Psychology Exam 2

Encoding

the processing of information into the memory system

Acquisition

the process of placing information into LTM

Storage

the retention of recorded information over time

Retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

Model of Memory

sensory memory, working memory (short term), long term memory

Sensory memory

visual and auditory memories maintained here long enough to ensure a continuous sensory experience

Sperling: Sensory Memory Experiment

(Grid of letters) sensory memory is good when working with a short amount of time

Working memory (short term)

holds info for 20-30 sec, 7 things (+-2)

Chunking

reduces info into meaningful units that are easier to remember

Chunks

hypothetical storage units in the working memory

Digit-span task

task often used to measure the capacity of working memory (repeat back numbers)

Free recall procedure

a method for testing what research Ps remember (what happened yesterday)

Phonological loop

encodes auditory info

Phonological similarity effect

harder to remember set of words that are phonologically similar (cone, coat, core, cove)

Ear worm (brain worm)

fragment of a song stuck in head (exploited by companies in the form of jingles)

Visuospatial sketchpad

encodes visual info

Shepard and Metzler: mental rotation task

same or different shape, boundary extension

Boundary extension

tendency to misremember more of a scene than what was actually viewed (cat on stairs)

Central executive

controls the deployment of attention, coordinates actions of A and B, retrieves from LTM as needed

Long term memory

the potentially indefinite storage of all memories

Von Restorff effect

the tendency to remember stimuli that are distinctive from other stimuli

Operation span

a measure of the working memory's capacity (modern replacement for digit-span task)

Working-memory system

a system of mental resources used for holding info in an easily accessible form

Articulatory rehearsal loop

a short-term memory system that enables a person to remember short strings of words by rehearsing them repeatedly in their head

Subvocalization

silently speaking without making a sound

Phonological buffer

A passive storage system used for holding a representation (internal echo) of recently heard or produced sounds.

Concurrent articulation task

speaking or miming of sounds while doing other tasks (counting while dancing)

Primacy effect

people have good memory at the beginning of a list

Recency effect

people have good memory at the end of a list

Serial position

the relationship between where an input was presented and if it was recalled (typically u shaped)

Memory rehearsal

any mental activity that has the effect of maintaining info in the working memory (maintenance and relational)

Maintenance rehearsal

a mechanical process in which items are continually cycled through working memory, merely repeating them over and over

Relational (elaborative) rehearsal

the process in actively relating new info to knowledge that is already in memory

Shallow processing

a mode of thinking about material which one pays attention only to appearance or other superficial aspects of the material, leads to poor memory retention

Deep processing

a mode of thinking where one pays attention to the meaning and implications of the material, leads to good memory retention

Level of processing

the assessment of how deeply new materials have been engaged

Craik and Tulving: word judgements (remembering a word)

visual (is it written in uppercase), rhyme, semantic (is it something you can wear), more people able to recall the word when remembered semantically

Stein: continuation of sentences

stronger students made more specified answers

Intentional learning

the acquisition of memories in a setting in which people know that their memory for the info will be tested later

Incidental learning

learning that takes place in the absence of any intention to learn and of any expectation of a memory test

Strategies for memorizing

organization, superimposed meaningful structure

Organization

categorizing info according to the relations among a series of items (hot drinks vs cold drinks)

Mnemonics

used to aid memory via organization (ROYGBIV)

Verbal mediator

making an association between 2 ideas (hippocampus=hippo on campus)

Peg-word

linking words with numbers (one is a bun, two is a shoe)

Method of loci

based on places and images (floor layout)

Retrieval paths

connections that can lead to sought after memory in long term storage

Context dependent learning

info is better remembered if you return to the area you remembered it

Context reinstatement

occurs when reinstatement of an environmental context triggers past memories related to that particular environment

Encoding specificity

memory retrieval is improved when the encoding context is the same as retrieval context

State dependent memory

easier to recall unpleasant memories when sad, easier to remember pleasant memories when happy

Weissenborn: state dependent effects of alcohol on explicit memory

Ps intoxicated at time of encoding recalled more information when intoxicated at time of retrieval

Godden and Baddeley: state dependent memory with scuba divers

better recall when learning and test conditions match

Schema

structures in LTM that help us perceive, organize, process and use info

Bransford and Johnson: complex sentence

(read out confusing sentence, the were shown the picture to go with it), much easier to encode something when it is guided by a schema

Nodes

an individual unit within an associative network

Spreading activation

a process through which activation travels from one node to another via association links

Lexical-decision task

a test in which participants are shown strings of letters and must indicate as quickly as possible whether each string of letters in a word is in their language

Associative links

functional connections that are hypothesized to link nodes within a mental network

Subthreshold activation

activation levels below the response threshold

Summation

the addition of 2 or more inputs so that the effect of the combined inputs are greater than the effect of any one input itself

DRM errors

tendency to falsely remember hearing a word semantically related to those presented

Semantic priming

a process in which activation of an idea in memory causes activation to spread to other areas related to the first in meaning

Retrieval cue

any stimulus that helps you access a memory

Meyer and Schvanevelt: recognizing pairs of words

Ps faster to decide both strings were words when semantically related (salt and pepper = fast, salt and purple = slow)

Explicit Memory

occurs when people consciously or intentionally retrieve past experiences

Semantic memory

facts and general knowledge

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

occurs when a person temporarily has trouble retrieving the right word

Episodic memory

personally experienced events

Source memory

knowing the source of your knowledge

Familiarity

the subjective feeling that you've encountered something before

Different brain activation regions for remembering and familiarity

remember = hippocampus, familiar = anterior parahippocampus

Direct memory testing

a form of memory testing where one is asked to explicitly remember some previous event

Recall

the task of memory retrieval where one must come up with the desired materials

Recognition

the task of memory retrieval where one has to decide if they have encountered a certain material or not

Attribution

the step of explaining a feeling or event

Implicit memory

consists of memories about which we have no conscious awareness

Equipotentiality

memory distributed throughout the brain, rather than confined to one specific location

Consolidation

process through which immediate memories become lasting memories in changing neural connections (hippocampus)

Damage to frontal lobe

have difficulty with tasks associated with working memory

Word-stem completion

a task in which Ps are given the beginning letters of a word and must complete it

Procedural

memories of how to do things automatically as a result of practice (tying shoe)

Clive Wearing

7 sec memory, severe damage to hippocampus, unable to form new episodic memories

Jacoby: false fame study

Ps likely to indicate several of the unfamiliar names from time 1 belonged to famous people

Jacoby and Hollingshead: incorrectly spelt words

reading incorrectly spelt words increases the likelihood that Ps will make the same mistake

Jacoby: noises

for familiar sentences Ps believed noise was softer, and believed unfamiliar noise was louder (noise was the same volume)

Processing pathway

sequence of nodes and the connections between them

Processing fluency

the speed or ease of processing involved in recognizing or thinking about a stimulus or idea

Damage to amygdala

able to form explicit but not implicit memories

Indirect memory testing

memory testing in which Ps are not told their memories are being tested

Illusion of truth

an effect of implicit memory where claims that are familiar are more plausible

Source confusion

memory error in which one misremembers where a bit of info was learned

Temporal lobe

immediate memories become lasting through consolidation

Amygdala

critical to formation of memories for fearful events

Associative deficit hypothesis

older adults have deficiency in creating and retrieving links between single units of info

Retrograde amnesia

inability to recall info acquired before a particular date (thalamus and hypothalamus)

Anterograde amnesia

inability to form new explicit memories

Korsakoff's syndrome

damage to specific regions of the brain that cause dense anterograde amnesia (common in long term alcoholics)

Alzheimer's disease

most frequent cause of dementia, risk is 42% for 85+, not certain of cause, symptoms include decline in semantic memory, repeated asking questions, reduced synthesis of ACh

Brewer and Tyrens: memory in office

(Ps waited 35 sec in office, taken out and told study was about memory), 9 in 30 falsely remembered a shelf of books, DRM error