Memory and Cognition Unit Review

prosopagnosia

aka face blindness, when you’re not able to recognize faces, even the faces of family members.

super-recognizer

when you have a phenomenal memory for faces

fusiform face area

an area in the temporal lobes of our cerebral cortex specifically devoted to perceiving faces. Some research, however, suggests that this area is more about visual expertise, and that faces are something that many of us have expertise in.

memory

the ability to store and retrieve information over time

cognition

the processes of acquiring and using knowledge.

As types

Implicit Memory; Explicit Memory

As stages

Sensory memory; Short-term memory; Long-term memory

As processes

Encoding; Storage; Retrieval

Explicit memory

knowledge or experiences that can be consciously remembered.

Semantic Memory

our knowledge of facts and concepts about the world (e.g., the capital of Canada is Ottawa, operant conditioning includes reinforcement and punishment)

Episodic Memory

the firsthand experiences that we have had (e.g., recollections of our high school graduation day, the death of a loved one).

What type of memory is semantic and episodic?

Explicit memory

What type of memory is procedural memory, priming, and classical conditioning?

Implicit memory

recall memory test

a measure of explicit memory that involves bringing from memory information that has previously been remembered, (e.g., what is the capital of Mexico? (semantic memory)); what did you do on your birthday? (episodic memory).

recognition memory test

A measure of explicit memory that involves determining whether information has been seen or learned before. ( e.g., is the capital of Mexico Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, or Mexico City? (semantic memory); for your birthday, did you celebrate with friends or family? (episodic memory))

Relearning (or savings)

A measure of explicit memory that involves assessing how much more quickly information is processed or learned when it is studied again after it has already been learned but then forgotten.

Explicit memory

requires conscious awareness

Implicit memory

does not require conscious awareness

Implicit memory

The influence of experience on behavior, even if the individual is not aware of those influences.

Procedural memory

our often unexplainable knowledge of how to do things. (Ex: When we send a text message, type an assignment, or play a video game)

Learning through classical conditioning

we learn, often without effort or awareness, to associate neutral stimuli (such as a sound) with another stimulus (such as food), which creates a naturally occurring response (such as salivation). The memory for the association is demonstrated when the conditioned stimulus (the sound) begins to create the same response as the unconditioned stimulus (the food) did before the learning.

priming

changes in behavior as a result of experiences that have happened frequently or recently. refers both to the activation of knowledge (e.g., we can prime the concept of “kindness” by presenting people with words related to kindness) and to the influence of that activation on behavior (people who are primed with the concept of kindness may act more kindly).

information begins in ________, moves to ________, and eventually moves to __________.

sensory memory; short-term memory; long-term memory.

sensory memory

the brief storage of sensory information; purpose is to give the brain some time to process the incoming sensations, and to allow us to see the world as an unbroken stream of events rather than as individual pieces. 

iconic memory =

visual sensory memory; first studied by the psychologist George Sperling

Study done by George Sterling

He showed participants a display of letters in rows, similar to that shown in Figure 8.4. However, the display lasted only about 50 milliseconds (1/20 of a second). Then, he gave his participants a recall test in which they were asked to name all the letters that they could remember. On average, the participants could remember only about one-quarter of the letters that they had seen.

Auditory sensory memory =

echoic memory

Short-term memory (STM)

the place where small amounts of information can be temporarily kept for more than a few seconds but usually for less than one minute; information is not stored permanently but rather becomes available for us to process.

Working memory

the processes that we use to make sense of, modify, interpret, and store information in short-term memory

Central executive

the part of working memory that directs attention and processing

Maintenance rehearsal

the process of repeating information mentally or out loud with the goal of keeping it in memory

Chunking

The process of organizing information into smaller groupings (chunks), thereby increasing the number of items that can be held in short-term memory.

long term memory (LTM)

memory storage that can hold information for days, months, and years; capacity is large, and there is no known limit to what we can remember

Use elaborative encoding.

We remember content better when it is processed more deeply. (Ex: Describe the similarities and differences between episodic and semantic memory.)

Use the self-reference effect, a type of elaborative encoding.

We remember content better when it is linked to thoughts about ourselves. (Ex: “An example of episodic memory is my remembering the last time I had coffee with my best friend. An example of semantic memory is my remembering my best friend’s name.”)

Encode the information in multiple ways, a type of elaborative encoding

When we encode content in multiple ways, we give ourselves multiple ways to retrieve it. (Ex: “I’ve written the definitions of episodic and semantic memory in my notes. Now I’m going to draw a birthday cake next to episodic memory to help me remember it is about events, and I’m going to draw an outline of the United States next to semantic memory to help me remember it is about facts. Maybe I’ll even make up a little song about episodic and semantic memory.” )

Make use of the spacing effect.

We remember content better when it is studied in shorter periods spaced over time. (Ex: Studying an hour a day for six days is more effective than studying six hours in one day.)

Practice overlearning.

We continue to strengthen our memory for content even after we think we know the information perfectly. (Ex: “I know the difference between episodic and semantic memory. Episodic memory is memory for events, and semantic memory is memory for facts.”)

Use the testing effect.

We remember content better when we test ourselves. (Ex: “Without using my notes or book: What is episodic memory? What is semantic memory? What are examples of both?”)

Encoding

the process by which we place the things that we experience into memory

Elaborating Encoding

taking information we want to remember and embellishing it or attaching it to prior knowledge.

SQ4R Technique

survey (read the chapter headings and image captions), question (ask themselves questions about those headings and captions), read (read the chapter), reflect (elaboration; how does what was read connect with the participant’s own experiences), recite (write down what was remembered), and review (go back over what was learned).

self-reference technique

study by only reading and reflecting (connecting to personal experiences)

Hermann Ebbinghaus found

that memory for information drops off rapidly at first but then levels off after time

spacing effect

the fact that learning is better when the same amount of study is spread out over periods of time (distributed practice) than it is when it occurs closer together or at the same time (massed practice)

overlearning (Ebbinghaus)

continuing to practice and study even when we think that we have mastered the material; helps encoding

retrieval

the process of reactivating information that has been stored in memory.

tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

we are certain that we know something that we are trying to recall but cannot quite come up with it.

Context-dependent memory

an increase in retrieval when the external situation in which information is learned matches the situation in which it is remembered.

state-dependent memory

superior retrieval of memories when the individual is in the same physiological or psychological state as during encoding (Ex: Animals that learn a maze while under the influence of one drug, for example, tend to remember their learning better when they are tested under the influence of the same drug than when they are tested without the drug.)

Serial position effect

The tendency to better remember information that occurs at the beginning and the end of a list, in comparison to memory for information that occurs in the middle of a list.

Primacy effect

a tendency to better remember stimuli that are presented early in a list

Recency effect

the tendency to better remember stimuli that are presented later in a list.

Retroactive interference

learning something new impairs our ability to retrieve information that was learned earlier.

Proactive interference

Memory impairment that occurs when earlier learning impairs our ability to encode information that we try to learn later.

categories

networks of associated memories that have features in common with each other.

spreading activation

when activating one element of a category activates other associated elements. (Ex: because tools are associated in a category, reminding people of the word “screwdriver” will help them remember the word “wrench.”)

prototype

The member of the category that is most average or typical of the category.

long-term potentiation

The development of memory that occurs through strengthening of the synaptic connections between neurons as a result of frequent stimulation.

consolidation

The period of time in which long-term potentiation occurs and in which memories are stored

retrograde amnesia

A memory disorder that involves the inability to retrieve events that occurred before a given time.

Anterograde amnesia

the inability to transfer information from short-term into long-term memory; Organisms with damage to the hippocampus develop this type of amnesia

hippocampus helps us with _________.

cerebellum helps us with __________.

amygdala helps us with ___________.

explicit, implicit, emotional memory

Memory is influenced by chemicals including

glutamate, serotonin, epinephrine, and estrogen.

Cognitive biases

Systematic errors in memory or judgment.

Source confusion

Forgetting the source of a memory; may lead to mistaken judgements

Confirmation bias

The tendency to verify and confirm our existing beliefs rather than to challenge and disconfirm them; difficult to change.

Functional fixedness

When schemas prevent us from seeing and using information in new and nontraditional ways; Creativity may be impaired by the overuse of traditional, expectancy-based thinking.

Misinformation effect

Errors in memory that occur when new but incorrect information influences existing accurate memories; Eyewitnesses who are questioned by the police may change their memories of what they observed at the crime scene.

Overconfidence

When we are more certain that our memories and judgments are accurate than we should be; Eyewitnesses may be very confident that they have accurately identified a suspect, even though their memories are incorrect.

Representativeness heuristic

Tendency to make judgments according to how well the event matches our expectations; After a coin has come up “heads” many times in a row, we may erroneously think that the next flip is more likely to be “tails” (the gambler’s fallacy).

Availability heuristic

Idea that things that come to mind easily are seen as more common; We may overestimate the crime statistics in our own area, because these crimes are so easy to recall.

Counterfactual thinking

When we “replay” events such that they turn out differently (especially when only minor changes in the events leading up to them make a difference); We may feel particularly bad about events that might not have occurred if only a small change had occurred before them.

Flashbulb memory

A vivid and emotional memory of an unusual event that people believe they remember very well.

Heuristics

An information-processing strategy that can help us make a decision quickly, but which leave us susceptible to making incorrect decisions.