What is targeted memory reactivation?
It is related to how we consolidate memory while we sleep. This process is accelerated by targeted memory reactivation. (Its exactly like how it sounds) Memories can be targeted by playing certain sounds that reactivate them and cause them to be more effectively consolidated. (Important - the cue needs to be associated with the memory prior to sleeping)
Describe the pattern of sensory memory, to short-term memory, to long-term memory.
Memory is first contained in sensory memory. This is only for a few seconds and can only contain information related to our senses. (Examples include echoic and iconic memory). If information is given attention, it moves to our short-term memory. Short-term memory only can contain up to 7 pieces of information (plus or minus 2) Our working memory is constantly maintaining information; deciding what to keep for long term memory and what we don’t need anymore. (Information can be stored here longer through rehearsal) Then, memory is encoded and moved to long-term memory.
How does the hippocampus aid memory?
The hippocampus is not the site of long-term memory. It acts like an index. It helps us to connect pieces of information together. If we are trying to recall complex memories, the hippocampus is needed more. Simpler memories we can access without its help. It helps us to connect different pieces of information together that have been stored in different locations in the cortex.
How is the amygdala involved in memory?
(it is a small almond shaped structure.)The amygdala is not directly related to the storage of memory but it can impact it. The amygdala is why we remember stressful/emotional events more than those that aren’t. It influences our hormonal systems and causes is to produce more adrenaline and cortisol.
What are the different types of encoding?
There are three main ways to encode:
Elaborative encoding: This is the process of actively relating new information to old information. (It builds on each other)
Visual Imagery encoding: The process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures.
Organisational encoding: The process of categorising information based on the relationship between the pieces of information.
What is encoding?
Encoding is how we get information into our brains. It is an active process and is constantly happening.
What is memory consolidation?
This is the process by which memories become stable in the brain. Memories become consolidated by talking about them, thinking about them, and even as we are sleeping.
What is retrograde amnesia?
This is the inability to remember events before a certain date, like a surgery or an accident. Otherwise, long-term memory works fine.
What is anterograde amnesia?
This is when people can’t transfer information from the short-term to the long-term. (With this one, its really hard to function)
Name and describe the seven sins of memory. (I have better description of these in the other deck.)
Transience, absentmindedness, blocking, persistence, misattribution, suggestibility, and bias.
What is semantic memory?
Semantic memory refers to the way that we organise and perceive information. We remember things better if they mean something to us. (A network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world.)
How are explicit and implicit memory different?
Explicit memory refers to active recall of information, like facts and experiences. Implicit memory is information that is unconsciously brought to mind…we don’t actively need to bring it up yet it still influences things that we are doing.
What is prospective memory?
This is the ability to remember to do things in the future.
Who first established psychology as a science?
Wilhem Wundt. Him and his colleagues felt that the hard sciences were quite successful and wanted to be a bit like them. He published a journal and opened a laboratory. From there, psychology diverged into two paths - lab psychology and Volcker psychology.
What were people most interested in studying in psychology, originally?
They wanted to study the consciousness.
What is Structuralism?
(Edward Titchener) Structuralists wanted to study the individual components of the brain. They wanted to understand the actual structure of our consciousness through this. Introspection was a technique that developed through this. Pros: It was systematic and can be used to identify elements.
Cons: Elements tend to be static while consciousness is fluid and it doesn’t really show how we use our consciousness.
Phi Phenomenon - Used in all movie making, hands drawn on top of each other and look like they are moving. Psychologists were looking at the consciousness in a similar way, one hand at a time/
What is functionalism?
Functionalism is the study of the function of consciousness. It was first studied by William James. He felt that psychologists shouldn’t focus so much on what our consciousness was like but rather what it was for. He was heavily influenced by Darwinian ways of thinking. (Thought that our consciousness must have evolved for some reason)
Who first developed the Psychoanalytic Theory? What was it?
Sigmund Freud, a Viennese doctor who worked with patients who struggled with hysteria first felt that they must have a deeper cause/reason for why they felt the way they did. He thought that the unconscious drove our thoughts and behaviours. Psychoanalysis, a therapy developed by Freud, was a technique aimed to help people become enlightened, access the contents of their unconscious and be able to gain some control over it. (He thought that humans were irrational and this was a very monolithic theory) Also, the theory itself was irrational and not really founded inn science. (Oedipal complex)
Why did behaviourism develop?
(Watson and Skinner)The development of behaviourism was strongly influenced by the psychoanalytic theory. it was a bit of a push back. Behaviourists felt that this theory was inaccurate and, in a way, disrespecting the name of psychology. They did not want to be associated with it in any way. So, they felt that insight could be gained by just studying overt behaviour. (What one could be) They overly emphasized the power of the environment. (Environmental deterministic position)
What is the correlation coefficient?
The correlation coefficient represents the direction and strength of the relationship between two variables. (Correlation does NOT equal causation) Perfect correlations = -1, 1
No correlation = 0
(Swing and teeter totter example?)
How is humanism different from other types of psychology?
Humanists felt that past psychologists had been too focused on doing their research on animals. They wanted to emphasize that humans are different from animals - we all have this drive to be the best human we can be and have a desire to improve ourselves.
How did cognitive psychology come about?
It represented a return to the mind after behaviourism. They were more focused on the acquisition of information. It could be split into two areas - information processing and social meaning.
Independent variable
This is the variable that you manipulate and change. Does this variable have an effect on the dependent variable>
Dependent variable
The variable that is measured in an experiment
