Memory

Question 1

Information Processing Model

Answer 1

• Proposes our brains are similar to computers.
• We get input from environment, process it, and output decisions.
• Doesn’t describe where things happen in the brain.
• INPUT -> PROCESS -> OUTPUT
• The information-processing model is a bottom-up or stimulus driven model.
• The information-processing model assumes limited storage capacity.
• The human brain is believed to have a limited capacity for attention.

Question 2

Sensory Memory (Register)

Answer 2

• Two components based on type of input.
• You have iconic (memory for what you see, lasts half a second)
• Also have echoic (what you hear, lasts 3-4 seconds) memory.
• They are defined by time.

Question 3

Working Memory (Short–Term Memory)

Answer 3

• is the sensory information you actually process.
• Consists of what you are thinking about at the moment.
• Capacity is Magic number 7 . Working memory can hold 7 +/- 2 pieces of info at a time. Why phone #s are 7 digits long.
• Working memory is memory that is stored while it is held in attention.

Question 4

Long-Term Memory

Answer 4

• Capacity is unlimited.
• 2 main categories:
  1. Explicit (declarative)
  2. Implicit (non-declarative)

Question 5

Explicit Memory /Declarative

Answer 5

• are facts/events you can clearly/explicitly describe.
• Explicit memory is a type of long term memory that focuses on recalling previous experiences and information.
• Explicit memory can be divided into teo categories:
  1. Episodic
  2. Semantic

Question 6

Semantic Memory (Explicit Memory)

Answer 6

• Anytime you take vocabulary test or state capitals (has to do with words/facts).
• So remembering simple facts like meanings of words.

Question 7

Episodic Memory (Explicit Memory)

Answer 7

• Event-related memories…like your last birthday party.

Question 8

Implicit Memories /Non-Declarative

Answer 8

• Involve things you may not express fluently.
• is a type of memory in which previous experiences aid the performance of a task without conscious awareness of these previous experiences.
• Example: riding a bycicle

Question 9

Procedural Memories (Implicit Memory)

Answer 9

• Is long-term memory for actions or habits
• All habits are procedural memories
• Memories that inform unconscious motor skills

Question 10

Priming

Answer 10

• is an implicit memory effect in which exposure to one stimulus (i.e., perceptual pattern) influences the response to another stimulus.
• Two types:
  1. Negative Priming
  2. Positive Priming

Question 11

Negative Priming

Answer 11

• is an implicit memory effect in which prior exposure to a stimulus unfavorably influences the response to the same stimulus.
• Caused by experiencing the stimulus, and then ignoring it.

Question 12

Positive Priming

Answer 12

• speeds up processing. caused by simply experiencing the stimulus.
• is thought to be caused by spreading activation. This means that the first stimulus activates parts of a particular representation or association in memory just before carrying out an action or task.

Question 13

Autobiographical Memory

Answer 13

• is a memory system consisting of episodes recollected from an individual’s life, based on a combination of episodic (personal experiences and specific objects, people and events experienced at particular time and place) and semantic (general knowledge and facts about the world) memory.

Question 14

Encoding Strategies: Encoding

Answer 14

• is transferring information from the temporary store in working memory into permanent store in long-term memory.
• is more successful when more cognitive effort is actively used. Combining encoding strategies is more useful than using only one.

Question 15

Endoging Strategy: Encoding Specificity

Answer 15

• Enhanced memory when testing takes place under the same conditions as learning.

Question 16

Encoding Strategy: Rote Rehearsal

Answer 16

• is simply repeating information. It requires the least amount of cognitive effort.

Question 17

Encoding Strategy: Chunking

Answer 17

• we group info we’re getting into meaningful categories we already know to ease memorization.
• Example: hunk the following list : bananas, oranges, blueberries, bread, rice, chicken, peanuts, baking soda, flour, eggs, butter:
• Bananas, orange, blueberries = fruits
• Bread, rice = grains
• Chicken , peanuts = proteins
• Baking soda, flour, eggs, butter = baking supplies

Question 18

Encoding Strategy: Mnemonic Devices

Answer 18

• Link what you are trying to learn into previously exist long-term information that is already in your memory.

Question 19

Types of Mnemonic: Pegword System

Answer 19

• Verbal anchors link words that rhyme with the number.
• Example:
• 1 is bun
• 2 is shoe
• 3 is tree
• 4 is door
• 5 is skydive
• 6 is sticks
• 7 is heaven
• Then you pair list to each of the words you are trying to remember using imagery like Broccoli looks like a tree so it’s 4th on the list.

Question 20

Types of Mnemonic: Method of loci

Answer 20

• good for remembering things in order, link info to locations.
• Tie information you need to remember to certain stops along a route that you already know.
• Example: Bananas raining down on bus stop you get on, next stop there are oranges being thrown at, and the final stop you have a cat eating blueberries. Again, this method also ties imagery.

Question 21

Types of Mnemonic: Acronym

Answer 21

• each of the letter of a popular word you know stands for the first letters of a set of words you need to remember.
• Example: HOMES to remember Great lakes of the US – Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior

Question 22

Encoding Strategy: Self-Referencing:

Answer 22

• Think about new info and how it relates to you personally.
• Example: Imagine learning something about history, you then learn the information by talking to the general by saying how it relates to you.

Question 23

Encoding Strategy: Spacing

Answer 23

• Spreading out study sessions overtime in shorter periods rather than cramming them into one study session. [spacing effect]

Question 24

Retrieval Cues

Answer 24

• Trying to remember/call up a memory of something you learned before.
• Successful retrieval depends on being able to use cues around you and to recognize the association between cues present at encoding and cues present at retrieval.

Question 25

Retrieval Cues: Free Recall

Answer 25

* no cues in recalling. Better recalling first items on a list (**primacy effect**) as well as last few (**recency effect**). Harder to remember things in the middle of a list. * Recency effect is not as strong if there is an interpretation after list is called.

Question 26

Retrieval Cues: Cued Recall

Answer 26

* Having extra clues to remember the words. Still have to produce an answer but still get more cues to help you. * The added cues help you retrieve the information from your long term memory. * For example, giving you the cue of “pl\_\_\_\_” and asking for what word was on a list and you answer “planet”. This would be easy.

Question 27

False Information

Answer 27

* inaccurate recollections of an event. * Example: Experiment done where participants watched a car stop at a yield sign. After the video, participants were given a written description on what happened, and some of the descriptions included false information about the car stopping- saying that the car stopped at a stop sign instead of a yield sign.

Question 28

Emotional Memories

Answer 28

* can be positive or negatively valenced. * Highly emotional memories that feel extremely vivid are called flashbulb memories and even though they seem as real as life, they are still susceptible to reconstruction as less emotional memories.

Question 29

Flashbulb Memories

Answer 29

* people claimed to remember detail of what they were doing when they received news about an emotionally arousing event.

Question 30

Neural Plasticity

Answer 30

* changes in brain size/ and involves function of environmental influences.

Question 31

Decay

Answer 31

* One reason forgetting happens. When we don’t encode something well or don’t retrieve it for a while, we can’t recall it anymore.

Question 32

Retroactive Interference

Answer 32

* new learning impairs old info. * Refers to later information interfering with memory for earlier information. * Example: Writing new address makes it difficult to recall your old address

Question 33

Proactive Interference

Answer 33

* something you learned in past impairs learning in future. * Earlier information interferes with later information. * Example: New password learning – prior pw learning impairs ability to learn new one.

Question 34

Aging

Answer 34

* is a natural process and with it come changes in memory. * Most people associate aging with declines in cognitive performance, but some abilities decline, some remain stable, and some improve.

Question 35

Dementia

Answer 35

* is term for decline in memory and other cognitive functions to the point of interfering with normal daily life – results from excessive damage to brain tissue * Example: From strokes or other causes.

Question 36

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)

Answer 36

* Exact cause unknown. * Neurons die off over time and as neurons die off, cerebral cortex shrinks in size. * is a progressive brain disorder that affects different aspects of memory over time. * Earliest symptoms are memory loss, particularly difficulty to retrieve or decode recent memories. * Other symptoms are difficulties with: attention, planning, semantic memory, and abstract thinking. * As it progresses, more severe language difficulties appear and greater memory loss, such as inability to recognize close family and friends.

Question 37

Korsakoff’s Syndrome

Answer 37

* caused by lack of vitamin B1 or thiamine. * Caused by malnutrition, eating disorders, and especially alcoholism. * These groups don’t process or absorb all the nutrients they need. * Thiamine is important because converts carbohydrates into glucose cells need for energy. Important for normal functioning of neurons.

Question 38

Wernicke’s Encephalopathy

Answer 38

* precursor to Korsakoff’s syndrome. * If Wernicke’s encephalopathy is diagnosed in time it can reverse the damage or at least prevent further damage. * If untreated, will progress to Korsakoff’s Syndrome, which has a main symptom of severe memory loss, accompanied by confabulation

Question 39

Retrograde Amnesia

Answer 39

* is inability to recall info previously encoded.

Question 40

Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 40

* is inability to encode new memories.

Question 41

Amnesia

Answer 41

* is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage, disease, or psychological trauma. * Amnesia can also be caused temporarily by the use of various sedatives and hypnotic drugs. * Essentially, amnesia is loss of memory.

Question 42

Retrograde Memory

Answer 42

* refers to ability to remember experiences before a brain injury (Retro = beofre)

Question 43

Anterograde Memory

Answer 43

* refers to ability to form long-term memories after brain injury.