Psych 240 umich snodgrass exam 2

memory

processes involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information when the original information is no longer present.
- very broad concept, involved whenever past experiences affect later behavior
- very important!! virtually all other cognitive processes depend on/involve it
- not a unitary process (various kinds of it)

sensory/iconic memory

initial, rich stage, holds all incoming information fro about 200 ms (visual/iconic) or a few seconds (auditory/echoic). used for each sensory modality

short term/working memory

attentionally selected, limited capacity (5-7 items, 15-20 seconds). There are various subtypes. Attention is important here

long term memory

explicit/conscious vs implicit/unconscious. Retains huge amount of information indefinitely

modal model of memory

atkinson and shiffrin. This is a classic early model, many other models are similar.

input-->SENSORY MEMORY-->SHORT TERM MEMORY (ouput or rehearsal or) <==> LONG TERM MEMORY

sensory memory

the brief initial retention of large (maybe all) amounts of sensory stimuli. Incoming information is held to allow further processing, decays quickly. But it persists briefly even after the stimulus is gone. (ex: persistence of vision like sparklers, scenes in movies, etc)

how can we measure sensory memory

sperling's classic paradigm: present letter arrays, participant asked to report as many as possible. Can report 37.5% from whol grid, but 82% from a single row (partial report, concurrent cue). This suggests a larger capacity of sensory memory than the whole report does. Using a delayed cue, performance declines rapidly, which measures decay of sensory memory.

short term memory

briefly stores small amounts of information. Includes both new/incoming sensory information and interpretive information recalled from LTM (ex: numbers and letters don't look like squiggles)

measuring STM duration

basic strategy: prevent rehearsal. present 3 items to remember, then count backwards by 3s. After delays, try to recall the items. The results show that more backwards counting leads to a performance decline. Early explanation is decay. Performance declines over many trials, which illustrates proactive interference.

decay

unless rehearsal/other retention strategy is employed, material in STM naturally fades

proactive interference

when previously learned info interferes with learning new info

retroactive interference

when new learning interferes with remembering old info (ex: phone number). could play a role in

measuring STM capacity

method: vary the number of initial items. ex: digit span task- briefly present numbers, assess how many are remembered. (5-8). both the degree of chunking and the complexity of the item makes a difference in capacity

chunking

small units can be combined into meaningful units. Ericson trained extensively with it and changed his digit span from 7 to 79.

larger

STM capacity ________ for less complex objects

control processes

rehearsal, attentional processes, make stimulus memorable

How do we encode

operate on material to facilitate the transfer to LTM using strategic control processes

working memory

STM + control processes
- limited capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information. use for complex tasks like comprehension, learning, and reasoning, transfer to LTM

difference between STM and WM

STM holds info for short time
WM concerns the processing/manipulation of information that occurs during complex cognition. WM suggests different kinds of STM and central executive processes which selectively attend what gets into STM from sensory and direct control processes on material once in STM

Working memory model

Baddely and Hitch. made up of phonological loop, central executive, and visuospatial sketch pad

phonological loop

STM store for verbal/auditory information (including written)

types of working memory

phonological loop and visuospatial sketch pad

phonological similarity effect

letters or words that sound similar are confused- driven by auditory similarity, not visual

word length effect

memory better for lists of short words than long words because it takes longer to auditorally rehearse long words/produce them during recall

articulatory suppression

participants repeat unrelated sounds after initial verbal/auditory stimuli are presented. prevents rehearsal, reduces memory span, and eliminates word length effect. reduces phonological similarity effect for reading words

visuospatial sketch pad

visual/spatial information stored here

visual imagery

the creation of visual images in the mind in the absence of a visual stimulus

mental rotation task

shepard and metzler, larger rotations took longer

interference between the visuospatial sketch pad and phonological loop

because the 2 are partially independent, we need dissociation. We can process both types of information at once, but interference can occur. Ex: Brooks, mental image of an F. Participants decide if each corner is in or out. Interference if they point to an answer (because that's double the work for the visuospatial sketch pad), but not inference if they say in or out (because the 2 modalities can work at the same time)

central executive

attention controller: focus, divide, switch attention (ex: driving while talking while planning route). Selects STM contents from sensory memory and controls suppression of irrelevant information.

2 ways to study central executive

through brain damage (ex: to frontal lobe) which can produce preservation (person with frontal lobe damage can pick red object, but has trouble when task is switched to blue)

study individual differences in WM/central executive function
-pretests divide people in high capacity WM vs low
-shown stimuli with few vs more distractors
-then decide whether next display is same or different (DV is performance and ERP)
-High WM ignore distractors better than low WM

preservation

difficulty in task switching

episodic buffer

latest proposed addition to Baddely's model. Back up store that communicates with LTM and WM. Holds information longer/has greater capacity than phonological loop or visuospatial sketch pad

helps explain how (for example) we understand spoken language

neurophysiological basis of working memory

prefrontal cortex
-(brain damage: monkeys without a prefrontal cortex have difficulty holding information in WM. Individual neurons in healthy monkeys fire depending on stimulus position, but keep firing when stimulus is gone. This predicts performance)

frontal lobes not only WM area
-fMRI shows activity in visual cortex, which could predict which initial stimulus was cued. (harrison and tong)

Long term memory

contains information about past events/learned information (knowledge). Works closely with the other two forms of memory. Includes any information from more than 20 seconds ago. More recent=more detailed

serial position curve

distinguishes STM from LTM. shows primacy and recency effects. curvilinear shape.

to test: read stimulus list, then write down all remembered words

primacy

remember early words (perhaps due to more rehearsal)

recency

later words remembered well (maybe because they're still in STM)

Fruit and profession study

encoding in ltm. Wickens et al 1976, illustrates proactive interference when the meanings do not change, so performance declines. Release from proactive interference when last trial was a new category. Because of the shift in meaning, it is easier to remember new information because old information isn't affecting it. Also shows memory encoding involves meaning

Galileo reading study

Sachs
Participants read and later asked whether certain sentences appeared. When people didn't pick the identical one, they picked the one that meant the same thing. (semantic coding)

Patient HM/Clive Wearing

damaged hippocampus

damaged hippocampus

can't form new long term memories after injury, had intact STM so were living in present and far past

Patient KF

damaged parietal lobe

damaged parietal lobe

could form new LTM, but impaired STM (low capacity, small recency)

Double dissociation of STM and LTM

hippocampus for LTM and Parietal lobe for STM, show they are different functions, but related. (ex: hippocampus still active in STM with new stimuli)

Types of (conscious?) LTM

episodic
semantic

episodic memory

memory for personally experienced events. if it concerns you, they're autobiographical. Events unfolding in time

semantic memory

facts and knowledge, not situated in time

double dissociation between episodic and semantic memory

Brain damage evidence

Rosenbaum- KC has damaged hippocampus and cannot create new episodic memory, but semantic memory is intact

Derenzi- italian women with encephalitis has damaged temporal lobe and impaired semantic memory but can form new episodic memory

location of episodic memory

hippocampus, medial temporal lobe

location of semantic memory

temporal lobe

how episodic and semantic memory interact

semantic informs episodic ( going to a sports game- knowing the facts changed the experience)

semantic involves episodic (I know who beyonce is because I went to the concert)

effect of time on episodic and semantic memory

episodic can be lost and leave only semantic over time

semanticization of remote memories

gradually lose episodic detail (not all or none)

remember (in the remember-know procedure)

recall exact time/setting/circumstances of learning it. (episodic)

know (in the remember-know procedure)

familiar stimulus (semantic)

recall

remember as many study items without retrieval cues

related to episodic

recognition

decide if things have been presented or are new

recall and recognition

2 ways to test explicit memory after study period

recollection and familiarity

better way to divide explicit memory than recall and recognition

conscious long term memory

(explicit) we know we're remembering with episodic or semantic. (declarative)

for past, present, and imagined future

unconscious long term memory

implicit, nondeclarative. don't experience self as remembering anything, but still involves prior knowledge/experience affecting current behavior

subtypes of unconscious long term memory

procedural (skill) memory
repetition priming
classical conditioning

procedural memory

learned skills that involve movement (typing, driving, can also involve semantic like reading). Typically little memory of where/when learned. Perform procedures without being consciously aware of how to do them. Even people who can't form new explicit LTMs can still learn new skills

repetition priming

prior presentation affects performance on same/similar stimulus when represented.
alcoholics with and without amnesia study. Important repetition/familiarity priming effects in real life: tend to prefer/trust previously presented stimuli more than new

propaganda effect

more likely to rate statements read or heard before as being true even when initially presented as false

classical conditioning

initially neutral stimulus occurs with another non-neutral stimulus. Neutral stimulus becomes associated with response to non-neutral stimulus. Effected by this conditioning later, even if you do not recall it.

complexity of implicit memory

traditionally regarded as simple, but growing evidence shows it could be more complex. tested with artificial grammar. participants learn, despite not being conscious of doing so

encoding

various processes utilized in transferring information from working memory to long term memory

retrieval

various processes utilized in transferring information from long term memory to working memory

encoding process

maintenance rehearsal
elaborative rehearsal

maintenance rehearsal

simply repeating information. more effective with more repetitions

elaborative rehearsal

using meanings and generating connections to target information (chunking, for example)

levels of processing theory

how target information is encoded affects how successful transfer to LTM is

shallow processing

little attention to meaning, focus on physical features, yields poor memory.

deep processing

close attention to meaning, relate stimulus to something else. yields better memory

depth of processing study

Craik and Tulving. Various words presented at study with varied processing test with varying levels of testing like capital or lowercase, rhyming, fill in the blank. Then memory test. Deeper processing is better memory

how do we define depth of processing

some argue depth of processing has not been defined independently of memory performance

self reference effect

does word describe you = better memory

imagery

adding ________ aids encoding

organizing

_________ incoming information helps to form a framework which helps encoding and retrieval

retrieval cues

factor that affects retrieval

cued recall

cue presented to aid recall. most effective when created by self

encoding specificity principle

matching encoding and retrieval conditions. we learn information together with its context, so it helps to match. (more retrieval cues)

state dependent learning

matching internal context in study and test conditions improves performance

transfer appropriate processing

based on level of processing, not context. Deep processing for study is good when test is deep processing too.

consolidation

how does long term memory form

synaptic consolidation

occurs at synapses rapidly. causes neural record of experience

systems consolidation

involves a gradual reorganization of circuits in the brain. occurs over months/years. standard model of consolidation initially based in part on observing what happens after brain injury causing retrograde amnesia

long term potentiation

how neural record is created during synaptic consolidation. Increased neural firing after repeated stimulation due to structural changes at synapse. this is the neural mechanism of rehearsal

hippocampus (needed to form LTM)

location of systems consolidation

graded amnesia

less severe for longer times before trauma. supports idea that systems consolidation takes a long time and that more recent LTM is more fragile

stage 1 systems consolidation

strong interaction between hippocampus and various areas in cortex corresponding to aspects of current experience

stage 2 systems consolidation

reactivation (interactions are replayed)

stage 3 systems consolidation

interconnections between cortex areas grow, and hippocampus involvement reduces or disappears (?)

anterograde amnesia

can't learn new information and memories after truama

retrograde amnesia

memory loss for events prior to trauma

maybe not (hippocampus active during both recent and old events, more active for remember trials than know trials, so may just be the effect of semantization)

does the hippocampus really drop out of systems consolidation over time

good (is it because of sleep or just less interference? expectation plays a role)

sleep is _________ for consolidation

reconsolidation

LT memories are retrieved and become fragile again during this process, and they may change