Tilburg toelatingstoets - memory video

4-step process of memory formation

1. encoding: the brain attends to, takes in, and integrates information from the 5 senses. Attention drives the encoding process

2. consolidation: establishing, stabilising, and solidifying a memory. A consolidated memory is resistant to distraction/interference/decay. Provides time for new proteins to develop in the brain.

3. storage: the retention of memory over time; storing a memory so you can retrieve it later

4. retrieval: the recovery of information stored in memory. The ease of retrieval is determined by the previous stages

2 types of encoding

1. automatic processing: occurs with little effort and little conscious attention → experiences are automatic, so a recall of them doesn’t improve much with practice

2. effortful processing: occurs with concious effort and careful attention → rehearsal is usually required

2 ways of memory storage

1. hierarchies: ways of organising related pieces of information from the most specific to the most general features they have in common

2. (associative) network: a chain of associations between related concepts (each concept is a node, which can get activated by another related node)

3 levels of processing

levels of processing: the more deeply people encode information, the better they will recall it

3 levels:

1. structural: physical qualities of something (e.g. how a word is written, the structure of a word)

2. phonetic: sounds (e.g. what a word sounds like, if a word rhymes with another word)

3. semantic: the meaning of a word and if you can relate it to similar words (e.g. you understand how to use it in a sentence)

flashbulb memory

a detailed snapshot of what we were doing when we first heard of a major/public/emotional event (e.g. 9/11, death of Diana → people claim to remember those events very clearly, however, consistency/accuracy may not be very high)

impediments to memory formation

• distraction: devided attention & multi-tasking interfere with the first necessary steps of memory formation

• emotions: they help us remember events, but they can distort the memory → people are very confident in the accuracy, even though they’re often wrong

positive bias in autobiographical recall

when remembering about your own life, you tend to recall the pleasent times rather than the negative times

3-stage model of memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin)

1. sensory memory: holds information in its original sensory form for half a second or less (e.g. hearing a bird sing)

2. short-term memory: stores information for 2-30 seconds before it’s stored in long-term or forgotten.

   • working memory: short-term memory used in the service of a problem/action/task

3. long-term memory: stores vast amounts of information from 30 seconds up to a lifetime

   • implicit: unconcious memory, recall takes no effort (skills)

   • explicit: conscious memory, recall takes some effort (information)

Alan Baddeley’s model of working memory

central executive: master attentional system (controls working memory). it focuses/divides attention and switches between tasks

this is supported by 3 storage systems:

1. phonological loop: stores sound & language (inner ear).

   The phonological store holds info in speech-based form for 1-2 secs. The articulatory rehearsal system repeats verbal info in a loop so we remember it

2. visuospacial sketchpad: stores images & spatial relationships (inner eye)

3. episodic buffer: stores specific events and is linked with long-term memory

serial position effect

the tendency to have better recall for items in a list according to their position in the list

• primacy effect: the first pieces of information in a list are better remembered than the last pieces (long-term memory). The memory remains even with distraction

• recency effect: the last pieces of information are less well remembered than the first pieces (short-term memory). The memory disappears with distraction

2 types of implicit memory

1. procedural memory: almost any behaviour/physical skill we have learned (e.g. driving a car)

2. priming memory: arises when recall is improved by earlier exposure to the same/similar stimuli (e.g. you think of a banana when you’ve been primed with the colour yellow)

2 types of explicit memory

1. semantic memory: recalls facts/general knowledge and language (e.g. what you learn in school)

2. episodic memory: recalls events in general. autobiographical recalls events you’ve experienced yourself

long-term potentiation (Donald Hebb)

the strengthening of synaptic connections when the synaps of a neuron repeatedly fires and excites another neuron

this repeated stimulation of a group of neurons leads to formation of cell assemblies: networks of nerve celss that persist even after stimulation has stopped

reconsolidation

occurs when a memory is reactivated, which weakens the original memory (new consolidation happens because slightly different neurons are activated at each recall, resulting in a slightly different memory)

suggestibility

occurs when memories are implanted in our minds based on leading questions, comments or suggestions

• false memories: events that never happened, but were suggested by someone/something

• recovered memories: memories that are recalled later on and are based on real events or on suggestions

• misinformation effect: when the information you learn is wrong, but is incorporated into the memory as true

interference (2 types)

the disruption of a memory because other information competes

1. retroactive interference: newly acquired information interferes with the ability to recall previous information

2. proacrtive interference: previously learned information interferes with newer information

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

recall shows a steady decline over time (the more time passes, the less well we can recall information)