Flashcards in Lecture 8 and 9 Deck (49):
1
Describe the multi store model of memory
- by Atkinson and Shiffrin
- environmental stimuli enters sensory memory (iconic or echoic)
- we briefly hold this and process it through the sensory buffer until attention is able to process it through to short term memory
- it is stored as a phonological code and uses rehearsal to keep it fresh
- moves to long term memory if it can be retained and is stored there for an unlimited amount of time
- assumes STM and LTM are unitary stores
- assumes rehearsal is the gateway from STM to LTM
2
What did Craik and Lockhart (1972) suggest?
The transfer to LTM is affected by the level of processing received in STM
- depth of processing at STM affected the strength of the memory trace in LTM
3
What are the two different types of rehearsal
Maintenance: simple, info only stays in STM
Elaborative: stimuli are subjected to deeper, semantic processing that recodes them more efficiently
4
Describe the working memory model
- by Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
- central executive
- visuo-spatial sketch pad
- episodic buffer
- phonological loop
- looks at STM as a sum of processes rather than just a structure
5
Describe the phonological loop
- made up of articulatory process and phonological store
- phonological store keeps the acoustic/phonological information
- articulatory process is akin to maintenance rehearsal and refreshes the info in the phonological store, without it the phonological store would be lost in time
- refreshes information every 2-2.5 seconds
6
What is the word length effect
When long words are lost more easily because the control processes fail to get to them in time to refresh them
7
Describe the visuo-spatial sketch pad
- used to remember maps or pictures
- Logie (1995-2003) created two sub components:
- inner scribe: works like articulatory process, keeps visual info refreshed, assists representing spatial info between objects
- visual cache: storage part of this system
8
Describe central executive
- had a capacity limit and deals with cognitively demanding tasks
- controls information flows between slave systems, thereby controlling input of sensory information
- involved in retrieval of info from LTM
- problems defining exactly what it does
- Robbins (1996) found suppression to this area made a significant difference to chess players performance when they had to calculate their next move
9
How long had the WMM been around?
3 decades, with some modifications
10
What supporting evidence does the WMM have?
- studies of brain damaged patients with dysexecutive syndrome
- damage in prefrontal cortices (proposed location of central executive) and leads to loss of functioning
- eg switching between tasks, can't suppress thoughts, struggle to stay on task
11
What are the two main divisions of LTM (Tulving and Craik, 2000)
- explicit memory: memory we have for all the memories we consciously aim to store and retrieve, further divided into semantic and episodic memory
- implicit memory: memory in our unconscious, further divided into priming and procedural memory
12
What is the encoding specificity principle (Tulving, 1979) ?
Information is retrieved better from LTM when information and environment at the time of retrieval matches it
- eg Godden and Baddeley (1975) deep sea divers listened to 40 words on the beach or submerged 10 feet underwater
- when asked to recall as many words as they could, they found recall was better when they were asked to recall the words in the environment in which they learned them
13
What did Miles and Hardman (1998) find? (ESP)
- people learned words while resting on an exercise bike or pedalling to raise heart rate to 120 beats per minute
- word recall was 20% higher when they recalled the information in the same cardiovascular state
14
What is metamemory?
- the feeling of knowing despite not being able to recall what it is
- makes you more efficient because you can decide whether to attempt a retrieval of an item from LTM based on your confidence that you do in fact know it
- if we provide a cue we can determine whether the topic is familiar
15
What is the Tip of the Tongue phenomenon?
- having a high familiarity with a topic/ word but not being able to retrieve the information
- inaccessibility of an item in memory you actually know
16
What is flashbulb memory?
- a memory that has a strong emotional resonance with a person
- 'flashbulb' refers to the strength of the memory being so strong it is as if a photograph has been taken and stored
17
What is semantic memory?
Memory necessary for the use of language
Your knowledge bank
18
What are concepts in semantic memory?
- generalised descriptions represent your CONCEPT, despite the description you can still identify it
- concepts are flexible
- freedom is an abstract concept but you are capable of recognising it, even if the description you produce differs from the one you hear someone else say
- concepts formalise our understanding of the world
19
What are schemas in semantic memory?
- schemas are dependent on our previous experiences to define information in a task orientated, context dependent manner
- powerful mechanism for storage and allow for efficient functioning but can lead you astray
- eg scripts!! (schemas for a sequence of events)
- scripts are activated by events and allow us to predict future events in the world, perception is stabilised and we don't require as much info to know what is going on
- eg office example, left in office, went into another room and asked to recall what they saw, listed stereotypical office things even if they weren't there
20
What does episodic memory rely on?
Semantic memory:
- uses records from semantic memory but combines them according to events that took place at a specific temporal frame
- episodic memory is linked to specific times, places or events in a persons life
- autobiographical memory
21
What is mental time travel made up of?
Retrospective memory: the recall of specific events in your life, not only for the knowledge it contains but to relive the experience
Prospective memory: memory for events that you are yet to do, allows you to plan ahead and remember to do things in the future
22
What is foresight?
Using previous experiences of a hot pan to efficiently plan ahead to avoid burning
23
What is implicit memory?
- memory without awareness (Jacoby and Witherspoon, 1982)
- memory in your unconscious
- ability to learn without knowledge, e.g. exposure to hostile words later meant people rated a target person more negatively than did those who had not received prior exposure
- implicit memories affect your decision making
24
What does procedural memory do?
Aspect of memory that stores our skills, despite you having no recollection of the specific learning event related to the skill e.g. Writing
You struggle to explain how you perform the skill to pass on duplicate skills
25
What is perceptual memory?
Aspect of memory that stores our perceptual knowledge of our surroundings, sights smells and sounds
26
What is the duration of LTM? Give an example
Essentially information is with you for life
- Bahrick and Phelps tested the memory of 587 people on their knowledge of Spanish from 1 year to 49 years later
- majority of loss of recall occurred over the first 3 years
27
How is long term memory stored?
Stored info as a semantic code
- this implies the representation in memory is in the form of packages/collections of meaning elements
- these meaning elements are called semantic features
- no meaningful limit in terms of capacity
28
What is amnesia?
A condition that is caused by brain damage which leads to severe problems with long term memory
29
What are the common causes of amnesia?
Closed head injury: brain is injured as a result of a blow to the head, sudden violent motion that causes the brain to knock against the skull
Chronic alcohol abuse: Korsakoff's syndrome, fade of short term memory due to alcohol abuse
30
What is retrograde amnesia?
Patients have an impaired ability to remember information and events from periods before brain injury
31
What is anterograde amnesia?
Patients have an impaired ability to learn and remember information acquired after the onset of brain injury
32
What sites cause amnesia when damaged?
Medial temporal lobes, hippocampus and medial diencephalon (thalamus and hypothalamus)
33
What happened to Clive Wearing?
developed anterograde amnesia after contracting encephalitis
- disease destroyed most of his hippocampus
- memory is no longer than 30 seconds
- personality hasn't been affected by his inability to create new memories
- implicit memory is still intact
34
What did Spiers et al (2001) do?
- reviewed 147 cases of patients with anterograde amnesia
- several long term memory systems impaired
- restricted to declarative memory system
- capable of learning new skills but not generate new memories
- concluded declarative memory is impaired in all cases (episodic in particular)
35
What did Dewar (2010) test with amnesiacs?
- tested 10 amnesiac patients who listened to stories that contained 21 ideas each
- follows by immediate free recall in each of the 4 trials
- 10 minute delay interval followed, either sat in dark room, or listened out for a piano note played hidden underneath random noise
- concluded amnesiacs can form new memories but are susceptible to retroactive interference
36
What did Ebbinghaus do? (Forgetting)
- created the forgetting curve
- memorised a series of nonsense syllables and tested memory for them between 20 minutes and 31 days
- most forgetting occurs in the first hour
- relearning was always easier than initial learning had been
37
How quickly do we forget faces and names?
Very little loss over 25 years
38
How quickly do we forget foreign languages?
40% loss in the first 2 years
39
How quickly do we forget autobiographical events?
Almost never, almost perfect retention over the lifespan
40
Non declarative forgetting consists of...
Continuous motor skills: no recognisable start or finish e.g. Riding a bike, little forgetting over 2 years
Discrete motor skills: clear beginning and end e.g. Typing, fast rate of forgetting
41
What is the trace decay theory?
- learning leads to neuronal changes in the brain
- passage of time cause the neural trace to decay or break down unless it is maintained by repetition or rehearsal
- resulting in the memory contained within the trace to become unavailable
42
Is information retained better when subjects are active or inactive? Why?
Inactive!! Activity produces interference and lowering overall activity allows for a slowing of the forgetting process
43
What did Jenkins and Dallenbach (1924) find with the trace decay theory?
- Jenkins and Dallenbach (1924) two students learned a list of 10 nonsense syllables
- one student learned the list and went to sleep immediately
- the other learned the list and continued with his daily activities
- second guy forgot significantly more than first guy
44
How did Freud describe repression?
Referring to the observation that some hurtful or threatening memories are unable to gain access to consciousness
- rejecting a bad experience out of consciousness to protect the individual
45
What did Williams (1994) find with repression?
- interviewed 129 women who had suffered sexual abuse more than 17 years previously
- 38% had no recollection of the abuse
- 16% of those who recalled it said there had been periods of time in the past when they had remembered it
- those who suffered the worst abuse had greater recall of the events (PSTD?)
46
Retroactive interference and Eye witness testimony
'How many men were at the scene?' If there were none at the scene may interfere with the memory of the event
47
Why do some interference studies lack ecological validity?
- Baddeley suggested in the lab learning is compressed in time, which makes it susceptible to interference
- lacks ecological validity cuz this wouldn't happen in the real world
48
What is the retrieval failure theory?
- memories cannot be recalled because the correct retrieval cues are absent
- demonstrated by tip of the tongue phenomenon
- information that seems to be forgotten is in fact available but not accessible (cues are needed)
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