Lifetime Development Lecture 12
1. implicit memory arises earlier in development 2. explicit memory is more subject to change 3. explicit memory is more subject to decline
Does implicit memory or explicit memory arise earlier in development? Which one changes more over the course of development? Which one is more subject to declines?
1. rehearsal: the "cognitive process in which information is repeated over and over as a possible way of learning and remembering it". A person can do this by saying aloud or thinking of material repeatably until it becomes a part of the working memory 2. organization: categorizing info -- or "chunking" it (breaking it into smaller, though not necessarily meaningful, chunks) 3. elaboration: actively creating meaningful links b/w the terms to be connected (Ex: I put my tennis shoes on to play basketball, then came home, turned on the lamp... etc.) rehearsal used by 10% of 5 yr olds and 50% of 7 yr olds organization emerges by age 9 or 10 elaboration mastered during adolescence Earliest: rehearsal Latest: elaboration
Explain each of the following memory strategies: rehearsal, organization, elaboration. Which emerges earliest in development, and which emerges the latest?
Fuzzy Trace Theory: young children store events verbatim, rather than constructing the gist of an event -- as we rely increasingly of gist memories, earlier, verbatim memories degrade (and thus this is why we can't remember anything before the age of 2 and very little before the age of 4) this is b/c episodic memories are a reconstruction, not an exact, depiction of what happened
How does the Fuzzy Trace theory explain childhood amnesia?
implicit memory
Things that we don't purposely try to remember are stored in implicit memory. This kind of memory is both unconscious and unintentional. Implicit memory is also sometimes referred to as nondeclarative memory since you are not able to consciously bring it into awareness. Procedural memories, such as how to perform a specific task like swinging a baseball bat or making toast, are one type of implicit memory since you don't have to consciously recall how to perform these tasks. While implicit memories are not consciously recalled, they still influence how you behave as well as your knowledge of different tasks. Some examples of implicit memory include singing a familiar song, typing on your computer keyboard, daily habits, and driving a car. Riding a bicycle is another great example. Even after going years without riding one, most people are able to hop on a bike and ride it effortlessly.
1. more positive beliefs about own memory 2. less societal endorsement of negative stereotypes 2. older adults' larger knowledge bases may bolster their performance, even as processing declines 3. education
What 4 things can help counteract a decline in memory in old age?
older children learn faster, remember more, and maintain those memories for longer than younger children 1. differences in basic capabilities 2. differences in ability to create and use memory strategies 3. developments in metamemory 4. older children know more about the world
What are the 4 factors that contribute to older children learning faster and remembering more than younger children?
Step 1: encoding data Step 2: consolidation (info is processed and organized for long-term storage) Step 3: storage Step 4: retrieval
What are the 4 steps involved in memory?
a type of memory that involves how to do something and becomes so ingrained it is more or less automatic
What is a procedural memory?
most elderly adults report at least some trouble remembering -- older adults, on average, learn material more slowly and remember what they have learned less well -- older adults are better at tasks that require RECOGNITION than recall --implicit memory stays intact, but explicit memory declines 1. declines after age 45 2. spontaneous use of the strategies of elaboration and organization declines, even though older adults still know how to use them 3. older adults show intact reasoning about a variety of general memory processes -- older adults hold more negative beliefs about their own memory skills than younger adults, and these negative beliefs can actually affect memory
what happens to working memory in old age? What about spontaneous use of memory strategies? metamemory?
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE, as the rate at the time of the event, has NO EFFECT on whether it is remembered later RECALL is associated with the uniqueness of an event EMOTIONAL INTENSITY (either good or bad) also has an effect on recall people tend to recall their teens and 20s better than any time period in their lives except for the near past (b/c it was unique and fun!!!)
Of the following, which affects the likelihood that an event is remembered years later: personal significance? uniqueness of the event? emotional intensity?
childhood amnesia: most adults and older children remember nothing before age 2 and very little before age 4 autobiographical memories depend heavily on LANGUAGE -- adolescents whose mothers elaborately conversed with them as small children showed stronger autobiographical memories -- mothers talk more elaborately with daughters than sons; therefore, women have detailed memories from earlier in childhood than men do constructing autobiographical memories may also depend on a SENSE OF SELF -- the ability to recognize him/herself in a mirror is taken as an indication that a child is developing a sense of self -- mirror self recognition predicts children's later ability to talk about the past -- children with higher levels of self-awareness at 2.5 retold memories more accurately at 3.5 young children store events verbatim, rather than constructing the gist of an event -- as we rely increasingly on gist memories, earlier, verbatim memories degrade (((episodic memories are a reconstruction, not an exact depiction of what happened))) preschool aged children are more suggestible and influenced by the wording of Qs than adults (eyewitness testimonies)
What is childhood amnesia? Explain why language and self-concept might be related to childhood amnesia.
2 subdivisions of long term memory: implicit and explicit implicit memory: non-declarative memories (automatic, unintentional, and without awareness); largely infallible, less likely to be "forgotten"; changes very little over the course of development; adults with amnesia have intact implicit memory; an experiential or functional form of memory that cannot be consciously recalled example: This is your memory of how to ride a bike or how to balance. These are often not tied to a visual memory but are more like muscle memory. explicit memory: declarative memories (deliberate, effortful recollection) -- 2 types: semantic and episodic; subject to forgetting; entwined with language; develops later in infancy than implicit memory and declines in late adulthood; a memory that can be intentionally and consciously recalled example: This is your memory of riding a bike, of falling over the handlebars and skinning your knee explicit memory is more likely to be forgotten
What is implicit memory? Give an example. What is explicit memory? Give an example. Which is more subject to forgetting?
1. metamemory: knowledge about the processes of memory -- develops b/w age 5-7 Metamemory refers to a person's knowledge about the contents and regulation of memory.; helpful on tasks that are simple and familiar 2. children with greater metamemory knowledge perform better on memory tasks
What is metamemory? What is the relationship b/w metamemory and the ability to remember?
3 types of memory retrieval: 1. recognition memory - recognizing the answer among several options (ex: What is essentialism? A- B- C-) 2. recall memory - retrieval of a memory without cues (ex: What is essentialism? [your answer should be no longer than 1-2 sentences]) 3. cued recall memory - retrieval of a memory when given a hint or context (ex: What is essentialism? [think about the experiment with the skunk and the raccoon]) Easiest: recognition memory Most difficult: non-cued recall memory
What is recognition memory? Give an example. What is recall memory? Give an example. What is cued recall memory? Give an example. Which is easiest, which is most difficult?
source memory: remembering where you heard or saw something -- adults sometimes mistake memories of imagined events for memories of events that really happened it is hypothesized that source errors may underlie suggestibility effects on witness testimony (study: adult participants saw a slide depicting a complex "office" scene -- participants then read a narrative description of that scene -- for 1/2 of the participants, the narrative included accurate info, for the other 1/2, the narrative mentioned objects that were not present in the pic -- participants then took one of 2 tests: (1) yes/no recognition test (For each item, please indicate whether that item was present in the pic) or (2) source memory test (For each item, please indicate whether that item was present only in the pic, present only in the description, or present in neither -- participants who read the misleading narrative were more likely to identify items that had not been in the pics as having been in the picture -- but did this info "overwrite or "erase" the original memory? -- if the memory of the original pic was completely overwritten by the misleading info, then we should see the same kind of errors on the source memory test -- participants who read the misleading narrative were NOT more likely than control participants to claim that items that had not appeared in the pic had -- RESULTS SUGGEST THAT EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY ACCURACY MAY BE IMPROVED BY ASKING WITNESSES TO IDENTIFY THE SPECIFIC SOURCE OF THEIR MEMORIES
What is source memory? Give example of a source memory error.
2 subdivisions of episodic memory (which is a subdivision of longterm memory) 1. semantic memories: the recall of general facts episodic memories: specific experiences -- the recall of personal experiences 2. autobiographical memories: episodic memories that contribute to our understanding of who we are -- NOT ALL EPISODIC MEMORIES BECOME AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIES.. so no...not all episodic memories are autobiographical memories
What is the difference b/w semantic memory and episodic memory? Are all episodic memories autobiographical memories?
capacity of short-term memory grows through early childhood and continued growing b/w age 6 and 13 1. increased working memory (seems to be tied to the maturation of the hippocampus) 2. speed of processing also improves across childhood (12 yr olds take 1.5 times as long as adults on some processing tasks -- 15 yr olds process at the same speed as adults) CHANGE IN PROCESSING SPEED SEEMS TO PRECEDE CHANGE IN WORKING MEMORY -- ON MEMORY SPAN TASKS, HOW FAST A CHILD CAN REPEAT BACK THE DIGITS ORALLY PREDICTS HOW MANY DIGITS THEY CAN REMEMBER JUST AS THERE ARE DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN WORKING MEMORY AND PROCESSING SPEED, THERE ARE ALSO INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES -- UP TO 10% OF CHILDREN MAY HAVE LOW WORKING MEMORY; WORKING MEMORY IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ABILITY TO ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE AND NEW SKILLS
What is the relationship b/w changes in processing speed and changes in working memory?
knowledge of the content area to be learned affects memory performance -- most of the time, older children know more than younger children, and adults have a wider knowledge base than either -- children can outperform adults if they have expertise in an area
What role does expertise play in memory? What happens when children -- and not adults-- are the experts?
1. Illusion of Truth Experiment: participants heard statements read off -- some statements were characterized as true and some as false -- later, participants forget whether the statements were T or F, but rate any statement they've heard before as more valid or true than statements they have not heard before -- this effect persists even if the person saying the false statement has been repeatedly lying 2. explicit memories of who said a statement and whether it was true are eroded, but implicit memories of having heard the statement, thereby making it familiar, stay intact.
What was the result of the "Illusions of Truth" experiment? How does this result relate to implicit and explicit memory?
explicit memory
When you are trying to intentionally remember something (like a formula for your statistics class or a list of dates for your history class), this information is stored in your explicit memory. We use these memories every day, from remembering information for a test to recalling the date and time of a doctor's appointment. This type of memory is also known as declarative memory since you can consciously recall and explain the information. Some tasks that require the use of explicit memory include remembering what you learned in your psychology class, recalling your phone number, identifying who the current President is, writing a research paper, and remembering what time you are meeting a friend to go to a movie. There are two major types of explicit memory: Episodic memory: These are your long-term memories of specific events, such as what you did yesterday or your high school graduation. Semantic memory: These are memories of facts, concepts, names, and other general knowledge information.
short term memory.... long-term storage capacity seems constant and limitless across development there are major developments in short term memory capacity
Which is more subject to developmental change: long-term or short-term memory?
