Long-term memory

Question 1

long-term memory

Answer 1

information retained for a longer period of time

anything beyond 30 seconds is thought the be stored in LTM

any type of info that is not currently in use and anything that is currently not in your mind

Question 2

capacity of LTM

Answer 2

stores large amounts of information

no one knows exact number

perhaps 10^13 pieces of information

Question 3

misconceptions of LTM

Answer 3

you start off with an empty room and add memories, until it becomes full

adding more memories makes other memories drop off

researchers also thought brain would grow until a certain age and then it decays

after ages 20-25 researchers thought the brain couldn’t grow new connections but it actually does until you die

Question 4

duration of LTM

Answer 4

lasts a long time

possible confound: memories you form in late teens-early 20s are more resilient than memories formed earlier or later

these memories hold status because they can be retrieved in a way that other memories can’t

Question 5

effects of music on Alzheimer’s and dementia

Answer 5

music therapy: music is from when the person was around 20 years old

produces lucid moments in people with Alzheimers

music can act as a way to retrieve other memories from that time

Question 6

should you study with music?

Answer 6

yes if it makes you feel happy but it should also not distract you from what you are studying
* singing along to lyrics while trying to read is not helpful

music helps with encoding when it puts you in a better mood but can also distract

Question 7

LTM representation

Answer 7

memory is stored in LTM as meaning

you won’t remember the exact words

memory for words stored in STM relies on sound

memory for words stored in LTM relies on meaning

Question 8

LTM vs STM

Answer 8

semantic (meaning) information

delay: confusion is in the words meaning not in the way that the words sound

• greater confusion with STM

Question 9

LTM structure

Answer 9

how do we organize different types of memories
* info doesn’t come from conscious awareness

explicit memory: LTM retrieval or performance that entails deliberate recollection or awareness
* measured with direct memory tests

implicit memory: LTM performance affected by prior experience with no necessary awareness of the influence
* measured with indirect memory tests

Question 10

declarative vs nondeclarative memory

Answer 10

another way to make the explicit vs implicit distinction

• explicit is declarative and controlled (remembering specific formula or date)
• implicit is nondeclarative and automatic (motor memory, procedural memory)

similar to autonomic vs controlled processe with Attention

these memory systems cannot be completely independent

Question 11

declarative memories

Answer 11

explicit

semantic vs episodic memory

episodic: memory associated with time, placem with a this-happened-to-me feeling
* specific event

semantic: memory for general world knowledge, not associated with time or place

Question 12

LTM the big picture

Answer 12

the whole LTM encompasses some type of episodic memory
* from these episodes, can extract and generalize info which is what semantic is
* can then explicitly declare this information

explicit = declarative memory: remembering with awareness

implicit = nondeclarative memory: remembering without awareness

Question 13

episodic memory

Answer 13

representation tied to sensory experience

temporal and contextual information

prone to forgetting

Question 14

semantic memory

Answer 14

representations store conceptual information

• representations are seperate from encoding experience, time or context

less prone to forgetting

• taking info from episodic memory and making generalized information
• can remember information but you don’t have to remember the time and place
• you just know it so its easier to remember

Question 15

semantic priming: lexical decision task

Answer 15

• subjects are shown strings of letters, decide whether they are words or not
  –milk vs milc

even though each trial is separate, information processing on one will affect the other

participants are faster to make a lexical decision after a related prime

semantic priming: facilitation in the processing of a word when it is preceded by a related word

Question 16

priming

Answer 16

being exposed to a certain stimuli makes a particular response to a second stimuli more likely to happen

implicit memory

Question 17

learning and remembering

Answer 17

memory divided into declarative and nondeclarative

declarative (explicit): semantic vs episodic

nondeclarative (implicit): procedural skills, priming, conditioning, nonassociation

Question 18

Priming examples

Answer 18

being exposed to a stimuli will make a particular response more likely to happen

1. word completion task
2. lexical decision task
   * cow and milk
3. stereotype threat
   * participants who have been primed with gender stereotypes related to match: women performed worse than those that were not primed
   (no difference in performance for men)

Question 19

conditioning

Answer 19

everyday examples:
* a stomach virus (UCS) would produce a response of nausea (UCR)

• a stomach virus (UCS) might be associated with eating a certain food such as chocolate (CS)
• chocolate (CS), which was eaten before a person was sick with a virus (UCS) is now produces a response of nausea (CR)

Question 20

procedural memory

Answer 20

procedural memory is responsible for knowing how to do things, also known as motor skills
* motor memory (misnomer)

some examples of tasks dependent upon procedural memory
* playing piano
* skiing
* ice skating
* sports
* driving a car
* climbing stairs
* riding a bike

Question 21

amnesia

Answer 21

the catastrophic loss of memory or memory abilities caused by brain damage or disease

two types: retrograde amnesia and anterograde amnesia

retrograde amnesia: the loss of memory for events before a brain injury
* follows Robot’s Law
* more disruption for more recent memories

anterograde amnesia: disruption of memory for events occuring after brains injury, that is, acquiring new long-term memories

areas of brain sensitive to O2 levels like the hippocampus also make memories stick

Question 22

amnesia and implicit memory

Answer 22

Amnesic patients can retain and express some aspects of a learning experience, despite their inability to recollect the experience in a conscious or explicit manner

• This phenomenon is referred to as an implicit expression of memory.

Question 23

anterograde amnesia

Answer 23

scoville performed radical surgery on H.M. with the results being pervasive anterograde amnesia
* to treat seizures

his memory of events before surgery was good

evidence to say that H.M’s procedural memory was normal

• couldn’t make new memories explicitly after surgery

he had encoding for the way he felt about people and he would not like someone but couldn’t remember why

Question 24

encoding and retrieving information

Answer 24

encoding: the process of adding information to memory
* modal model: STM to LTM

Retrieval: the process of finding target information in memory
* what’s his name? How do I knnow her?

usually encoding and retrieval interact

Question 25

encoding elaboration

Answer 25

effective elaboration is more likely when elaborated information adds meaning or supports meaning of the target info

Question 26

elaboration experiment

Answer 26

3 types of sentences: **precise elaboration**: information in the sentence that was meaningfully related to the target adjectives * example: the college girl was tired from studying all night **imprecise elaboration**; information in the sentence was not meaningfully related to the target adjectives * the school girl kelp in the barn next to the goat **base:** no elaboration * the young girl found a book

Question 27

elaboration experiment conclusions

Answer 27

Precise > Base > Imprecise * concluded that elaboration can help with memory, but it needs to be meaningful implications: meaningful elaborations help integrate information with prior knowledge linking knowledge increases remembering if you elaborate but the connection is not obvious or part of current knowledge or the connection is weak

Question 28

organization

Answer 28

gave 24 items either organized into their category or in a random order people performed worse on lists with no organization organization links info together and the linking helps retrieval links gives cues for recalling information organization improves memory

Question 29

schemas

Answer 29

an organized unit of knowledge * provides typical expectations about situations, events, people use them to infer details way of organizing information how certain events take place allows to make predictions of what's going to happen if two people share schema, assumed knowledge makes recalling easier? unexpected schemas are easier to remember bc more surprising * bob ordered a meal, but left no tip when he was finished

Question 30

Schemas results

Answer 30

schemas can distort memory to fit expectations they can fill in details that aren't present like looking at an office desk and recalling seeing a pen when there wasn't actually one

Question 31

summary of schemas

Answer 31

schemas: an organized unit of knowledge or script how do they function? * can help infer details how can they hurt us? * can hurt because we insert things that never happened

Question 32

encoding variability

Answer 32

list 1: arm leg foot, arm leg foot. list 2: arm leg foot, inch meter foot * better memory * more connections and links so more cues to recall the information * easier to remember if you have multiple retrieval cues

Question 33

perspective

Answer 33

participants read a story about a house from one of 2 different perspectives * home buyer or burglar then try to write down as much of the story as possible subjects with burglar perspectives recalled different details to those recalled by home-buyers

Question 34

changing perspective

Answer 34

later tries to write down the story from the same perspective as before or from other perspective * participants with new perspective recalled more than the first time * but those with the old perspective recalled slightly less * shift in perspective can help recall * but information must be encoded in the first place perspective does not prevent encoding even if it is not relevant to the perspective perspective change acts as a new retrieval cue to get at the information

Question 35

what does memory teach us about studying

Answer 35

* spacing effect * context effects * state depending learning * levels of processing * transfer appropriate processing

Question 36

spacing effect

Answer 36

looked at students studying list 8 times in one day vs 2 times a day for 4 days do both * benefits to mass studying right away for long term retention * distributed spacing is better because you can hold onto information longer

Question 37

context effects

Answer 37

presenting 40 words to scuba divers wither under water or on shore recall test in same context (on water or shore) environment has effect on retrieval * better retrieval for words learned and recalled in same environment * encoding specificity

Question 38

encoding specificity effect

Answer 38

retrieval is successful to the extent that the encoding and retrieval cues match * contect effects: related to the external environment * state-dependent learning: arises from our internal states how you are internally matters

Question 39

state dependent learning

Answer 39

* material learned while intoxicated * best recalled while intoxicated disclaimer: people sober for both performed better than any intoxicated group the state that you're in while studying affects the outcome * if you are sad while studying and sad while taking test, results are better because everything you feel while studying can act as a cue later on * encoding specificity

Question 40

levels of processing

Answer 40

processing can range from "shallow" processing of the physical features of stimuli to "deep" processing of their meaning putting meaning into words results in better recall example: subjects shown a word and then had them make 3 judgments: 1. case 2. rhyme 3. sentence completion more processing = more remembering

Question 41

problems with levels of processing

Answer 41

circular reasoning * theory predicts: deeper encoding results in greater memory how do you know the encoding was deep? * memory was better

Question 42

transfer appropriate processing

Answer 42

at encoding: varied in depth * rhyming is shallow encoding * sentence frame is deep encoding at retrieval, used rhymes as retrieval cues * rhyme as retrieval cue (shallow) * recognition (deep) Transfer-appropriate processing (TAP) is a type of state-dependent memory specifically showing that memory performance is not only determined by the depth of processing (where associating meaning with information strengthens the memory; see levels-of-processing effect), but by the relationship between how information is initially encoded and how it is later retrieved.