Memory Chapter 7 Psych E2
Amnesia after brain damage
-frontal lobe damage occurs as result of stroke, head trauma, or Korsakoff's syndrome
Storage
-Holding it for later use -filing it away
Memory for Traumatic events
-Sigmund Freud believed that it was possible to repress a painful memory, motivation or emotion, to move it from conscious to subconscious -research indicates it is possible to forget a traumatic event - depends on age, reaction of family, and type of event
Declarative Memory
-ability to state a fact, info, names, dates, faces -fact memory -stores why, how, when, where, what, who
Implicit/Indirect Memory
-any experience that influences us w/out our awareness -ability to remember info that u didn't deliberately try to learn -holds trivial facts, song lyrics, general nonsense that your brain files away while ur concentrating on something else
False Memory
-believes to be a memory but never actually occurred (may or may not be reliable) -evidence for forgetting & distortion. Use reason & logic to "fill in gaps"
Key to memory
-brain never loses anything -once a perception or thought is in place it stays in memory forever
Alzheimer's
-brain starts wearing down -nerve cell death in parts of brain for memory -discovered in 1906 by Dr. Alois Alzheimer. detected tangles & plaques in brain of woman -symptoms include: repeating questions, forgetting simple tasks, forgetting who you are & where you are
Savings (relearning) method
-compares the speed that new material is learned to the speed of relearning old material -time saved between the original learning and the relearning is a measure of memory
Dementia
-condition of slow decline in memory, problem solving, learning ability, and judgement
Episodic
-containing events and details of life history -autobio of thoughts & things that happened to us (ex: what you did on ur bday)
Semantic
-dealing with principles of knowledge -mental dictionary, stores meaning of words
Korsakoff Syndrome
-degenerative memory disorder caused by chronic alcoholism & vitamin deficiency -symptoms: amnesia, confabulation, lack of insight & apathy -treatment: vitamin B injections, hydration, proper nutrition
Retrograde amnesia
-disorder that results in loss of memory prior to injury. -could not remember many events that occurred between 1 & 3 years before surgery (retro = old)
Anterograde amnesia
-disorder that results in the loss of memory after injury -unable to store new memories
Sensory Memory
-first stage of memory processing -combination of memory & perception -lasts less than a second -registers perception of the moment "now"
Cued Recall
-gives significant hints about the correct answer
Chunking
-grouping info into units, making more info manageable to remember
Short term (working) memory
-if a friend asks what was just said in class, and u were paying attention, you could repeat it -limited capacity memory of info retained for 30 sec
Reconstruction Examples
-if your family all got sick after a meal, you'll remember that meal longer than usual -if u meet ur new love while at dinner, this will be memorable & easily reconstructed (may fill in missing details using other activities associated with dining out)
Forgetting
-inability to recall stored info or failure to store info -can begin in seconds unless rehearsal is permitted
Decay of short and long term memory
-long term memory may be vulnerable to the effects of interference -short term memory is vulnerable to passage of time
Interference
-memories block each other -learns several sets of related materials, retention of the old materials makes it harder to retain new, and vise versa
Mnemonic Devices
-memory aid that is based on encoding each item in a special way -short, verbal strategies that improve ability to remember new info -use mental pictures, form unusual associations -Use acronyms
Amnesia
-memory disorder caused by brain damager OR a traumatic event
Example of declarative & episodic
-memory of a recent piano lesson
Procedural Memory
-memory of how to do something -skills memory (ex: like writing, riding a bike)
Example of procedural
-memory of how to play the piano
example of semantic
-memory of how to read music
Explicit Memory
-memory that we are aware we are using -ability to retain info that you've put real effort into learning (ex: recalling describing a basic principle of classical conditioning to classmate)
Decline of memory
-most healthy people show little decline of memory in old age -common cause is Alzheimers -99% of cases are late onset -disease is marked by gradual build-up of harmful proteins and deteriorating brain cells
Capacities of short and long term memory
-most normal adults can immediately repeat a list of about 7 bits of info -can be expanded through techniques such as chunking
Retrieval
-recovering info from storage -finding it
Long term memory
-relatively permanent storage of meaningful info -birthdate, address, names of parents
Recognition
-requires the person being tested to identify the correct item from a list of choices -memory task where individual indicates whether presented info has been experienced previously
Recall
-simplest method for tester but most difficult for person being tested -info must be produced w/ little to no hint provided
Memory
-storage, retention and recall of events -process by which we store, save info
Herman Ebbinghause
-studied his own ability to memorize new material -invented over 2,300 nonsense syllables & put them in random lists
Meaningfulness & distinctiveness
-studies show meaningful materials are easier to remember -distinctive/unusual info is easier to retain
Von Restore effect
-tendency of people to remember unusual items better than more common items
Hindsight bias
-tendency to mold our recollection of the past to how events later turned out -We say "I knew that was going to happen!" after the event has occurred -Our memories are tailored as we reconstruct the event to fit that outcome
Encoding
-transfer of info into memory (put info in)
Reconstruction
-when remembering an event, you start with details you remember clearly, fill in gaps -construct a memory -based on surviving memories & expectations
Confabulation
-wild guessing mixed in with correct information in an effort to hide memory gaps -pre-frontal cortex damage -fills in gaps or reconstructs memory
Retrieval Cues
-young children depend on these provided by adults -reminders or hints that help us retrieve information from long-term memory
Fill in the blank test
Cued Recall Example
Multiple Choice Test
Example of Recognition
Difference between Free recall and Cued Recall
Free Recall is remembering the author of the book without hints of the Authors Initials. Cued recall includes seeing the hint of the authors initials.
Short answer test
Recall Example
Example of STM
You look up a phone number, remember it long enough to dial it
Example of LTM
You remember the house where you lived when you were 7
Example of Sensory Store
You see something for an instant and then recall a detail about it
Retroactive
learning new material makes it hard to recall old material
Flashbulb memory
long lasting deep memories in response to traumatic events
Decay
memory is subject to combined effects of time and interference
Repressed memory
memory of a traumatic event that is made unavailable for recall
Proactive Interference
retaining old material makes it hard to recall new material
Primacy Effect
tendency to remember the beginning of the list
Recency Effect
tendency to remember the items at the end of the list