Memory and Cognition: Key Concepts and Research in Psychology

HM

An epilepsy patient who underwent radical surgery that affected his hippocampus and made him a pioneer in memory research.

dysnfunction

• The behavior interferes with daily functioning (work, school, relationships)

what are the two stages in piaget’s stages of cognitive development where conservation is acquired?

• preoperational stage doesn’t know conservation, only knows centration.

• concrete operation stage knows conservation.

what age range did erik erikson believe was crucial to development?

12-18 years old is crucial for identity development.

what is the role of the central executive for real?

central executive directs phonological loop, episodic buffer, visual-spatial sketchpad, but it doesn’t have it’s own storage system.

what is reconsolidation?

The process that occurs when a stored memory is recalled and then restabilized in LTM.

what is the trust vs mistrust stage of erik erikson’s 8 psychosocial stages?

infants learn whether caregivers and the world are reliable and trustworthy based on the consistency of care they receive.

who came up with the idea of schema?

jean piaget

who created the cloth monkey experiment?

harry harlow

which piaget stage has cause and effect relationships?

In Piaget’s sensorimotor stage (birth–~2 years), infants learn about the world through actions and their consequences. This is where cause-and-effect relationships first emerge.

what is the ZPD?

the range of tasks a learner cannot do alone yet, but can do with guidance from a more knowledgeable other (teacher, parent, peer).

assimilation vs accomodation

Assimilation:

A child knows the schema “dog.”

They see a wolf and say, “That’s a dog.” 🐶

→ The child assimilates the wolf into the dog schema.

Accommodation:

The child learns wolves are different from dogs.

They modify their schema or create a new one (“wolf”).

Behaviorists

Ignored the mind, referring to it as a 'black box' and focused only on input and output.

Cognitive Revolution—and how did it analyze the brain?

A movement in the 1950s against behaviorism that used computers to mimic brain processes.

Encoding

The process of converting external stimuli into internal stimuli.

Storage

The process of keeping encoded information in your brain over time.

Ex:

• You hear a phone number (encoding)

• You keep it in your mind long enough to dial it (storage)

• You dial the number (retrieval)

Consolidation

The process of turning short-term memories into long-term memories.

Retrieval

The process of bringing consolidated information (stored in LTM) back into conscious thought.

Free recall—retrieving info from LTM

Digging through the brain to recall information, similar to essay style. a type of retrieval from long-term memory

Cued recall—-retrieving info from LTM

Using hints to aid memory retrieval, like short answer questions.

Recognition—-retrieving info from LTM

Identifying previously learned information, similar to multiple-choice questions.

Savings—-retrieving info from LTM

Relearning information that has already been stored.

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

Illustrates a drastic drop in retention followed by a plateau.

Ebbinghaus learned in regards to relearning and forgetting that..

relearning is faster than forgetting

Sensory Memory

Processes all incoming information—both visual and auditory, it only lasts milliseconds.

cons of sensory memory

- only last milliseconds

- low resolution

pros of sensory memory

- high capacity for stored memories

what was Sperling's partial-report procedure that shows sensory memory?

Sperling's experiment flashed a 3×4 grid of letters for a fraction of a second and tested whether people could recall all the letters or only a specific row cued by a tone (like high tone means 1st row).

He knew that iconic memory had a high capacity because when he played a tone (like high tone means 1st row) they knew the 1st row letters.

But when they were asked to recall all the letters, they could only do 2-3.

Sperling's results show that iconic memory can hold a lot of visual information, but only for a very brief moment before it disappears.

who is known for coining sensory memory?

atkinson and shiffin

Iconic Memory

Visual memory component of sensory memory.

Echoic Memory

Auditory memory component of sensory memory.

Baddeley and Hitch

Proposed that short-term memory is dynamic and can hold 7 +/- 2 items.

how long can short-term memory hold information vs sensory memory?

30 seconds vs milliseconds

Maintenance rehearsal

The process of repeating information to retain it in short-term memory.

cons of maintenance rehearsal

- passive process

- does not carry over to your long-term memory

central executive

the system that controls attention, directs mental resources, and decides how information is processed

Episodic buffer

Acts as a temporary 'backup' store that integrates information from different sources.

example of episodic buffer in action

When you remember what you just read in a story — the words (verbal), the scene (visual), and how it made you feel (emotional/long-term memory) — the episodic buffer binds them all together into one mental "episode."

Phonological loop

The auditory component of working memory.

Visual spatial sketchpad

The visual component of working memory.

what is a synonym for short-term memory

working memory

Suppression

A conscious effort to push unwanted thoughts or memories out of awareness.

example of suppression against your phonological loop

Ex: If you're asked to memorize a list of words while repeating "the, the, the..." out loud, your memory for the words will be much worse — because your phonological loop is being "suppressed."

Chunking

Grouping items together so that they have meeting (like 1977 as a date)

Long-Term Memory

Unlimited storage stored for years, but you can still lose some info

how much pieces of info can LTM store?

unlimited!!!

equipotentiality

information organized and indexed over time because multiple areas of the brain can perform the same function.

encoding vs consolidation

encoding: It’s about getting information into your brain.
Consolidation: It’s about making the memory durable and long-lasting.

what is the process of retrieval?

Information stored in LTM is activated and brought back into working memory so you can consciously think about it.

what is hippocampus used for in regards to memory?

spatial memory

what is prefrontal cortex used for in terms of memory

working memory/decision making

what is temporal lobe used for in memory?

declarative memory

what is amygdala used for in memory?

fear-learning

what is cerebellum used for in memory?

motor action learning

Memory consolidation

The process of transferring short-term memories into long-term memories.

what are the four types of memory consolidation?

1. synaptic consolidation

2. cortical consolidation

3. serial-position effect

4. dunning-kruger effect

what is synaptic consolidation?

Synaptic consolidation is just long-term potentiation where changing of the neuron structure occurs that makes it easier to remember stuff

what is cortical consolidation

Cortical consolidation is where areas of the brain only in the cortical areas are strengthened, and over time the hippocampus is not needed. This is beneficial because it leads to stronger and larger memory.

Serial position effect

The tendency to remember the first (primacy effect) and last (recency effect) items in a list.

what type of memory is primacy effect?

LTM. The first items in a list are remembered well because you have more time to rehearse them, which allows them to be consolidated into long-term memory.

what type of memory is recency effect?

WM

Dunning-Kruger effect

The phenomenon where individuals overestimate their skills.

what are the two types of LTM?

explicit/declarative memory and implicit/non-declarative memory

Explicit memory

Consciously aware memories, including semantic and episodic memories.

semantic memory

memory of knowledge, concepts, theories.

Less prone to distortion

episodic memory

memory of events, more prone to distortion

what are the two types of episodic memory?

flashbulb memory and autobiographical memory

Flashbulb memory

A vivid memory of an emotionally significant event. occurs due to suprise, consequence, or emotional arousal

autobiographical memory

the memory for events and facts related to one's personal life story (ex: like being in a car crash)

Implicit memory

Memories below conscious awareness, including procedural memories and behavioral habits.

which two people developed the level of processing principles, and what is it?

Craig and Lockhart's theory that deeper processing leads to better memory retention.

what are the three levels of processing principles?

1. Superficial processing - rehearsal

2. Deeper processing - connections

Encodes semantically - you remember something based on the meaning of that word

Ex: rhymes/acoustics

3. Elaboration - meaningful processing

Processing info with meaning to you

Encoding specificity

The principle that memory is enhanced when conditions at encoding match those at retrieval. Ex: when you study underwater and then take the test underwater.

what is congruency?

This is called congruency: something is congruent when you study underwater and then take the test underwater.

Mood effect in encoding specificity

You remember things better when your mood at retrieval matches your mood at encoding.

Mnemonic devices

Techniques like acronyms and methods of loci used to enhance memory.

what is method of loci?

linking ideas to locations makes abstract information easier to recall.

Ex: shopping list in different areas of the house

Aphantasia

You cannot create mental images in your head, so method of Loci does not work

When you take breaks, how does it improve recall (number)

Taking breaks can improve recall by two times.

Illusion of Learning

You think you know it when you actually don't.

What is the Three-Word Association Study, and who created it?

Mantyla (1986) found that cued recall is better with personal associations.

Ex: the word is banana, the three-word association is yellow, yummy, curved

If you are cued by your own three word association, you have a better chance of recalling bananna than someone else's three word association

Transience

The state of forgetting caused by interference over time.

Proactive Interference

Difficulty learning new information due to prior knowledge.

Retroactive Interference

Difficulty recalling old information due to new learning.

Blocking

Temporary inability to remember something, exemplified by the tip of the tongue phenomenon.

Absetmindness

Caused by shallow encoding and fluctuating attention, not focused on the task at hand.

Amnesia

A deficit in long-term memory due to disease, brain injury, or psychological trauma.

child amnesia

Childhood (infantile) amnesia is the inability to recall memories from early childhood, usually before age 2-4, due to immature brain and cognitive development.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new long-term memories, often due to hippocampus damage.

who are the two famous people that have anterograde amnesia?

1. HM - An epilepsy patient who underwent radical surgery that affected his hippocampus and made him a pioneer in memory research.

2. Clive Waring

Retrograde Amnesia

Inability to retrieve long-term memories, often due to damage in the cortex in episodic memories.

who was the famous person that had retrograde amnesia?

clive waring

how are speech and memory correlated?

if it is hard for you to create speech, you have bad memory. this is why we dont remember everything when we were younger because we didn't know how to speak yet.

Memory Bias

a memory that is distorted—-lost details and false recollection

Cryptomnesia

A memory error where a forgotten memory is recalled as a new thought.

unconscious plagiarism

when an individual, unaware of the memory's source, presents the information as their own creation.

In other words, it’s the RESULT of cryptomnesia.

False Memory

A memory created that never occured, can be influenced by misinformation.

Ex:

1. say a bunch of words about sewing but not "needle"

2. Then give them a list of words different from what they said, one word in the list is "needle"

3. Ask them to say which words from this list were what they said

4. Most ppl say yes to "needle"

Attention

Limited by space, object, and time; can be disengaged and reengaged.

Voluntary Attention

Goal-directed attention requiring conscious effort.

Involuntary Attention

Automatic attention drawn to external stimuli.