Memory and Forgetting

Flashcards about Memory and Forgetting based on lecture notes.

Forgetting

The inability to recall previously learned information.

Anterograde amnesia

Affects recent memories; individual creates new memories but cannot recall new information.

Long-term memory

Divided into declarative and procedural knowledge; vast storage capacity.

7 sins of memory

Transience: memories fade with time=T=time

 

Absent-mindedness:the failure to remember something when attention is elsewhere  need to pay attention to remember

 

Misattribution: source amnesia-fail to remember sources of memory, can’t remember where we got information from 

 

Suggestibility: thinking we remember an event that someone actually implanted in our minds , possible to remember vividly something that never occurred eye witness

 

Bias: distortions in recall/ the any we remember events , more inline with how we wish/ expected something to happen

 

Persistence: recurring memories, memories we don’t wanna remember but keep reoccurring

 

Forgetting: inability to remember/ access information

Accuracy of long-term memory

Memory is subject to errors and biases

–Memory can be primed

–Memory is altered by emotional factors

 

• Eyewitness testimony

–Recall of events can be manipulated by asking leading

Questions/ often incorrect recall of eyewitness

–For example: Did you see a/the broken tail light?

A and the changes if people can remember sth

Forgetting definition

The inability to recall previously learned information

3 theories of forgetting / why do we forget

Decay theory: memory is like a fading neural trace

that is weakened with disuse

Interference theory: conflict between new and old

memories

Proactive interference= new memories is being messed with

Retroactive = old memories is being messed with , trouble remembering old information

Motivated forgetting implies that forgetting can

avoid painful memories, actively avoid remembering

infantile amnesia

the inability of adults to retrieve episodic memories of specific childhood events, generally before the ages of two to four.

Anterograde amnesia

the inability to retain new memories

• damage of temporal lobe, particularly hippocampus and subcortical region

•  no problem retrieving memories stored before their brains were damaged but cannot learn anything new

•   associated with Alzheimer's

Retrograde amnesia

retrograde amnesia involves losing memories from a period before the time that a person's brain was damaged.

• Brain tumours and strokes often cause

• amnesia covers only a short period (although this can be up to several years) before the injury or illness damages the brain

 

older memories and new memories are not affected

 

Why is memory important

Not to make the same mistakes

Enable us to learn

Evolutionary learning

Social aspects like remembering going to class

Remember who people are

Social costumes

Remember birthdays, dates what matters for others

Morals and ethics 

Forgetting

The inability to recall previously learned information.

Types of Memory Information

• Facts: Information stored in long-term memory that is recalled, e.g., remembering a friend's name.

• Location: Memory related to where things are placed,

• Numbers: Memorizing sequences of numbers

• Prospective Memory: Remembering to do things in the future,

• Procedural Memory: Muscle memory that allows us to perform tasks without consciously thinking about the actions

Memory

the process by which we take something we have observed (encountered), and convert it into a form we can store, retrieve and use.

Modal model of memoriy ,Atkinson and schiffrins Process

Stimulus information enters the sensory registers. Some information enters STM and is then passed on for storage in LTM. Information can be lost from any of the sensory stores, usually if it is not very important or if a traumatic event has occurred that interferes with memory consolidation or retrieval.

Encoding

 is the way information is changed so that it can be

stored in the memory:

3 ways

1. visual (picture), (size,shape colour )

2. acoustic (sound), = sound of the word , sound it makes when eating it

3. semantic (meaning). Apple= healthy  , teacher

• Similar to transduction, where external information is converted into a brain-processable form

 

SENSORY MEMORY

• First stage of memory storage

• Information captured from census(visual, auditory, etc.) is held briefly

  Iconic= eye , visual

  ―Iconic memory storage : momentary storage of visual Information

  0,5 seconds - 2 seconds

Echo= sound

―Echoic memory: momentary storage of auditory Information

Encoding format :

- A copy of input as it is received by the senses:

image, sound, touch sensation

 

Capacity:

- Large capacity. 25+ stimuli stored simultaneously

 

Duration:

- Very brief: ¼ - 2 seconds

Holds information about perceived stimulus for a

fraction of a second after the stimulus disappears

 

SHORT-TERM MEMORY

Information from the sensory registers that is attended

to moves into STM

 Capacity: Holds a small amount of information

(limited capacity of approximately 7 items) for a short

period of time (limited duration of approximately 20–

30 seconds)

• Eg. Phone number

 

• Duration: If material is rehearsed then it can be

maintained in STM for a longer period

(e.g., chanting a phone number until it is dialled =

maintenance rehearsal)

 

• Encoding format: visual, auditory, or semantic

Shot term memory tricks for maintaining

: If material is rehearsed then it can be

maintained in STM for a longer period

a procedure called rehearsal — to prevent it from fading , also important for transferring information to LTM

 

Mental Repetition in order to maintain information in STM= maintenance rehearsal

 

Elaborative rehearsal = involves actually thinking about the material while committing it to memory, is more useful for Ling term than short term storage   

Eg. Remembering words of a poem is much easier if person really understands what it is about rather than just remembering each word

LONG-TERM MEMORY

Encoding format: The representation of facts, images,

actions and skills

• Duration: May persist over lifetime (limitless duration)

• Capacity: LTM is theoretically limitless

• Extracting information from LTM is called retrieval

Working memory Components

Central execuative

Phonological loop

Episodic buffer

Visual sketchpad

Long term knowledge system

Encoding in long term memory components

For retrieval of information we need it to be encoded

 

More learning new info= better/ easier retrieval

 

Encoding simply by-product of thought and perception.

 

4 different aspects of encoding that affects how easily memory can enter and retrieved form LTM

1Levels of Processing

2. Enriching encoding

3. Encoding Specificity

4. Context Effects

Levels of processing

Shallow vs. Deep levels of processing

• Deeper levels of processing produce stronger, longer lasting

Memories

Shallow processing

Structural processing which is when we encode only the

physical qualities of something.

E.g. the typeface of a word

or how the letters look.

 

2. Phonemic processing – which is when we encode its

sound.

 

Shallow processing only involves maintenance rehearsal

(repetition to help us hold something in the STM) and

leads to fairly short-term retention of information.

Deep processing

Semantic encoding, which happens when we encode the

meaning of a word and relate it to similar words with similar

meaning.

• Could be a concept o idea

 

Deep processing involves elaboration rehearsal which

involves a more meaningful analysis (e.g. images, thinking,

associations etc.) of information and leads to better recall.

 

Example

 

If we see the word

DOG

 

• If we use shallow processing to encode it, we might for

example just be looking and encoding the way the word

looks (the physical properties)= font , size = structural processing

 

• Or we may do some phonemic processing, i.e. focusing in

how the word sounds – for example rhyming, vowels = phonemic processing

 

• Or we could focus on deeper meaning, and elaborate

(imagine a dog doing something funny)

= deep processing

Enriching encoding components

Elaboration

Visual imagery

Self-referent encoding

Elaboration

Elaboration:

Linking a stimulus/information you are trying to learn to other information you already know at the time of encoding

 

Inclusion of more examples = better recall of main ideas

Demonstrates the effect of elaboration on recall

 

Create as many concepts as you can= elaboration will help with deep level processing ans encode the information to LTM

Visual imagery

Create visual images to represent to be remembered words

 

• Useful for concrete words (e.g. dog)

• But not so useful for abstract words (e.g. truth)

• Has to be unique, distinct

Self referent encoding

Deciding how or whether information

is personally relevant or meaningful to you 

 

Linking information  back to you / with regards to yourself

Encoding specifity

The ease of retrieval of a memory depends on a match between the way information was encoded and how it is later retrieved.

Eg learning shallow information and asked to retrieve deep processing

Content and retrieval

 

Context dependent memory

• Information is easier to recall when it is encoded and

retrieved in the same context

Eg same room , clothes, time of day

 

Mood (state) congruent memory

• Information is easier to recall when it is encoded and

retrieved in the same emotional/mood state

 

• The same context or emotional state provides retrieval cues

which facilitate recollection.

 

Serial position effect

Primacy effect: better recall of words at beginning of list

Recency effect: better recall of words at end of list

Word in the middle more likely to be forgotten

 

Primacy effct

Primacy effect – more rehearsal of early items, thus they are

more likely to enter LTM

Recency effect

Recency effect -- words at end of list are still in sensory

memory or STM, are recalled first

Delay of recall has no effect on primacy effect but effect on recency effect

• Show that they rely on short term sand long term memory

• Can distinguish those primary and recency effect

Structure of long term memory

Different kinds of memory

Type of knowledge stored /

Procedural memory / declarative memory - semantic and episodic

way knowledge is expressed

Implicit memory / explicit memory - recall and recognition

Explicit memory

Conscious retrieval of information 

Eg telephone number

Stored in LTM and you can recall and tell someone the number

Declarative is also explicit 

 Recall and recognition:

Recall: spontaneous conscious recollection of information from LTM eg memories of weeding = requires conscious effort

 

• Recognition is the identification of something

previously seen or learned.

Multiple choice you only need to recognise question

Easier than recall:

Eg. Multiple  choice in exam

Implicit memory

not conscious/ memory that is expressed in behaviour but does not require conscious recollection

We cannot access it in conscious way

Evident in skills, conditioned learning and associative memory

Priming effects

Procedural is also implicit

Procedural memory

Skills , habit (procedures)

memory for the ‘how to’ of

skills or procedures

Habit/ skill memory

Reading

Often form without conscious effort

How you ride a bike, how you talk (muscles to formulate sounds )

Declarative memory

Things we can declare

memory for facts and events

which can be stated or declared eg when a restaurant opens

Declarative memory Generic/semantic

General knowledge of concepts / facts and what things are

What is an egg

Paris is capital of France

Declarative memory episodic

Episodic memories are of specific events, and rich in

sensory experience

 Vivid conscious memories of personal experience

 Allows people to travel mentally through time, to remember thoughts, feeling from past, or imagine future

Eg what breakfast you had

Taste of egg smell texture

Someone’s birthday party

Strong sensory experience

Storage of long term memory

How do you find relevant information in LTM

 Semantic network theory

Information is stored in long-term memories in terms of interconnected ideas / Notes

 

Semantic network theory

Information is stored in long-term memories in terms of interconnected ideas / Notes

 

Node=piece of information along the network  red circles

Nodes may be thoughts, images, concepts, proposition, smells, tastes , memories, emotions or any type of information

 

Every note is connected to something / other concepts

Network of ideas

Everything is related to similar concepts / ideas

Concepts are connected through meaning that you learned through life , experiences , learning

Everyone’s network is different from each other  

Spreading activation

Activation of on node in a network triggers activation of closely related nodes

Activation isn’t always a word, could be a thought, fantasy or wish

 

o Activation decreases with distance from the activated node

Apple will spread to red or fruit , further activations like firetruck get weaker and weaker

 

Activation of one node can either increase or  inhibit activations with associated node

recently activated information (such as a news story seen a moment ago on television) and frequently activated information (such as a doctor's knowledge about disease).

 

 For example, a person who has just seen a documentary on cancer is likely to identify the word leukaemia faster than someone who tuned in to a different channel; a doctor is similarly likely to identify the word quickly because leukaemia is at a chronically higher state of activation.

 

Schemas

• affect how people remember information is encoded into LTM

 

• Patterns of thoughts or organised knowledge structures that render the environment relatively predictable

• Schema around car kitchen- what you’d find there

Schema affect on our remembering

Schemas affect the way people remember in two ways:

 

• By influencing the way information is encoded

• By shaping the way information is reconstructed data they have already stored

Schemas and encoding

• Scheme must influence the way people initially understand the meaning of an event and thus the manner in which they include it in long-term memory

Schemas an retrieval

• Money scheme must have slots for particular kinds of information

• New information that fits in establish schema is likely to be more quickly assimilated in cortical networks

• The slots and schema often have default values, standard answer that fill in missing information. The person did not initially noticed or bothered to store.

• Eg. When asked if the cover of the tax give the name you’re likely to report that it does.(default value = yes.) even if you never really noticed because the author’s name normally appear on a book cover.

• People are generally unable to tell which pieces of information and memory are truly remembered and which reflect default values

Schema consistent

Witnesses cannot absorb all of the information presented to them during an event and use a mechanism called 'schema-consistent' to fill in the gaps with information generally typical to the situation

Storage

• Information is held in memory stores: sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory, and working memory.

 

The way we can hold information for later use

 

Working memory.

Current way of thinking about the short term memory 

Short term memory is part of lager storing system

 

•Working memory refers to the temporary

storage and processing of information is used to:

–solve problems

–respond to environmental demands

–achieve goals

 

Working memory components

 temporary image (20–30 seconds) that stores

information about the location and nature of objects

 

Verbal memory store (phonological loop)

• Involves storage of verbal items (equates to STM). It

has limited capacity.

 

Episodic buffer = temporary integrative storage system that controls and manipulates information held in the phonological loop and the visual sketchpad

Allows us to integrate visual and auditory information from other memory systems , including LTM 

• Temporary Storage system that fates information into, and retrace information from long-term memory and integrates and manipulates information from the phonological and all visual patient subsystems, ready to be made available for conscious awareness

 

Central executive:

• controls the flow and processing of information (limitedcapacity)

Working Memory in the brain

Working memory is thought to be controlled by the

prefrontal cortex

•Verbal and visual working memory activate different

regions of the cortex. This demonstrates the

independence of different components of working

memory.

• Activation of prefrontal cortex provide access to consciousness so that the person can temporarily hold the information in mind and manipulated

Interaction between WM and LTM

Even though WM and LTM are independent from one another but they  interact

Eg chunking strategy

These findings suggest that working memory involves the conscious activation of knowledge from LTM, since without accessing LTM, the person could not tell the difference between words and non-words.

Chunking

Using knowledge from LTM to increase the capacity of working memory

You can use chunking to increase the amount of information hold in your working memory

Seven sins of memory

Transience: memories fade with time=T=time

 

Absent-mindedness:the failure to remember something when attention is elsewhere  need to pay attention to remember

 

Misattribution: source amnesia-fail to remember sources of memory, can’t remember where we got information from 

 

Suggestibility: thinking we remember an event that someone actually implanted in our minds , possible to remember vividly something that never occurred eye witness

 

Bias: distortions in recall/ the any we remember events , more inline with how we wish/ expected something to happen

 

Persistence: recurring memories, memories we don’t wanna remember but keep reoccurring

 

Forgetting: inability to remember/ access information

Accuracy of long-term memory

Memory is subject to errors and biases

–Memory can be primed

–Memory is altered by emotional factors

 

• Eyewitness testimon

Forgetting definition

The inability to recall previously learned information

3 theories of forgetting

Decay theory: memory is like a fading neural trace

that is weakened with disuse

Interference theory: conflict between new and old

memories

• Proactive interference: old interferes with new

•Retroactive interference: new interferes with old

Motivated forgetting implies that forgetting can

avoid painful memories, actively avoid remembering

infantile amnesia

or the inability of adults to retrieve episodic memories of specific childhood events, generally before the ages of two to four.

Anterograde amnesia

Anterograde amnesia involves the inability to retain new memories.

• typically caused by damage of temporal lobe, particularly hippocampus and subcortical region

•  no problem retrieving memories stored before their brains were damaged but cannot learn anything new

•  brain simply does not retain or retrieve fresh information.

•  typically associated with Alzheimer's disease

 

Retrograde amnesia

By contrast, retrograde amnesia involves losing memories from a period before the time that a person's brain was damaged.

• Brain tumours and strokes often cause

• Severely depressed or manic patients may also experience a brief period of retrograde amnesia following electroconvulsive therapy — they have no memory of the treatment or of the events directly preceding it

• amnesia covers only a short period (although this can be up to several years) before the injury or illness damages the brain

 

older memories and new memories are

not affected

Retrieval

• The process of bringing stored information back to consciousness for use.

• Grating information form long term memory to conscious awareness

Declarative knowledge

Type of long-term memory concerning 'knowing that'.

Procedural knowledge

Type of long-term memory concerning 'knowing how'.

Procedural memory example

How you ride a bike; how you talk (abilities to form sounds).

Episodic memory

Recollection of specific events, situations, and experiences (personal memory).

Semantic memory

General knowledge of concepts.

Autobiographical memory

Everyday memory involving information that is commonly recollected.

Semantic network theory

Theory stating every concept is connected to many other concepts within memory.

Encoding

For information to be retrieved from memory, it has to be encoded.

Levels of processing

The degree to which new material is mentally analyzed.

Shallow processing

Physical features of the word.

Elaboration

The more you elaborate during the encoding process, connecting the new information to what you already know, the better the memory.

Encoding specificity principle

The effectiveness of a retrieval cue depends on how well it relates to the initial encoding of the item.

Context and retrieval

Location or situation where something is learned affects how people remember that information.

Working memory

A temporary storage system that holds information while you're working with it.

Chunking

Increasing the capacity of working memory by grouping items together.

Un-chunked list

List of individual items.

Chunked list

List of grouped items.

Encoding

Transforms information into a form that can be stored in memory.

Storage

Retaining information in memory.

Retrieval

Recalling information from memory storage.

The Memory Process

Sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory.

Self-referent encoding

Evaluating whether information relates to yourself.

Modal Model of Memory

A model that suggests information flows through a series of stages: sensory, short-term, and long-term memory.

Primacy Effect

The tendency to remember the first few items in a list better than items in the middle.

Anterograde Amnesia

Amnesia where one cannot form new memories after the event causing the amnesia

Working memory

The temporary storage system responsible for holding information while we work with it.

Semantic Encoding

Encoding based on the meaning of the word; deeper processing.

Semantic Memory

Memory of facts and general knowledge.

Encoding format

How information transformed so it can be placed in memory.

Storage in memory

The process by which encoded information is maintained in memory over time.

Retrieval from memory

The process of accessing and bringing into consciousness information stored in memory.

Sensory memory

The first stage of memory, where sensory information is briefly held.

Short-term memory

A limited-capacity memory system where information is held for brief periods.

Long-term memory

The relatively permanent and limitless storage of memory.

Visual imagery

Using mental images to improve memory.

Episodic Memory

Memory for personally experienced events.