Psychology Chapter 8 Questions

8-4 What information do we process automatically?

In addition to skills + classically conditioned associations, we automatically process incidental information about space, time, + frequency.

8-9 What is the capacity of long-term memory? Are our long-term memories processed and stored in specific locations?

Our long term memory capacity is essentially unlimited. Memories are not stored intact in the brain in single spots. Many parts of the brain interact as we encode, store, and retrieve memories.

8-3 How do explicit and implicit memories differ?

The brain processes info on dual tracks, consciously + unconsciously. Explicit (declarative) memories or our conscious memories of facts and experiences form through effortful processing, which requires conscious effort + attention. Implicit (nondeclarative) memories or of skills and classically conditioned associations happen without our awareness, through automatic processing.

8-11 What roles do the cerebellum and basal ganglia play in memory processing?

The cerebellum and basal ganglia are parts of the brain network dedicated to implicit memory formation. THe cerebellum is important for storing classically conditioned memories. THe basal ganglia are involved in motor movement and help from procedural memories for skills. Many reactions + skills learned during your first four years continue into our adult lives., though we cannot consciously remember learning these associations + skills (infantile amnesia).

8-16 How do misinformation, imagination, and source amnesia influence our memory construction? How do we decide whether a memory is real or false?

Memories can be continually revised when retrieved which is known as reconsolidation. The misinformation effect can cause people to form false memories, incorporate misleading details, after receiving wrong information after an event, or after repeatedly imagining & rehearsing something that never happened. When we reassemble a memory during retrieval, we may attribute it to the wrong source which is known as source amnesia, this can explain deja vu. False memories feel like real ones & can be persistent but are usually limited to just the gist of the event.

8-1 What is memory, and how is it measured?

Memory is learning that has persisted over time, through encoding, storage, & retrieval of information. Evidence of memory may be seen in an ability to recall information, recognize it, or relearn it more easily on a later attempt.

8-2 How do psychologists describe the human memory system?

Psychologists use memory models to think & communicate about memory. Information processing models involve three processes: encoding, storage, + retrieval. Parallel processing allows our brain to process many things simultaneously. The connectionism information processing model focuses on this multitrack processing, viewing memories as products of interconnected neural networks. The three processing stages in the Atkinson Shiffrin model are sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory. This model has been updated to include the concepts of (1) working memory, to stress the active processing occurring in the second memory stage; and (2) automatic processing, to address the processing of information outside of conscious awareness.

8-19 How can you use memory research findings to do better in this and other courses?

Rehearse repeatedly make the material meaningful activate retrieval cues use mnemonic devices minimize proactive + retroactive interference sleep more test yourself to be sure you can retrieve + recognize the material.

8-5 How does sensory memory work?

Sensory memory feeds some information into working memory for active processing there. An iconic memory is a very brief (a few tenths of a second) sensory memory of visual stimuli; an echoic memory is three or four second sensory memory of auditory stimuli.

8-6 What is our short-term memory capacity?

Short term memory capacity is about 7 items, give or take two, but this information disappears from memory quickly without rehearsal. Our working memory capacity for active processing varies, depending on age and other factors.

8-17 Why have reports of repressed and recovered memories been so hotly debated?

The debate focuses on whether memories of early childhood abuse are repressed and can be recovered by using therapy. Unless the victim was child to young to remember, the traumas are usually remembered vividly, and therefore not repressed. Psychologists agree that child sexual abuse happens; injustice happens; recovered memories are common; memories of events that happened before age 4 are unreliable; memories that are "recovered under hypnosis are not reliable; + memories (real or false) can be emotionally upsetting.

8-8 What are the levels of processing, and how do they affect encoding?

The depth of processing affects long term retention. In shallow processing, we encode words based on their structure or appearance. Retention is best when we use deep processing, encoding words based on their meaning. We also more easily remember material that is personally meaningful or the self reference effect.

8-18 How reliable are young children's eyewitness descriptions?

The eyewitness descriptions are subject to the same memory influences that distort adults reports. If they are questioned soon after an event in neutral language that they understand, children can accurately recall events + people involved in them.

8-10 What roles do the frontal lobes and hippocampus play in memory processing?

The frontal lobes + the hippocampus are parts of the brain network dedicated to explicit memory formation. Many brain regions send information to the frontal lobes for processing. The hippocampus, with the help of surroundin gareas of cortex, registers and temporarily holds elements of explicit memories (which are either semantic or episodic) before moving them to other brain regions for long term storage. The neural storage of long term memories is called memory consoldiation.

8-15 Why do we forget?

There are two types of amnesia Anterograde + Retrograde. Retrograde amnesia is not being able to retrieve old memories. Anterograde amnesia is not being able to form new memories. We can forget because encoding failure: we never encoded the information ; storage decay: the physical trace can decay; or retrieval failure: because we cannot retrieve what we encoded + stored. Retrieval problems can result from proactive interference(forward acting): when prior learning interference interferes with recall of new information. retroactive interference(backward acting): when new learning disrupts the recall of old information. Motivated forgetting occurs, but researchers have found little evidence of repression.

8-7 What are some effortful processing strategies that can help us remember new information?

chunking, mnemonics, hierarchies, + distributed practice sessions (the spacing effect). The testing effect is the that consciously retrieving, rather than simply rereading information enhances memory.

8-12 How do emotions affect our memory processing?

emotional arousal causes an outpouring of stress hormones, which lead to activity in the brain's memory forming areas. Significantly stressful events can trigger very clear flashbulb memories.

8-14 How do external cues, internal emotions, and order of appearance influence memory retrieval?

external cues activate associations that help us retrieve memories; this process may occur without our awareness, as it does in priming. The encoding specificity principle is the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it. Returning to the same physical context or emotional state (mood congruency) in which we formed a memory can help us retrieve it. The serial position effect accounts for our tendency to recall best the last items (which may still be in working memory) and the first (which we've spent more time rehearsing) in a list.

8-13 How do changes at the synapse level affect our memory processing?

long term potentiation (LTP) is the neural basis of learning. In LTP, neurons become more efficient at releasing and sensing the presence of neurotransmitters, and more connections develop between neurons.