Memory

Question 1

What is the DVD-in-the-head analogy for memory and why is it bad

Answer 1

Analogy:
Encoding - record on disk
Storage - store DVD in a drawer
Retrieval - play the disk back on a DVD player

Bad/inaccurate bc it implies we record memories w 100% accuracy

Question 2

In the free recall task we did in class, were words remembered better when we recorded the # of syllables or if they were pleasant/unpleasant

Answer 2

Pleasant/unpleasant – emotionally charged words (esp positive ones) generally remembered better

Emotional valence: describes the extent to which an event/stim is pleasant or unpleasant

Question 3

3 phases of memory storage

Answer 3

1) Encoding: perceptions –> memory
2) Storage: info held in a way that allows it to be retrieved
3) Retrieval: bring to mind info that’s alr been encoded and stored

Question 4

Atkinson-Schiffrin Model

Answer 4

Sensory store –> Short term store (STM) –> Long term store (LTM)

• ATTENTION causes events to go from sensory store to STM
• REHEARSAL of memories in STM helps facilitate ENCODING which transfers it to the LTM

Question 5

3 levels of processing/encoding

Answer 5

Craik & Tulving 1975

(Shallow)
Physical encoding: structure of the word (e.g. is the word written in capital letters?)

Acoustic encoding: how the word/concept sounds (e.g. does the word rhyme with another word?)

Semantic encoding: what the word/concept means (e.g. is the word a type of plant?)
(Deep)

Question 6

3 types of encoding

Answer 6

Semantic encoding: relating new info to knowledge alr stored in memory in a meaningful way

Visual imagery encoding: stores new info by converting it into mental pics; reqs lots of cog effort to use successfully –> may not be practical

Organizational encoding: categorizing info according to the relationships btw series of items

Question 7

Craik & Tulving 1975

Answer 7

Found that words processed semantically had the highest accurate recall rate, phonological/acoustic second, structural third

Question 8

Mnemonic

Answer 8

• Encoding strategies used to improve memory for large amounts of info
• Usually involves some memorized cues (e.g. u can memorize the orientation of north south east west by remembering the mnemonic Never Eat Soggy Waffles)

Question 9

Sensory storage

Answer 9

• holds sensory info for a few secs or less
• Includes iconic and echoic memory

Question 10

Iconic vs echoic memory

Answer 10

Iconic: fast-decaying store of VISUAL info – decays in 1 sec or less

Echoic: fast-decaying store of auditory info – decays in ~5 secs

**Can remember by thinking that “echo” has to do w hearing

Question 11

Short-term memory (STM)

Answer 11

• Holds nonsensory info for ~20 secs
• Limited in terms of both how MUCH info we can hold and how LONG we can hold it
• Can hold ~7 chunks of info (info grouped together into a meaningful unit, like letters/words)
• We can bring memories from LTM into STM if presently required

Question 12

Rehearsal

Answer 12

Keeping info in STM by mentally repeating it

Question 13

Serial position effect

Answer 13

• First and last few items of a list more likely to be remembered than the first once
• Primacy and recency effects

Question 14

Primacy vs recency effect

Answer 14

Primacy effect: enhanced recall of FIRST few items

Recency effect: enhanced recall of LAST few items

Question 15

Is the primacy or recency effect stronger

Answer 15

Primary effect – found by adding delay btw viewing of list and recall task

Question 16

Working memory

Answer 16

• Manipulation of info in STM for certain task (e.g. recalling phone number)
• Baddeley & Hitch 1974 model
• Effect of WM on cog func still being studied

Question 17

Baddeley & Hitch 1974 model of working memory

Answer 17

• 2 systems (visuospatial sketchpad and phonological loop) feed into episodic buffer (integrates info)
• Central executive coordinates subsystems and episodic buffer

Question 18

Visuospatial sketchpad vs phonological loop

Answer 18

Visuospatial sketchpad: visual images

Phonological loop: verbal info

Question 19

Long-term memory

Answer 19

• Holds info for hours, days, weeks, years
• No known capacity limit

Question 20

Consolidation vs reconsolidation in LTM

Answer 20

Consolidation: process where memories become stable in the brain
- Sleep, rehearsal, etc can help w consolidation

Reconsolidation: update of previously consolidated memory
- disrupting reconsolidation can reduce traumatic memories

Question 21

Patient HM

Answer 21

• Removed hippocampus –> lost ability to form new explicit memories (anterograde amnesia)
• Had difficulty transferring explicit memories from STM to LTM
• IMPORTANT: Could still form new procedural memories

Question 22

What are the 2 types of LTM

Answer 22

Implicit memory: memories you must demonstrate by doing

Explicit memories: memories you can verbalize

Question 23

Implicit memory + 4 types

Answer 23

Not consciously recalled, but its presence is “implied” by our actions (e.g. how to ride a bike)

Procedural memory, priming, classical conditioning, non-associative learning

Question 24

Procedural memory

Answer 24

The gradual acquisition of skills as the result of practice

Note: procedural memory not reliant on hippocampus –> ppl without hippo can still acquire new skills

Question 25

Priming

Answer 25

Enhanced ability to think of a stim after recent exposure to it from an earlier task

Question 26

Explicit memory + 2 types

Answer 26

The types of memorize you can verbalize Semantic and episodic memory

Question 27

Semantic memory

Answer 27

associated facts and gen knowledge abt world (e.g. state capitals)

Question 28

Episodic memory

Answer 28

Past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place

Question 29

Collaborative memory

Answer 29

- Describes how ppl remember in groups - Can be inhibiting - groups can recall more than one person but less than the sum of multiple ppl working on their own Can also be beneficial - indivs are exposed to items recalled by others they may not recall themselves

Question 30

Collaborative inhibition

Answer 30

- Same # of indivs wokring together recall fewer items than they would on their own - Likely caused by each group member's indiv retrieval strats disrupting each other

Question 31

Retrograde vs anterograde amnesia

Answer 31

Retrograde: can't recall memories BEFORE the event Anterograde: can't form new memories AFTER the event (Think retro = old —> no old memories)

Question 32

Patient KC

Answer 32

- Severe retrograde and anterograde amnesia - Old semantic memories but not episodic

Question 33

Retrieval cue + 3 types

Answer 33

- External info associated w stored info that helps bring it to mind - 3 types: encoding specificity principle, state-dependant retrieval, and transfer-appropriate processing

Question 34

Encoding specificity principle

Answer 34

ENVIRONMENT is retrieval cue; ppl more likely to recall info when encoding and recall contexts are the same e.g. If I memorize things at my desk, I'll remember them better if I do the recall task at my desk vs in a classroom

Question 35

Godden & Baddeley scuba diver experiment

Answer 35

Supports encoding specificity principle: participants remembered words better when either on land or underwater for both memorizing and recall

Question 36

State-dependant retrieval

Answer 36

EMOTIONAL STATE is retrieval cue; info tends to be better recalled when the person is in the same emotional state during encoding and retrieval

Question 37

Transfer-appropriate processing

Answer 37

COGNITIVE PROCESSES are retrieval cue; memory more likely to transfer from one situation to another when the cog processes during encoding and retrieval match

Question 38

Cognitive interview

Answer 38

Procedure btw an interviewer and respondent that uses a series of retrieval techniques to help the respondent recall info

Question 39

Context reinstatement

Answer 39

- Recall strat utilizing encoding specificity and state-dependent retrieval - Ppl encouraged to try to reconstruct the physical setting of an event + their physiological state during the event --> increases # of accurate details

Question 40

Retrieval-induced forgetting

Answer 40

Retrieving an item from LTM impairs subsequent recall of related items

Question 41

What are the two types of interference

Answer 41

Proactive: OLD way of learning blocks NEW way of learning Retroactive: NEW way of learning blocks OLD way of learning **can remember that pro = previous —> priority to prev as opposed to new memory

Question 42

Blocking

Answer 42

Failing to recall something, even if you know it

Question 43

How does the Loftus and Palmer 1974 car verb experiment demonstrate how our memories can be manipulated

Answer 43

- Participants were shown the same video of a car crash - Later, participants were asked how fast the cars were going when they ____ into each other (smashed, hit, contacted) - SHORT TERM: The ppl w "smashed" said the cars were going a lot faster than the ppl w "contacted" - LONG TERM: 1 week, later, participants were asked if there was any glass on the ground (there wasn't any); 14% of "hit group + 34% of "smashed" group said yes