Memory

Question 1

What is memory?

Answer 1

Process involving interactions of the brain/behaviour/environment (biopsychosocial)

Question 2

Sensory Memory

Answer 2

• Shortest-term element of memory
• First level of memory

(E.g. when a person sees an object briefly before it disappears)

Question 3

What makes up Sensory Memory?

Answer 3

Iconic Memory > Visual sensory memory

Echoic > Auditory sensory memory

Question 4

Short-term Memory

Answer 4

Preservation of recent experiences, with retrieval of information from long-term memory

Question 5

How is Short-term memory retained?

Answer 5

• Repetition
• Rehearsal
• Chunking

Question 6

What is chunking?

Answer 6

Taking single items of information and recoding them on the basis of similarity or another organising principle (phone numbers)

Question 7

What are the key aspects of STM?

Answer 7

• Limited capacity > (7 +/- 2 items stored at a time)
• Limited duration > fragile - info can be lost (30 sec)
• Encoding > primarily acoustic -translating visual info to sounds

Question 8

How can information be forgotten in STM?

Answer 8

• Decay > no rehearsal/contemplation
• Displacement > new memories replace old ones
• Interference > distortion due to similar memories
  Can be proactive or retroactive

Question 9

Proactive interference

Answer 9

Old memories interfere with new ones

Question 10

Retroactive interference

Answer 10

New memories interfere with old ones

Question 11

Encoding

Answer 11

Process by which a mental representation is formed in memory

Question 12

Long Term Memory

Answer 12

Memory processes associated with the preservation of information for retrieval at any later time

Question 13

Types of LTM

Answer 13

Declarative (explicit)

Procedural (implicit)

Question 14

Declarative (explicit) Memory

Answer 14

Available in consciousness

1. Episodic memory > specific events and images
2. Semantic Memory > facts and general information

Question 15

Procedural (implicit) Memory

Answer 15

Automatic retrieval processes - how to use objects

E.g. drive a car, use a computer

Question 16

Forgetting

Answer 16

Time dependent decline in memory

Question 17

How can information be lost in LTM?

Answer 17

Decay > memory loss, perhaps due to CNS injury or disease

Retrieval > memory trace is present but cannot be accessed

Evidence for lifetime memory traces > (E.g. on the tip of my tongue)

Question 18

Retrieval

Answer 18

Recovery of stored information from memory

Question 19

Methods of retrieval

Answer 19

1. Recall

2. Recognition

Question 20

Recall

Answer 20

Method of retrieval in which an individual is required to reproduce information previously presented

Question 21

Recognition

Answer 21

Method of retrieval in which an individual is required to identify stimuli as having been experienced before

Question 22

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 22

Inability to form explicit memories for events that occur after the time of physical damage to brain

Question 23

Retrograde Amnesia

Answer 23

Inability to retrieve memories from the time before physical damage to the brain

Question 24

Encoding specificity

Answer 24

Subsequent retrieval of information is enhanced if cues received at the time of recall are consistent with those present at the time of encoding

Question 25

Primary effect

Answer 25

Improved memory for items at the start of a list

Question 26

Recency effect

Answer 26

Improved memory for items at the end of a list

Question 27

Serial position effect

Answer 27

Characteristic of memory retrieval in which the recall of the beginning and end items on a list is often better than recall of items appearing in the middle (e.g. list of words)

Question 28

Contextual distinctiveness

Answer 28

Assumption that the serial position effect can be altered by the context and distinctiveness of the experience being recalled

Question 29

Why is memory important in health care?

Answer 29

> Diagnosis - patients memory of clinical history > Communication - patient storing relevant information > Compliance - patient remembering to follow instructions > Memory disorders - CNS impairment (dementia etc.)

Question 30

What do health professionals have to be mindful of in regards to memory?

Answer 30

Attention rehearsal - Was the information encoded in LTM? Depth of processing - Was info meaningful? Interference - Conflicting info from diverse sources? Cue-dependent - Where did encoding happen? Mood-dependent - What was patients emotional state? State-dependent - Was the patient on medication? Amnesia/Dementia - Does the patient have a CNS injury?