Encoding

Cog Exam 2

Encoding

creating a mental representation for a stimulus

How is encoding measured?

giving odd questions with word answers; study phase, delay, test

What processes support memory encoding? (2)

mental imagery and deep processing

Mental imagery

hypothetical image of word pictured in brain

What type of words are easier to remember?

concrete, rare

Why are concrete words encoded easier?

encoded both visually and verbally, not just verbally

Depth of Processing

range of shallow to deep

Why are deeply processed things remembered more?

they’ve been semanticly processed

What are examples of shallow processing?

alphabetical and case

What are examples of deep processing?

size and animacy

How was depth of processing tested?

• task judging items of animacy or alphabet, then recognizing and deciding old or new words

• animacy remembered more than alphabet

What are the two failures of memory?

1. failure to encode stimulus

2. failure to retrieve stimulus

Who were the subjects for failure of memory?

amnesic patients

How were failures of memory studied? (experimental method)

non-invasive neuroimaging while they studied the stimuli, compared based on later remembered/forgotten

Hippocampus does what related to context?

something to associate source with the item

Levels of Processing Framework

stimuli are processed to different depths

What are typically the clearest memories?

emotional events

What’s the problem with emotion and memory processing?

memories can be emotional and repeated (practiced)

Consolidation

memory is encoded/further processed as we think about an experience

What are characteristics of flashbulb memories?

complete, accurate, immune to forgetting

Flashbulb Memories

richly detailed memories encoded when something emotionally intense happens

What are typically results of flashbulb memory questionnaires?

confident, imperfectly accurate

How are flashbulb memories related to emotion?

good evidence that emotionality of an event affects how memorable it is

Adaptive Processing

circumstances and survivability impact how we remember things

Survival processing is what kind of memory?

semantic

What doesn’t improve memory encoding? (2)

1. intention to learn

2. sheer repetition

What experiment proved that repetition doesn’t improve encoding?

trying to remember details of a penny

prior knowledge… (3)

• reduces what you have to remember

• guides which details need attention

• makes unusual things stand out

What did the list of letters as well-known acronyms show?

semantic value in a group reduces what we have to remember (4 groups vs 13 letters)

What does encoding content depend on?

what’s already in long-term memory

why should we think about meaning in encoding?

semantics are most likely needed for retrieval

why is context-dependence so weak?

we don’t relate the environment to the to-be remembered item