Module 4 (NOT FINISHED)

What are the 2 types of sensory memory?

1) Iconic memory 2) Echoic memory

Explain the role of emotional events in the formation of flashbulb memories.

A flashbulb memory is a clear, sustained memory of an emotionally significant moment or event. They focus our attention and recall on high priority info, and reduce our recall of irrelevant details.

Hermann Ebbinghaus conducted significant research on memory. What did he discover?

He showed that our response speed when recalling or recognizing info indicates memory strength, and so does our speed at relearning. He used nonsense syllables, randomly selecting a sample of syllables, practiced them, and tested himself. The day after learning this list, he could recall a few syllables but he didn't completely forget them. The more frequently he repeated the list aloud on Day 1, the less time he required to relearn the list on Day 2. - Additional rehearsal of verbal info can produce overlearning, which increases retention, especially when practice is distributed over time.

Which structures of the brain are associated with explicit memory?

Hippocampus and frontal lobes.

What are ways that you can make information more meaningful and thereby increase your memory retention?

I can connect what I am learning to things that are happening in my life or things that I am familiar with. This way, I can produce vivid images/situations in my mind that correlate with the information that I am processing, allowing me to retain that information easier.

What contributes to infantile amnesia?

Infantile amnesia is how our conscious memory of our first four years is largely blank. Two influences contribute to this: 1) We index/record much of our explicit memory with a command of language that young children don't possess 2) The hippocampus is one of the last brain structures to mature, and as it does, more gets retained.

Explain long-term potentiation.

Long-term potentiation is the increase in a cell's ability to fire after a quick and rapid stimulation. It's a neural basis for learning and remembering associations. For example, one receptor site on the receiving neuron reaches towards a sending neuron before LTP. After LTP, the receptor sites double, meaning that the receiving neuron has increased its sensitivity for detecting the presence of the neurotransmitter molecules that may be released by the sending neuron.

How is memory defined?

The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Explain echoic memory.

1) A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds 2) Echoic = echo = related to hearing → can hear and recall the last few words even if you're not paying attention

Which 2 brain structures are essential in the role of implicit memory?

1) Cerebellum 2) Basal Ganglia

What are the 5 strategies to improve effortful processing?

1) Chunking 2) Mnemonics 3) Hierarchies 4) Spacing effect 5) Testing effect

Summarize effortful processing and the type of memory related to it.

1) Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort 2) Explicit memories (declarative) - retention of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"

Short-term memory: 1) Researched by 2) Capacity 3) Duration

1) George Miller; Lloyd Peterson and Margaret Peterson (how quickly do our short-term memories disappear) 2) We can store about 7 pieces of info (give or take 2) in short-term memory 3) Working memory capacity varies depending on age and other factors. Compared with children and older adults, young adults have a greater working memory capacity.

Explain the role of the hippocampus in explicit memories.

1) Hippocampus = temporal-lobe neural center located in the limbic system; helps process for storage explicit (conscious) memories of facts and events 2) The hippocampus can be seen as a "save" button for explicit memories. It and nearby brain networks are active as people form explicit memories of names, images, and events. - The frontal lobes and hippocampus make up the network that processes and stores new explicit memories for these facts and episodes/experiences - When you remember a past experience, many brain regions send input to your prefrontal cortex (front part of your frontal lobes) for working memory processing. The left and right frontal lobes process different types of memories. (Left ex: recalling password and holding it in working memory; Right ex: calling up a visual party scene)

What are the 2 memory models?

1) Information processing 2) Parallel processing

What are the 3 measures of retention?

1) Recall 2) Recognition 3) Relearning

What are the 2 types of explicit/declarative memories (2 conscious memory systems)?

1) Semantic memory 2) Episodic memory

What are the 2 levels of processing?

1) Shallow processing 2) Deep processing

Summarize automatic processing and the type of memory related to it.

1) Unconscious encoding of incidental info such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned info, such as word meanings 2) Implicit memories (nondeclarative) - retentions of learned skills/classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection

Identify the memory stages proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin

1) We first record to-be-remembered info as a fleeting sensory memory. 2) From there, we process info into short-term memory, where we encode it through rehearsal. 3) Finally, info moves into long-term memory for later retrieval.

Explain the hierarchies strategy.

1) When people develop expertise in an area, they process info not only in chunks but also in hierarchies composed of a few broad concepts divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts 2) ex. My chapter outlines from AP Bio last year where I grouped information from the textbook into my notes and made bullet points of certain terms and explanations under certain topics.

Explain iconic memory.

1) a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second 2) Iconic = icon = visual image

Explain the testing effect strategy.

1) enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. Also sometimes referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning. Testing does more than assess learning and memory: It improves them. 2) ex. I make quizlets of information from each lesson so I should test myself using those flashcards every once in a while to improve my memory on the topics and concepts

Summarize and give an example of recognition.

1) identifying items previously learned 2) A multiple choice question would test my recognition on the AP Exam. I will need to be able to distinguish between which terms or situations match the prompt given.

Summarize and give an example of relearning.

1) learning something more quickly when you learn it a second or later time. 2) Since I am learning while going through this course, I will be able to relearn the material more easily than I am learning now when I study for the AP Exam.

Explain the mnemonics strategy.

1) memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices 2) ex. PEMDAS = Parentheses Exponents Multiplication/Division Addition/Subtraction (order of operations in math)

Explain the chunking strategy.

1) organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically 2) ex. If my parents saw some words written in Hindi, they would be able to reproduce the same words more likely than me because I can't read Hindi but they can. The writing is unfamiliar to me.

Summarize and give an example of recall.

1) retrieving info that isn't currently in your conscious awareness but that was learned at an earlier time. 2) Fill-in-the-blank questions would test my recall on the AP Exam.

Explain the spacing effect strategy.

1) the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice 2) ex. Studying the material bit by bit every day until the exam instead of trying to cram in all the information a day or two before the exam

Describe the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

It slowly strips away memory. It begins as difficulty remembering new info and progresses into an inability to do everyday tasks. Family members and close friends become strangers; complex speech devolves to simple sentences; the brain's memory centers weaken and wither

How are memories stored in the brain?

Memories are brain-based, but the brain distributes the components of a memory across a network of locations. These specific locations include some of the circuitry involved in the original experience: Some brain cells that fire when we experience something fire again when we recall it. - We don't store info like how libraries store books in single. precise locations. Our brain networks instead encode, store, and retrieve the info that forms our complex memories.

Explain parallel processing.

Our brain processes many things simultaneously (some of them unconsciously); the brain's natural mode of info processing for many functions - one info-processing model (connectionism) views memories as products of interconnected neural networks. Specific memories arise from certain activation patterns within these networks. Every time you learn something new, your brain's neural connections change, forming and strengthening pathways that allow you to interact with and learn from your constantly changing environment.

What is the capacity for retaining information in our long-term memory?

Our capacity for storing long-term memories is essentially limitless (similar to the World Wide Web).

How do stress hormones influence memory formation?

Our emotions trigger stress hormones that influence memory formation. When we're excited/stressed, these hormones make more glucose energy available to fuel brain activity, signaling the brain that something important is happening. Also, stress hormones focus memory, because it provokes the amygdala.

Explain information processing.

Our human memory is similar to computer operations, but our memories are less literal and more fragile than a computer's. - get info into our brain (encoding) - retain that info (storage) - later get that info back out (retrieval)

Explain how sensory memory was discovered.

Sensory memory feeds our active working memory, recording momentary images of scenes/echoes of sounds. George Sperling conducted an experiment where people viewed 3 rows of 3 letters each, for only 1/20 seconds. After the 9 letters disappeared, they could only recall about ½ of them. Instead of asking them to recall all 9 letters at once, he sounded a high, medium, or low tone immediately after flashing the 9 letters. This tone directed participants to report only the letters of the top, middle, or bottom row, respectively. Now they rarely missed a letter, showing that all 9 letters were momentarily available for recall. His experiment demonstrated iconic memory.

How are short-term memory and working memory different?

Short-term memory = the activated memory that holds a few items briefly Working memory = a newer understanding of this that adds conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual info, and of info retrieved from long-term memory

What function does sleep serve in memory consolidation?

Sleep supports memory consolidation. During deep sleep, the hippocampus processes memories for later retrieval. After a training experience, the greater one's heart rate efficiency and hippocampus activity during sleep, the better the next day's memory will be.

How is the amygdala involved in memory formation?

The amygdala is the two limbic system, emotion-processing clusters. When stress provokes the amygdala, it initiates a memory trace that boosts activity in the brain's memory-forming areas. (Amygdala telling the brain to encode this moment for future reference) So emotional arousal can sear/burn certain events into the brain, while disrupting memory for irrelevant events.

What is the purpose of memory consolidation?

The process of the neural storage of a long-term memory. - The hippocampus registers and temporarily holds the elements of a memory (its smell, feel, sound, location) and then that memory gets shifted for storage elsewhere

What did the research of Craik and Tulving discover about retention and levels of processing?

They flashed words at viewers then asked them questions that would elicit different levels of processing. The deeper, semantic processing triggered by the 3rd question yielded a much better memory than did the shallower processing elicited by the 2nd question or the very shallow processing elicited by the 1st question.

Explain shallow processing.

encoding on a basic level, based on the structure/appearance/sound of words. Ex. we may type there when we mean their

Explain deep processing.

encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention. The deeper (more meaningful) processing, the better our retention.

Explain semantic memory.

facts and general knowledge

Explain the role of the cerebellum with implicit memory.

forms and stores implicit memories created by classical conditioning (ex. associating a tone w/ an impending puff of air and so we don't blink in anticipation of the puff)

Explain episodic memory.

personally experienced events

Explain the role of the basal ganglia with implicit memory.

receive input from the cortex but don't return the favor of sending info back to the cortex for conscious awareness of procedural learning (ex. learning to ride a bike)