Exam 2 Flashcards
(87 cards)
1
Q
Sensory Memory
A
-memory registers all or most
information that hits our receptors
– Collects all information from senses for a short period of time
– Holds information for initial processing
– Information decays very quickly
• About 1 second for vision
• About 4 seconds for hearing
2
Q
Sensory: Iconic Memory
A
– Visual sensory memory – Lasts about 1 second – Can store up to 12 images – “Persistence of vision” • Seeing a sparkler’s trail of light • Not noticing TV and films are frame by frame
3
Q
Sensory: Echoic Memory
A
-Auditory sensory memory
– Holds auditory information about 2-3 seconds
longer to enable processing
4
Q
Memory
A
the mechanism used to create,
maintain, and retrieve information about
the past
5
Q
Memory Processes
A
Encoding, Storage, Retrieval
6
Q
Short Term Memory
A
• Stores small amounts of information for a
brief duration
• Can include
– information received from the sensory stores
– information recalled from long-term memory
• Controlled processes can be applied to
information in short term memory
– Manipulates information held in STM
– “Working memory”
7
Q
Short Term: Chunking
A
– small units can combine into larger meaningful units
– A chunk is a collection of elements strongly associated with one another but weakly associated with elements in other chunks
8
Q
Working Memory
A
– limited capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning
– Essentially, all the info that you can actively
use
• The computer analogy would be RAM memory
9
Q
Working: Phonological Loop
A
– Holds verbal and sound information
– That “voice” you hear when reading or repeating words in your head
10
Q
Working: Visuospatial Sketchpad
A
– Holds visual and spatial information
– Allows you to hold a mental image of what things looked like and/or where they were
11
Q
Working: Central Executive
A
– Guides attention (focus, switch, or divide)
– Suppresses irrelevant information
12
Q
Working: Episodic Buffer
A
Allows information to be moved back forth
between working memory components and
long-term memory
– Episodic buffer explains how working memory
can be used much longer than short-term
memory itself would allow
• Similar to “buffering” when streaming internet videos
13
Q
Primacy Effect
A
– Better memory for info at the beginning of list
– More rehearsal, more likely to enter LTM
14
Q
Recency Effect
A
- Better memory for info at the end of list
– Information is still in short-term memory
15
Q
Three Model Memory
A
Sensory, STM, LTM
Atkinson and Shcriffin
16
Q
Phonological similarity effect
A
– Letters or words that sound similar are
confused
• Word-length effect
– Memory for lists of words is better for short words than for long words
– Takes longer to rehearse long words and to produce them during recall
17
Q
Long Term Memory
A
• Storage stretches from a few moments ago
to as far back as one can remember
• Long-term memory is not a perfect record
– More recent memories are more detailed
– Memories may fade or change over time
– Memories may be confused with others
18
Q
LTM: Explicit
A
declarative memory
semantic vs. episodic
19
Q
LTM: Implicit
A
non-declarative memory
procedural memory
priming and conditioning
20
Q
LTM: Semantic
A
General knowledge and factual info General factual knowledge – Does not require mental time travel – Like remembering… • What year was the Declaration of Independence signed?
21
Q
LTM: Episodic
A
Personal events from one’s life – Memory for personal events in life – Involves “mental time travel” – Mentally “relive” your past experience – Like remembering… • What happened at your birthday party last year
22
Q
Priming and Conditioning
A
Automatic associations learned through experience
23
Q
Proactive Interference
A
When previously learned information interferes with learning new information
24
Q
Retroactive Interference
A
When new information interferes with remember
old information
25
Retroactive Interference
When new information interferes with remember old information
26
Anterograde Amnesia
– Inability to create new memories
27
Retrograde Amnesia
- Inability to recall old memories
28
Korsakoff’s syndrome
– Result of chronic alcoholism
– Causes both anterograde and retrograde amnesia
• Unable to form new memories
• May lose many decades of of past memories
29
Long Term Potentiation
– Neurons “remember” which neurons activate them
– Threshold of activation lowers after repeated stimulation
• Less signal needs to be sent
– Neurons reach out to each other across the synapse
• More receptor sites to hear the incoming messages
– Neurons that communicate often, communicate easily
• It becomes easier for those neurons to hear each other
30
Memory Consolidation
• “New” memories stored as connections between hippocampus and cortex
– Recent memories stored as
connections between hippocampus and cortex
• Need hippocampus to retrieve recent
memories
– Over time, memory held as connections in cortex
• Memory is “uploaded” to the cortex
• No longer need hippocampus to retrieve
the memory
31
When are memories most fragile?
• Injury and trauma can erase memories
• Memories around time of injury will be most
impaired
– Anterograde and retrograde amnesia for period just before and after
– Memory for recent events is more fragile than for remote events
– Memories that haven’t been fully consolidated will be lost
• Drug and alcohol use may also impair
memory formation and consolidation
32
Autobiographical Memory
```
– Recollected events that belong to a person’s past
– Mental time travel
• Stories of the self
– Both episodic and semantic
• Old memories more semantic
```
33
The Reminiscence Bump
```
– People over the age of 50 asked to recall
events from their lives…
– Better memory for very recent events
– Better memory for events during
adolescence and early adulthood
• Important “formative” years of life
– Fewer memories from middle age
```
34
Flashbulb Memory
```
Memory for circumstances surrounding
shocking, highly charged important events
– Kennedy assassination
– Challenger explosion
– 9/11
• Flashbulb memories
– Highly emotional
– Vivid
– Very detailed
– … not always accurate
```
35
Implanting Memories
```
Hyman et al.(1995)
– Participants’ parents gave descriptions of
childhood experiences
– Participant had conversation about
experiences with experimenter; experimenter added new events
– When discussing it later, participant
“remembered” the new events as actually
happening
```
36
When are memories most fragile?
Memories can be lost due to illness or injury
| – Most likely to lost memories closest to time of injury/illness
37
Self-Awareness
Aware that you exist as a separate individual
38
Mirror Test
A test of self-recognition
◦ Also called the “mark” or “rouge” test
◦ Place a mark on an animal’s face Without them noticing
◦ Place the animal in front of a mirror
◦ Will the animal understand that the mark is on it’s own face? Will the animal recognize itself?
◦ If the animal looks in the mirror and touches the mark, it must recognize that it is looking at itself
39
Self-Awareness in Animals
```
Self-awareness is rare among animals
Animals that pass the mirror test
◦ Humans (starting at about18 months)
◦ The Great Apes
Chimps, Bonobos, Gorillas, and Orangutans
◦ Dolphins
…and one elephant (named “Happy”)
…and maybe birds like ravens and crows
Evidence for self-awareness, but not
evidence of a self-concept
```
40
Self Concept
Beliefs and feelings about the self
- Identity that separates you from others
- Beliefs about your talents, appearance, social status
- Feelings about your self (i.e. Self-esteem)
- Self as a narrative
- The “story” of your Self
41
Self as a Double Edged Sword
Human self-awareness is a blessing and curse
◦ Only human beings have existential crises
No evidence that other animals feel shame, guilt, or
embarrassment
Only human beings commit suicide because of shame
◦ We are constantly evaluating ourselves
How do we compare to others?
Are we acting in ways consistent with our beliefs?
Do other people think highly of us?
Do we have any purpose in life?
42
Buddhist Theory/ Annatta
The Buddhist doctrine of "no self" or the
"absence of separate self."
The absence of self-identity in people (and things).
◦ According to Buddha, there is no continuous self
“The self is just a name/label given to something that does not really exist”
-The "self" is a collection of constantly changing physical and mental constituents
-There is no single thing (either physical or mentally) that determines who we are
43
Ego Theory
The Self exists as single, unified, continuous entity
There is a single thing that can be called the Self
◦ Dualism is a form of ego theory
The self exists as the soul or essence
◦ Material monists could also be ego theorists
If the Self was created by a specific part of the brain
Most people are intuitively ego theorists
◦ Many believe the idea of a soul (dualism)
◦ Intuitively, it feels like we are continuous
I’m the same person as I always was, right?
44
Bundle Theory
No single thing that is the Self
◦ The Self is a continually changing set of
sensations and perceptions
Each “Self” is momentary and fleeting
◦ Memories “tie together” momentary impressions
of the Self
The feeling of continuity is an illusion
A “confabulation” of the mind
Philosopher David Hume and Buddha were
“bundle” theorists
45
Social Neuroscience
```
◦ Studies how the brain processes social
information
How does the brain think about the Self differently than
thinking about others?
Test differences in how brain processes…
◦ Own name vs. other names
◦ Own face vs. other faces
◦ Own voice vs. other voices
```
46
MPFC (medial prefrontal cortex)
| …and parts of medial parietal cortex
◦ Shows greater activation to self-related info than
other related info
More active to own name than other names including
famous names
◦ But… not uniquely activated by the idea of self
Also, activated by important loved ones
47
Experiments with split-brain patients Left Brain
Experiments with split-brain patients
◦ Images shown to left or right brain hemisphere
◦ If left brain shown a circle…
◦ Ask “what did you see” à Response “a circle”
48
Experiments with split-brain patients Right Brain
◦ If right brain shown a square…
◦ Ask “what did you see” à Response “nothing”
◦ Ask “draw what you saw with your left hand”à
The patient draws a square
49
Interesting Split-brain results Confabulations
Interesting Split-brain results
◦ Patients would obey commands given to the right
hemisphere, but not know why
◦ But, they would confabulate an explanation
Right hemisphere sees…
◦ “Walk”
The patient gets up and begins to leave the room.
Explains that he wanted to get a soda
◦ “Laugh”
The patient begins to laugh
Explains by saying… “you guys are really funny”
◦ Scary images
The patient begins to show signs of fear
Explains by saying “Must have gotten really cold in here”
50
Double Consciousness
◦ Each brain hemisphere may contain their own
unique consciousness
◦ Each hemisphere can have separate and
independent knowledge and motivations
◦ But, the right hemisphere can’t externally
express it’s conscious experiences
◦ Two conscious minds, but only one can “talk”
51
Single Consciousness
◦ Only the left hemisphere is conscious
◦ The right hemisphere is a zombie
Zombie – philosopher’s idea of a body without a mind
Right hemisphere functions like a computer
Processes info without any conscious experience
◦ Left hemisphere acts as an interpreter that
creates subjective conscious experience
52
Self as a Confabulation
◦ From a bundle theorist perspective, there is no unified,
continuous self – just various bundles of perceptions.
◦ The mind creates conscious experience and the illusion
of continuity
The two hemisphere are unaware of what the other knows
But, that unknown information influences the persons conscious
choices
The split-brain patient generates (confabulates) explanations for
his choices
The confabulation then becomes his conscious experiences
53
Dissociative Identity Disorder
◦ Mental illness that causes people to alternate
between different identities
◦ Each identity has it own personality and set of
memories
54
Why you should be skeptical
Original case studies are flawed
◦ Early cases from older male therapists hypnotizing young
women
◦ Original cases of MPD were discovered while the patient
was under hypnosis
Vulnerable to suggestion
◦ Symptoms not entirely consistent
In some cases the sub-personalities are aware of each other, but in
others the sub-personalities are completely unaware of each other
Extremely rare diagnosis that occurs in fads
◦ No cases, then suddenly lots of cases, then no cases again
◦ A boom of MPD diagnoses between the 1970s and 1990
after the book “Sybil” is published
Diagnoses are likely iatrogenic
◦ Created by the therapists themselves
◦ The therapist has an expectation and finds evidence to
support their expectations
◦ Therapists can implant memories through suggestions
55
DIssociative
Characterized by major disruptions in
| memory of own behavior and/or identity
56
WHat is personality
Most personality theories are trait theories
Traits
◦ Distinctive, characteristic ways of responding to a given
stimulus or situation
◦ Not easily changed
57
Five-factor Model of Personality (the Big 5)
• Five traits that are basic building blocks of personality
• Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion,
agreeableness, and neuroticism
• Traits are highly heritable and are linked to specific
biological processes
58
Birth order may influence personality traits
• Older siblings often more responsible and supportive
of the status quo, younger siblings often more
rebellious and open to new experiences
59
Independent view of self (Individualism)
• USA, Canada, Western Europe, Australia
• Self seen as a distinct, autonomous entity, separate from
others and defined by individual traits and preferences
• Self is defined by the individual
• More of an Ego Theory
60
Interdependent view of self (Collectivism)
```
• Asia, India, Africa, Latin America
• Self seen as connected to others, defined by social duties
and shared traits and preferences
• Self is defined by the social context
• More of a Bundle Theory
```
61
Cultural differences in self-esteem
◦ Collectivist cultures often seem lower in self-esteem
◦ Connection to others more valued than affirming the self
◦ Display more self-criticism
62
Circadian rhythm
- Daily patterns of sleeping and wakefulness
- Level of alertness varies throughout the day in
predictable cycles
" Patterns of alertness are accompanied by regular
changes in metabolic activity
- Circadian rhythms are not innately set to a
24-hour cycle
- Rhythms are set by amounts of light experienced
throughout the day
" When deprived of time cues, the cycle is closer to a 25-
hour clock
- Increased melatonin triggers the feeling of sleepiness
63
STages of SLeep
Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, and REM
64
Different brain waves
" Alpha waves – high activity (similar to alert)
" Theta waves – moderate activity
" Delta waves – slow activity
65
Stage 0
Falling asleep
- Characterized by alpha waves
- Brain is still highly active like when alert
- But, just a little bit slower
- hypnagogic hallucinations
- myoclonic jerk
66
Hypnagogic
– when you are going to sleep
67
Myoclonic
Sudden motor movement in response to the feeling of
| falling
68
Stage 1
- Fell asleep
- Onset of sleep characterized by theta waves
- A light form of sleep
- Bridge between alertness and deep sleep
- Only lasts a few minutes
- May recall disconnected thoughts if returned to
wakefulness
" Like little mini-dreams
69
Stage 2
- Brain activity slows further
- Stage 2 sleep characterized by theta waves with
sleep spindles
- Sleep spindles are occasional bursts of activity-! Muscle tension in the body is being relaxed
- May experience occasional bodily jerk or twitch
70
Stage 3 and 4
- Slow Wave Sleep
- Characterized by delta waves
- Metabolic activity drops to it’s lowest levels
- Breathing, heart rate reduced
- Muscles are completely relaxed
- This stage of sleep is when children are most likely to
wet their bed
- Not easily roused to wakefulness
- “Knocked out”, “dead to the world”, “like a log”
Metabolic restoration
71
REM
- Characterized by high brain activity similar to wakefulness
- When dreaming typically occurs
- Metabolic activity increases
- Blood pressure increases
- Genitals show arousal
- Face, toes, and fingers may twitch
- Large muscle groups are paralyzed
- For most people…
- REM may be followed by waking before returning to sleep
72
Waking Up
```
Waking often follows the last REM period
! Brain and metabolic activity increases
! Muscle paralysis is released
! While waking, may experience
hypnopompic hallucinations
" Hallucinations right before your eyes pop open
```
73
Sleep Deprivation
impairs physical and mental
functioning
! Less executive function
" Ability to regulate behavior
! Lower energy
" May feel physically slower and weaker
! Impaired immune functioning
" More likely to get sick with prolonged sleep deprivation
" People who get less sleep don’t live as long
! Can recover from temporary sleep deprivation
! With extended time of sleep to catch-up on lost hours of
sleep
! But, only for temporary deprivation not chronic sleep
deprivation
74
Insomnia
An inability to fall asleep regularly
! May enter early stages are sleep but have difficulty getting
extended slow wave sleep
! May also have difficult time returning to sleep after REM
75
Sleep Apnea
! A breathing disorder
! During slow wave sleep, breathing stops temporarily forcing
the sleep to briefly wake up
! Sleeper doesn’t get extended slow wave sleep
76
Sleepwalking
! Individual becomes physically active during slow wave sleep
! May perform complex tasks like walking and eating
! Will have no conscious awareness of their activity
77
Night Terrors
! Individual becomes physically active during slow wave sleep
! Will behave as if they are terrified, screaming and yelling,
heart racing, garbled speech
! May then return to sleep
! Will have no recollection of their terror episode
78
Adaptive Theory of Sleep
! Evolutionary theory that sleep evolved as a way to avoid
nocturnal predators
" Since visibility is low at night, animals may find places to hide
and rest until the light returned
" Animals that can’t hide easily, will sleep less
! Not a very complete theory
79
Restorative theory of sleep
! Theory that sleep allows the body to repair itself and
replenish metabolic resources
" Notice how you often get sleepy after a big meal?
! Must be partially true, but doesn’t explain why that needs to
occur unconsciously
80
Functions of Dreams and Sleep
Predation risk
! Desire to sleep reduced when predators or threats present
! Harder to sleep in a hotel room than your own bed room
! Metabolic repair
! Deep sleep allows the body to repair itself
! Feel more rested after getting stage 4 sleep
! Brain self-cleaning
! During sleep, interstitial spaces in brain expand
! Allows brain to “flush out” waste products that build up
81
Dreams and Memory Consolidation
! Hippocampus uploads recent experiences to the cortex
creating new synaptic connections
! Dreams may be our experience of those new synaptic
connections being made
" Which is why your dreams are heavily influenced by recent experiences
82
Freud
Freud believed that dreams gave insight into the
unconscious mind
" Would interpret dreams to find symbols of what people
were “truly” thinking about
" Most of Freud’s analysis were about sexual thoughts
" “I dreamt that I was on a train riding through a tunnel”
83
Threat Stimulation
Proposes that dreams serve an evolutionary function
! Argues that dreams have more negative and threatening
elements than people actually encounter in their daily life
" Why all the negativity in dreams?
! Dreams are a way to simulate survival threats
" By simulating the threat in the dream, the person or animal is
better prepared to survive
84
Retro Selective Theory
! Dreams are not continuous experiences
! Dreams are created upon waking up
" The story of the dream is created by our conscious mind
! While asleep, many “dreams” occurring
simultaneously
" Parallel processing in the brain
" Many systems simultaneously active
! Upon waking, a single narrative is created from
multiple parts
" Conscious mind combines the different streams
" The result may be single story that doesn’t really make sense
85
Lucid Dreams
Dreams in which people are aware that they are
dreaming
! During a lucid dream, people may be able to
control the dream itself
" Or, at least we may dream that we are able to control the dream
! Lucid dreams are not just people waking up and
falsely believing they are still asleep
" Research shows that the lucid dreamer is still in REM
sleep
" The dreamer could signal when he had become lucid, by controlling his eye movements while still asleep
86
Hypnosis
! An altered state of consciousness where people
become very open to suggestion
! Not everyone can be hypnotized
" 15% are highly susceptible
" 10% can’t be hypnotized
" Susceptibility correlated with open mindedness and
imagination
87
Dreaming REM vs. NON-REM
Dreaming typically occurs during REM sleep
! If woken up during REM, most people will describe
having been dreaming
" Descriptions of the dream will have many details, perhaps
strange or bizarre details
" May have a narrative (a story) that link the details together
! If woken up during Non-REM sleep, most people
will report they were thinking something specific or
nothing at all
" Descriptions will lack details
" More mundane thoughts
" “I was thinking about what I need to do at work tomorrow”
" No narrative structure
