What is memory
Interference
competition between newer and older information in memory
Rehearsal
conscious repetition of information
Decay
fading of information from memory over time
Motivated forgetting
failure to retrieve negative memories
Phonological loop
holds all verbal and auditory information
Sensory memory
holds large amounts of incoming information for a very short period of time
Declarative memories
memories we can readily state in words (semantic, episodal, autobiographical)
Chunking
organizing items into familiar, manageable units
Levels of processing theory
proposes that deeper levels of processing result in longer-lasting memory codes
Reconstruction during retrieval
rebuilding a memory out of stored elements, more updating is likely likely to occur when the memory is fresh
Atkinson-Shiffrin Model
sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory
Memory
the ability to store and retrieve information
Priming
the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory
Tip of the tongue
the feeling that a memory is available but not quite retrievable
Forgetting
the inability to retrieve memory from long-term storage
Elaborate rehearsal
the linking of new information to material that is already known
Autobiographical memory
the memory for events and facts related to one's personal life story (semantic aspects of ones personal life)
Retrieval
the process of getting information out of memory storage
Long term memory
the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.
Storage
the retention of encoded information over time
Encoding specificity
the tendency for memory of information to be improved if related information (such as surroundings or physiological state) available when the memory is first formed is also available when the memory is being retrieved
Visuaspatial sketchpad
visual and spacial information - working memory
Connectionist theories
-Mind as interconnected network of simpler units -tendency to group memories with overlapping features
Flashbulb memory
A clear and vivid long-term memory of an especially meaningful and emotional event.
Episodic buffer
A component of working memory where information in working memory interacts with information in long term memory (eg. relating information you are processing to a previous memory)
Working memory
A newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.
Lexical decision
A two-way forced choice judgment about whether a letter string (or phoneme string) is a word or not (nurse-doctor, nurse-butter)
procedural memory
A type of long-term memory of how to perform different actions and skills. Essentially, it is the memory of how to do certain things.
... Codes last longer than...codes because...
Acoustic, visual/iconic, need to hear whole phrase before spoken language is understood
Low ach
Alzheimer's / sleep: improves transfer of memories from STM to LTM
GABA
An inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain.
Continuum of information processing
Attention, sensation, perception, learning, memory and cognition
Adaptive advantage
Can use information from the past to respond quickly, however requires energy
Following habituation,
Decrease in axon terminals, as decreased responses to stimuli
Long term potentiation
Enhanced communication between 2 neurons resulting from synchronous activation
Semantic memories
General knowledge, memory, facts (objective)
Declarative memories and hippocampus
Hippocampus participates in the consolidation of semantic and location information • Involved in re-experiencing episodic memories, if damaged, procedural memories are infact but declarative are not
High ach
Impairs memory consolidation and retrieval
Following sensitization,
Increase in axon terminals, as increased responses to stimuli
Stress and learning
Learning is enhanced, flashbulb memory
Non-declarative memories
Memories that are unconscious, and do not need to be explicitly thought about, including procedural, classically conditioned memories, priming
Stress before or after learning
Memory is impaired
Sensory memory representations
Mental model of a bit of information that exists even when the information is no longer available
NMDA
N-methyl-D-aspartate, glutamate receptor boosts memory
Cortexes involved in retaining working memory information
Parietal and prefrontal
Spreading activation model
People organize general knowledge based on their individual experience
Episodic memories
Personal recount of past experiences (subjective)
Procedural memories and basal ganglia
Procedural degenerates while declarative intact
Proactive interference
Reduced memory because of earlier learning
Retroactive interference
Reduced memory because of subsequent learning
Schema
Set of expectations about objects and situations
Damage to prefrontal cortex
Source amnesia: maintains semantic information but do not remember haw it is acquired (episodic)
Cue
Stimulus that helps target information
Retrieval of emotional events
Strong negative emotions cause hormones to be released, and changes pattern of brain activity
Central executive
The part of working memory that is responsible for monitoring and directing attention and other mental resources.
Encoding
The transformation of information to be stored in memory.
Declarative memories and central carter
Where nanalization is helpful: occipital lobe, where memory of action is helpful: prefrontal and parietal lobe
Transactive memory
a shared system for remembering information that enables multiple people to remember information together more efficiently than they could do so alone
Short term memory
activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten
Anterograde amnesia
an inability to form new memories