source of stress

• Why we tend to remember events that have a strong emotional component more vividly

Flashbulb memories

a clear memory of an emotional significant moment or event

• Ex: I clearly remember telling my mother that my grandmother had died. I remember the physical setting, the way I walked up to her, mom’s reaction – everything about that memory is sharp and clear.

Memory Condolidation

eventual movement of explicit memories from hippocampus to cerebral cortex

• Sleep helps consolidate memory

Cerebellum vs Prefrontal Cortex

C: records implicit memories

P: needed for explicit memories

Neurotransmitters

epinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, acetylcholine critical for new memories