chapter 7 psych

types of long term memory

-Declarative memory -Procedural memory

short term memory detail STM

-attention is a necessary step in encoding memories, but there is more to it than that. once info makes it to your STM, you have to take active steps to keep this information in memory. -the 3 stages view of memory conceptualizes STM as a temporary holding tank for information that has been transferred in from sensory memory (limited in both capacity and duration) -once information passes into STM, it can only be kept there for around 30 seconds without some type of rehearsal or refreshing.

3 stage model questions

-does the information always have to go to the STM before the LTM? -STM conceptualized as only being able to engage in a single process at a time. -in reality: even when holding simple words in STM, you need to know how to pronounce them, also usually think of the meaning...for both of these activities you need to access LTM BEFORE you have processed the info into LTM = also this is processing multiple aspects of the info at the same time

long term memory

-largest and most permanent memory system -info stored in LTM is not conscious unless we activate it by calling it into working memory -LTM has limitless capacity -when we feel that our brain is full, it is really just a limitation in ability to pay attention or of capacity of working memory rather than lacking actual space, -info can be stored in acoustic (hearing) and visual forms, but most often stored semantically= in terms of semantic encoding.

maintenance rehearsal

-repeating information over and over again to keep it in STM for an extended period of time -memories encoded with this are easily forgotten and more work has to be done to store it permanently in LTM -forgetting curve: graph of amount of info lost over time. for using maintenance rehearsal shows almost 75% info lost in only 2 days.

Elizabeth Loftus' research on eyewitness testimony

Information presented after an event occurs can alter our memory of that original event, a phenomenon called the misinformation effect. People who are affected in this way are not lying about what they remembered; in fact, they are quite innocent victims of their own malleable memories. =memories can be manipulated by expectations we hold of the world: -smashed vs hit when recalling speed of vehicle -Our memories can also be permanently altered by things that happen AFTER we encode the memories-when asked about remembering "the" broken headlight vs. "a" = more likely to remember seeing something they had not seen = created false memory -after we witness the original event, the more info we are faced with, the more likely it is that our memory will become faulty.

amnesia

a condition in which a person cannot recall certain declarative memories. two types 1. Retrograde amnesia 2. Anterograde amnesia

levels of processing (Fergus Craik and Robert Lockhart)

a model that predicts that information that is processed deeply and elaborately will be best retained and recalled from LTM. Beyond repeating information.

decay theory

a theory of forgetting that proposes that memory traces that are not routinely activated in LTM will degrade, use it or lose it. research indicated however that memory traces do not always decay from disuse. memories seem to last a very long time even when not regularly used.

retrograde amnesia

a type of amnesia in which one is unable to retrieve previously stored memories from LTM

anterograde amnesia

a type of amnesia in which one is unable to store new memories into LTM. ex: HM who had surgery to treat severe epilepsy which caused very bad anterograde amnesia, he could not make new LTM memories but he could learn new skills which shows that there could be a separate nature of declarative and procedural memories.

repression

a type of forgetting proposed by Freud in which memories for events, desires, or impulses that we find threatening are pushed into an inaccessible part of the mind called the unconscious Very controversial in relation to cases of adults recalling repressed instances of child sex abuse The frequent lack of corroborating evidence for recovered memories, along with experimental evidence that questions the accuracy of memory has led some to charge that these are in fact false memories Psychologists cannot say for sure whether Freud's conception of unconscious and repression are correct

cue dependent

a type of forgetting that occurs when one cannot recall information in a context other than the context in which it was encoded. includes -encoding specificity principle: we encode aspects of the context in which we learn information, later using these contextual aspects as cues to help us retrieve info If correct, then we should have better memory when we retrieve info in same setting as learned it

sensory memory detail

all the information that enters our memory from the outside world must first pass through our senses. information from senses lasts only a very brief time after the stimulus is ended. this brief hold of info after a stimulus ends is our sensory memory. -iconic memory: very brief "holding on" of visual stimuli. primary means of acquiring info. -echoic memory: very brief "holding on" of auditory memory. primary means of acquiring info. -haptic memory: very brief "holding on" of touch memory -(also sense of memory for taste and smell) -we can process fairly large amount of info in sensory memory, but duration is very short (fraction of a second) -in the end if we do not send sensory info to the short term memory within seconds or less it will be lost forever as our sensory memories decay. -to transfer info from sensory memory to short term memory all we have to do is pay attention to the sensory information

schema

an organized generalized knowledge structure in LTM = filing system we use for knowledge about particular concepts. have default values for schema slots that can be used in top down processing. ex: default value for bread might be baked which we assume unless we learn otherwise. people, stereotypes, scripts, concepts. for example, when we go on a date we have an idea on how to act, when we go to a movie theatre we have an idea on how to act.

attention

an organsims' ability to focus its consciousness on some aspect of its own mental process and/or its environment

flashbulb memories

an unusually detailed and seemingly accurate memory of an emotionally charged event. 9/11 memories, though vivid and convincing, may not be as accurate as we think -theory is when experience an emotional event, body releases stress hormones that direct the amygdala to initiate long-term storage of the memory of the event, but these stress hormones also seem to block the formation of accurate memories for what was happening immediately before the emotional event = memory may have gaps/not be entirely accurate -also subject to forgetting over time

working memory model

another way to describe memory. a multifaceted component of LTM that contains STM, as well as other components that are responsible for accessing, moving, and processing information that we are currently using. views memory stages in more of a parallel fashion as opposed to a serial fashion. processes different aspects of memory at the same time. info can be moved into and out of LTM at the same time that info is being held in working memory. -plays several different roles: 1. like STM, it acts as a temporary storage system for info being currently used 2. can act to retrieve info from LTM while holding "currently being used" info -it contains 1. central executive 2. phonological loop 3. visuospatial sketchpad 4. episodic buffer

central executive

attention controlling part of working memory. it coordinated the functions of the system and determine where we focus our conciseness. coordinates actions of sub systems and integrates info from these systems. issues with central executive functioning may contribute to ADHD and or Alzheimers.

consciousness

awareness of our own thoughts and the external world. when we focus our attention on something you bring the stimulus into our consciousness

reconstructive memory

based on the retrieval of memory traces that contain the actual details of events we have experienced

episodic buffer

bridge between STM and LTM and can allow information to flow in both directions.

explicit memory

conscious use of memory. we consciously search our memory for a previously stored bit of information. relies on language to form an answer. we are aware that we are using our memory. ex: studying for an exam or trying to remember a shopping list. conscious or intentional remembering.

semantic encoding

encoding memory traces in terms of meaning of the information being stored. stores the gist or general meaning rather than all of the sensory details. this loses some of the exact sensory details, but much more useful and efficient to store as meaning.

forgetting

for memory to be retrieved from LTM, 2 things must be met. 1. available: must be encoded in LTM and memory trace still present 2. accessible: probe has to be able to get to/find the memory trace.

elaborative rehearsal

forming associations, or links, between info one is trying to learn and info already stored in LTM so as to facilitate transfer of new info to LTM. -needed to make associations, mental connections -personally relevant examples are particularly powerful -ex: advertisements connect their phone numbers to a song or jingle.

George Miller short term memory

had participants remember as many items from a list as they could. average was 7 +/- 2 bits of information. more recent research suggests that actual capacity also depends on the size of the bits of info stored.

chunking

if we want to store more info we can increase the efficiency of STM by using chunking. this allows us to bunch individual units of data together and store them as meaningful groups. -1,2,3 is better remembered and chunked than 8,1,5 -when taking into account the ease with which information can be compressed in chunks, researches have discovered that we can only hold 4 +/- chunks of info in memory. -it is in our best interest to use chunking as often as we can in everyday life, like chunking together phone numbers

motivated forgetting

intentionally blocking retrieval of unwanted memories into working memory • Has been demonstrated

phonological loop

like an MP3 player in our memory that processes and stores verbal and auditory information

procedural memory

long term memory for skills and behaviors. typically implicit and not as readily put into words as declarative memories. often used unconsciously. unlike declarative memory abilities, which continue to develop throughout childhood and adolescence, our procedural memory abilities are largely developed by age 10. for example learning to ride a bike or tie your shoes.

traditional three stage model of memory

memory has three distinct stages of storage. -sensory memory: a system of memory that briefly stores sensory impressions so that we can extract relevant information from them for further processing. first stop for information entering memory. if we pay attention to info stored in our sensory memory, the information is sent to short term memory for further processing. -short term memory: a system of memory that is limited in both capacity and duration. in the 3-stage model, short term memory is seen as the intermediate stage between sensory memory and long term memory. temporary holding tank for a limited amount of info. information can only hang out for a little while here and gives us a bit more time to decide if it is important or not. it we judge it to be unimportant, we delete it. if it is important we will focus on moving it to long-term memory. if however we need more time, we can use various processes to get more time. -long term memory: a system of memory that works to store memories for along time; perhaps even permanently.

accuracy of memory

memory is not like a video camera. Instead, our memories are subject to change and distortion over time. Psychologists note theconstructive and reconstructive nature of memory, which explains that what we remember may be a combination of recalling the actual event itself as well as our last memory of the event

does short term memory really exist?

not all of the available research supports the 3-stage model, particularly in its conception of STM.

serial position experiment

people were asked to recall words from a list and they better recalled the ones from the beginning and the ones at the end. they were repeating the first words in their heads so they couldn't even really hear the middle words, and then by the last words the first ones were in short term memory so they could listen to the last ones.

serial position curve

plot of where words occur on a list vs the rate at which they were recalled. not all items on a list have the same change of being recalled.

visuospatial sketchpad

processes visual and spatial information, like an etch-a-sketch creates visual codes of data.

memory traces

stores code that represents a piece of information that has been encoded into memory (stored bits of information). brain processes memory traces and puts into memory.

interference

temporary forgetting, a condition in which the memory trace is still available but has temporarily become inaccessible. examples include -tip of the tongue phenomenon: knowing that you know a piece of information, even though you cannot recall it at the moment -proactive interference: a type of forgetting that occurs when older memory traces inhibit retrieval of newer memory traces. for example, someone tells you how to say their name, however, you still read it one way and say it wrong. -retroactive interference: a type of forgetting that occurs when newer memory traces inhibit the retrieval of older memory traces. for example: memorizing new address makes more difficult to remember old address

primacy effect

tendency for people to recall words from the beginning of a list better than words that appeared in the middle. occurs because it gives us more time to push information into LTM (more likely to spend our time rehearsing these first words, which takes up STM and leaves little room for the following words)

recency effect

tendency for people to recall words from the end of a list better than words that occurred in the middle of the list. The recency effect, on the other hand, occurs because the information is still active in STM and has not had time to fade away.

encoding

the act of inputting information into memory. we encode things in the form of memory traces.

retrieval

the act of moving info from LTM back into working memory or consciousness. we sent a probe or cue into LTM in search of memory traces (encoded memories). cues can be verbal, visual, auditory, even smell. includes recall and recognition.

storage

the place where information is retained in memory

retrieval

the process of accessing information in the memory and pulling it into consciousness

memory

the storage, processing and retrieval of information in the mind. creates the ability to retain and recall information over time.

implicit memory

the unconscious use of memory. typically nonverbal. ex: driving without saying the directions out loud. you can tie your shoes while talking at the same time. when information sneaks into memory without active intent or effort.

declarative memory

type of long term memory encompassing memories that are easily verbalized -semantic memory: long term declarative memory for conceptual info like text book reading -episodic memory: memory for recent events in our lives and is associated with a unique sense of personal awareness. once encoded, episodic memories are quickly integrated into our autobiographical memory. autobiographic memory is memory for our past that gives us a sense of personal history. as episodic memories are integrated some details are lost and some errors occur.

recognition

type of retrieval process in which the probe or cue contains a great deal of info, including the item being sought like a multiple choice question. tasks require us to take the stimulus we are encountering and filter through the large amount of information it provides, seeing if it matched something previously stored.

recall

type of retrieval process in which the probe or cue does not contain much info (essay question). tasks are more difficult because they tend to provide less information and require us to provide a memory in its while form with less help from external hints or cues. an essay question demonstrates recall. remembering someones name requires recall.

constructive memory

uses knowledge and experiences to fill in missing details in retrieved memory traces.

example of working memory

you are stung by a bee. your haptic (touch) sensory memory registers pain, visual captures image of the bee. sensory impressions are sent to working memory while at the same time we may activate a long term memory about bee sting allergic reactions from health class. then we conciously think about the signs of an allergic reaction and determine if we have one or not. this knowledge of having an allergy or not then goes into long term memory.