2.5 Storing Memories

Memory Types and Storage

  • Comparisons of Memory Stores

    • Sensory Memory

    • Duration: Very brief (a few seconds or less)

    • Capacity: Large, but fleeting

    • Content: Raw sensory data (e.g., sights, sounds)

    • Short-Term Memory

    • Duration: Limited (about 20-30 seconds)

    • Capacity: Limited (7±2 items)

    • Content: Information we are currently aware of and processing

    • Working Memory

    • Duration: Varies based on task

    • Capacity: Limited (varies with cognitive load)

    • Content: Information actively being manipulated for cognitive tasks

    • Long-Term Memory

    • Duration: Potentially lifelong

    • Capacity: Unlimited

    • Content: Stored knowledge, experiences, skills

Memory Processing Types

  • Automatic Memory Processing

    • Implicit Memories (Nondeclarative)
    • Without conscious recall
    • Processed in cerebellum and basal ganglia
    • Examples:
      • Space, time, frequency (e.g., where you ate dinner yesterday)
      • Motor and cognitive skills (e.g., riding a bike)
      • Classical conditioning (e.g., reaction to dentist's office)

  • Effortful Memory Processing

    • Explicit Memories (Declarative)
    • With conscious recall
    • Processed in hippocampus and frontal lobes
    • Types:
      • Semantic Memory: Facts and general knowledge (e.g., module's concepts)
      • Episodic Memory: Personally experienced events (e.g., family holidays)

Techniques for Prolonging Storage

  • Rehearsal
    • Maintenance Rehearsal: Repeating information over time
    • Elaborative Rehearsal: Rehearsing information in ways that promote meaning; using aids like mnemonic devices

Superior Memory Storage

  • Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory
    • Suggests biological components
    • Case studies show larger temporal lobe and caudate nucleus; findings not definitive
    • Autobiographical Memory: A collection of episodic memories, acting as a “highlight reel” of one’s life

Flashbulb Memories

  • Flashbulb Memories
    • Mental snapshots of exciting or shocking events
    • Stress activates the amygdala, enhancing memory formation
    • Emotional responses increase the strength of memory recall

Memory Impairments and Limitations

  • Amnesia
    • Anterograde Amnesia: Inability to form new memories (Notable cases: Clive Wearing and H.M.)
    • Retrograde Amnesia: Inability to retrieve memories of the past

Alzheimer's Disease

  • Characteristics
    • Neurodegenerative disease leading to decay and death of neurons
    • Brain size may appear to shrink; clusters of misfolded proteins present
    • Uncertainty about whether these proteins are the cause or the brain's response to disease

Infantile Amnesia

  • Definition
    • Inability to remember episodic experiences from the first few years of life (generally ages 0-3)
    • Why does this occur? Brain structures, especially the hippocampus, need maturity; encoding memories requires language capability not developed yet

Sample Questions for Review

  1. Independent Variable in Memory Study:

    • a. Activation in the frontal lobes
    • b. Activation in the hippocampus
    • c. Activation in the cerebellum
    • d. Activation in the occipital lobes

  2. Example of Flashbulb Memory:

    • a. Bright sunrise memory
    • b. Teacher emphasized correlation
    • c. Emotional memory of father’s return
    • d. Teacher’s name recall

  3. Type of Memory with Lifespan:

    • a. Sensory memory
    • b. Long-term memory
    • c. Short-term memory
    • d. Working memory

  4. Interpreting Sleep and Memory Study:

    • a. Low likelihood sleep's effect is chance
    • b. High likelihood sleep's effect is chance
    • c. Low likelihood sleep’s effect on episodic memory is chance
    • d. High likelihood sleep's effect on implicit memory is chance