Memory - IB Psych SL

Semantic Memory

Factual knowledge that you have. 

Episodic Memory

Autobiographical memories - events or experiences.

Spatial Memory

Mental maps or outlines of physical spaces or locations.

Procedural Memory

Memories of how to do something, habits that we have.

Facial Recognition

The ability to recall and recognize faces

Prosopagnosia

The disability which is the result of damage to the fusiform gyrus, which results in an inability to recognize faces (face blindness).

Sensory Buffer

This is a temporary store holding information from the environment very briefly in the form in which it is received - that is, visual, auditory, tactile or olfactory. Information needs to receive attention if it is going to begin the process of being transferred to long term memory.

Short-Term Memory (STM)

This is a store with limited capacity and duration. Information enters STM from the sensory buffer if attention is paid to the stimuli. If the information in STM is rehearsed, then it moves to long-term memory. If new that information is not rehearsed - or if more information disrupts rehearsal -  then the information in the store may be displaced and lost. In addition, when we recall something it is retrieved from LTM and enters our STM so that decisions can be made and problems can be solved.

• Duration: 0-18 seconds

  • Hindered by distraction

• Capacity: 7 +/- 2 items

  • Chunking

  • Rehearsal

• Encoding: mainly auditory

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

Is where memory is stored after it has been rehearsed while in STM. LTM is of unlimited capacity and duration.

Although this model may seem rather simple, it was an important step forward in the study of memory.  The conceptualization of memory into components allowed researchers to study specific aspects of memory and gave them a common vocabulary for discussing memory.  In addition, it led to research to support the idea that memory is stored in different places in the brain.

• Rehearsal moves items from STM to LTM

• Duration: Can last a lifetime 

• Capacity: unlimited 

• Retrieval – brings information from LTM back to STM

Sensory Memory

• Duration: ¼ to ½ second

• Capacity: all sensory experience (unlimited capacity)

• Encoding: sense specific (e.g. different stores for each sense)

• Attention must be paid to sensory information for it to be moved into STM

Working Memory Model (WMM)

• Designed by Baddeley & Hitch (1974)

• WMM focused solely on STM

  • Believed that short term memory is made up of several different stores.

  • LTM is a passive store that holds previously learned material for use by the STM when needed.

Central Executive

• Key component

• Directs attention to tasks

• Allocates information to the sub-systems

• Deals with problem-solving

• Has a limited capacity

Phonological Loop

• Limited capacity

• Deals with auditory information and language – both written and spoken. 

• Baddeley (1986) further subdivided it into

  • Phonological store: holds words heard (inner ear)

  • Articulatory control process: holds words seen or heard and silently repeated (inner voice)

Phonological Store

Holds words heard (inner ear)

Articulatory Control Process

Holds words seen or heard and silently repeated (inner voice)

Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

• Visual and/or spatial information is stored here,

• Visual = what things look like

  • Iconic memory

• Spatial – relationships between things

  • e.g. how to get from here to the library

• Limited capacity

• Logie proposed that there are two components of the visuospacial sketchpad:

  • The visual cache, which stores information about form and color

  • The inner scribe, which processes spatial and movement information and then transfers the information to the central executive.

The Visual Cache

• Stores information about form and color

The Inner Scribe

• processes spatial and movement information and then transfers the information to the central executive.

Episodic Buffer

• Links information across all domains to form integral units of visual, spatial, and verbal information

• Also provides time sequencing, such as the memory of a story, event, or movie scene.

Word-Length Effect

• It seems that the phonological loop holds the amount of information that a person can say in 1.5-2 seconds

  • Baddeley et al. (1975)

  • This makes it hard to remember a list of long words (e.g. representative) as compared to shorter words (e.g. harm), therefore inhibiting rehearsal of longer words.

Schema Theory

• One of many theories regarding knowledge organization

• Main idea: new encounters in the world are rarely, if ever, actually new

  • The way we process information at any given moment, or the way we act in a specific setting, is determined to a specific extent based on previous knowledge we have stored in our memory and organized into schemas.

• As active processors of information, humans integrate new information with existing, stored information.  

• Schema theory therefore predicts that what we already know will influence the outcome of information processing.

• In other words, new information is processed in the light of existing schema – schema can affect our cognitive processes.

Schema

A concept or framework, built up from experience, about an object, event, person or group. Schemata influence the way we interpret, organize, communicate, and remember information.

Scripts

• schemas which provide information about the sequence of events that occur in a (more-or-less) unchanging order in particular contexts.

Self-Schemas

• organization of information we have about ourselves

  • Ex: information stored in our memory regarding our own strengths and weaknesses and how we feel about them

Social Schemas

• Social schemas: represent information about groups of people. 

  • Americans, Egyptians, women, lawyers

  • Stereotypes

Physiology

•   branch of biology that deals with the normal functions of living organisms and their parts.

• In psychology, we will look at a few physiological aspects of behavior:

  • Brain anatomy

  • Neurotransmission

  • Hormones

The Hippocampus

• Part of the Limbic System

• This part of the brain is important for learning and memory

• Aids in converting short term memory to more permanent memory, 

• Aids in recalling spatial relationships

Localization of Function

• The idea that different parts of the brain (locations) have specific tasks (functions) for which they are responsible.

• Amnesia case studies

  • Milner (HM)

  • Clive Wearing

  • Squire et al. (1992) (EP case study)

Neuroplasticity

• The changes in neural pathways and synapses due to changes in behaviour, environment, thinking, emotions, as well as changes resulting from bodily injury.

The Nervous System

• The nervous system is composed of neurons (nerve cells) and consists of  two parts:

  • Central Nervous System – Brain and Spinal Cord

  • Peripheral Nervous System – the nerves outside the CNS

Central Nervous System

Brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System

Nerves outside Central Nervous System

Peripheral Nervous System is divided into 2 parts-

Somatic and Autonomic Nervous Systems

Somatic Nervous System

• Controls muscles for voluntary movement 

• Running, Writing

Autonomic Nervous System

• Controls organs and muscles responsible for involuntary movement 

• Blinking, Swallowing (Reflexes)

The Autonomic System is divided into 2 parts-

The Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems

Sympathetic Nervous System

• Conserving energy due to stressor

• fight or flight

Parasympathetic Nervous System

• Using energy to function normally

• rest and digest

Neurotransmission

The process by which neurons communicate with one another via neurotransmitters.

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that are released into the synapse between neurons. 

• These chemicals bind to specific receptor sites to trigger action within the next neuron.

• Once the dendrites of the receiving neuron have been triggered (called action potential), the neurotransmitters are removed from the synapse via one of two processes:

  • Reuptake

  • Enzyme breakdown

    • “Ace” enzymes

Neurotransmitters (or drugs) that occupy receptor sites can be-

Excitory or Inhibitory

Excitory Neurotransmitters

Prompt the neuron to fire, helping it reach the threshold of action potential

• Agonist

Agonist

A substance that mimics the actions of a neurotransmitter or hormone to produce a response when it binds to a specific receptor in the brain.

Inhibitory Neurotransmitter

They prevent the neuron from firing

• Antagonist

Antagonist

Drugs or substances which bind to receptor sites and block the binding of neurotransmitters, which reduces the effect of the neurotransmitter.

Acetylcholine (ACh)

• Excitatory neurotransmitter 

• Acetylcholine (Ach) – affects muscle contraction, plays a role in the development of memory in the hippocampus.

  • Deficit of ACh correlates with the presence of Alzheimer’s Disease

• Drugs that affect how Ach works (within muscle cells)

  • Black widow venom 

    • Excitatory

  • Curare

    • Inhibitory

GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid)

• Inhibitory neurotransmitter

  • “Brakes” of the brain 

  • Lowers the activity of neural cells in the brain and central nervous system, having the effect of moving the brain and the body into lower gear

  • Facilitates sleep, reduces mental and physical stress, lowers anxiety, and creates a calmness of mood

  • Plays a key role in memory formation

    • Inhibits neural activity both in the hippocampus and in the frontal lobe

    • This inhibition allows us to increase our cognitive load - that is, how we are able to use our working memory

    • When GABA levels are low, intrusive thoughts may make it difficult for us to concentrate and lay down new memories

Flashbulb Memory

• A vivid and detailed memory of highly emotional events that appear to be recorded in the brain, as though with the help of a camera’s flash.

• Identified by Brown & Kulik (1977) after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Importance-Driven Model of Flashbulb Memory

This model emphasizes that personal consequences determine intensity of emotional reactions.

Effects of Culture on Memory

• The culture in which people live and/or grows up can affect their memory.

• Factors such as education, socioeconomic status, lifestyle choices (e.g. urban vs. rural), and cultural norms can all affect both what and how we remember things. 

• Culture can affect our schematic expectations, making us notice and/or create specific schema based on certain cultural norms.

Reconstructive Memory

• Relied upon heavily in the criminal justice system, but  can be incredibly inaccurate.

• The Innocence Project helps people prove their innocence using DNA evidence.  Most of these people were convicted due largely to eye-witness testimony.

• Additionally, the psychodynamic branch of psychology has been found to have implanted false memories in patients accidentally, leading to significant changes in questioning procedures within therapy.