Chapter 7

Question 1

what is memory?

Answer 1

our ability to retain and retrieve skills and knowledge

Question 2

what are the 3 phrases of memory?

Answer 2

encoding - processing (consolidation)
storage - retention
retrieval - remembering

Question 3

what is reconsolidation?

Answer 3

every time we activate a memory, we store it again for retrieval
(stored memories may differ from original version)

Question 4

how does long term storage work?

Answer 4

results from forming new connections and strengthening connections between neurons

Question 5

what is long term potentiation?

Answer 5

strengthening of a synaptic connection, making the postsynaptic neurons more easily activated by presynaptic neurons

Question 6

what different parts of the brain are used for LTM?

Answer 6

hippocampus - encoding
medial temporal lobes - forming new memories
visual and auditory cortex - reactivated when remembering a visual or auditory memory

Question 7

what are the different types of memories?

Answer 7

sensory memory
short term memory (working memory)
long term memory

Question 8

what do STMs do?

Answer 8

hold info until it is stored or forgotten

Question 9

what is your working memory?

Answer 9

short amount of info can be stored and manipulated with working memory

Question 10

what is chunking?

Answer 10

we put together meaningful units to easily remember strings of numbers or letters
ex - phone number (xxx-xxx-xxxx)

Question 11

primacy vs recency

Answer 11

primacy - remember first part of list better
recency - remember last part of list better (working memory)

Question 12

what is maintenance rehearsal?

Answer 12

repeating over and over

Question 13

what is elaborative rehearsal?

Answer 13

encoding in meaningful ways and anaylizing it

Question 14

what is explicit memory?

Answer 14

episodic memory (autobiographal)
semantic memory (facts)

Question 15

what is implicit memory?

Answer 15

procedural memory (muscle memory)

Question 16

what is prospective memory?

Answer 16

remembering to do something

Question 17

what is amnesia?

Answer 17

can result from disease, brain injury, and psychological trauma

Question 18

what are the two types of amnesia?

Answer 18

retrograde - can’t remember before trauma/injury
anterograde - can’t remember after the trauma/injury

Question 19

what is source amnesia?

Answer 19

we know something but don’t know how we know
ex - childhood amnesia

Question 20

what is dementia?

Answer 20

deterioration of thinking, memory, and behavior
Alzheimer’s disease
-plaques form in brain
-ACh is very low
-genetic predisposition

Question 21

what is PTSD?

Answer 21

intense memories of traumatic events and easily triggered to remember them
(flashbacks)

Question 22

what can happen with PTSD?

Answer 22

some might have trouble remembering the traumatic event
other experience STM loss
some experience dissociative amnesia
those with PTSD have diminished hippocampal volume

Question 23

what is HSAM?

Answer 23

highly superior autobiographal memory
highly accurate and detailed memory for autobiographal events

Question 24

what are false memories?

Answer 24

when someone imagines event, mental images of details form
misattribute source of dream

Question 25

what is one issue with false memories?

Answer 25

eyewitness accounts might not be accurate