L4 - Memory Disorders

Question 1

What are the learning objectives for Lecture 4?

Answer 1

1. Describe how brain damage supports double dissociation in LTM. 2. Explain why memory recall isn’t always accurate.

Question 2

Which brain regions are involved in declarative memory?

Answer 2

Medial temporal lobe, frontotemporal cortex, diencephalon.

Question 3

Which brain regions are involved in non-declarative memory?

Answer 3

Basal ganglia, neocortex, cerebellum.

Question 4

What does damage to the hippocampus impair?

Answer 4

Episodic memory.

Question 5

What does damage to the para-hippocampal cortex impair?

Answer 5

Semantic memory.

Question 6

What is retrograde amnesia?

Answer 6

Poor recall of memories formed before amnesia onset, greater for episodic than semantic.

Question 7

What is a temporal gradient in retrograde amnesia?

Answer 7

Older memories are less impaired than newer ones.

Question 8

Name three explanations for the temporal gradient.

Answer 8

1. Consolidation theory. 2. Semanticisation. 3. Reduced learning opportunity.

Question 9

What is anterograde amnesia?

Answer 9

Inability to form new memories after onset.

Question 10

What is global amnesia?

Answer 10

Moderate retrograde and severe anterograde amnesia, e.g., Patient HM.

Question 11

What causes Korsakoff’s syndrome?

Answer 11

Vitamin B1 deficiency due to alcoholism; damages mammillary bodies.

Question 12

What are the symptoms of Korsakoff’s syndrome?

Answer 12

Poor retrograde and anterograde memory, slight STM impairment, some preserved motor learning.

Question 13

What are symptoms of semantic dementia?

Answer 13

Severe loss of semantic memory, intact episodic memory, trouble naming, categorising, and understanding words.

Question 14

What brain area is affected in semantic dementia?

Answer 14

Anterior/frontotemporal lobe, perirhinal and entorhinal cortices.

Question 15

What is double dissociation in memory disorders?

Answer 15

Different brain damage impairs different memory types. Amnesia = poor episodic, intact semantic; Semantic dementia = poor semantic, intact episodic.

Question 16

What factors contribute to memory errors in eyewitness testimony?

Answer 16

Forgetting, intrusions, bias, misinformation, expectations.

Question 17

What is the DRM paradigm?

Answer 17

Recall of semantically related words not actually presented, e.g., ‘sleep’.

Question 18

What is the misinformation effect?

Answer 18

Memory distortion by misleading post-event info (e.g., Loftus & Palmer ‘smashed’ vs. ‘hit’).

Question 19

What is source misattribution?

Answer 19

Mistaking the origin of a memory trace.

Question 20

What is confirmation bias in memory?

Answer 20

Tendency to recall info that fits prior beliefs or schemas.

Question 21

What did Tuckey & Brewer (2003) find?

Answer 21

People recalled schema-relevant info (e.g., robbers wore disguises), but not irrelevant details.

Question 22

What is unconscious transference?

Answer 22

Mistaking a familiar but innocent face as the perpetrator.

Question 23

What is the other-race effect?

Answer 23

Better recognition for same-race faces.

Question 24

What is weapon focus?

Answer 24

Attention narrows to weapon, impairing memory of other details.

Question 25

How does anxiety affect memory?

Answer 25

Impairs recall by narrowing attention, reduces recall of peripheral info.

Question 26

What are strategies used in the cognitive interview?

Answer 26

1. Mental reinstatement of context. 2. Report every detail. 3. Change order. 4. Change perspective.

Question 27

Why is the cognitive interview effective?

Answer 27

Increases amount and accuracy of information recalled.

Question 28

What is the encoding specificity principle?

Answer 28

Recall is better when retrieval context matches encoding context.