LECTURE 4 - Memory Retrieval

Question 1

retrieval

Answer 1

• ability to retrieve information is critical
• memory failures lay in retrieval failure - the information is there but we can’t get it out
• tip-of-the-tongue state

Question 2

tip-of-the-tongue state

Answer 2

a feeling that one knows a response yet unable to produce it

Question 3

tip-of-the-tongue: sign

Answer 3

‘tip-of-the-finger’ has been reported in sign language users

Question 4

retrieval process

Answer 4

a progression from one or more retrieval cues to target memory trace through associative connections
- aim is to make target available

Question 5

target memory trace

Answer 5

the particular memory we are searching for

Question 6

retrieval cues

Answer 6

bits of information about the target memory that guide the search

Question 7

associations

Answer 7

bonds that link together items in memory (e.g. cue - target)

can vary in strength

Question 8

activation level in memories

Answer 8

• internal state of (trace) memory, reflecting its level of excitement
• determines accessibility of item
• increases when something related to the memory is encountered, persists for some time

Question 9

spreading activation in memories

Answer 9

• automatic transmission of ‘energy’ from one memory to related items via associations
• proportional to the strength of connections

Question 10

reinstatement

Answer 10

retrieval via spreading activation of features that represent memory

• features provided as cues will spread activation to other features, completing the missing components

Question 11

pattern completion

Answer 11

the process by which spreading activation from a set of cues leads to the reinstatement of memory

• regarded as a hippocampal mechanism

Question 12

factors determining retrieval success (for cues + target memory)

Answer 12

1. attention to cues
2. relevance of cues
3. cue-target strength
4. number of cues
5. target strength
6. retrieval strategy
7. retrieval mode

Question 13

attention to cues

Answer 13

reduced attention to cue impairs its ability to guide retrieval

• divided attention task reduces memory performance if secondary task is:
  1. related to primary task
  2. attentionally demanding

Question 14

dividing attention study on memory retrieval

Answer 14

Fernandes and Moscovitch 2003

task 1: recall lists of words presented auditorily
task 2: make judgments about visually presented items e.g. words, pictures, numbers

• completing task 2 reduced task 1 performance by 30-50%
• interference of task 2 greater when they were words
• larger effect when tested with recall than recognition

supporting evidence for impaired attention to cue impairs access to memory

Question 15

relevance of cues

Answer 15

retrieval cues are most effective when they are strongly related to the target

• encoding specificity principle
• the right cues enhances retrieval

Question 16

encoding specificity principle

Answer 16

retrieval cues are most useful if:
- present at encoding
- encoded with target
- similar to original cue available at encoding

Question 17

cue-target associative strength

Answer 17

retrieval success depends on strength of cue-target association

• determined by length of time and attention spent on encoding relationship
• encoding cue and target separately is unhelpful, must be associated (e.g. face-name)

Question 18

number of cues

Answer 18

• access to additional relevant cues facilitates retrieval (activation spreads from both cues to target)
• Dual-cuing

Question 19

dual-cuing - RUbin and Wallace

Answer 19

• cuing multiple access route to a target (extra cues) can provide a super-additive recall benefit
• elaborative encoding maximizes the number of retrieval routes

e.g. can be similar category or similar spelling to cue target word e.g. mythical being and post for ghost

Question 20

strength of target memory

Answer 20

• weakly encoded targets are more difficult to retrieve
• cus they start at lower activation level and require a greater in activation to be retrieved

Question 21

what does strength of target memory explain

Answer 21

word frequency effect on recall
- more frequent target words start with higher activation level so are more easily retrieved

Question 22

retrieval strategy - how can retrieval success be increased?

Answer 22

• organization of materials at encoding
• efficient strategies of memory search
• new strategies can facilitate recall of things previously forgotten e.g. recalling lots of spanish drinks to find target word agua

Question 23

retrieval mode

Answer 23

‘frame of mind’ can change if we retrieve a word
- we must be in a frame of mind that allows us to receive environmental stimuli as episodic cues to guide retrieval

Question 24

ERP study for retrieval mode

Answer 24

Herron and Wilding 2006
- having multiple episodic tasks in a row gradually improves performance
- episodic retrieval in prefrontal cortex (different to semantic)
- adopting a retrieval mode is gradual and takes time

Question 24

is retrieval mode necessary?

Answer 24

no, it does assist, but we can also have involuntary episodic retrieval (something 'springs to mind')

Question 25

factors determining retrieval success summary

Answer 25

Question 26

retrieval tasks - 2 types

Answer 26

explicit/direct OR implicit/indirect

Question 27

explicit/direct memory tasks

Answer 27

- ask people to recall a particular experiences - provide a contextual cue - revealed impaired performances in amnesics - as in many cases rely on hippocampus

Question 28

indirect/implicit memory test

Answer 28

- measures the unconscious influence of experience without asking the subject to recall the past - priming - reveal normal performance in amnesics

Question 29

priming

Answer 29

recent experience with the stimulus improves performance - wont relate to a memory process... therefore amnesics can do well

Question 30

explicit memory tasks

Answer 30

- free recall: 'recall studied items' - cued recall: ' what word was presented with dog' - yes/no recall: 'did you study the word dog?' - forced-choice recognition: 'which word did you study, apple or dog?'

Question 31

recognition tasks

Answer 31

relies on discriminating target memory (studied item) from noise (unstudied items)

Question 32

implicit memory tasks

Answer 32

- stem completion: 'filling missing letters with a word that fits: MO_ _' - fragment completion: 'fill in letters to make a word: A _ P_E' - conceptual fluency: 'name as many birds'

Question 33

contextual cues

Answer 33

- memory is context-dependent - context reinstates original encoding environment and facilitates retrieval - principle of encoding specificity

Question 34

principle of encoding specificity

Answer 34

we encode information along with its context

Question 35

types of contextual cues

Answer 35

- spatio/ temporal/ environmental - mood - physiological - cognitive

Question 36

spatio-temporal/ environmental cues (external)

Answer 36

location and time cues during an event e.g. supermarket

Question 37

mood cues (internal)

Answer 37

emotional state that one was in during the event e.g. sad

Question 38

physiological cue (internal)

Answer 38

physical state one was in during an event e.g. drunk/tired

Question 39

cognitive cues (internal)

Answer 39

collection of concepts one has thought about the event e.g. specific thought

Question 40

study on context-dependent memory: environmental factors - learning

Answer 40

Goode and Baddeley 1975 - taught divers word pairs either on dry land or underwater - tested cued recall in same or different environment - material best recalled in environment it was learned

Question 41

environmental factors - study on studying environment

Answer 41

Grant et al 1998 - studying in noisy vs. quiet environment - better performance when testing condition matched study condition (quiet + quiet, noisy + noisy)

Question 42

state-dependent memory

Answer 42

- internal environment - recall depends on match between p's internal state at encoding and retrieval e.g. being drunk or under influence of drugs

Question 43

mood-dependent memory

Answer 43

recall is dependent on the match in mood states between encoding and retrieval e.g. learning when happy likely to remember when happy more likely to recall events that have an emotional tone matching current mood of person

Question 44

mood-dependent memory study

Answer 44

Eich, Macaulay and Ryan 1994 - encoding: pleasant or unpleasant mood - test: two days later, some same or some opposite mood prior to recall - free recall improved when mood states matched

Question 45

cognitive context-dependent memory

Answer 45

- recall is better if same cognitive features/tasks are involved - ideas, thoughts and concepts that occupied our attention - memory facilitated when cognitive context at encoding matches retrieval

Question 46

cognitive context-dependent memory study

Answer 46

Marian and Neisser's 200 bilingual study - memory cues/interview were provided in either russian or english - p's asked to recall life events from and period - when cued in russian, more likely to generate russian related memories and vice versa - memories easier to access when retrieval takes place in same language mode they were encoded

Question 47

what can we conclude from retrieval

Answer 47

- retrieved memories are not entirely intact - we have to 'figure out' some aspects of recalled experience - reconstructive memory

Question 48

recognition memory task

Answer 48

- decide whether one encountered a stimulus before - presents stimulus - discrimination between old and new stimuli - old=studies - new=not studied - can measure p's level of guessing and decision-making bias for accepting items as old

Question 49

recognition memory - SDT

Answer 49

SDT- signal detection theory - explores recognition memory decisions - developed from auditory perception - auditory task: detect a tone presented against background noise - 'is it hard or easy to detect?'

Question 50

signal detection theory outcome matrix

Answer 50

can be applied to recognition memory task

Question 51

SDT matrix applied to recognition memory task

Answer 51

- old items will be more familiar, therefore more likely to be guessed correctly

Question 52

SDT cannot account for all recognition memory

Answer 52

- word frequency effect: where low freq. words are better recognised but high freq. better recalled - SDT incorrectly predicts low freq, words should be less familiar .... explained by dual-process theory

Question 53

dual-process theory

Answer 53

recognition memory is based on 2 types of memory/processes (Mandler 1980) - familiarity: memory without contextual info, signal detection, faster, automatic - recollection: contextual info for stimulus, e.g. cued recall, slower, more attention demanding

Question 54

measuring recognition memory: remember/know procedure

Answer 54

Tulving 1985 - remember it was presented previously: p's recall contextual details, measures recollection - know it was presented previously: seems familiar, measures familiarity

Question 55

summary of retrieval

Answer 55

- memory can fail because retrieval fails - retrieval success is determined by the relationship between between cues and target memory - tested using implicit or explicit tasks - context at retrieval and degree of match to encoding impacts retrieval success - recognition memory included familiarity and recollection

Question 56

Tulving (1985) devised which of the following procedures to isolate the relevant components of recognition memory?

Answer 56

remember/know