Chapter 6 PSYCH 101

Memory

the ability to store and retrieve information we have learned

What are the 3 stages of memory

Sensory, Short term (+ working) and long term memory

Sensory memory

brief storage of sensory information from your environment, lasting only a few seconds before it fades or move to short term memory

What are the types of sensory memory?

Iconic, echoic, haptic, olfactory, and gustatory

Iconic memory

Visual- stores shapes colors and spatial arrangements for about 100-200 milliseconds

What lobe does iconic memory take place?

Occipital lobe

Echoic memory

Auditory- briefly holds auditory information for 2-4 secs. Allows comprehension of speech and sounds even after they have ended

What lobe does echoic memory take place?

temporal lobe

Haptic memory

Touch- stores tactile sensations such as pressure, texture or virbation for 2 secs

What lobe does haptic memory take place?

somatosensory cortex of the parietal lobe

Olfactory memory

Smell- retains smells for a few seconds. Helps in recognizing odors and linking them to experiences or environments

What lobe does the olfactory memory take place?

Primary olfactory cortex in the medial temporal lobe

Gustatory memory

Taste- briefly stores state information, allowing the brain to process flavors and detect changes in taste stimuli ( immediate sensory perception)

Where does the gustatory memory take place?

Anterior insula ( part of the temporal lobe) and the frontal operculum( inferior frontal gyrus of the frontal lobe)

Experiments by George Sperling

presented three rows of letters and asked participants to recall the letters based on the pitch of a sound

George Sperling experiment findings

As the delay between the visual stimulus and the auditory cue increased, performance decreased.

Short term memory

temporary storage system in the brain that holds a small amount of information for a brief period ( 15-30 secs), allowing it to be used or transferred to long-term memory

Chunking

Act of reducing the total number of items to be remembered by combining them into meaningful units ( chunks)

Working memory ( apart of short term)

A cognitive system that temporarily holds and actively manipulates information to perform tasks such as reasoning, learning, and decision-making.

what are the 4 components of working memory?

Central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and episodic buffer

Phonological loop

auditory information used for rehearsal

Visuospatial sketchpad

Visual information

Episodic buffer

events or episodes using both auditory and visual information

Central executive

Directs and coordinates information between subsystems, suppresses irrelevant information, and manages multitasking.

Examples of working memory

1. remembering and following a recipe while cooking

2. Doing mental math, like calculating totals while shopping

Long term memory

The next destination after STM, where it has a unlimited capacity lasting minutes to decades

Herman Ebbingnaus

studied LTM

Herman Ebbinghaus experiment

Attempted to remember hundreds of nonsense syllables. After learning the list he waited varying lengths of time then relearned the list

Findings from Herman Ebbinghaus

memory declined quickly as relearning the list took longer after lengthy delays since the first learning

What curve/ effect demonstrates the combination and separation of short term and long term memory?

The serial position curve

What are two major components of the Serial Position Curve?

Primary and Recency effect

What is the serial position curve?

The tendency to remember the first and last parts of the list

Primary Effect

improved recall for items form the beginning of the list

Which memory system does the primary effect use?

LTM

Recency Effect

The tendency to remember items at the end of a list

What memory system does the recency effect use?

STM

Why does the primary effect use LTM?

Because the start of the list receives more rehearsal and are transferred to long term memory

Why does the recency effect use STM?

Because the end of the list is still actively held in short-term/working memory.

What are the stages of memory formation?

sensory, memory, and long term memory

In memory formation, what is encoding?

Transfer of information from sensory systems to STM into a usable mental code so it can be passed to LTM

What does encoding do?

Converts raw info into (STM) usable mental code (LTM)

In memory formation, what is consolidation?

physical and neurological process of stabilizing a new memory trace after encoding

What does consolidation do?

Turns a fragile STM into a permeant LTM

In memory formation, what is retrieval?

The process of retrieving stored information from long-term memory and bringing it back into conscious short-term (working) memory for use

What does Retrieval do?

Brings back stored information from LTM to STM

Savant syndrome

A phenomenon in which a person is an exceptional genius or brilliant in one specific area (like math, music, or art) despite having an underlying neurodevelopmental condition (like autism) or a brain injury.

Examples of people with savant syndrome

Kim Paek, Solomon Shereshevsky, and Stephen Wilshire

Kim paek

memorized 9000 books

Solomon Shereshevsky

remebered long list of information, even in languages he didn’t know

Stephen Wilshire

Drew extremely detailed pics of locations he has only seen once

What is the process of memory formation

1. sensory information from the eyes, ears, nose, and hands is processed through the sensory neurons

2. Sensory neurons encode the information for short-term memory

3. Short-term memory is consolidated into long-term memory

Memory failure

Inability to retrieve, recall, or store information that was previously learned or experienced

Encoding

Initial process of transforming sensory input ( what you see, hear, touch, or feel) into a form that the brain can process, store, and later retrieve as memory

What are the key types of encoding?

visual imagery encoding, semantic encoding, and organizational encoding w

What are the three stages where memory failure occur?

Encoding failure, storage decay, and retrieval failure.

Semantic encoding

processing the meaning and context of information by connecting it to existing knowledge

Visual ( structural) Encoding

processing the physical appearance or visual features of information

Example of visual encoding

remembering what a word looks like or the color of a car

Organizational encoding

Categorizing information according to the relationships among a series of items

Memory recall

Cognitive process of accessing and bringing stored information from LTM back into conscious awareness

Context dependent retrieval

information is easier to recall when you are in the same physical enviroment or context where you orignally learned/encoded it

How does context dependent retrieval work?

External cues from your surroundings ( ex: background sounds, lighting, smells etc.) become unconsciously linked to the target memory

Example of context dependent retrieval

Studying in the exact classroom where you will take an exam often leads to better recall than studying in a noisy coffee shop.

State-dependent retrieval or learning

Information is easier to recall when you are in the same physiological or psychological state (internal state) as you were during encoding.

How does state dependent retrieval or learning work?

Internal bodily states (e.g., mood, alertness, caffeine levels, stress levels) act as internal retrieval cues.

What is a psychological state example of state-dependent retrieval or learning?

If you study for an exam after drinking two cups of coffee, you will likely perform better if you are in a similarly caffeinated state during the exam.

What is an emotional/mood-state example of state-dependent retrieval or learning?

When you are feeling sad, you tend to recall sad memories; when happy, you easily recall positive experiences.

Encoding Failure

Information was never entered into LTM properly.

What causes encoding failure?

Can be caused by a lack of attention, distraction, or superficial processing

Storage Decay

physical memory trace ( engram) fades over time if is not accessed or reinforced periodically.

Retrieval Failure

Memory exists in storage, but you are temporarily unable to access or locate it

What phenomenon is associated with retrieval failure?

Tip of the tongue

What causes Retrieval Failure?

Lack of effective retrieval cues or interference

What are the common types of memory failure?

Interference and Amnesia

What are the two types of Interference?

Proactive and Retroactive

Proactive Interference

older memories prevent or disrupt the recall of new information

What is an example of proactive interference?

Calling a new partner by an ex’s name

Retroactive interference

New information disrupts the recall of older memories

what is an example of retroactive interference

difficulty remembering your old phone number after getting a new one

Amnesia

severe impairment of memory

What are the two types of Amnesia?

Retrograde and anterograde

Retrograde Amnesia

inability to recall events that occurred before a specific brain trauma or onset of illness

Example of retrograde amnesia

not recalling stuff after having a concussion

Anterograde Amnesia

ability to form new long-term memories following trauma or brain damage

example of Anterograde Amnesia

H.M

Who is Patient H.M?

A man who had severe epilepsy and had portions of his temporal lobe removed to prevent it.

What happened after H.M surgery?

Unable to transfer information from STM to LTM( once information from STM was gone it was gone forever)

What could H.M do?

Repeat numbers and words. Hold normal conversations and IQ was not impaired

What type of memory couldn’t H.M. form?

LTM

What portions of H.M brain were removed?

Medial temporal lobes surrounding both hemispheres, including the hippocampus

what did removing the hippocampus show?

Removal cause anterograde amnesia- suggesting its importance in the formation of new LTM

Was H.M. able to form any new memories for events?

No

Could H.M improve performance on some task?

Yes- Implicit memory

Non-declarative memory ( Implicit/procedural memory)

Memory for perceptual or motor procedures that can be demonstrated by performance

What does Implicit memory allow you to do?

Carry out tasks, form habits, and recall skills without deliberate conscious effort.

What are three types of Implicit memory?

Priming, skill learning and Classical conditioning

Priming

Exposure to one stimulus influences your response to a subsequent stimulus without conscious awarness

Example of priming

being more likely to complete the word stem "TAB___" as "TABLE" after recently seeing the word "table"

Skill learning

Gradual improvement in performance on a complex task through practice and repetition without needing to consciously recall every individual movement or rule

Example of Skill learning

Knowing how to ride a bicycle