Chapter 7-1 Flashcards
Conscious and unconscious memories
H.M. received brain surgery to control epilepsy
Korsakoff’s syndrome patients are also profoundly amnesic
H.M. and Korsakoff’s patients have “unconscious” memories
“Which of these do you prefer” vs “Which of these do you remember?”
Must be different types of memory
Conscious and unconscious memories
In mirror-drawing task, participants must draw precisely drawn shape
Performance is usually poor at first
Learning as preparation for retrieval
slide 8
Learning as preparation for retrieval
Different ways to retrieve information from memory
Learning connects new material with existing memory – discussed in Ch 6
These retrieval paths help us learn new material
Godden and Baddeley
context-dependent learning is dependent on the state one is in during acquisition.
Context-dependent learning
slide 11, 12, 13
Context-dependent learning
Smith (1979)
Conditions:
Same room
Different room
imagine
Results:
Similar performance for the same room and imagine
Context reinstatement!
Context-dependent learning
Context reinstatement, or re-creating the context present during learning, improves memory performance
Encoding Specificity
refers to remembering something within a specific context
We learn the material and also a record of the connections established during learning
This affects the meaning
Barclay et al. (1974)
“The man ______ the piano”
Different cues will trigger “piano” – “something heavy” vs “something with a nice sound”
Remembering
Re-creates an earlier experience
Emotions and Encoding
Mood congruence
Mood-dependent memory principle
Mood congruence
A person tends to remember information that is consistent with their particular mood
Mood-dependent memory principle
Memory is better if retrieval mood matches encoding mood
Relates back to encoding specificity principle
Memory Network
Spreading activation travels from one node to another in a network, via the associative links
Similar to neurons
Input sums to reach a threshold, causing firing.
Spreading Activation
Spreading activation travels from one activated node to another in a network via the associative links
A node’s activation level increases with increasing input from neighboring nodes
The node fires if the response threshold is reached
Activates neighboring nodes
Draws attention to firing node
Spreading activation
Activation levels below the response threshold (subthreshold activation) can play an important role
Can “add” subthreshold inputs (summation) and bring node to threshold
Recently partially fired node can fire with weak input
Neurons, a network of detectors in object recognition, feature nets, etc
Spreading activation - As each node becomes activated and fires, it activates further nodes
Retrieval cues
Network suggests an explanation for why hints help us remember
Recall
Individual generates the memory after being given a broad cue
Example: “What was the name of the restaurant that we went to?”
Requires memory search
Depends heavily on memory connections
Another way to test memory
Recognition
Decide if an item is the right one
“Is this the name of the restaurant?”
Source memory
refers to recalling source of learned info
“Yes, I saw this word at x place”
In other cases, recognition responses are based on feelings of familiarity
“This feels familiar, so I must have seen it recently.”
Familiarity and source memory
are independent
“I know I’ve heard this song because it feels familiar and I remember where I heard it” <-familiarity AND SM
“The person seems familiar, but I don’t know from where…” <-just familiarity
Inverse example: Capgras syndrome, in which loved ones are recognized without a sense of familiarity
So are these two kinds of memory different?
Source memory and familiarity are distinguishable neuroanatomically
So are these two kinds of memory different?
Participants were asked to judge whether a particular item was encountered (“remember”) or if they had a broad feeling of familiarity (“know”).
Activation during familiarity/source memory tasks
