Week 11 Flashcards
(22 cards)
Is it true that you learn best when happy?
No - there is an interaction between your mood when learning something and the same mood when recalling what you learnt.
By definition, what is memory and what are the different memory processes?
The means by which we take something we have encountered and convert it to a form we can store, retrieve and use.
Encoding; acquisition of new info (e.g. study phase).
Storage; a representation that persists over time.
Retrieval; recovery of memory - back to more active state.
What is a mental representation and what are the different types?
A mental model of a stimulus or category of stimuli - describing things we can’t see.
Sensory (visual, auditory); verbal (info stored in words); motoric (motor actions)
What are the features of the standard model of memory, what are sensory registers and how long do they hold info about a perceived stimulus for?
Stimulus -> sensory registers (attention | information lost) -> short-term memory (rehearsal | information lost) -> long-term memory (retrieval | information lost).
They hold information about a perceived stimulus for approximately 500 milliseconds.
What are the different sensory registers and what is the difference between them?
Iconic storage; momentary storage of visual info.
Echoic storage; momentary storage of auditory info.
What is the magic number in relation to STM and the digit span task?
7 +/- 2; span range between 5 and 9.
What evidence is there for STM/LTM distinction?
Primacy - STM; recency - LTM
When recalling a series of words. The first few and last few words were more likely to be remembered.
What is involved in the working memory model?
Central Executive (the boss - allocates resources, governs attentional and automatic processes, used in problem-solving, does the ‘real’ work);
- Visuospatial sketchpad
- Episodic buffer
- Phonological loop (Similar to STM, more in context of time being limited rather than capacity; e.g word-length effect, pen vs. university)
What is the difference between procedural and declarative?
Procedural - knowing how; e.g. show me how to tie your shoelaces
Declarative - knowing that; e.g. who is the premier of NSW?
What is the difference between episodic and semantic?
Episodic - where/when event occurred; e.g. where did you park your car?
Semantic - the facts; e.g. what is Bob Dylan famous for?
What is the difference between implicit and explicit?
Explicit - information that is consciously retrieved
Implicit - knowledge expressed on behavioral measures; e.g. complete this word fragment: EXP_ _ T
What is the difference between recall and recognition?
Recall - information that is retrieved from memory; e.g. answering a short answer question on an exam
Recognition - discrimination between target and distractor information; e.g. answering a multiple choice question on an exam
What are the three types of everyday memory?
Functional, prospective (remembering to remember, remembering what to remember), autobiographical (recalling memory of events during life)
What is the difference between maintenance and elaborative rehearsal?
Maintenance - Repeating the info over and over.
Elaborative - Associating info with existing info.
What are the two levels of processing and what is the difference between the two?
Shallow - focus on the physical characteristics of the stimulus.
Deep processing - focus on the meaning of the stimulus.
What is context dependent and mood (state) congruent memory?
Information is easier to recall when it is encoded and retrieved in the same context and emotional state.
What is the spacing effect?
Superiority of memory for information rehearsed over longer intervals.
What are mnemonics?
Systematic strategies for remembering information; e.g. I before E expect after C.
What are the seven sins of memory? When does most forgetting occur?
Transience - memories fade with time. Absent-mindedness - need to pay attention to remember. Misattribution - source amnesia. Suggestibility - thinking we remember. Bias - distortions in recall. Persistence - recurring memories. Forgetting - inability to remember.
After the first 24 hours.
What are the theories explaining ‘why do we forget’?
Decay theory - memory is like a fading neural trace that is weakened with disuse.
Interference theory - a conflict between new and old memories.
Motivated forgetting - implies that forgetting can avoid painful memories.
What are the two kinds of interference theory?
Proactive - old interferes with new.
Retroactive - new interferes with old.
What are the two different types of disordered memories?
Retrograde amnesia - inability to retrieve prior memories.
Anterograde amnesia - inability to form new memories.
