7) Memory Flashcards
(85 cards)
1
Q
What is memory?
A
Our capacity to process, retain, and retrieve
2
Q
Name some forms of memory.
A
- Visual
- Auditory
- Smell
- Motor
- Touch
- Taste
3
Q
What are the three types of memory?
A
- Sensory Memory
- Short-Term Memory
- Long-Term Memory
4
Q
In sensory memory, how long does information last?
A
From a fraction of a second to several seconds
5
Q
In short-term memory, how long does the information last?
A
Up to 30 seconds unless actively rehearsed
6
Q
“Use it or lose it” refers to which type of memory?
A
Short-term memory
7
Q
In long-term memory, how long does the information last?
A
May last indefinitely
8
Q
What is visual memory called? How long does it last?
A
- Iconic memory
- 1/4 second
9
Q
What is auditory memory called? How long does it last?
A
- Echoic memory
- 2-4 seconds
10
Q
Who proved the existence of sensory memory?
A
George Sperling
11
Q
In short-term memory, most people can retain __ pieces of information
A
7
12
Q
What did George Miller say in terms of short-term memory?
A
Magical number is 7, plus or minus 2
13
Q
If the information is difficult, how many pieces of information can we retain? What about if it is easy?
A
- Difficult: 5
- Easy: 9
14
Q
What is a problem for short-term memory?
A
Interference
15
Q
What can extend the 30-second limit of short-term memory?
A
Rehearsal
16
Q
Long-term memory is like a _______
A
vault, or kitchen drawer
17
Q
What is the key to long-term memory?
A
Retrieval
18
Q
What is flashbulb memory? Give an example.
A
- When we feel stressed, we tend to remember specific memories
- Due to more oxygen and brain chemicals
- Ex: remembering where you were during 9/11
19
Q
Define consolidation.
A
Process of converting short-term memory to long-term memory
20
Q
In consolidation, what amount of time is important?
A
24 hours
21
Q
Consolidation relies heavily on what?
A
Semantic coding
22
Q
What is semantic coding?
A
Encoding in terms of a MEANING
23
Q
What is elaborate rehearsal?
A
Adding something to words, which will help you remember the list
24
Q
What are the two types of long-term memory?
A
1) Declarative memory (explicit)
2) Non-Declarative memory (implicit)
25
Episodic memory is included in the ________ type of long-term memory
declarative
26
What is declarative memory?
- General knowledge, facts
| - Semantic networks
27
What is non-declarative memory?
Habits, skills, procedural memory, motor skills
28
What is the ripple effect? What is it related to?
- Semantic networks
| - One bit of information leads to the recall of another "related" aspect
29
Short-term memory receives items from _______ and ______
sensory memory
| LTM
30
Long-term memory receives items from ________ and stores them
short-term memory
31
Can our long-term memory be compared to a videotape?
- NO since we are constantly reconstructing the past; we are prone to errors: distorsions, omissions, and fabrications
- LTM is constructive, not a videotape
32
How do some individuals exhibit exceptional memories?
They need a system
33
What are schemas?
Our existing frameworks of knowledge and assumptions we have about people, objects and events
34
What do schemas affect? (2)
- How we store
| - How we recall
35
When we take in new information, we attach it to an existing ________
scheme
36
What is interpolated time?
- Time between when you saw the actual event, and when you had to describe it
- The longer time, the poorer the recollection
37
What did Elizabeth Loftus do?
- Showed people video of a car crash
- Asked how fast cars were going when the hit/bumped/crash/contacted each other
- Realized that how the question was asked changed the memory of the person (speed of the car)
38
What is an Engram?
- Well-established routes/pathways that leave a memory trace
- ex: faster to remember your mom's name than a classmate's from grade 6
39
Who studied long-term potentiation?
Hebb at McGill
40
What is long-term potentiation?
- Route in the brain which helps you answer things that are logical/happened recently
- The longer the route, the more difficult it is to remember
41
What is the function of the hippocampus in terms of memory?
- Stores facts (semantic memory)
- Stores life experiences (episodic memory)
- Is NOT involved in procedural memory (riding a bike, stirring coffee)
42
What is the case of Mr. H. M.?
- Had severe epilepsy --> surgical removal of the hippocampus
- Could NOT form new memories
- Could only remember things from before the surgery
43
Which side of the hippocampus is involved in the recollection of a phone number?
Left-side
44
Which side of the hippocampus is involved in the recollection of a scene?
Right-side
45
What explains why we cannot form new memories before 2-3 years old?
The hippocampus is not fully developed until 2-3 years old
46
What is the role of the amygdala in memory?
- Remembers danger (survival)
| - Responsible for the basis of phobias
47
What is the role of the pre-frontal cortex in memory?
- Mentally represents the past, present, and future
| - Can travel back in time (autobiographical memory)
48
Which structure uses the gyres to frame a memory around a big event?
Pre-frontal cortex
49
What is the effect of damage to the frontal cortex?
- Basic memories are affected (names of children)
| - Can have a delayed reaction
50
What is the role of the cerebellum in memory?
Affects memory associated with movement and motor skills
51
Why are memories distributed to different areas in the brain?
For survival, so that you don't lose all memories if you damage one part
52
The strongest, most lasting memories are fueled by what?
Emotion
53
Why do emotional memories have a stronger affect?
Emotional arousal activates the adrenal glands, which secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine (solidifes memory)
54
Emotional memories activate which structure of the brain?
Amygdala
55
Excess levels of which hormones may interfere with memory?
Stress hormones (cortisol)
56
What maintains synapses in our hippocampus?
Estrogen buildup
57
Do memory drugs work?
No
58
What is the key issue in forgetting?
Retrieval
59
No processing into long-term memory leads to ________
no stored memory
60
Give an example of the decay theory?
- Lock combination used in grade 9 is forgotten after a while
- But if you used a number for 50 years, then you’ll remember it
61
What did Herman Ebbinghaus do?
- Mapped out a forgetting curve
| - We lose most of the information right away (first hour/day)
62
How did Herman Ebbinghaus control his data?
By using non-sense syllables, which don't mean anything to anyone
63
What are the two basic forms of interference?
- Retroactive interference
| - Proactive interference
64
What is retroactive interference?
Occurs when "NEW" information affects old, previously learned information
65
What is proactive interference?
Occurs when "OLD" information (old habits) affects new
66
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What concept does the following example illustrate:
You take a new Spanish class and it interferes with last term's Italian material
```
Retroactive interference
67
Where does proactive interference take place?
Cerebellum
68
What concept does the following example illustrate:
| You have a new area code, but you keep dialling the old one
Proactive interference
69
What is the recency effect?
Remembering the most recent information
70
What is the primary effect?
Remembering the items at the beginning
71
What does the retrieval theory state?
Failure to access stored material is likely caused by encoding failure
72
What are the two types of encoding failure?
- Incorrect processing (information in the wrong place)
| - Lack of retrieval cues (can't find it)
73
What does the tip of the tongue memory indicate?
We have processed information, but we need a hint for its retrieval
74
What is amnesia? What are its two basic forms?
- Loss of memory
- Retrograde amnesia
- Anterograde amnesia
75
What is retrograde amnesia?
Loss of past events
76
What is anterograde amnesia?
- Hippocampus damage
| - Cannot form new memories
77
What explains childhood amnesia? (3)
- Pre-verbal
- No strategies
- Different brain structures
78
What are the causes of amnesia? (3)
- Drugs and alcohol
- Disease: STDs
- Head trauma: CTE (sports-related)
79
What are repressed memories?
- Unconscious (Freud = defense mechanisms)
| - Early trauma --> repressed --> affects the present
80
What are suppressed memories?
- Conscious
- Efforts to avoid an unhappy experience
- Known to the individual
81
What is the hypothesized cause of Alzheimer's disease?
Protein build up on the axon: blocks chemical transmission of impulses
82
How is Alzheimer's disease treated?
- Lack of acetylcholine
| - Drugs that increase acetylcholine
83
What are 5 ways to improve memory?
1) Acronyms
2) Acrostic
3) Visual association
4) Meaning
5) Context effect
84
What does acrostic mean?
Using a verse or saying to remember information
85
What does the U hypothesis state?
- Stress enhances memory
| - But, too much stress decreases memory
