Chapter 7: Memory

Question 1

memory

Answer 1

the ability to store and use information

Question 2

What discovery led change to beliefs in memory? (Henry Moliason or H.M case)

Answer 2

Initially believed to be one thing. Adult in car accident suffered brain damage and lost ability to get new memories although his previous memories were intact, so he always lived in the present. Led to understand there are different types of memories

(able to survive due to hippocampus being removed by doctors, which processes short term memories. other areas of brain handle sensory and long term memories)

Question 3

What are and what is, the three stage model of memory?

Answer 3

Sensory, short-term, and long-term memory. Some memories last longer than others

Question 4

sensory memory

Answer 4

holds information in its original sensory form for a very brief period of time, usually about half a second or less.

Question 5

short-term memory

Answer 5

the part of memory that temporarily (for 2 to 30 seconds) stores a limited amount of information before it is either transferred to long-term storage or forgotten.

Question 6

long-term memory

Answer 6

the part of memory that has the capacity to store a vast amount of information for as little as 30 seconds and as long as a lifetime.

Question 7

Sensory memory has what two kinds of memories?

Answer 7

(icon greek word for ‘image’) Iconic memory - a brief visual record left on the retina of the eye.

echoic memory - short term retention of sounds

Question 8

An example of iconic sensory memory being proven?

Answer 8

“5 4 7 1 flashes at screen for 30 milliseconds. followed by 4 digits, nobody can remember the other numbers. if followed by a blank screen, every 1 remembers. Shows that sensory memory traces are preserved for very, very short periods of time and are very fragile.

Question 9

An example of echoic sensory memory?

Answer 9

short term retention of sounds is proven when a person suddenly comes up to you and asks you a question. You say ‘what’, then answer it. You didn’t process the situation question immediately, took several seconds (4 seconds, the duration of echoic memory) and you hear the question in your head.

Question 10

What is the capacity of Short term memory capacity?

Answer 10

STC is the number of items that can be held in short term memory (like a phone number)

7 times of information plus or minus 2. 7 usually being the maximum

(ex: type digits over and over while increasing in numbers, you get it right first two tries but make efforts continuously)

Question 11

What is chunking and how is related to STC (short term memory capacity)?

Answer 11

A method used to break down a list of items into a smaller set of meaningful units (social security, 1888888 to 188-88-888)

Question 12

What is selective attention and give an example?

Answer 12

Selective attention - or the ability to focus on only one stimulus from among all sensory input.

ex: when @ a party theres a bunch of loud music and talking but when someone calls your name specifically, you hear it. areas of the brain involved in selective attention were working to the conscious awareness

Question 13

How does working memory work? (similar to selective attention)

Answer 13

Working memory is like a place to temporarily store information we need while working on a problem (phone number or directions to a restaurant)

it can be transferred to long term memory if practiced, otherwise its lost. when the function is no longer needed, its lost.

Question 14

What is the difference between short term memory and working memory?

Answer 14

Short term emphasizes the duration (usually up to 30 secs) of a memory whereas working memory emphasizes the function

Question 15

What are the 3 processes of short term memory?

Answer 15

Attending (to a stimulus)
Storing (information about the stimulus)
Rehearsing (the stored process to solve a problem)

Question 16

How do the 3 processes of short term memory work?

Answer 16

starts with master attention control system. supported by three temporary storage systems - phonological (sound/language), visuospatial (image/spatial), and buffer (provides temporary storage)

Attention - the central executive decides where to focus attention and controls, coordinates, and interprets the visual/audio information

Storage - 3 systems used as short term places to store relevant information (visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer, and phonological loop)
visuospatial sketchpad - provides storage for visual/audio such as images (can only hold 3-4 images in short term shortage)
phonological loop - assists the central executive by providing extra storage for a limited number of digits or words for up to 30 secs
episodic buffer - temporary store for info that will become long term memories of specific events

rehearsal - process of reciting or practicing material repeatedly

Question 17

Whats an example of your mind using central executive?

Answer 17

run into old classmate at the mall. you pull persons name from permanent memory and visualize name along with memory of when you last saw person, as if your looking at a screen, then you’ll hear the name in your head. central executive helps interpret the info from both systems and pulls it all together

Question 18

Serial position effect

Answer 18

the tendency to have better recall for items in a list according to their position in the list. People are better able to recall items at the beginning and the end of the list. only 25% recall middle of the list

primacy effect - tendency for beginning
recency effect - tendency for end

Question 19

Why does serial position effect work the way it does?

Answer 19

Items in beginning of the list are rehearsed and transformed into long term memory. the middle of the list hasn’t made it to long term memory yet. the end of the list is still being held in short term memory, so its remembered once immediately done reading

advertisements use this to their advantage

Question 20

Long term memory

Answer 20

A permanent method of storing memories, with an unlimited capacity. (anywhere from 30-40 secs to a lifetime)

Question 21

Implicit memory (What are some examples too)

Answer 21

when we know or remember something but don’t consciously know we remember it. This memory is also known as “nondeclarative memory” because we cannot directly recall this memory

i.e tie your shoes, addition and subtraction

Question 22

Whats ironic about implicit long term memories?

Answer 22

Even though you can do them intuitively, when asked to describe how to do it, you wont be able to describe it very well. You don’t have ready access to the memory of the steps they require

Question 23

What are two types of implicit memories?

Answer 23

procedural memories - similar to the def of implicit memories itself. things people do made up of implicit knowledge for almost any behavior of physical skill we learned like riding bikes playing golf etc

priming - a kind of implicit memory that arises when recall is improved by earlier exposure to the same or similar stimuli
^ even ppl with long term memory problems can do this well

Question 24

What are explicit memories?

Answer 24

“declarative memory” the conscious recall of facts and events; also known as declarative memory because it refers to memories that can be deliberately accessed or declared.

Question 25

What are the two types of explicit memories?

Answer 25

Semantic memory- general memory, form of memory that recalls facts and general knowledge, such as what we learn at school. (ex. capital of states)

Episodic memory- personal knowledge, a kind of autobiographical memory, they represent episodes from our lives. Unlike semantic or procedural memories, this memory tends to be updated constantly. This memory is more personal than semantic memory.
ex: birthdays, graduation

Question 26

What is the difference between implicit and explicit memroies?

Answer 26

Implicit is non-declarative and can not be coined as memories since it isn’t technically memories but is part of the memory. Simply put, skills and habits.

Explicit is declarative and factual information from memory. Like general knowledge or personal knowledge

Question 27

Where is declarative (explicit), non-declarative (implicit), and emotional memory located in the brain?

Answer 27

Emotional memory located on the left (Amygdala)

Declarative memory in the middle (Hippocampus)

Non declarative on the right (Cerebellum)

Question 28

What are the 4 stages for memories to make the transition from sensory to short to long term?

Answer 28

Encoding, Consolidation, storage, and retrieval (ECSR)

Question 29

Encoding (and the two types of encoding) (1 - ECSR)

Answer 29

the means by which we attend to, take in, and process new information

Automatic processing OR Flashbulb memories - encoding of info that occurs with little effort or conscious attention to the task. (walking, someone asks how many cars have passed, you say ‘a lot’)

Effortful processing - Encoding of info that occurs with careful attention or conscious effort. Involves rehearsal of info, so that is goes from short to long term (reading textbooks, taking notes, studying)

Question 30

what is the idea behind the level of processing and what are the 3 types (not automatic or effortful those are basic)

Answer 30

level of processing - the more deeply people encode information the better they recall it
(ex based on people reading a list)
structural processing - the shallowest level of processing. asking ‘did that word have a capital’?

phonemic processing - midlevel processing - ‘does that word rhyme with the other word’)

semantic processing - deepest level of processing. (‘how would the word fit into a sentence?)

Question 31

Condolidation (2 - ESCR)

Answer 31

the second stage of long term memory formation. This is the process of establishing, stabilizing or solidifying a memory.

sleeping helps in this stage. sleeping better for memory, lack of sleep is not good study strategy

Question 32

Storage (3 -ECSR)

Answer 32

the third stage of long term memory. Once memories have been encoded and consolidated they are ready to be stored

Question 33

What are 3 way we organize and store memories?

Answer 33

Hierarchies – we use those to organize related information from the most specific feature they have in common to the most general (like army ranks from the most specific to the most general. humans to animals. airplanes to helicopters).

Schemas – are mental frameworks that develop from our experiences with particular people, objects or events.
(met an Chinese guy who was extremely smart, now every time I will meet a Chinese person I will think he is a genius)

Networks
Associative network – is a chain of associations between related concepts. Information is stored in brain in connected fashion. (Fire Trucks: Street, car, ambulance, vehicle)

Question 34

Retrieval (4 - ECSR)

Answer 34

Retrieval – the fourth stage of long-term memory. This is the recovery of information stored in memory. (remembering where you put that birthday gift that you bought early when it comes time to present it to your friend)

Implicit memories (habits) like riding back is retrieved without effort
explicit memories like remembering the capital of france requires effort of retrieval

Question 35

Howcome when you meet person and they tell your name, you can barely remember it?

Answer 35

We fail to pay enough attention to the person’s name when we first hear it and focus instead on the whole social interaction. Also, we do not encode, consolidate and store the name very deeply.

Question 36

Encoding specificity

Answer 36

the tendency for memory of any kind of information to be improved or stored long term if the physical surroundings that were available when the memory was first formed are also available when the memory is being retrieved.
i.e. taking a test in PSY1001 in the same classroom you learn PSY1001

Question 37

Where are sensory, short term, and long term memories processed in the brain?

Answer 37

Sensory memories - processed in various sensory cortexes

short term memory - processed in hippocampus and frontal lobes

long term memories - stored and retrieved with the help of areas associated with prefrontal cortex. (procedural memories in the cerebellum, semantic/episodic stored in frontal/temporal lubes but different place than short term memory)

Question 38

What are mnemonic devices?

Answer 38

common way to encode information deeply. This is a scheme that helps people remember information.

Rhyming, chunking, and rehearsal are types of mnemonic device. Others also include imagery (form a mental image of each word in a specific place along a route you know very well such as from your home to school) and acronyms (the acronym RADAR is easier to remember than Radio Detection and Ranging).

Question 39

What are some facts about emotional memories?

Answer 39

Emotional memories are easier to recall than are factual ones
Emotions help encode and retrieve memories
When emotions occur-especially negative ones- attention is focused & details are noted

Question 40

What are flashbulb memories?

Answer 40

Flashbulb memories – a kind of automatic encoding which takes place when an unexpected event or episode in a person’s life has strong emotional associations, such as fear horror or joy. Memories of highly emotional events can often seem clear and detailed, as if the person’s mind took a “flash picture” of the moment in time.
:
The “baby boomer” generation – remembers exactly where they were when J.F.K was shot
Younger generations – remember exactly where they were in the horrific events of Sept. 11th, 2001.

But personal flashbulb memories also exist, these tend to be major emotional events.

Question 41

How does emotional events work?

Answer 41

Emotional events switch on genes that build proteins that strengthen the synaptic connections between neurons, these structures make the memory “stick” for a long period of time.
Additionally, the amygdala and hippocampus are linked to key structures for emotion.
The amygdala is involved in assigning emotional significance to events (fear, anxiety, aggression, happiness..)

Question 42

Why is the relationship between emotion and memory far from perfect?

Answer 42

“the good old days” Sometimes emotions distort our memory. In terms of autobiographical memory, when people look back over their lives they recall pleasant times rather than the negative. We remember the good more readily than we remember the bad.

We don’t have normal recall of traumatic events-those that are extremely stressful and horrifying. Such events may be relived quite vividly or completely lost. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition in which a person who has experienced an extremely traumatic event, such as being a soldier in a war or a crime victim, relives the event over and over.

But stress can also impair the encoding of information – refugees who have endured extreme emotional stress show impaired recall of specific episodic memories; cancer survivors with PTSD show impaired semantic memory.

Question 43

What is PTSD?

Answer 43

is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event which results in Psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one’s own or someone else’s physical, sexual, or psychological integrity, overwhelming the individual’s psychological defenses.

Diagnostic symptoms include re-experiencing original trauma(s), by means of flashbacks or nightmares; avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma; and increased arousal, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, anger, and hyper vigilance.

Question 44

What was Hebbs law?

Answer 44

Long term potentiation: When the synapse of a neuron repeatedly fires and excites another neuron, there is a permanent change in the receiving neuron the excitatory neuron or both, which strengthens the synaptic connection.

Hebb’s law led to another important conclusion: “Use it or lose it”- if the cell assemblies are not stimulated repeatedly, eventually the synaptic connections weaken and we forget.

Question 45

What is interference and how does it work>

Answer 45

Interference – disruption of memory because other information competes with the information we are trying to recall. Interference can happen in one of two ways:
Retroactive interference – disruption of memory because new experiences or information cause people to forget previously learned experiences or information.
i.e. moving from the United states to England, where people drive on the left instead of the right side of the road.
Proactive interference – disruption of memory because previously learned information interferes with the learning of new information.
i.e. switching from driving a car with the gearshift on the wheel to one with the gearshift on the floor
i.e. when someone gets a new cell phone number. People in this situation find themselves remembering their old cell phone number or some of its digits instead of the new cell phone number when they are trying to give the new number to friends.

Question 46

What is amnesia and what are the two types?

Answer 46

When people forget due to injury or disease to the brain, we refer to the condition as amnesia.

Anterograde amnesia – the inability to remember events and experiences that occur after an injury or the onset of a disease. Those people fail to make new long term memories. They recall experiences for only a short period of time, 10 minutes or less (case of H.M). (Alzheimers disease - experiences lost due to this type of amnesia)

Retrograde amnesia – an inability to recall events or experiences that happened before the onset of a disease or injury. The memory loss in this type of amnesia might involve only the incident that preceded it or might include years of memories.

Infantile amnesia – what is the earliest memory that you have? Chances are you can not remember much that happened to you before the age of 3.

Question 47

What is Alzheimers disease?

Answer 47

Usually strikes people in their 60s, 70s, 80s
The most common type of dementia found in adults
The third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer

no cure. currently medications and clinical trials being tested. cholesterol gene found to be a possible cause, and taking statins lowers risk. FDA approved donepezil and galantamine pills to treat it

Question 48

What is the seven sins of memory? (The first 3, sins of omission) [reasons of forgetting]

Answer 48

Daniel Schacters book summarizing the imperfections of memory

Sins of Omission - the first 3 imperfections are failures of recall: transcience, absent mindedness, and blocking

Transcience or decay- most common type of forgetting. lack of repetition weakens the conncetion of synapses. Forgetting curve is another understanding where each passing day it is known the rate of decline increases in forgetting, thus being a downward curve

absent mindedness - forget due to inattention. like not finding your keys until your realize it was @ your door. diseases such as dementia and old age can cause this too

Blocking - ‘tip of the tongue’ mind blocking the name of a person you forget, brain continues to work on retrieval, then you remember later. repression - a traumatic horrible experience where your remember but your mind blocks it
recovered memory - haven’t activated memory for long time, is blocked, and is restored when asked (how was your first time getting your tooth removed)

Question 49

What are the other 4 sins of memory (the other 4, sins of commission) [reasons of remembering, but maybe in bad or inaccurate way]

Answer 49

misattribution - confuse memory to wrong source. friend and newspaper tells you something, get it mixed up

consistency bias - selective recall of memories to benefit us now. asked to recall high school experience with girls, remember the positive experiences

persistence - repeated recall of pleasant or unpleasant experiences even when trying to forget them. ties with emotion

suggestibility - problem with memory when memories are implanted in our minds based from someone else. i.e reading a book about someone telling about how they got killed, didn’t really happen, but is a memory.

Question 50

Age related decline is found where around the world

Answer 50

cross culturally

Question 51

What is hyperthymestic syndrome

Answer 51

the ability to remember some detail of every single day