Cognitive -long term memory 2024 _updated_

Basic Processes in Long-Term Memory

  • Focus on Encoding and Retrieving Information

Learning Objectives I

  • Types of Amnesia: Understanding different forms of memory impairment.

  • Declarative Memory: Knowledge of facts and events (

    • Includes both semantic and episodic memory).

  • Non-declarative Memory: Skills and conditioned responses.

  • Traditional LTM Memory Model: Overview of long-term memory components.

  • Hub and Spoke Model: Understanding the integration of memory regions in the brain.

  • Henke (2010) Model: Exploration of alternative memory configurations.

Learning Objectives II

  • Types of tests for accessing LTM: Free recall, cued recall, and recognition tests.

  • Spacing Effect: Spread out repetitions over time for better retention.

  • Elaborative Rehearsal: Linking new information to existing knowledge.

  • Levels of Processing Theory: Deep processing leads to better memory.

  • Von Restorff Effect: Distinctive items are better remembered.

  • Testing Effect: Periodic retrieval boosts memory retention.

  • Encoding Specificity Principle: Retrieval is improved when the context during encoding matches.

  • Actors' Memory Techniques: Use of dramatic techniques to enhance memory.

  • Cognitive Disorders: Understanding memory-related disorders.

  • Current Research: Insights into ongoing studies regarding long-term memory.

Fundamental Issues and Distinctions in LTM

  • Types of LTM:

    • Declarative Memory: "Knowing that".

      • Semantic Memory: Factual knowledge.

      • Episodic Memory: Events experienced personally.

    • Procedural Memory: "Knowing how" - skills and tasks.

Categorization of Memories

  • Semantic vs Episodic Examples:

    • Semantic: Knowledge-based info, e.g., general facts.

    • Episodic: Personal experiences, such as birthdays or historical events.

What is Amnesia?

  • Impairment predominantly affecting episodic memories.

Hippocampal Amnesia

  • Brenda Milner and HM's Case: Old memories intact; severe anterograde amnesia for new memories due to hippocampal damage.

  • Memory creation involves more than just the hippocampus; it's about forming new long-term storage.

Procedural Memory Exercise

  • Reflect on skills mastered and how procedural memory plays a role in execution.

Descriptive Framework for Memory

  • Encoding: Acquisition of material.

  • Storage: Formation of memory representation.

  • Retrieval: Processes for accessing memory.

LTM Access and Use

  • Implicit vs Explicit Memory Tests: Distinguishing conscious recollection from unconscious memory.

    • Types: Free recall, cued recall, recognition.

Influence of William James (1890)

  • Dualistic Memory Structure:

    • Primary memory: Immediate, aware.

    • Secondary memory: Indirect, non-conscious, and permanent.

  • Developed by Waugh & Norman into short-term and long-term models.

Traditional Memory System Model

  • Categorization into long-term memory, including components of declarative, non-declarative, episodic, and procedural memories.

Henke Memory Model

  • Differences in encoding speed for various types of memories, including episodic and procedural.

Questioning Memory Concepts

  • Differences between repetition and rehearsal in memory retention.

Encoding Processes in Long-Term Remembering

  • Attention and Repetition: Critical for effective encoding.

  • Spacing Effect: Importance of distributing study sessions vs. massed presentations.

Benefits of Spaced Repetitions

  • Recognition of superior long-term retention through spaced intervals.

Explanations for the Spacing Effect

  • Orthographic Choice and Deficient Processing View: Understanding implications of mass vs. spaced repetition on encoding.

Bahrick's Research on Retention

  • Longitudinal study on Spanish language retention and findings regarding forgetting curve and retention over time.

Factors in Spaced Repetitions

  • Study Interval (SI): Time between repeated study sessions.

  • Retention Interval (RI): Time between final study session and test.

Rehearsal Types

  • Maintenance Rehearsal: Simple repetition.

  • Elaborative Rehearsal: Connecting new info with existing knowledge.

Levels of Processing Theory

  • Memory success corresponds with the depth of processing.

    • Deep Processing = Good Encoding yields better retrieval.

Self-Reference Effect

  • Enhanced memory when relating information personally.

Experimental Insights on Ownership in Memory

  • Demonstrated that self-assigned ownership leads to better memory recall.

Fitness-Relevant Processing Research

  • Memory advantages when information has survival relevance.

Organization and Distinctiveness in Memory

  • Structured information leads to improved recall compared to unorganized stimuli.

Von Restorff Effect

  • Unique items stand out and are remembered better among similar objects.

Shortcomings in Encoding Specificity Studies

  • Emphasis on distinctive cues versus encoding conditions for retrievability.

Aging and Retrieval Challenges

  • Age increases retrieval difficulties especially when self-initiated.

Memory and Consciousness Connections

  • Distinction between remembering and knowing in memory processes.

Clinical Features of Dementia Types

  • Breakdown of features for FTD, AD, VD, and LBD.

Comparison of Dementia Types

  • Key differences between Alzheimer's and Frontotemporal degeneration.

Summary of Dementia Characteristics

  • Varied causes of dementia with subsets for managing symptoms.

Spirit of Inquiry in Memory Research

  • Inquiry into memory strategies among actors and practical applications for enhancing retention.