What is memory?
capacity to get knowledge and skills via storage and retrieval of information
What are retrograde and anterograde amnesiacs?
- retrograde amnesiacs- can’t retrieve memories. Many times, they can’t retrieve episodic long term memories, but they can retrieve semantic long term memories
- anterograde amnesiacs- can’t encode memories
How can successful memories be made? What 3 steps?
- encoding- information processed into neural signals
- stored- encoded information becomes stored in memory. Consolidation occurs here (neural connections supporting memory become stronger or synapses made)
- retrieval- brain recalls and remembers stored information
What gets encoded?
vivid or important events
What are the three levels of processing?
- Shallow- structural encoding, like noticing presence of physical features
- Intermediate- phonemic, what something sounds like or rhymes with. Like creating a song
- Deep- applying it to self-knowledge “self-reference effect”
What are the three different types of memory and how long do we hold the memories for?
- sensory memory- 1/3 second, sensory information
- Short term/working memory- 20 seconds, limited in capacity
- long term memory- infinite in capacity and amount of time
Short term/Working Memory Elaborate
- 20 seconds
- can only remember 7 item + or - 2
- can use chunking- to create groups of meaningful material that’ll be more likely to remember
- we have multiple short term systems: one for remembering visuospatial information, and another for holding auditory/verbal information
Long Term Memory- Elaborate
- unlimited in capacity and time
- organized
- can be organized in semantic networks, where one piece of information can lead you to remembering another piece
What are the two types of long term memory?
- Declarative (explicit)
- Procedural (implicit)
What is declarative long term memory?
- semantic- remembering facts, like the 1st president of the US
- Episodic- memory of specific events that have happened to you. Ex- what you had for dinner last night
- retrograde amnesiacs will los ability to form episodic memories, while semantic memories will be spared
Procedural long term memory
- motor memory- how to ride a bike
- habitual patterns- dinner manners
- untouched by amnesia
What are the different theories of how memories are stored?
- Lashley- found the more cortex removed, the less likely the participants could recall memories
- Penfield- stimulated the temporal lobe and led patients to recall memories. But also stimulated other parts of brain
- Now- believe that memories are stored everywhere in the brain
How is the hippocampus important in storing memory? What happens if we remove it?
- plays a role in explicit/declarative memory consolidation (storing a long term memory)
- important for spatial memory
- if you remove it, you can’t store memories, so you’re an anterograde amnesiac
How are frontal lobes important for memory?
encoding and working memory
Amygdala
emotional memory
How do we forget? What are the two ways
- we forget because of interference
- retroactive interference-new info interferes with old
- proactive interference- old info interferes with old
What did Freud think about memory? Was it right?
thought we repressed negative memory into unconscious. This is wrong, we actually remember bad memories more
Explain retrieval. What is it dependent on?
- can be forced or automatic
- can be context dependent and rely on external stimuli- location, odor
- can be state dependent and rely on internal stimuli- mood drugs
What is Deja Vu?
confusion in memory where cues in a situation are similar to cues already experienced in past situation
How can our memories become distorted?
- false recall- we assume that certain words are included in semantic network
- we’re highly suggestible- when given false information, we incorporate it into memories and recall it
