Cognitive Psychology Exam 2 (chapters 5-8)

What did Alvarex & Cavanaugh (2004) Focus on?

"amount of information" (complexity) instead of "number of items".

What is hyperthymesia?

-Extremely detailed autobiographical memory -Can recall almost every detail of everyday life, personally-relevant public events. -Happens automatically and without mnemonics -Less than 30 cases reported in journal articles. Cause: -Unknown cause of its rarity and lack of scientific study -Enlarged lobes relevant to memory

What were Sperling's different methods in his experiment?

1)Whole report method: Reported as many as could be remembered (Average of 4.5 out 12 letters, 37.5%) 2)Partial report method: Heard a tone immediately after seeing letters that indicated which row of letters to report (Average of 3.3 out of 4 letters 82%) 3)Delayed partial report method: Heard a tone a fraction of a second after seeing letters that indicated which row of letters to report (Average of ~1 out of 4 letters 25%)

What are four examples of everyday memory & memory errors?

1. Autobiographical memory 2. Memory for "exceptional" events, 3. Photographic memory 4. Making errors in eyewitness testimony.

What three ways can you increase retrieval?

1. Encoding specificity. 2. State-dependent learning. 3. Transfer-appropriate processing.

What 2 other factors that can affect memory for flashbulb events?

1. Rehearsal: Ex when 911 happened you told the story a lot, so you rehearse it more. 2. Media coverage: Its not just your memory but what you see, so you think your recalling in vivid and accurate detail. *Flashbulb memories are not more accurate than any other LT emotional memory you have.

What are the type's of processing used in aiding encoding?

1. Visual imagery. 2. Self-reference effect. 3. Generation effect. 4. Organizing information. 5. Testing effect.

What was Muller & Pilzecke's experiment?

2 groups learned lists of nonsense syllables. Immediate group: learned one list, then second list immediately after. Delay group: learned one list, then second list 6 minutes after. Recall on first list was better for delay group. Why? Immediately presenting the second list interrupted the memory of the first list from forming and being stable, i.e., not properly consolidated.

What is conditioning?

2 stimuli are paired: 1. Neutral stimulus that initially doesn't result in a response. 2. Conditioning stimulus that does result in a response. E.g., Pavlov's dog: Tone -> no initial response. Presenting food -> salivate. Start to salivate to tone, not food. Implicit because can forget about original pairing. E.g., having emotional reactions to something without remembering why.

SS: What is Pragmatic inference?

A process that occurs when reading a sentence leads a person to expect something that is not explicitly stated. Infer things based on real world experience. E.g., if the baby stayed awake all night, you might infer that the baby was crying. SS: Demonstration 1. crashed 2. disappeared 3. cried 4. chopped what happened is called Pragmatic interference. We infer and assume, We don't encode things verbatim, we encode it on meaning, but also meaning on what we think the sentence has .

SS: Which would be an example of auditory coding in LTM?

A song you have heard many times before, repeating over and over in your mind.

What is the standard model of consolidation?

A. Connections between cortex and hippocampus are initially made and are strong. B. Reactivation = hippocampus replays the neural activity associated with a memory, and helps various cortical areas to connect with each other. Hippocampus acts like training wheels. C. Eventually, connections between cortical areas become stronger, while the connections to the hippocampus are weak and eventually gone. Take off training wheels. Example: Activation of koala is not just to a koala but also other aspects like what they eat. The qualities of the koala (grey fur, ears, claws) has to make a connection. After consolidation you almost don't need the hippocampus.

SS: All of the following provide evidence of a phonological loop except?

A. Phonological similarity effect B. PRIMACY EFFECT C. Word length effect D. Articulatory Suppression.

SS:All of the following illustrate implicit memory EXCEPT:

A. SEMANTIC KNOWLEDGE B. Priming C. Conditioning D. Procedural memory

SS: Which would NOT be an example of long term memory?

Acknowledging that you just sat down.

What is the short term memory control process?

Active processes that can be controlled by the person.

What's The power of suggestion?

Advertisements, politicians, opinion makers, friends can influence our attitudes, beliefs, behaviors. They can also influence our memory for past events.

What was Peterson & Peterson's experiment results?

After 3 seconds of counting there was 80% recall. After 18 seconds of counting there was 10% recall. Decay = vanishing of a memory trace due to the passage of time.

Explain the role of the hippocampus and cortex.

Agreement: hippocampus and cortex are involved in consolidation. Debate: stage at which hippocampus is most important. *Hippocampus is important even AFTER the consolidation for recall and retrieval of memories.

What are Advantages to constructive memory?

Allows us to "fill in the blanks". Is efficient. Allows us to be creative: Understand language, Solve problems, Make decisions. *If we couldn't use schemas and scripts we wouldn't function as well. Couldn't fill in the blanks like " The baby slept all night". Creative: Language: Fill in the blanks of what someone saying.

Characteristic of retrograde amnesia.

Amnesia is more severe for events that happened just before the injury. Amnesia is less severe for events that happened for earlier events.

What was Graf's experiment's results?

Amnesia patients recalled fewer words than non-amnesia patients (poor explicit). Amnesia patients performed just as well as non-amnesia patients on word completion test (strong implicit). Implicitly still there. Explicit don't know how.

What are the two main forms of amnesia:

Anterograde: AFTER (who you saw after accident) -Retrograde: BEFORE (before accident, much more common)

SS: Reading passage task and filling in missing words after. Why couldn't we remember the exact words?

As we remember things in LTM were not coding the word itself, were coding the gist/meaning. We retain general meaning but not the exact words.

Describe Craik and Tulving experiment.

Asked three types of questions. 1. Physical features of the word (Is it printed in capital or lowercase letters?) SHALLOW. 2. Rhyming word with another word (Does car rhyme with jar?) DEEPER. 3. Fill-in-the-blank using the word (Does car fit into the sentence "He drove a _____ on the street"?) DEEPEST. Results: 1. Capital letters = worst memory. 2. Fill-in-the-blanks = best memory. Deeper processing = better memory.

What is the Central executive?

Attention controller: Focus, divide, switch attention. Controls suppression of irrelevant information. Some people are better at allocating attention than others. Coordinates: activity of phonological loop and visuospatial sketch pad. Pulls information: from long-term memory. Example: driving a car (navigating, visualizing layout of streets) and talking on the phone (talking, understanding the conversation).

What is the episodic buffer?

Backup storage. Connected to long-term memory. Holds information longer and has greater capacity than phonological loop or visuospatial sketch pad. "Work in progress"

Why is retrograde Amnesia is more common?

Because the memory didn't have time to consolidate, the injury disrupted the consolidation of any info or ideas, so they never solidified. Any traumatic event can disrupt consolidation. Retrograde Amnesia is a physiologically problem, something happened/damage to the hippocampus.

What are Examples of how source monitoring errors can influence memory?

Becoming famous overnight" experiment. "Remembering who said what" experiment

What is Articulatory suppression?

Being prevented from rehearsing. Reduces memory span because the phonological loop is overloaded.

How does emotion enhance memory?

Better memory for emotionally arousing words (e.g., profanity, sexually explicit) versus neutral words (e.g., store, street). Amygdala activity was higher for emotional words. Better memory for emotional pictures versus neutral pictures after a 1-year delay.

What are Retrieval cues?

Can be provided by different sources. E.g., categories of words (remembering the word "apple" from the list can serve as a retrieval cue for other fruits on the list). E.g., location. Are useful for retrieving memories. Retrieval cues are more useful when the cues are created by the person whose memory is being tested, and not just provided. Matching conditions at retrieval to conditions at encoding = increased retrieval.

How does emotion impair our memory?

Can cause a focusing of attention on important objects -> taking away attention from other objects -> decreased memory for other objects. E.g., weapons focus. Tendency to focus on a weapon during a crime. Presence of a weapon can lead to decreased memory for other details of the crime.

SS:The major work of coordinating working memory occurs in the ?

Central Executive.

What can be created based on knowledge stored in long-term memory?

Chunks. (unique to each person).

What is Visual coding?

Coding in mind in the form of a visual image.

What is Semantic coding?

Coding in the mind in terms of meaning.

What is auditory coding?

Coding in the mind in the form of a sound.

Define chunk.

Collection of elements strongly associated with one another, but weakly associated with elements in other chunks.

SS: Suppose someone has told you a phone number and your'e repeating it over and over, in hopes that you'll remember it before you dial the number. This example is a type of _____ called_____.

Control process; rehearsal.

Describe Visual imagery.

Creating a mental image. Paired-associate learning. List of word pairs is presented. Participants shown first word, asked to remember word it was paired with. If participants created images of 2 words interacting they are more likely to remember word pairs.

Whats the difference between episodic and semantic memory?

Differ based on type of information remembered: Episodic: A specific experience (i.e., who you were with, what you were doing). Semantic: facts without specific experiences attached (i.e., Lincoln in the 16th president, how did you know?). Differ based on the type of experience associated: Episodic: Mental time travel. Semantic: No mental time travel.

What's the serial position curve purpose?

Distinction between LTM and STM.

What happens during and after consolidation?

During consolidation: retrieval depends on hippocampus. After consolidation: hippocampus is no longer needed. *Activation in all / most parts of the brain. *Hippocampus has to do with memory

What is the Cultural life script hypothesis?

Each person has... A personal life story, An understanding of culturally expected events. Personal events are easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script for that person's culture. (Eg Americans, graduate HS, go to college, develop career, marriage, kids).

Describe Wickens experiment on STM.

Each trial, participants listened to 3 words, counted backwards from 15, then recalled the 3 words. There were two groups (fruit and professions). Results: Performance dropped in fruit group because of proactive interference, previously learned information (fruits from previous trials) interfered with learning new information (fruits on the current trial). Profession group were release from proactive interference. Fruits belonged to a category different from professions. Interference that built up with the profession trials wasn't there in the fruit trial. Reasons depend on word categories, containing words with the same meaning.

How is Encoding and retrieval different from consolidation?

Encoding and retrieval: Focus on behavioral experiments. How conditions of each influenced memory. Consolidation: Focus on physiology. How physiological changes during encoding influence retrieval.

What's the Cognitive hypothesis?

Encoding is better during periods of rapid change that are followed by stability. (going to college (rapid change) and staying in college Starting a new career (rapid change) and continuing to work). Evidence from those who emigrated to the US after young adulthood indicates reminiscence bump is shifted.

Describe the reminiscence bump.

Enhanced memory for adolescence and young adulthood (age 10-30) in a study of people over age 40. *We recall more biographical events in our lives between 10-30 years old more than any other time in our lives.

What memory can fade and explain why.

Episodic memories can fade, leaving only semantic memories. Asked about events from 10 years ago. Ability to remember personal experiences was worse than knowing if the event was at all familiar. Semanticization of remote memories = loss of episodic detail for long-ago memories.

What are two subtypes of Explicit memory?

Episodic memory: Memory for experiences, personal events. E.g., describing the vacation you just took. Semantic memory: Memory for facts, knowledge. E.g., giving directions to someone.

SS: Bob drove all over town to find a game that he and his wife Linda played on their first date. After he bought it he realized the date was with another woman. What specific problem did Bob have with his memory?

Error in source monitoring.

What was Wells & Bradfield experiment?

Everyone viewed same tape, and asked people to point out gun men. Everyone in the study identified gunman with confidence but gun mens picture wasn't there. If your in a position where you think somebody that should be there then you reconstruct your memory so you think something was there.

How does emotion improve consolidation?

Evidence from animal and human studies. Involves the release of hormones during and after encountering emotionally arousing stimuli. Stress hormones released after an emotional experience -> increased consolidation of memory for that experience.

What is Mental time travel?

Experience of traveling back in time to reconnect with events that happened in the past. As if you were reliving the moment. Also known as self-knowing or remembering (Tulving).

What are the two subtypes of LTM?

Explicit and Implicit memory.

In regards to procedural memory, You can learn new skills and be unable to form what?

Explicit long-term memories. H.M. Hippocampus removal that led to impaired long-term memory. Became good at a new task after practicing, but always thought he was practicing for the first time. E.g. Mirror drawing.

Describe the role of Source monitoring errors that changes participants' memory reports.

Failure to distinguish the correct source of the information. MPI is misattributed to the original source. E.g., error of identifying the source of the yield sign as the slide show of the traffic accident.

Who was Sperling (1960)?

First Psychologist to measure sensory memory.

Who wereCraik & Tulving?

First psychologists to Test memory after different kinds of processing. Asked participants 1 of 3 kinds of questions about the words presented ( surface things (shallow) rhyming (deeper), deeper/meaning (deepest)). Goal was to create different levels of processing.

What's the special nature of flashbulb memories?

Flashbulb memories have an emotional nature of flashbulb events. Emotions can enhance the subjective sense of remembering. Memory can be more vivid, person can be confident in its accuracy, feel as if it can be 'relived'. Decrease in details can still occur.

What is the prefrontal cortex responsible for?

For processing incoming visual and auditory information.

Describe the Generation effect.

Generating material yourself instead of just receiving it leads tp better memory. Slameka & Graf experiment: Participants studied a list of word pairs in 2 different ways: Read group: read the list of word-pairs. Generate group: given first word and part of second word, and told to come up with what the second word should be. Generate group recalled more word-pairs than read group.

SS: You've been studying all night and you need to take a break. What should you do to best consolidate the information you just read?

Go to sleep.

Describe the relationship between Amnesia and the hippocampus.

Graded amnesia corresponds to changes in connections between the hippocampus and the cortical areas. Hippocampus is strongly active when memories are first formed. Eventually, connections between the cortical areas alone are enough to retrieve remote memories = memories for events from long ago.

Who was Clive Wearing?

Had damage or removal of (at least) the hippocampus. STM was intact. Could remember what just happened. LTM was not intact. Unable to transfer information into LTM. Unable to form new long-term memories. Knows little from before the brain damage, That he has children, a wife. Still has procedural memory (non-conscious form of long-term memory). Can still play already learned music, just doesn't know how he can.

What was Bartlette's "War of the ghosts" experiment?

Had participants read weird text from different cultures and recall it and different intervals of time. Results: 1. Story kept getting shorter and shorter 2. inaccurate 3. canoes turned to boats (for Americans)

What was Jacoby's "Becoming famous overnight" experiment?

Had people read Phone book name and famous people names. Then asked people to come back (delayed & immediate) and judge which name was famous and not. *Issue with source memory, people heard the name before, it was familiar, maybe they heard them on radio, due to source memory error. Results: Immediate test group: correctly identified most of the non-famous names as non-famous. Delayed test group: more likely to misidentify non-famous names as famous Non-famous names "became famous overnight". Why these results? Non-famous name sounds familiar. An error was made in the source of the familiarity.

What did Shepard & Metzler (1971) do?

Had to figure out if 2 objects were same or different. Tasks that called for greater rotations took longer. Problem was being solved by mental rotation, rotating image of an object in their mind.

What is the Visuospatial sketch pad?

Handles visual and spatial information. Involved in the process of visual imagery. Creation of visual images in the mind in the absence of a physical visual stimulus. Example: finding your way around campus.

What was Sachs semantic coding experiment on LTM?

He was interested in if people remembered exact wording or general meaning. Measured recognition memory, meaning the identification of a stimulus that was encountered earlier (i.e., recognize stimulus). Participants listened to a tape recording of a passage. Results: Participants had a longer passage and delay. Subjects remembered the sentences' general meaning. Subjects didn't remember the sentences' exact wording.

What was Loftus and Palmer Misinformation Effect experiment?

Hear "smashed" or "hit" in description of car accident. Those hearing "smashed" said the cars were going much faster than those who heard "hit". Those hearing "smashed" were more likely to report seeing broken glass.

How much information and how much time can sensory memory hold?

Holds LARGE amount of information for a very short period of time.

What does the Phonological loop do?

Holds verbal and auditory information. It's system is specialized for language.

Why is it difficult to define "depth of processing"?

How do we know that the fill-in-the-blank task results in deeper processing than the rhyming task?. Defining a task as an example of deeper processing because it results in better memory is circular. Levels of processing is rarely used in research. Memory is influenced by encoding, methods with meaning = still accepted in research.

SS:Which is NOT a hypothesis for why the reminiscence bump?

Hyperthymesia hypothesis.

What are the two types of sensory memory?

Iconic and Echoic

SS:According to the standard model consolidation the hippocampus is....

Important only in the beginning of consolidation.

Why is retrieval important?

In order to use information that has been encoded, it has to be retrieved. Failures of memory are often failures of retrieval.

Describe short term memory.

Includes whatever you are thinking about right now. Holds small amount of information for a short period of time. Retention is for brief periods of time (For about 15-20 seconds when rehearsal is prevented).

Describe Systems consolidation.

Incoming information activates a number of areas in the cortex (outside part of the brain). Activation is distributed across many parts of the cortex, as memories typically involve sensory and cognitive areas. Neural circuits = interconnected groups of neurons. Reorganization of neural circuits. Happens gradually (months, years).

What was Cabeza interested in?

Interested in the difference between laboratory memory and AM. Used fMRI to measure brain activity. Method: Participants viewed 2 sets of photos Set 1: photos they took themselves (own photos) Set 2: photos someone else took (lab photos). Shown own photos, lab photos.

What does the visual cortex do?

Involved in holding fine details of stimuli. fMRI studies show that when a stimulus disappears parts of the visual cortex are still active. Neural mind reading = predicts what's being thought of based on brain activity.

What are some Characteristics of AM?

It is multidimensional. Some personal events are better remembered; Significant events, Emotional events, Transition points.

What's the important of the hippocampus?

It's a mechanism for transferring STM and Working memory to LTM.

What types of memory makeup autobiographical memory?

Knowledge (semantic) can affect experience (episodic).

Describe synaptic consolidation changes.

Learning and memory are represented in the brain by physiological changes that take place at the synapse. Experiences can cause these changes in many thousands of synapses. Likely to be represented by a pattern of firing across synapses. Similar to population coding.

Describe State-dependent learning.

Learning that is associated with a particular internal state, like mood or awareness. Involves matching the "internal state". Person's internal state during encoding matches person's internal state during retrieval = better memory.

What is the Phonological similarity effect?

Letters or words that sound familiar are confused. Occurs when words are processed in the phonological store. E.g. "F" is more likely to be mistaken as "S" than a visually similar letter "E".

Define working memory.

Limited capacity system for temporary storage and THE MANIPULATION OF INFORMATION FOR COMPLEX TASKS (e.g., comprehension, learning, reasoning). Lower case portion = same as short-term memory in modal model. Capitalized portion = not included in modal model.

What are the characteristic's of the Phonological store?

Limited capacity. Holds information for a few seconds.

What memory works closely with working memory?

Long term memory.

SS: Repeatedly walking on grass until it becomes a definable path is analogous (comparable) to what?

Long-term potentiation

Define Anterograde amnesia.

Loss of memory for events that happened AFTER trauma or injury.

Define Retrograde amnesia.

Loss of memory for events that happened BEFORE trauma or injury.

What are the two methods of encoding?

Maintenance rehearsal. Elaborative rehearsal

Define Explicit memory.

Memories of which we are aware, conscious. We can make others aware of our memories by sharing them. "Declarative" memory. Spout out facts.

Define Implicit memory.

Memories of which we aren't aware. Learning from experience is not accompanied by conscious remembering. "Non-declarative" memory. It's implicit cause we don't know how we know, but we do.

What's the Recency effect?

Memory better for stimuli (words) presented at the end.

How do Schemas and scripts influence memory?

Memory can include information not actually experienced but inferred because it is expected and consistent with the schema. E.g., Office waiting room: books not present but mentioned in memory task. The constructive nature of memory is often useful, but can lead to errors or "false memories". *Helps us infer what happened in the past *Schemas and Scripts used to fill in the blanks of our memory.

What is the Levels of processing theory and what are the two types of processing?

Memory depends on depth of processing that an item receives. Two types of processing: 1. Shallow processing (aren't coded as well). 2. Deep processing (close attention).

What is Procedural memory?

Memory for doing things that involve learned skills. Procedural memory = skill memory. No memory of where or when skills were learned. Perform skills without being consciously aware of how to do them. Skills include motor skills (running, walking, ridding bike), cognitive skills.

Define Autobiographical memory (AM).

Memory for specific experiences from our life (has to be a personal event that happened to you). Can include both episodic and semantic components.

What's a Flashbulb memory?

Memory for the circumstances surrounding shocking, highly charged events. Can feel highly emotional, vivid, detailed, last for a long time. Examples: Kennedy assassination, Challenger explosion, 9/11 attacks. Flashbulbs are not "photograph" memories. Can be inaccurate, lacking in detail. As a result of people's experiences following the event, general knowledge can change just with the passage of time. *Something traumatic happens its like you took a snap shot of what was happens. Focus on events that were tragic, that was a shared tragic event. *Can decay similar to any other LTM we might have. Compare the same experience each year, to measure decay. People are so confident they remember it accurately, but the details aren't always accurate.

What's the Primacy effect?

Memory is better for stimuli (words) presented at the beginning.

What's the Self-image hypothesis?

Memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person's self-image or life identity is being formed. People assume identities during adolescence and young adulthood. Many transitions and changes in identities occur between ages 10 and 30. *Reminiscence bump is greater for ages 10-30 because it defines us (make us who we are).

What is source monitoring error?

Misidentifying the source of a memory. Also known as source misattribution -> memory is attributed to the wrong source. Source monitoring errors are common. We are often unaware that we are making these errors. * Cryptoamnesia: Unconscious plagiarism of others.

What's The Misinformation Effect?

Misleading information presented after a person witnesses an event can change how the person describes that event later. Misleading information equals misleading post event information (MPI). *Witnesses can present misleading info after the event happens MPI.

What are the two reasons for primacy effect?

More time to rehearse words. More time to be transferred to LTM.

What happens mostly to information in short term memory?

Most information is eventually lost, and only some reaches long-term memory.

The process of transferring information to and from long-term memory is what?

NOT incorporated into the modal model.

Short-term memory as short-term storage only is very what?

Narrow.

What does short term memory include?

New information from sensory AND information from long-term memory.

What is an example of Retroactive Interference?

New learning = new telephone number. Old learning = old telephone number. Getting a new telephone number and using it for a while can lead to difficulty remembering the old telephone number.

Should capacity be measured in "number of items" or "amount of information"?

Not sure! Arguments can be made for both ideas. Agreement on a capacity for short-term memory of about 4 items.

What is Proactive interference?

Occurs when information learned previously interferes with learning new information. "Old interferes with new"

What is Retroactive interference?

Occurs when new learning interferes with remembering old learning. Retro usually involves some kind of forgetting. "New interferes with old"

What was Bartlette's "War of the ghosts" experiment important?

One of first to use repeated reproduction. Idea that memory is constructed using various sources.

What were the results of Cabeza's study?

Own photos and lab photos activate many of the same brain structures: Temporal lobe (episodic memory) and Parietal cortex (processing of scenes). Own photos led to more activation in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus: Prefrontal cortex (processing information about the self) and Hippocampus (recollection, mental time travel). Own photos activated a more extensive network of brain areas.

What's the Propaganda effect?

Participants are more likely to rate statements they have encountered as being true, simply because they have been exposed to them. *The more you hear something the more you'll believe its true.

What was Stanny & Johnson experiment?

Participants viewed a filmed simulated crime 'No-shoot' condition = gun present but not fired. 'Shoot' condition = gun present and fired. Participants remembered more details in the 'no-shoot' condition. Why? Presence of a gun firing, which is highly emotional, distracted attention from other things.

Describe Organizing information.

People spontaneously organize items as they recall them. Spontaneously organizing may be a result of using retrieval cues. Retrieval cue = a word or other stimulus that helps a person remember information stored in memory. Presenting words in an organized way during encoding = better memory. Preventing organization from happening during encoding = worse memory.

What's the weapons focus effect?

People tend to focus on thing posing the most danger, aka the gun. Weapons focus effect - Decrease memory of other details of the crime.

What 3 components of Baddeley's working memory model are dynamic and can function separately?

Phonological loop, Visuospatial sketch pad, Central executive.

What are the three phonological loop support for a system specialized in language?

Phonological similarity effect, Word length effect, Articulatory suppression.

Explain the physiological versus mental approach to coding.

Physiological - how stimuli or an experience are represented by neural firing (Ch. 2). Mental - how stimuli or an experience are represented in the mind (Ch. 6).

How does priming affect performance positively or negatively?

Positive priming = Quicker, more accurate performance. Negative priming = Slower, less accurate performance.

Define Priming.

Presentation of one stimulus (priming stimulus) affects performance on another stimulus (test stimulus). Implicit because priming can affect performance even when you don't remember seeing the stimulus the first time. E.g. the MacKay ambiguous dichotic listening task where one ear heard the kids went to the bank and the other ear heard river.

What's the method of the serial position curve?

Presented participants with a list of words at a steady rate. After list, participants wrote down all the words they could remember, in any order. Results were plotted.

What is an example of Proactive Interference?

Previously learned information = native language New information = new foreign language Knowing the native language (old) can make it more difficult to learn the new foreign language.

What are the 2 effects that resulted from the serial position curve?

Primacy and Recency.

Proactive or Retroactive Interference? Forgetting where you parked your car today, and going to where you parked yesterday.

Proactive Interference

Proactive or Retroactive Interference? Continuing to call the person who you though was named "Steve", even though you have been corrected many times after.

Proactive Interference.

Proactive or Retroactive Interference? Unable to learn new java script, because you keep confusing it with old java script.

Proactive Interference.

SS: Learning the names of your classmates last semester can make it harder to learn the names of your classmates this semester. This is an example of?

Proactive Interference.

SS: The inability to recall the 4th list of fruits after learning 3 previous lists of fruits is most likely the result of what?

Proactive Interference.

SS: You learn a list of Australian cities, then cities in Britain. When you try to remember the cities of Britain, Australia cities pop in your head. This is an example of?

Proactive interference.

Whats the three subsets of implicit memory?

Procedural memory, priming, and conditioning.

What is memory?

Process involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills after the original information is no longer present

Define memory

Process involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas, skills, after the original information is no longer present.

Define Encoding.

Process of acquiring information and transferring it into long term memory.

What is source monitoring?

Process of determining the origins of our memories, knowledge, beliefs. * When you first learn the information.

Define Retrieval.

Process of transferring information from long term memory back to working memory.

Define consolidation.

Process that transforms new memories from a fragile state to a more permanent state. Fragile state: can be disrupted. Permanent state: resistant to disruption.

SS: When your'e presented with a stimuli and asked to provide information about if after a very brief delay, you're specifically showing?

Recall.

What are the two aspects of the effect of time?

Recollection: Associated with episodic memory. Details about experiences when knowledge was acquired. E.g., remembering where Liz and I were and what we did/ Familiarity:Associated with semantic memory. Knowledge without details of experiences. E.g., knowing Liz, but not where we were or what we did.

What are the three control processes of short-term memory?

Rehearsal: Repeating over and over (a way to get information from short-term to long-term memory). Strategies used to make a stimulus more memorable. Strategies of attention to help focus on a stimulus.

What is Elaborative Rehersal?

Rehearsing with meaning. Meaning helps transfer it to long term memory. E.g., relate digits in phone number to your birthday. Typical result -> better memory.

What is Maintenance rehearsal?

Rehearsing without meaning. Maintains information, but doesn't necessarily transfer it to long term memory. E.g., saying a phone number over and over. Typical result -> poorer memory.

Describe the Self-reference effect.

Relating a word to yourself results in better memory. Rogers, 1977: Presented words to participants and asked them questions about the words. Questions like Craik & Tulving: physical characteristics, rhyming. New questions: meaning, self-reference. E.g., word = happy. Meaning (Does happy mean the same as glad?). Self-reference (Does happy describe you?).

What are Two ways of remembering:

Remember (episodic): if the stimulus is familiar and the circumstances under which they encountered it. Know (semantic): if the stimulus is familiar but don't remember the circumstances under which they encountered it. Don't know: if they remember the stimulus at all.

Describe synaptic consolidation strengthening and changes.

Repeated activity can strengthen the synapse between neurons. Structural changes, Greater neurotransmitter release, Increased firing. *Trying to learn something first time = activation is weak. But as you learn it the next day and the next = the connection is strengthening as you expose yourself to that stimuli.

What's a technique used in flashbulb memory?

Repeated recall Initial description: baseline Later reports compared to baseline to determine if a memory has changed over time

What do neurons in the prefrontal cortex do?

Respond when a stimulus was flashed in a particular location and right after the stimulus was gone. Information about a stimulus remains available via these neurons for as long as they fire.

What's the articulatory rehearsal process?

Responsible for rehearsal. Keeps items in phonological store from decaying. Example: trying to remember a person's name.

Define long term memory.

Responsible for storing information for long periods of time. "Archive" of information about past events and knowledge learned. Storage stretches from a few moments ago (30 seconds) to as far back as one can remember. Works closely with working memory. is consulted when we are in our current environment.

How long is retention and decay time for sensory memory?

Retention is for very brief periods of time and information DECAYS VERY QUICKLY (for seconds or fractions of a second).

Explain the persistence of vision.

Retention of perception of light. Continued perception of a visual stimulus even after its not present. Example: Sparkler's Light trails: In iconic memory, you perceive a moving bright light as forming a continuous line because of the images retained in sensory memory for milliseconds

Define sensory memory

Retention of the effects of ALL sensory information for initial processing.

Proactive or Retroactive Interference? Unable to recall the dosage of a medication you took last year after your prescription has been changed.

Retroactive Interference.

SS: Now that your'e learning spanish (new), it's harder to recall the French words (old) that you have learned earlier. This is an example of what?

Retroactive interference (interferes with old).

SS: Now that the AHA has changed their cutoffs for what is considered dangerously high blood pressure, Monica cant remember the old cutoff. This is an example of:

Retroactive interference (old info is disrupted).

Describe the role of interference that changes participants' memory reports.

Retroactive interference: More recent learning interferes with memory for something in the past. Exposure to MPI could interfere with remembering what happened when you originally viewed a stimulus or event.

What's the Importance of Sperling?

Revealed CAPACITY of sensory memory is LARGE. Revealed DURATION of sensory memory is BRIEF.

What is happening that changes participants' memory reports?

Role of interference and Source monitoring errors.

What happens when you have damage to parietal lobe?

STM was not intact. Reduced digit span (can't remember numbers 2,6,8). Recency effect was reduced. LTM was intact. Able to form and hold new long-term memories.

How is auditory coding different in STM and LTM?

STM: Remembering a sound that you just heard (E.g., Phonological similarity effect) Predominant type of coding in STM. (E.g., just hearing a song and trying to mimic it to a friend seconds later). LTM: Remembering a sound that you heard a while ago (E.g., "playing" a song in your head) or (song your mom sung to you as a child, something you can hear thats not in front of you or just heard).

How is visual coding different in STM and LTM?

STM: Remembering an image in front of you or just seen by holding it in your mind (E.g., remembering my face). LTM: Remembering an image from your past by holding it in your mind (E.g., remembering your first-grade teacher's face).

How is semantic coding different in STM and LTM?

STM: depends of word category (words with the same meaning) (words in same catgegoris) LTM: Remembered sentences meaning but not the exact wording (meaning but not words).

Describe Transfer-appropriate processing.

Same cognitive tasks are involved in both encoding and retrieval = better memory. Involves matching the cognitive tasks. Morris experiment: Encoding of word list = meaning question or rhyming question. Retrieval = hearing words out loud and reporting if the word was on the list or not. Better recall in rhyming group. *Matching the type of processing at encoding and retrieval is important. Ex: Study for a multiple choice test by making your own multiple choice test. *Deeper processing at encoding doesn't always result in better memory, otherwise the meaning group would have had better recall.

Difference in Schema and Script.

Schema: knowledge about some aspect of the environment. E.g., Post office, ball game, classroom. Script: conception of sequence of actions that usually occurs during a particular experience. Going to a restaurant; playing tennis. Developed through experience in the real world. *Both Similar but distinct Schema: What an environment should contain (whats in the kitchen, sink, knife, oven). Script: Sequence of actions to make something happen (describe to someone how to write a letter, get a pen, get a piece of paper, envelope).

What was Loftus and coworkers Misinformation Effect experiment?

See slides of traffic accident with stop sign. MPI group: given MPI of yield sign. MPI group was more likely to remember what they heard (yield sign), not what they saw (stop sign).

What was Sperling's conclusions from his experiment?

Sensory memory registers all or most of the information that hits our visual receptors. This information decays within less than a second.

SS: The trail left by a moving sparkler is an example of?

Sensory memory.

SS: which type of memory can hold a very large amount of information, but only for a fraction of a second?

Sensory memory.

What are the three model model of memory?

Sensory, short term, long term.

Evidence that LTM and STM are separated and overlapped in the brain.

Separated: Method; neuropsychology. Experiment(s): case studies of Clive Wearing. Overlap: Method; fMRI. Experiment(s): novel vs. familiar faces.

There is evidence for what two things of the LTM and STM in the brain?

Separation and overlap.

Describe: Shallow vs. deep processing.

Shallow processing: Little attention to meaning. Focus on physical features. Poorer memory. Deep processing: Close attention to meaning. Focus on meaning and relating it to something else. Better memory.

What does short term memory include and give an example.

Short term memory is what you are currently thinking, sensory, and long-term. Example: Sensory is seeing chicken on sale at publix, short term is thinking of other chicken dishes you can do. Long term to dishes you know the recipes of.

SS: What memory is a limited-capacity system for temporary storage and can hold information from both sensory and long-term memory?

Short-term memory.

Define chunking.

Small units (e.g., words) can be combined into larger meaningful units (e.g., phrases, sentences, stories).

What are Disadvantages to constructive memory?

Sometimes we make errors. Sometimes we misattribute the source of information. Was it actually presented, or did we infer it? *Can be hard to figure out what actually happened to what we infer.

What is the reason for recency effect?

Still in STM, so easier to remember.

What was Hyman and coworkers false memories experiment.

Study: Asked participants parents about their childhood. Then brought in participants and asked about it but changed info and people believed it happened and relived it. It's easy to implant false memories.

What is suggestion in reference to errors in eyewitness testimony?

Suggestion can lead to errors. Can be subtle or not subtle. Can ask leading questions, imply something about case. Post-identification feedback effect. Increase in confidence due to confirming feedback after making an identification.

Describe Synaptic consolidation.

Synapse = gap between neurons, neurotransmitters are released. Structural changes at synapses. Happens rapidly (minutes, hours). *micro, happen quickly, as soon as you learn new memory synaptic consolidation starts working. * Provides "neural record" of event .

Describe long term potentiation.

Synaptic consolidation -> Strengthening of synaptic transmission -> Long-term potentiation: Enhanced firing of neurons after repeated stimulation. *Cutting grass once = nothing. -Cutting grass hundred times on the same path, has a visible pathway = synaptic consolidation. -It now is a defined route, physically changed and releasing a lot of neurons. "The pathway is long term potentiation" "Process of it is long term potentiation".

What are the two Physiological mechanisms?

Synaptic consolidation and systems consolidation.

What was Graf's experiment?

Tested 3 different groups of people: 1. Amnesia patients with Korsakoff's syndrome (no new long-term memories) 2.Patients without amnesia who had no history of alcoholism. 3.Patients without amnesia being treated for alcoholism. Read 10-word list and rate how much they liked each word. Focus on liking instead of remembering word. Asked to recall words (explicit). Asked to complete word completion test (implicit). Word completion test: 3-letter fragments of the 10 words from the list. Grape = G R A __ __. Asked to add a few letters to create the first word that came to mind. E.g., Grape, Grave, Grade. Strong implicit memory for word list = Fill in fragment with word from list. Weak implicit memory for word list = Fill in fragment with word not from list.

Describe errors in eyewitness testimony.

Testimony by an eyewitness to a crime about what he or she saw during the crime. One of the most convincing types of evidence to a jury. But, like other memory, eyewitness testimony can be inaccurate. 1. Mistaken identity. 2. Memory is not formed under ideal conditions. 3. Influences of media, general knowledge.

Describe Testing Effect.

Testing following learning = better memory. Example of retrieval practice. Rereading following learning = poorer memory. Demonstrated in the laboratory and classroom settings. *Elaborate process of getting things into the mind has better recall. SS: Group 1: remember list. Group 2: remember word on list that has to do with camping. The content is organized, elaborate meaning, visual imagery.

What did Keppel & Underwood find out after re-examining Peterson & Peterson's data?

That it's not about decay because they all should decay at the same rate. Why did they do bad after doing it a bunch of times? Because of proactive interference. All trials done before interfered w/ memory from the other stuff (that were similar) memorized first.

What's the effect of time?

The degree to which we forget or remember an event is not an all-or-none process. E.g., I could forget Liz, I could forget where I met Liz, I could forget what Liz and I did. (memory deteriorates over time, so you still have some aspects but not all details).

Baddeley's working memory model takes into account what?

The dynamic processes involved in cognitions. People can carry out 2 tasks at the same time.

What was Sperling's experiment and what did it measure?

The experiment measured the capacity and duration of sensory memory. Process: 3x4 group of letters flashed quickly on a screen. Participants reported as many letters as possible (recall method).

Describe the Multiple trace model of consolidation.

The hippocampus has been shown to be activated during retrieval of both recent and remote episodic memories. The response of the hippocampus can change over time. Decreases for retrieval of semantic memory. Remains involved in retrieval of episodic memory. *Semantic= not much hippocampus activation Episodic (travel back in time to remember) = hippocampus is reactivated, still needed for this type of memory.

Describe Alvarex & Cavanaugh's experiment on the capacity of short term memory.

Their change detection experiment included stimuli that ranged from low information (colored squares) to high information (cubes). As the items got more complex, the ability to keep them in short term memory went down.

Describe Memory for "exceptional" events.

There is a link between emotion and memory for highly memorable events. Emotions are often associated with better memory, but it can depend on the specific situation. High emotion doesn't always lead to better memory. A characteristic of most memorable events is that they are significant, important (to our lives), and often associated with emotions. Brain structure associated with emotion is the amygdala. *Emotions are helping to consolidate and keep memories in our LTM.

SS:Flash bulb memories are unique in that...

They increase the confidence of our memory for emotionally-significant events.

Who were Keppel & Underwood (1962)?

They re-examined Peterson & Peterson's data and disagreed. First and second time trials did well, the later trials didn't. Earlier trials had higher recall. Later trials had lower recall. Not decay, but interference

What was Peterson & Peterson's experiment (1959)?

They wanted to test short term memory. Read 3 letters, then a number. Begin counting backwards aloud from that number by 3s. After a set time, recall the 3 letters. Repeated over many trials of different letters and numbers.

What is Cryptoamnesia?

Unconscious plagiarism of others. E.g., melodies from songs. * Write a new song, think of a rhythm and realized you heard it before (plagiarizing), you were unable to recall original source of info.

How did Alvarex & Cavanaugh measure amount of information?

Used display of colored squares and complex objects in change detection procedure. More complex information = less information is held in short-term memory.

SS: Iconic memory is to echoic memory as?

Vision is to sound

LTM and STM differ in how information is mentally coded in what three coding ways?

Visual, Auditory, Semantic.

SS:The task of mental rotation is performed by which component of working memory?

Visual-spatial sketchpad.

Describe Encoding specificity.

We encode information together with its context. Involves matching the physical situation. Baddeley's "diving experiment", Studied word list underwater or on land. Tested on word list underwater or on land. Best recall = encoding and retrieval occurred in the same location. * Best recall occurs at same physical location.

What's the Constructive nature of memory?

What people remember might not have actually happened. When people report memories, they can omit or change things. What people report as memories are constructed; What actually happened, Person's knowledge, expectations, experiences.

How does semantic memory influence episodic memory?

What you know (semantic memory) about the environment around you influences how you experience and what you attend to in the environment (episodic memory). EX: 4 girls at a football game, where two understands the game and two don't. They will have different experiences.

What is Conceptual priming?

When enhancement caused by the priming stimulus is based on its meaning. Example; Seeing the word "furniture" might cause you to respond more quickly to a later presentation of "chair". You can respond more quickly, even when you don't remember seeing "furniture" the first time.

What is Repetition priming?

When priming stimulus and test stimulus are the same or resemble each other. Example; Seeing the word "bird" might cause you to respond more quickly to a later presentation of "bird". You can respond more quickly, even when you don't remember seeing "bird" the first time.

What is change detection?

Whether a person could detect a change in a display of colored squares. More squares led to poorer performance. Able to retain about 4 items.

What are the three hypothesis regarding the reminiscence bump?

Why the reminiscence bump between the ages of 10-30? 1. Self-image hypothesis 2. Cognitive hypothesis 3. Cultural life script hypothesis

What is the Word length effect?

Word list memory is better for short than long words. Longer to rehearse and produce long words.

Why is memory better for words that people rated as describing themselves?

Words have meaning and are linked to something they knew very well—themselves.

What is Baddeley's working memory model issue?

Working memory can hold more than would be expected based on just the phonological loop or the visuospatial sketch pad. Related to chunking and to long-term memory. Added "episodic buffer" to model to address issue.

SS: What are the typical consequences when you generate a word.

Your recall is enhanced (generation effect)

The prefrontal cortex holds information for?

brief periods of time. Monkeys without a prefrontal cortex have difficulty holding information in working memory.

What is echoic memory?

brief sensory memory of things we hear

What is iconic memory?

brief sensory memory of things we see

What is Coding?

form in which stimuli are represented.

Hippocampus is important to memory, particularly in what?

forming new long-term memories.

What is digit span?

how many digits a person can remember (typically 5 to 9 digits)

What is the physiological approach to coding?

how stimuli or an experience are represented by neural firing.

What is the mental approach to coding?

how stimuli or an experience are represented in the mind.

LTM and STM differ in how information?

is mentally coded.

What lobe is working memory located in?

parietal

What are the three types of memory?

sensory, short term, long term

What part of the brain is a large part of LTM?

the hippocampus.

What happens when rehearsal is prevented?

the recency effect is eliminated.

Chunking increases our ability to do what?

to hold more in our short-term memory.

What was Graf's goal?

to test implicit memory.