export_attention and memory

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

The nervous system’s capacity to acquire and retain skills and knowledge.

Question 2

Three phases of memory

Answer 2

Encoding, Storage, Retrieval

Question 3

Encoding

Answer 3

The processing of information so that it can be stored. Occurs at the time of learning as information is acquired by being encoded, ie. translated into a neural code the brain can use

Question 4

Storage

Answer 4

The retention of encoded representations over time. Information may be stored for seconds or for a lifetime. At least 3 storage systems exist

Question 5

Retrieval

Answer 5

The act of recalling or remembering stored information when it is needed.

Question 6

Engram

Answer 6

Karl Lashley’s term for the physical state of memory storage–where the memory “lives”

Question 7

Equipotentiality

Answer 7

The idea by Karl Lashley that memory is distributed throughout the rain rather than confined to any one location.

Question 8

Brain Regions that store memory

Answer 8

Hippocampus, Amygdala, Motor Cortex, Prefrontal Cortex

Question 9

Types of memory stored by Hippocampus

Answer 9

Spacial and declarative memory

Question 10

Types of memory stored by Amygdala

Answer 10

Emotional learning, particularly fear leaning

Question 11

Types of memory stored by Motor Cortex

Answer 11

motor actions

Question 12

Types of memory stored by Prefrontal Cortex

Answer 12

working memory

Question 13

Consolidation

Answer 13

A process by which immediate memories become lasting (or long-term) memories. In this process, neural connections that support memory become stronger, and new synapses are constructed.

Question 14

Where are memories formed/stored?

Answer 14

Memories are formed in the medial temporal lobes. (In class, it was said that prefrontal cortex was involved in coding memory). The hippocampus consolidates memory, and memories are eventually stored in the original region that encoded them (visual info stored in cortical areas involved in visual perception, sound stored in areas involved in auditory perception, etc.)

Question 15

Role of Medial Temporal Lobes in memory

Answer 15

Important for forming new memories, but also form links, or pointers, between the different storage sites, and direct the gradual strengthening of the connections between these links

Question 16

Reconsolidation

Answer 16

Neural processes involved when memories are recalled and then stored again for later retrieval. New theory proposes that recalling memories causes them to be changed slightly based on the new context of remembering before they are reconsolidated

Question 17

Parallel Processing

Answer 17

Processing multiple types of information at the same time. Allows us to attend selectively to one feature of our environment while we block out others.

Question 18

Filter Theory

Answer 18

Theory by Donald Broadbent that people have a limited capacity for sensory information, so they screen incoming information to let in only the most important material.

Question 19

Change Blindness

Answer 19

A failure to notice large changes in one’s environment, due to the fact that we cannot attend to everything in the vast array of visual information available. People with greater ability to maintain attention in the face of distracting information are less likely to experience change blindness.

Question 20

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Model of Memory

Answer 20

Three-part model consists of sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory. Terms refer to the length of time information is retained in memory, and the parts differ in their capacity for storage. Sensory has the shortest, long-term has the longest.

Question 21

Sensory Memory

Answer 21

A memory system that very briefly stores sensory information in close to its original sensory form. Occurs when a light, sound, odor, taste, or tactile impression leaves a vanishing trace on the nervous system for a fraction of a second.

Question 22

Short-Term Memory

Answer 22

A memory storage system that briefly holds a limited amount of information in awareness. Less contemporary model than working memory

Question 23

Working Memory

Answer 23

An active processing system that keeps different types of information available for use. Must be kept in consciousness, ie. you must repeat a phone number to yourself. Otherwise, disappears after 20-30 seconds.

Question 24

Echoic Memory

Answer 24

auditory memory, a form of sensory memory

Question 25

Iconic Memory

Answer 25

Visual memory, a form of sensory memory

Question 26

Memory Span

Answer 26

The number of information that can be kept in working memory at a time. Generally seven items.

Question 27

Chunking

Answer 27

Organizing information into meaningful units to make it easier to remember

Question 28

Long-Term Memory

Answer 28

The relatively permanent storage of information. Virtually limitless, and does not require you to keep information continually in your consciousness,as with working memory

Question 29

Serial Position Effect

Answer 29

The ability to recall items from a list depends on order of presentation, with items presented early or late in the list remembered better than those in the middle. This is due to the Primacy and Recency Effects.

Question 30

Primacy Effect

Answer 30

People recall first items on a list because they have been encoded into long term memory.

Question 31

Recency Effect

Answer 31

People recall last words heard on a list second best because they are still in short term memory.

Question 32

Things that facilitate long term memory

Answer 32

Repeated retrieval, deep processing, adaptive significance

Question 33

Levels of Processing Model

Answer 33

The more deeply an item is encoded, the more meaning it has, and the better it is remembered (according to Craik and Lockhart)

Question 34

Maintenance Rehearsal

Answer 34

Simply repeating an item over and over. Does not lead to as deep encoding in the levels of processing model.

Question 35

Elaborative Rehearsal

Answer 35

Encodes information in more meaningful ways than maintenance rehearsal. Includes thinking about an item conceptually, and deciding whether it refers to oneself. Leads to deeper encoding.

Question 36

Schemas

Answer 36

Cognitive structures that help us perceive, organize, process, and use information. Guide our attention to an environment's relevant features. Help us construct new memories by filling in holes in existing memories, overlooking inconsistent information, and interpreting meaning based on past experiences.

Question 37

Network of Associations Model

Answer 37

An item's distinctive features are linked so as to identify the item. Each unit of information in the network is a node. Each node is connected to many other nodes. The resulting network is like a the linked neurons in the brain, but nodes are simply bits of information.

Question 38

Spreading Activity Models

Answer 38

Stimuli in working memory activate specific nodes in long-term memory. This activation increases the ease of access to that material and thus makes the retrieval easier.

Question 39

Retrieval Cue

Answer 39

Anything that helps a person (or a nonhuman animal) recall information stored in long-term memory.

Question 40

Encoding Specificity Principal

Answer 40

Thee idea that any stimulus that is encoded along with an experience can later trigger memory for the experience.

Question 41

Context-Dependent Memory

Answer 41

Memory is enhanced when the recall situation is similar to the encoding situation. Can be based on physical location, odors background music, etc.

Question 42

State-Dependent Memory

Answer 42

When a person's internal states (such as emotional) match during encoding and recall, memory can be enhanced.

Question 43

Implicit Memory

Answer 43

The system underlying unconscious memories--memories we cannot say we know. Classical conditioning employs implicit memory.

Question 44

Explicit Memory

Answer 44

The process we use to remember information we can say we know, or the system underlying conscious memories.

Question 45

Declarative Memory

Answer 45

The cognitive information retrieved from explicit memory; knowledge that can be declared (consciously brought to mind). Can involve words or concepts, visual images or both. Every exam ever taken tested declarative memory.

Question 46

Episodic Memory

Answer 46

Division of explicit memory. Refers to a person's past experiences and includes information about the time and place the experiences occurred.

Question 47

Semantic Memory

Answer 47

Division of explicit memory that represents the knowledge of facts independent of personal experience, ie. knowledge about the world.

Question 48

Prospective Memory

Answer 48

Remembering to do something at a future time. Involves both automatic and controlled processes--retrieval cue might occur an in environment, or you might have to create one for yourself

Question 49

Forgetting

Answer 49

The inability to retrieve memory from long-term storage

Question 50

Seven Sins of Memory

Answer 50

transience, absentmindedness, blocking, persistence (all related to forgetting and remembering), misattribution, suggestiblity and bias (all related to distortions of memory)

Question 51

Transience

Answer 51

Forgetting over time; results from interference

Question 52

Proactive Interference

Answer 52

When prior information inhibits the ability to remember new information. E.g., if you get a new phone number, remembering the old one might interfere with remembering the new one.

Question 53

Retroactive Interference

Answer 53

New information inhibits ability to remember old information; might have trouble remembering your old address, because you remember your new address

Question 54

Blocking

Answer 54

The temporary inability to remember something that is known; failing to remember the name of a person you meet on the street; tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon, often due to interference from words that are similar in sound or meaning.

Question 55

Absentmindedness

Answer 55

The inattentive or shallow coding of events; losing your keys because you were answering your phone when you put them down

Question 56

Amnesia

Answer 56

A deficit in long-term memory, resulting from disease, brain injury, or psychological trauma, in which the individual loses the ability to retrieve vast quantities of information from long-term memory.

Question 57

Retrograde Amnesia

Answer 57

A condition in which people lose past memories such as memories for events, facts, people or even personal information.

Question 58

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 58

A condition in which people lose the ability to form new memories

Question 59

Persistence

Answer 59

The continual recurrence of unwanted memories, such as remembering an embarrassing faux pas. PTSD is also an example of persistence.

Question 60

Memory Bias

Answer 60

The changing of memories over time so that they become consistent with current beliefs or attitudes

Question 61

Flashbulb Memories

Answer 61

Vivid episodic memories for the circumstances in which people first learned of a surprising, consequential, or emotionally arousing event.

Question 62

von Restorff Effect

Answer 62

A distinctive event might be recalled more easily than a trivial event, however inaccurate the result.

Question 63

Source Misattribution

Answer 63

Memory distortion that occurs when people misremember the time, place, person, or circumstances involved with memory.

Question 64

Sleeper Effect

Answer 64

An argument is initially not very persuasive because it comes from a questionable source, but becomes more persuasive over time, as you forget the source. Example of source misattribution.

Question 65

Source amnesia

Answer 65

A type of amnesia that occurs when a person shows memory for an event but cannot remember where he or she encountered the information.

Question 66

Cryptomnesia

Answer 66

A type of misattribution that occurs when a person thinks he or she has come up with a new idea, yet has only retrieved a stored idea and failed to attribute the idea to the proper source.

Question 67

Suggestibility

Answer 67

The development of biased memories from misleading information. Eg. asking a question that suggest something, such as "did the car stop at the stop sign" when the video showed a yield sign

Question 68

Confabulation

Answer 68

The unintended false recollection of episodic memories. Can be associated with brain injury. Eg. Capgras Syndrome, where people believe their family members have been replaced with imposters.