What is memory? Define the 3 main components of memory.
Memory: the persistence of learning over time.
Encoding: the storage of information as a neural code in neurons.
Storage: how we hold/store information long term
Retrieval: How we pull information out of storage.
What are the 3 measures of memory?
Recall: the ability to recall info from long term memory with minimal cues.
Recognition: the ability to recognize when something is familiar or non-familiar.
Relearning: relearning a subject. Learning things for the second time happens faster.
Explain the Ebbinghaus retention curve and “savings via relearning”.
Ebbinghaus found that it took him less time to memorize a list of nonsense syllables each time he looked at it.
“savings via relearning” refers to the time saved when learning something for the subsequent time.
What is the 3-stage information processing model?
Sensory memory -> working memory (WM) -> long term memory (LTM).
Involves encoding, storage, and retrieval.
What is the connectionism information processing model?
A memory is a pattern of activity across the brain, and that pattern is reactivated when we try and recall that memory.
Why has “short term memory” been changed to “working memory”?
WM is not as simple as just short term storage of information - we also work with this information. It still has a finite capacity.
What is the dual track memory system? Define the 2 components.
Explicit/declarative memories: conscious facts and experiences encoded through conscious, effortful processing.
Implicit/nondeclarative memories: non-consciously accessible to us - they form automatically when we are doing something.
What is amnesia? Define the 2 types.
A memory impairment.
Retrograde amnesia: when we lose memories from before the point of the accident, usually from past weeks/days.
Anterograde amnesia: when the pt is unable to form new memories after the point of the accident.
What were patient HM’s primary impairments?
Severe anterograde amnesia (HM has no hippocampus), and some retrograde amnesia.
What was patient HM still able to do? (4)
He still had a functioning working memory.
- he could hold onto 6 items on average
He was able to form specific long term memories.
- Although he could not name her, he still displayed warmth and familiarity towards Brenda Milner
Mirror drawing test.
- He could get better and more accurate at the task, even though he would report he had never done it before.
Priming.
- He could associate a random list of words with another task (he could recall a word from the list in a fill in the bank task), even though he would report not remembering the words at all.
What is consolidation? Could HM do this? What conclusions were made about memory?
This is the encoding of information from WM to LTM.
This is what HM could not do. Because his medial temporal lobe was removed, this led to the finding that the hippocampus plays a role in memory consolidation.
What brain areas are used for declarative memories?
The temporal and frontal lobes, along with the hippocampus for consolidation.
Define episodic and semantic memory.
Episodic memory: narrative memories that detail HOW something happened.
Semantic memory: the general facts and knowledge about and event.
*some amnesia patients can access the facts of an event, but not how it happened.
What brain areas are used for nondeclarative memories?
The basal ganglia and the cerebellum.
What kinds of memory are included in nondeclarative memories?
Procedural memories: habits and skills, related to Pavlovian associations
Knowledge about the “gist” of our lives: we can make pretty accurate guesses about things that we may not actually consciously know about ourselves.
What is sensory memory?
A very brief/fleeting activation of sensory systems and sensory neurons. We have different sensory memories for different sensory modalities.
*very much related to the subliminal and attention filtering.
What is iconic memory?
Picture-image memory.
What is echoic memory?
Sound memory.
What exactly is stored in WM? What is psychology’s “magic number”? How long can info stay in WM?
All of the sensory information that has not been filtered out.
The magic number of items that can be stored in WM is 7, +/- 2 items.
Without rehearsal, information in WM decays very quickly.
What is working memory capacity?
The maximum amount of information one can accurately retrieve from working memory.
*people have different capacities. Children with smaller capacities may have to work harder to learn some things.
What are some strategies for memory formation? Describe each one. (6)
- Chunking
- Mnemonics
- Hierarchies
- Spaced study (massed vs. distributed practice)
- The testing effect
- Make the content personally meaningful
What are the levels of processing of verbal information?
Shallow processing: the basic aspects of the content (i.e. names, years, etc.)
Deep processing: the semantic content.
*we have to learn shallowly before we learn deeply.
How are memories actually stored? What has to happen for us to be able to “replay” a memory?
Recall is reconstruction of what has occurred - not an objective replay. Memories are not stored in one single place in the brain, so we need to reactivate many sensory areas to access the information.
What is reconsolidation?
We can change memories, they are labile. Reconsolidation is the process of bringing a LTM back into WM, altering it, and then sending it back to LTM storage.
