MEMORY

Question 1

What are the three basic processes of memory?

Answer 1

Encoding - acquiring information & transferring to memory

Storage - retention of memory

Retrieval - recovery of stored information

Question 2

What are the three types of memory storage?

Answer 2

Sensory memory
Short term/working memory
Long term memory

Question 3

What is sensory memory? What is its capacity? Duration?

Answer 3

Visual, touch, & acoustic
Very large capacity
Duration is 1 sec or less

Question 4

What is short-term memory? What is its capacity? Duration?

Answer 4

Capacity - 7 “bits” of info (+/-2)
Duration ~30 seconds

Question 5

What is chunking, and how does it assist with short-term memory? What are some examples of chunking?

Answer 5

Group info into “chunks”
Each chunk is now 1 bit
Ex: phone numbers → 3 bits instead 10

Question 6

How does the model of working memory differ from that for short-term memory?

Answer 6

More complex, more active process of storage

Central executive - brain organizing things into types

Visuospatial sketch pad - visually or spatially oriented; looking at a map, remembering a route

Episodic buffer - event space things; what happened this morning at breakfast

Phonological - hearing based things

Question 7

What is long-term memory? What is its capacity? Duration?

Answer 7

Duration & capacity probably unlimited

Question 8

What does HSAM refer to?

Answer 8

Highly superior autobiographical memory
Very rare → people who can remember everything

Question 9

How does the model of spreading activation explain long-term memory? The model of
Schemas?

Answer 9

Spreading activation - words that are associated with each other activate their associated words in memory

Schemas - sets of expectations about objects & situations; when you go out to eat you know the routine

Question 10

How is rehearsal important to moving information from short-term to long-term memory?

Answer 10

Maintenance rehearsal - simple repetition; rote rehearsal → repeating grocery list to yourself

Elaborative rehearsal - link new material to known material →active process

Question 11

What is the levels of processing / depth of processing model of long-term memory?

Answer 11

Depth of processing affects strength of memory

Structural (looks like) - is the word printed in all caps?

Phonemic (sounds like) - does the word sound the same as [comparison word]?

Semantic (meaning) - does the word mean the same thing as [comparison word]?

Question 12

What is the difference between declarative and nondeclarative memory?

Answer 12

Declarative memory - explicit, conscious → you are consciously aware that you know this stuff

Nondeclarative memory - implicit, unconscious

First learning a skill = declarative
When skill becomes automatic = nondeclarative (driving a car)

Question 13

What are specific types of declarative memory?

Answer 13

Semantic - general world knowledge (facts, concepts, meanings)

Episodic - observational info attached to specific life events

Autobiographical - blend of semantic & episodic (specifically applies to your life)

Question 14

What are specific types of nondeclarative memory?

Answer 14

Procedural - how to carry out skilled movement

Classical conditioning - stimulus-response associations

Priming - exposure to a stimulus changes response to subsequent stimulus

Question 15

What are some examples of context cues for retrieval of information from long-term memory?

Answer 15

Hearing the music of song to remember the lyrics
Hearing your native language to remember a memory from your childhood

Question 16

What is the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon? What does it tell us about the retrieval process?

Answer 16

When you can almost remember something but not quite

Hints at gradual retrieval process

Question 17

What is the serial position effect?

Answer 17

The tendency to remember the first and last items in a list better than those in the middle

Question 18

How accurate is retrieval from long-term memory?

Answer 18

Reconstructive rather than literal

Question 19

What do studies on eyewitness testimony tell us about the accuracy of memory?

Answer 19

Susceptibility to memory distortion (stop sign experiment)

Question 20

How do memory processes interact with emotion? What are some examples of effects that illustrate this interaction?

Answer 20

Memory & emotion are strongly linked

Mood congruence effect - retrieve info more easily when same content as current emotional state

Question 21

What is flashbulb memory?

Answer 21

Significant events strongly related to emotion, remember in detail

Question 22

How does emotion influence memory for persons with PTSD?

Answer 22

Triggers

Question 23

How do neurons respond to sensitization and habituation?

Answer 23

Sensitization - on repeated presentation of stimulus, you get more & more reactive to it → growing axon terminals

Habituation - on repeated presentation of stimulus, you start to ignore it → lose axon terminals

Question 24

What is long-term potentiation?

Answer 24

On repeated stimulation of neural signals, the connection becomes more efficient

Question 25

Which brain structures are involved with declarative memory? Nondeclarative? How do
studies of people with brain disease or damage help us determine this information?

Answer 25

Declarative - damage to hippocampus → anterograde amnesia
Nondeclarative - damage to basal ganglia → Parkinson’s & Huntington’s

Question 26

Which areas of the cortex activate when people are using semantic memory? How do these areas differ according to the type of task people are asked to do?

Answer 26

Declarative memory - activation of different lobes depending on type of memory or task

Question 27

What are some brain and memory changes that occur in people with Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 27

Low levels of acetylcholine
Changes in tau protein
Less affected: older episodic, semantic, nondeclarative-procedural
More affected: formation of new memories

Question 28

What are the processes involved in forgetting?

Answer 28

Decay - difficulty w/ retrieving info that has not been used in a long time

Interference: competition between older & newer info in memory

Question 29

What is the difference between proactive and retroactive interference?

Answer 29

Proactive interference - old info leads to problems remembering new info

Retroactive interference - new info leads to problems remembering old info

Question 30

What are some techniques that can be used to improve memory?

Answer 30

Distributed practice
Exercise - increases neurogenesis
Sleep - memory consolidation
Elaborative rehearsal - self quizzing, verbalize material, link info to self, mnemonic devices