University of Waterloo PSYCH 207 - Chapter 6 (Memory Processes)

Levels of processing theory of memory

An alternative to the modal view of memory, proposed by Craik and Lockhart, postulating that memory depends not on a particular memory store but rather on the initial ENCODING done to the information at the time of acquisition. "Shallow" or superficial levels of processing (e.g., processing at the level of visual shape or acoustic sound) are thought to lead to less retention than "deeper" levels of processing (e.g., processing done on the meaning of the information)

EX STUDY: Asking three questions about words presented: typeface (visual, worst), rhyming (acoustic), and storywise (semantic, best)

incidental learning

Learning without trying to learn, and often without awareness that learning is occurring.

/ What is another aspect of levels of processing theory of memory? "Elab" . . . What is a key finding of this?

Elaboration - invented due to the fact that semantic recall was better for more "complex" sentence test questions --> the richer the idea, the easier the recall

KEY: This is an extension of levels of processing theory because the original theory would not have said there would be significant difference if they were simply both processed 'semantically'

What are the pros and cons of levels of processing theory of memory?

Pros - Helped to reorient the thinking of memory researchers, drawing attention to the WAY things are encoded

Cons - the "depth" of processing is not well defined, and many findings could be explained better by modal thinking

What is the schemata view of LTM?

People unintentionally introduce distortions during recall to make the material more rational and more coherent from their own point of view.

autobiographical memory . . . what makes these easier to recall?

the memory for events and facts related to one's personal life story

KEY: Easier to remember than lab stimuli

- Uses "markers" to think back to what one might have been doing at a specific date

- Studied this by attaching beepers to people where they would write down what they were doing at the moment

- KEY: Concluded with the finding that the more rare and distinct an event is, the easier it is to recall

A flashbulb memory is rooted in the ________ . . . what is another explanation for them?

Amygdala

SUPER KEY: Shows the memory enhancing effect of emotion

People are trying to root themselves in history to be able to retell stories . . . they are often faulty

Key studies on eyewitness memory:

- If you tell people the stop sign was a yield sign early in the study (after they saw it), they will report that later on

- People report recognizing sentences that are actually combinations of four previous sentences they've seen (KEY: The people have made an abstraction of the information)

recovered memories? What is a facet of this?

recollections of a past event, such as sexual abuse, that have been forgotten or repressed

- People can be lead to develop 'false memories' (KEY: when people recall 'false memories', they do so with less words) (SUPER KEY: TRUE memories have a neural signature that FALSE memories don't)

How does amnesia occur?

Results from damage to either hippocampal system (including amygdala) or to the closely related diencephalic region.

- This damage can occur because of oxygen depravation, stroke, herpes, head injury, alzheimer's, Korsakoff's syndrome (alcholism), tumors, and in the short term: ECT

What happened to ol KC?

Lost his episodic memory (especially the personal meaning of memories to him)

/ What are the 2 key features of anterograde amnesia?

Effects LTM, but NOT working memory

When they do learn something new, it is a HYPER SPECIFIC MEMORY, that is, it can only be recalled in the exact content it was encoded

What are the 4 features of retrograde amnesia?

1. Temporal extent can vary a lot

2. One can pinpoint when memory stops be looking at episodic events

3. Spares information what was 'overlearned' before onset (some insignificant semantic information is forgotten)

4. Does not affect skill learning

/ What do the properties of amnesia tell about the functions of memories? (3)

- Working memory and LTM are completely separate structures (they can be impacted independently)

- Retrograde amnesia covers a defined time span and shows a temporal gradient -> this means after being formed, new memories continue to undergo neurological change for years

- The fact that some semantic information goes and some doesn't suggests multiple systems

/ memory consolidation . . . how was this theory added onto? What is the big key to this (what does it explain)?

Over time, the need for the hippocampus to retrieve information (recall the sensory aspects of an experience) lessens, ACCOUNTING for the TEMPORAL GRADIENT

This is nuanced by the idea that if episodic memories are retrieved enough, they become semantic (family lore)

/ Cognitive economy

A feature of some semantic network models in which properties of a category that are shared by many members of a category are stored at a higher level node in the network. For example, the property "can fly" would be stored at the node for "bird" rather than at the node for "canary."

/ semantic network model (example study of this? What is the example called?)

a representation of the organizational structure of long-term memory in terms of a network of associated concepts

EX STUDY: People should be able to verify facts about a particular topic that are more specific to that topic FASTER than verifying more general factoids (up the node tree) KEY: this is called: "Hierarchical semantic network model of semantic memory"

Lexical decision tasks . . . what does this demonstrate?

A procedure in which a person is asked to decide as quickly as possible whether a particular stimulus is a word or a nonword. (related words are speedier or something)

This shows "spreading activation" the idea that excitation spreads along the connections of nodes in a (SUPER KEY:) semantic network

EX of spreading activation: When participants are given two words and have to decide whether they are words or non-words, they respond quicker if the words are semantically related (bread, butter)

How do a connectionist model work? (2)

- Must be fed training examples -> KEY: learns over time that when "canary" is activated, other nodes should be too

- The weight of certain connections increases with repetition (all of the connections start at 0.5, and gradually go closer to 0 or 1)

What are explicit and implicit memories?

explicit: memories we consciously try to remember and recall

implicit: memories that are not part of our consciousness

repetition priming . . . what is this different from? What has the research shown?

When an initial presentation of a stimulus affects the person's response to the same stimulus when it is presented later KEY: IMPLICIT MEMORY (EX: Prompted with a word, and later have to auto complete a 'corresponding' word)

STUDY EX: Above is called "word stem completion task"

Different from "semantic priming", which exposure to one word facilitates the recognition or other cognitive processing of a semantically related word

Research shows:

- Non words typically have no repetition priming relative to real words (semantic node isn't activated)

- Words that have an adjacent meaning work way better in repetition priming than ones that sound or are spelled (look) the same

/ Korsakoff's syndrome study on __________ __________ (___________)

implicit memory (priming)

Patient was delivered an electric shock, forgot it, but was later afraid of the shocking machine

How do amnestic and non-amnestic patients vary in memory tasks . . . this is sometimes called what?

Perform the same on implicit memory tasks, worse on explicit memory ones

KEY BABY!: Sometimes called "dissociative" - because performance on one task appears independent of performance on another (IMPLICIT vs. EXPLICIT)

Fun tidbit about the __________ aspect of priming repetition

implicit

These primings can last as long as a week

What two memory systems come out of dissociative phenomenon of implicit vs. explicit . . . evidence for this?

Declarative vs. procedural

Might be different brain structures/ procedures

EVIDENCE: implicit/procedural seems to only require perceptual/sensory systems, where as declarative requires 'conceptual'

Process dissociation framework . . . what is the key study here?

The idea that memory tasks typically call on a MIXTURE of AUTOMATIC and INTENTIONAL cognitive processes.

born out of a rejection of separate implicit and explicit memory systems

"FALSE FAME" experiment: One condition: People are given two lists, one of which they are told is a list of famous people, other condition: just two lists --> people in fame condition did better because the recollection had another data point attached to it (fame/non-fame)

Implicit memory has been seen as ways of determining how . . .

general knowledge is organized

multiple memory trace theory

Some memories are retrieved by the hippocampus so often they become semantic and are not impacted by retrograde amnesia (family lore)

What is an example of the ___constructive nature of memory?

Altering the text to be culturally appropriate

EX. "Dark and stormy night"

What happened to Gene?

Loss of episodic memory, semantic memory is in tact

/ Encephalitis can cause . . . ?

Loss of semantic memory, episodic memory is in tact

What does episodic memory look like in the brain?

It is drawing more on the frontal lobe, on the right side

KEY: Needs the frontal lobe because you are doing a lot of work to reconstruct what's going on

What is the typicality effect?

ability to judge highly prototypical objects more rapidly

/ Spreading activation is a theory that argues against a . . . (how would this change person to person)

hierarchy (within the web)

If you were a shark lover, you would be more quick to associate sharks with having fins

What is the advantage of distributing practice?

More unique retrieval cues