Experimental Psychology and Memory Lecture Notes

Flashcards on Experimental Psychology, Memory Models, and False Memories

Behaviorism

Focuses on observable inputs and outputs, treating the mind as a "black box," ignoring internal cognitive processes.

Classical Conditioning

Associating an involuntary response with a stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

Associating a voluntary behavior with a consequence.

Cognition

Internal mental processes; focus of experimental psychology post-1950s+.

Information Processing Approach

Views the mind as a system that processes information including input, process, storage, and output.

Multi-Store Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin)

A model of memory with three separate components: Sensory Memory, Short-Term Memory (STM), and Long-Term Memory (LTM).

Sensory Memory

Initial stage that holds sensory information briefly.

Short-Term Memory (STM)

Limited capacity storage that holds information temporarily.

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

High-capacity storage that holds information for extended periods.

Maintenance Rehearsal

Maintains information in Short Term Memory

Elaborative Rehearsal

Leads to storage of information in Long Term Memory

Sperling (1960) Findings

Whole Report: Recall about 33% of a 9-letter display. Partial Report: Recall more than 75% of a 3-letter row.

Sperling (1960) Conclusion

Sensory memory has a large capacity but information decays rapidly.

Short-Term Memory Capacity (Miller, 1956)

Holds about 7 "things."

Chunking

A strategy to organize information to improve Short Term Memory capacity

Word Length Effect

You can hold more short words than long words in STM.

Proactive Interference

Forgetting that occurs when earlier memories interfere with the new memory.

Retroactive Interference

Forgetting that occurs when later memories interfere with the old memory.

Working Memory

A place where information for current goals and activities is held and actively processed.

Baddeley's Model of Working Memory

Multi-component system: Central Executive, Phonological Loop, Visuospatial Sketchpad, and Episodic Buffer.

Central Executive

Integrates information from other components in the episodic buffer.

Phonological Loop

Stores auditory information.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

Stores visual and spatial information.

Episodic Buffer

Component of working memory that integrates information.

Working Memory - Verbal Encoding

People commonly use verbal/acoustic encoding to remember visual objects.

Articulatory Suppression

Preventing rehearsal by requiring participants to engage in a task such as saying "la-la-la" while memorizing objects.

Serial Position Curve

In free recall, more items are recalled from the start of the list (primacy effect) and the end of the list (recency effect).

Recency Effect

Items are still in STM.

Primacy Effect

Longest rehearsal makes items more likely to be successfully stored in LTM.

Amnesia

Memory loss resulting from brain trauma, damage from alcoholism, or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of pre-trauma memories.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new memories post-trauma.

Declarative (Explicit) Memory

Memory that includes events (episodic memory) and facts (semantic memory); conscious memory.

Nondeclarative (Implicit) Memory

Memory that includes procedural memory, perceptual representation system, classical conditioning, and nonassociative learning; non-conscious memory.

Procedural Memory

"Knowing how…", motor & cognitive skills.

Explicit Tests of Memory

Free recall, cued recall, recognition.

Implicit Tests of Memory

Fragment identification, word-stem completion; assesses non-declarative memory.

Consolidation

Strengthening (synaptic & structural). Hippocampus plays a key role in consolidation and other areas in medial temporal lobe.

Episodic Memory

Specific personal experiences from a particular time and place. Involved in declarative memory.

Semantic Memory

World knowledge, object knowledge, language knowledge, and conceptual priming. Involved in declarative memory.

Grandmother Cell

A single neuron represents a specific concept.

Picture Superiority Effect

Pictures are generally better remembered than words.

Aphantasia

Poor or no mental imagery ability associated with reduced autobiographical memories.

Production Effect

Saying words aloud during a study leads to better recognition memory compared to reading silently.

Isolation Effect

Memory for an item depends on the context; distinctive (isolated) items are better remembered.

Encoding Specificity

To retrieve information, you must reinstate the conditions at encoding, memory is better if the retrieval context matches the encoding context.

Transfer-Appropriate Processing

Memory is best when you use the same processing at encoding and retrieval.

State-Dependent Learning

Memory is best when the environmental or mental context is the same at encoding and retrieval.

Familiarity

Feeling of recognition without specific details, fast, automatic, and possibly unconscious.

Recollection

Recall of specific episodic details or associations, slow, deliberate, and conscious.

False Memories

Inaccurate or fabricated memories.

Autobiographical Memories

Memories of one's own life experiences.

Source Monitoring

Placing a memory in its proper context. Source monitoring errors: Mistake or confusion about context, place, time, etc.