Cognitive Psychology Exam 2

Memory

the ability to store and retrieve information over time

When is memory active

any time some past experience has an impact on how you think or behave now or in the future

Sensory memory

Initial stage that holds all incoming information for seconds or fractions of a second​

Short-term memory

activated memory that holds a few items briefly

long-term memory

the relatively permanent storage of information

Extensive control process (memory)

Conscious

Active processes that can be controlled by the person

Strategies of attention that help you focus on specific stimuli​

Persistence of Vision

retention of the perception of light in your mind

Whole report method

participants asked to report as many as could be seen

Partial report method

Participants heard a tone that told them which row of letters to report

Delayed partial report method

Presentation of tone delayed for a fraction of a second after the letters were extinguished

iconic memory

visual sensory memory

echoic memory

auditory sensory memory

STM storage

Stores small amounts of information for a short time

What does STM storage include

both new information received from the sensory stores and information recalled from long-term memory

Duration of STM

15-20 seconds

Decay

fading away of memory over time

Digit span

How many digits a person can remember

Chunking

Small units can be combined into larger meaningful units

Sensory iconic decay

½ second

Sensory echoic decay

few seconds

Persistence of vision

Look at something at looks like its moving but its not

Change detection + chucking

Small units can be combined into larger meaningful units

working memory

active maintenance of information in short-term storage

How is WM concerned with

the storage, processing and manipulation of information, and is active during complex cognition

The Phonological Loop

a memory component that briefly holds auditory information

The phonological similarity effect

Letters or words that sound similar are confused

The word length effect

Memory for lists of words is better for short than long words​

Articulatory suppression

reduces memory because speaking interferes with rehearsal

The visuospatial sketch pad

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

Attention controller

Allows attention to be focused, divided, and switched

central executive

Pulls information from LTM and coordinates activity of other components

Perseveration

Repeatedly performing the same action or thought even if it is not achieving the desired goal

Episodic buffer

Backup store that communities with long-term and working memory

Prefrontal Cortex​

responsible for processing incoming visual and auditory information

Stokes (2015)​

Information is stored in short-term changes in neural networks.​

Activity state

Information to be remembered causes neurons to fire

Synaptic state

neuron firing stops, but connections between neurons are strengthened

activity-silent working memory

changes in connectivity which last only a few seconds

Decay of LTM

moments to decades

Serial position curve

Created by presenting a list of words to a participant, one after another

The primacy effect

tendency to remember words at the beginning of a list especially well

What memory is the primacy effect

Reherashing and storing in long term memory

The recency effect

tendency to remember words at the end of a list especially well

What kind of memory is the recency effect

Short term memory

Coding

The form in which stimuli are represented in memory

Semantic encoding

the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words

Proactive interference

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

Recognition memory

The ability to identify a previously encountered stimulus.

episodic memory

memory for one's personal past experiences

Semantic memory

memory for knowledge about the world

H.M. > surgery removed hippocampus

Retained short-term memory (STM) but unable to transfer info to long-term memory (LTM)

K.F. > accident damaged parietal lobe

STM was impaired (reduced digit span) but functional LTM was retained

Episodic memory involves mental time travel.

tied to personal experience, remembering is reliving

"self-knowing"

Semantic memory does not involve mental time travel

General knowledge, facts—"Knowing"

K.C. damaged hippocampus

No episodic memory, cannot relive any events of

his past

- Semantic memory intact, can remember general

information about the past

These episodic and semantic are interconnected by

Semantic memory will enhance episodic memory

Episodic and semantic memory work together

Distracted representation

autobiographical memory

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

Personal semantic memory

semantic memories that have personal significance

Episodic memory can be lost, leaving only the semantic

Acquiring knowledge may start as episodic but then "fade" to semantic

Familiarity: Semantic memory

Seen it before but can't really remember it

Recollection: Episodic memory

Vividness decreases over time

Semanticization of remote memories

Episodic details for memories of long-ago events may be lost

Prospective memory

remembering to do things in the future

Constructive episodic simulation hypothesis

Episodic memories are extracted and recombined to create simulations of future events

Explicit memories

conscious memories

Implicit memory

occurs when learning from experience is not accompanied by conscious remembering

Procedural (skill) memories

Remembering how to do things, Perform without consciously thinking about it

Priming

Presentation of one stimulus changes the response to another

Repetition priming

When an initial presentation of a stimulus affects the person's response to the same stimulus when it is presented later.

Propaganda effect

People are more likely to rate statements read or heard before as being true

Conditioning

Remembering associations between stimuli and reactions or actions and consequences

classical conditioning

Pair a neutral stimulus with a reflexive response

Operant (instrumental) conditioning

a learning process in which the consequences of an action determine the likelihood that it will be performed in the future

Shaping

Molding someone's behavior through punishment and reinforcement

Positive reinforcement

Adding something as a reward for a preferred behavior

negative reinforcement

Removing something as a reward for a preferred behavior

positive punishment

Adding something as a consequence to discourage a non-preferred behavior

negative punishment

Removing something as a consequence to discourage a non-preferred behavior

Encoding

Getting information into long term memory

maintenance rehearsal

Repetition but no guarantee it is going into long term memory

Shallow processing

encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words

Deep processing

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words

Visual imagery

Easier to visualize things

Self-reference effect

Associating with me

Retrieval practice effect

when you test yourself, practice retrieval

Effective studying

elaborate, generate and test, organize, take breaks, avoid illusions of learning

Encoding specificity

Best recall occurred when encoding and retrieval occurred in the same location/time

state-dependent learning

Learning is associated with a particular internal state

Transfer-appropriate processing

Memory task results improve if the type of processing used during encoding is the same as the type during retrieval

Consolidation

the process by which memories become stable in the brain

synaptic consolidation

A process of consolidation that involves structural changes at synapses that happen rapidly, over a period of minutes.

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

Enhanced firing of neurons after repeated stimulation

Systems consolidation

a consolidation process that involves the gradual reorganization of circuits within brain regions and takes place on a long time scale

Standard model

Memory retrieval depends on the hippocampus during consolidation

Reactivation

The activity between the hippocampus and the cortex during learning

retrograde amnesia

Loss of memory for events prior to the trauma

Graded amnesia

Memory for recent events is more fragile than for remote events

multiple trace model of consolidation

The idea that the hippocampus is involved in the retrieval of memories