Memory

Question 1

what is coglish?

Answer 1

analogy of human memory to a computer

Question 2

3 stages of memory

Answer 2

acquisition
retention
retrieval

Question 3

what is acquisition?

Answer 3

encoding
the process of attending to a stimulus and encoding into memory
e.g. saving a file onto a flash drive

Question 4

what is retention?

Answer 4

the preservation of stored material over an interval
e.g. if the file stays on the drive it is said to be retained

Question 5

what is retrieval?

Answer 5

the process of getting information back for use so that it can be worked with
e.g. opening stored file

Question 6

differences between computer and human memory

Answer 6

computer memory is passive
human memory is active

human memory involves perception as observer must infer what has occurred

human memory relies on eyewitness testimony which can be effected by post-event misinformation - current context can effect the way something is remembered

difficult for human memory to recall when times were different due to change in world view - current interpretation of the world effects inference

Question 7

the multi-store model of memory

Answer 7

introduced late 1960s
information moved from one compartment to another

Question 8

3 different types of storage compartments in the MSM

Answer 8

sensory
short-term
long-term

Question 9

sensory store in MSM

Answer 9

upon initial presentation of a stimulus, we immediately form a sensory memory of it
e.g. auditory, visual, gustatory, olfactory, tactile feature
sight: iconic memory - very short (few hundred milliseconds)
sound: echoic memory - important for understanding speech (~4 seconds)
large but brief

Question 10

short term store in MSM

Answer 10

consciousness
items that we are currently aware of allows us to experience the world in an integrated fashion
what happened 1 second ago is not lost but integrated into current experience
limited capacity - 7+/- 2 items (Miller phone numbers)
information can be lost via decay or displacement
limited duration - 20 seconds if no rehearsal

Question 11

define decay

Answer 11

with time it’s like the memory trace rusts

Question 12

define displacement

Answer 12

new items enter STM and knock others out

Question 13

types of rehearsal and definitions

Answer 13

maintenance rehearsal: keeps items active in STM
elaborative rehearsal: transfers items from STM to LTM

Question 14

how can you increase the capacity of STM?

Answer 14

chunking
- if items can be grouped together such that they form larger wholes, capacity of STM can be increased greatly
- occurs with expertise:
- chess master experiments: shown chess board for 5 seconds, then asked to report the position of the pieces.
- With common chess arrangement: Chess masters did much better than novices
- With random positioning of pieces, experts were no better than novices

Question 15

long term store in MSM

Answer 15

information passed from STM to LTM through elaborative rehearsal
many types of LTM

Question 16

levels of processing (LoP)

Answer 16

• Memory is determined by how information is processed, not by “what box it’s in.” (i.e., STM, LTM)
• Shallow processing: processing of superficial features; physical properties; not good memory
• Deep processing: processing for meaning; results in better memory

Question 17

LoP study: Craik and Tulving 1975

Answer 17

• Have people study concrete nouns, but have them process them during study in different ways: to process the case of the letters in the word (shallow), the rhyme of the word (medium) or for meaning of the word (deep).
• Results (percent recalled):
  o case: 17%
  o rhyme: 37%
  o sentence: 65%

Question 18

types of LTM

Answer 18

episodic
semantic

Question 19

episodic memory

Answer 19

context-specific - occurring in a time and place in your life
obeys principles of encoding specificity

Question 20

encoding specificity

Answer 20

episodic memory is based on retrieval cues which are cues present at the time items were learned
matching retrieval cues matches the encoding and retrieval context

Question 21

examples of encoding specifity

Answer 21

o Baddeley and the land/water study.
o State-dependent Learning: match between “states”
(e.g., mood, drug influence) of encoding and retrieval
reveals better memory.

Question 22

semantic memory

Answer 22

general memory - not tied to particular context e.g. definitions
representations form a semantic network

Question 23

semantic network

Answer 23

cluster of related concepts that form a schema

Question 24

evidence for semantic network

Answer 24

semantic priming
if a work is processed immediately preceding a second related work, the processing of the second word is enhanced

Question 25

trace-driven passive memory

Answer 25

a trace is what is left behind in memory after an event has occurred can be retrieved at any time after the event has occurred random parts of a trace deteriorates with time but is not altered by schemas

Question 26

flashbulb memories

Answer 26

occurs for surprising vivid experiences e.g. disasters, assassinations easily recoverable memories with details possible to remember where you were, who you were with, how you found out easy to recount details

Question 27

schema-driven active memory

Answer 27

- Schema: a set of expectations about the way the world works that affects the information we attend to and remember. - Memory is not a literal re-experiencing depending on current expectations, interpretation and biases, memory of the past will vary. - Bartlett: One of the first memory theorists to really develop the notion of the schema in memory o Remembering (1932) - revolutionised the field o BARTLETT ARGUED SCHEMAS PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE IN MEMORY

Question 28

Bartlett's findings - Method of serial reproduction

Answer 28

- Transformations were in the direction of accepted conventional representations (drawings become more “normal”) - Features that could not be labeled were elaborated until a recognised form was produced (i.e., weird bits are transformed into something familiar - odd wing becomes a tail) - Once a recognisable form is produced, simplification into something more conventional (e.g., cat) - Assignment of a name influences what is reproduced (“Portrait d’homme” - “Portrait of a man”) - Preservation of certain details once recognised form is achieved (e.g., tail on cat)

Question 29

Bartlett's findings - War of the ghost

Answer 29

- Story became simplified and made more coherent; many of the details that weren't crucial to the general gist were lost - Bartlett: “No trace of an odd, or supernatural element is left: we have a perfectly straightforward story of a fight and a death.” - This simplification and coherence was achieved by: o Omissions: ghosts omitted early; the wound became a matter of flesh, not spirit o Rationalisation: retelling the story of what must have occurred from the storyteller's world outlook (evidence of inferences in memory processes) o Transformation of details into something more familiar and conventional o Changing order of events In short, people tended to leave out parts that were unconventional, and fill in bits with information that was consistent with their viewpoint

Question 30

Illusory truth effect

Answer 30

Vellani et al. (2023) - Compared people’s belief in and tendency to share repeated versus novel statements - Half the statements were true and half were false - Two experiments: o Experiment 1: health related misinformation – e.g. removing sugar from diet o Experiment 2: general knowledge misinformation – e.g. cyclops