PSYC2050 lecture 6, 7 ,8 and 9

Long term memory is our...?

Permanent store of information

What is the difference between semantic and episodic memory?

Semantic is more fact based, (e.g do giraffes have spots?) is not orientated around an experience of yours. Episodic is based on an experience you have had (e.g how tall was the giraffe you saw at the beginning of the lecture)?

Explain the modal memory model

If you keep rehearsing information in the STM it goes to the LTM. This is not the gold standard of how memory works, because you don't HAVE to rehearse stuff for it to go to LTM.

Describe the recency and primacy effects and the distinctions between short and long term memory

Primacy effects are LTM, recency is STM.

Describe typical memory tasks, give guidelines for there implications and distinguish between implicit and explicit memory

Guidelines for their interpreting a recognition task is accuracy but also false alarms. explicit is where you are asked 'did you remember seeing that thing'. Implicit memory is where you are given a totally unrelated task that nevertheless shows priming, - accessed without a conscious search process .

What experiences can memory store?

Preservation of experience including sensations, emotions, thoughts and beliefs.

Is memory just preservation?

No, it is ACTIONABLE preservation. - need to be able to RETRIEVE as well store info.

What are the key characteristics of Semantic memory?

Non contextual (giraffes have spots), abstract, non-auto biographical, what is a giraffe, read/identify giraffe.

What are the key characteristics of episodic memory?

Context sensitive (the giraffe I saw last week on safari had spots), personal, autobiographical, did you see a giraffe at the zoo last week, did giraffe appear in the list of words I gave earlier.

What is a difference between semantic and episodic?

Semantic is the facts, episodical is how do the facts relate to an instance when I was in a context and experienced something related to those facts

Most of our cognitive activities, decisions and action plans use both _______ and ________ memory

episodic and semantic

While watching a movie; identifying objects, interperting speech and recognising situations is using what type of memory?

Semantic

While watching a movie; remembering the plots or prior actions of characters is using what type of memory?

Episodic

Implicit memory is when?

You are not trying to remember something but never the less it still gets in. You can learn information without actually paying attention to it

What is needed in a workable human memory system?

Access past experiences and knowledge that can help to deal with a current situation
A filling system that allows us to access relevant info over irrelevant
Forget similar memories that no longer apply
Doing this job efficiently during ongoing activities

What is the difference between computer memory and human memory?

1. computer memory organised by date topic date time and place wheras human organised by experiences and significance of importance
2. computer has rapid serial search of memory wheras humans have slower memory access
3. computers have information that is represted completely and accurately wheras humans only part of an experience is stored according to personel relevance

What is one important implication of human LTM?

1. Legal testimony - research has shown that there are errors when subject are identified through line-up
Memory is effortful and success depends on GOOD RETRIEVAL CUES
Suggesting to witnesses may be risky as they could recall this as a memory later - This is known as the misinformation effect

What curve shows evidence of a difference between STM and LTM?

The serial position curve

STM is also called?

WM (working memory)

Explain the serial position curve

Murdock (1962) asked Ps to remember lists of 10 - 30 words each presented singly for a second or two.
Subjects then completed a free recall test where you can say any words you remember in any order
the memory accuracy depended on the position that the word occurred in the study list
Best = items at the beginning or end
worst = items in the middle

Primacy effect refers to?

Words that occur at the beginning of a list or early on

Recency effect refers to?

Words that occur at the end of a list

Primacy effect reflects _______ of items to _______?

Transfer, LTM

Recency effect reflects items that are still located in _____?

WM (working memory)

what task can you complete to prove that recency effects are stored in WM? or how can you prove the recency and primacy effects are different?

Get subject to complete another task and see if it effect the retrieval of the recent words and early words. - dual task manipulation

When Ps are asked to count backwards from 100 in 3's at the end of a study list what happened?

The RECENCY effect was eliminated, but the PRIMACY effect was not. Subjects could still recall words from the beginning of the list!

The serial position curve shows what?

A distinction between LTM and STM

What are some points that distinguish STM and LTM?

1. STM has low capacity - Miller in the 50's proposed the magical number 7. but recent estimates show the number to be around 4
2. STM is highly sensitive to order of item presentation

How can you link STM to LTM. As in how does info go from STM to LTM?

The Modal Model: Info from environment goes from sensory memory to STM with attention. Then from STM to LTM with rehearsal. And then from LTM to STM with retrieval.

What is Key to go from STM to LTM?

Rehearsal. Rehearsal keeps material in STM, when the material is in STM for long enough it goes to LTM.

What do sensory stores do and what are some points regarding them?

Handle initial sensory analysis. It is modality specific in that you have one for vision, touch and sound. It's high capacity but materials decay quickly unless moved to short-term store.

Explain short-term store

Holds in the memory what is needed for the current action controls processes involved in rehearsal, coding (chunking), decision and retrieval stratergies

What is long term store?

Vast capacity, long term retention
Supports the short term store (Identify words, objects)

What are some criticisms of the Modal Model?

Should the sensory systems be considered 'memory' processes?
Rehearsal isn't what gets material into LTM. - see depth of processing research (imagine a car crashes through the wall, you aren't rehearsing this to remember it).
There is a more complex interplay between STM and LTM, not a simple sequential transfer of information.

What are some contributions of the Modal Model?

1. Idea that memory behaviour is due to the properties of different stores or systems (information processing) remains influential
2. Influenced the development of the most influential account of short-term memory, Baddeley and Hitch's 1974 model - see last week

What do tasks assessing LTM usually revolve around?

1. Asking Ps to study word lists and then asking Ps to remember what was in the list.
- episodic
- intentional retrieval - "explicit
2. The gold standard for memory tasks are recall and recognition

What are the steps in a standard memory experiment?

Study phase, retention interval (break for an amount of time). Then complete a recall test OR a recognition test

What is a recall test?

Say or write words from the study list

What is a recognition test?

"Was the word mouse in the study list??" Yes (old) or no (new)

What are some typical episodic memory experiments?

Many variations of: Materials (faces, words, pictures etc). Items vs Relational (Study single items vs pairs or groups). One study trial per item Vs many. Cues provide or not provided.

In recall task what is generally the key thing being measured (the DV)?

Accuracy (% of number correctly recalled)

What is free recall?

Ps produce the words in any order they wish

What is Serial recall?

Ps must produce the words IN the order they were studied

What is cue recall?

A cue is provided for each word on the study list - makes recall easier. (e.g for dingo the cue might be 'dog')

Recognition is normally semantic or episodic?

Episodic (was the stimulus presented with an old stimulus or is it a new stimulus)

Regarding recognition, what is 'single item recognition'?

Each memory item presented one at a time for OLD or NEW memory decision

What is a choice test and when is it used?

Present two items and ask the Ps which is the old item and which is the new. Used to test recognition.

Recognition is more ______ and _______ then recall

sensitive and flexible

Regarding recognition over recall are you less or more likely to detect weaker or incomplete memories? explain!

More. Imagine something is on the tip of you tongue, you know the answer but can't recall it. With recognition you would be a given a cue that reminds you of the answer.

What does % correct for old items tells us in a recognition task?

Can't say memory is good. because they could just say old to all of the items and get that percentage. This is known as response bias

What is a hit relating to SDT for recognition tasks?

When asked if ball (ball appeared in the initial list) is new of old you say it was old

What is a Miss relating to SDT for recognition tasks?

When asked if ball (ball appeared in the initial list) is new of old you say it was new

What is a False alarm relating to SDT for recognition tasks?

When asked if train (train didn't appear in the initial list) was new or old you say it old

What is a correct rejection relating to SDT for recognition tasks?

When asked if train (train didn't appear in the initial list) was new or old you say it new

If you have two groups that differ in accuracy and theres no difference in there false alarms you can do what?

Take that as good evidence

If you have two groups that have different false alarm rates, what is the difficulty with this?

Hard to determine whether this is due to response bias or actually quality of the memorisation across the two groups.

If the false alarm rates is low hits are usually?

Interpretable

Grounds in different experimental conditions can be compared on hits if their......?

FA rates are low and similar

If FA rate is not low then it must be taken into account. How can you do this?

Correct hits for FA by subtracting FA rate from Hit rate
Apply signal detection to estimate sensitivity and bias separately

Remember that recognition is a _________ task?

Discrimination

You want to be able to say this person has strong accuracy but it's not because of _________?

response bias

Studies of Brain injury and ageing show ___________ in memory depending on how it's investigated.

Large differences

Traditional episodic memory test comprise of what tests?

Ps are told to retrieve items that occurred in study phase
When Ps do the test they deliberately and intentional try to remember just this memory episode

Traditional episodic memory test are explicit or implicit?

explicit (direct)

In cases of reduced memory function (brain injury), subjects often perform ________ in explicit tests.

Very poorly

In cases of reduced memory function (brain injury), subjects may perform ________ in implicit tests.

Implicit (indirect)

Implicit (indirect tests) are test were the subject is asked to?

Identify items or 'give the first thing that comes to mind'.

Participants with brain damage or impaired memory may perform well in _______ but often poorly in ________.

implicit (indirect), explicit (direct)

Explain an implicit test.

Ps perform a study task from a list of words (animal, kitchen, drive etc). There is no mention of a memory task. Then an implicit test is a semantic memory test like the lexical decision task where three words are flashed on the screen (flurb, kitchen, blubabu) and Ps must identify the real word. Ps that completed the study task identify the seen words quicker. Other task may be: name a breifly presented word or complete the stem kit... with the first word that comes to mind

What is priming in an implicit test?

When a recently encountered word is more available or is better identified in a implicit test. Say you have prev seen the word kitchen and they show you the word cook so you remember kitchen that is priming

Implicit test are _______ tests. They _______ require _______ retrieval.

semantic, don't intentional episodic

Memory can be accessed without a conscious search process is known as?

Semantic test or an implicit test

Just because you are running an implicit test doesn't mean people are using _______?

Implicit processes

What happened when Korsakoff patient were shown multiple choice trivia questions and then used questions were put back into the pile?

The repeated question were answered better. However when asked whether that question had appeared before they weren't able to identify it was. As such EXPLICIT memory was lost but there are IMPLICIT (semantic) memory effects

What is Korsakoff's syndrome?

Have difficulty remembering information acquired after the onset of their illness and acquiring new information. - drinking to much alchohol can lead to Korsafoff's syndrome

How did Ebbinghaus study forgetting? What did he find?

He studied a series of nonsense syllables until he could recite the series perfectly twice. Then over the course of a year tested himself at different time delays. He found that 'forgetting' occured exponetially which steadily dropped of in realtion to the time delay. Thus he name it the 'forgetting curve'

What does the forgetting curve show?

Forgetting is systematic and lawful

We lose information in a systematic, non linear manner. This is demonstrated through the....?

Forgetting curve

What does decay mean?

Memory fade, or connection between them fade if not used over time

What are some problems with decay, conceptually and empirically?

1. Conceptual: It's very similar to forgetting. There is a high amount of tautology (saying the same things in different words).
2. Empirical: If you open up the brain you can't physically see decay at a neural level

What is the problem with studying decay vs interference by testing a group that slept vs not slept? Like in the study with jenkins and dallenbach.

The sleep subject show better performance but you can't say that was only due to experiencing less interference when asleep as other cognitive processes are at play when you sleep to enhance cognition, memory, consolidation and retrieval.

What plays a role in forgetting?

Decay may play a role but interference and other effects located in retrieval are MORE influential

How many broad classes of interference are there and what are they called?

Two: Proactive and retroactive

What is proactive interference?

Where old information blocks new information

What is retro-active interference?

Where new information blocks old info

Baddedely and Hitch went to a pub and questioned rugby players about the tournament they were in, what did they find?

Loss of details was not really correlated with time elapsed after the game. Interference WAS correlated with the number of games showing retroactive interference.

Forgetting has more to do with ________ then _________?

Interference then decay

What are some conceptual and practical problems associated repression of unwanted memories?

Events that are traumatic are often WELL remembered due to the effects of arousal on memory encoding.
Events from early childhood may not be well understood at the time (memories are poorly retrieved because they are fragmented and difficult to interpret).

What is one reason inhibited memories are so important to study?

Court cases often need to focus on information from traumatic events experience in childhood.

What are some points about recovering repressed memories?

It's not established whether memory repression does occur
Some techniques designed to recover repressed memories can often CREATE false memories.

How should therapist operate when trying to recovered repressed memories?

Should be very careful when engaging in repeated questioning as not to create a false memory.
They must avoid suggestions about repressed memories for possible childhood trauma and abuse

If you watched a traumatic event when you were a child but now as an adult you can remember how the event arose and think it may of happened to you this is an example of humans having difficulty with what?

SOURCE memory

Source memory can be problematic because?

The where, when, who and how of memories can be lost over time. Did you see it in a movie, book, imagine it or did someone tell you about it?

Suggestions made in questioning may later be remember as actual events because there ______ has been forgotten.

Source

What is a misinformation effect as discovered by Elizabeth Loftus?

Asking 'did the blue car turn right (when in was a green car)' can lead to subjects later thinking they saw a blue car

False memory and misinformation effects show that...?

Memory retrieval is a re-constructive process. Can't just put in a memory and pull it out, they can be changed over time.

Memory retrieval is a ________ process. And is very _______

Re-constructive process. Controversial

What important thing does attention seperate?

Separating relevant from irrelevant

What is attention and cognition all about?

Trying to make an accurate model of the world to enhance the way you behave in it

We can use tasks to study...?

Processes