Psychology Ch. 8

Can we reliably distinguish between false memories and real memories?

--people are just as confident in their false memories as true memories. False memories can also be just as vivid as true memories. --Confidence and vividness do not necessarily indicate accuracy.

What is context-dependent and state-dependent memory? (see text)

Context-dependent memory o External cues: you remember more if you are in the same environment in which you learned the information because the location provides retrieval cues. State-dependent memory o Internal cues: we remember more if we are in the same physiological state as we were when we learn information. ??? see text.

What is the forgetting curve? What does it indicate about forgetting?

Ebbinghaus and the forgetting curve o Forgetting levels off: The shape of the forgetting curve is similar to other stuff we forget that we don't use. o He had himself remember nonsense syllables then he would measure how much he remembered over time. He found that he would forget a lot of what he learned after he learned it.

What evidence supports the idea of retrieval failure?

Evidence for this comes from the fact that if we receive the appropriate retrieval cues, we remember what it seems that we forgot. Once we have learned information, it is easier to relearn it (for this to be possible, it means that this information is still in the brain.

Know the different types/categories of long-term memory and the characteristics of each.

Explicit/declarative-conscious memories of facts/experiences that we know or can state. o episodic-personal facts and experiences. These often involve where or when. o semantic-facts and generalized knowledge of the world. World events, state capitals, which animals are mammals Implicit- unconscious recollection, involves using knowledge without awareness of remembering. This also involves the unconscious influence of past experience. Tends to be automatically processed, and it doesn't work according to the information processing model (skips short-term memory stage) o procedural-how to perform certain routine skills and automatic tasks. These are things that we don't have to think through step by step. Example: walking, driving, o priming, classical conditioning also create implicit memories.

Where are explicit memories generally stored?

Frontal lobe o Explicit: If you ask him if he ever had a tennis lesson, he would say no. He could not explain with words where the bathroom is.

What is the role of the hippocampus?

Hippocampus is vital for the ability to transfer short term to long term memory. The hippocampus is just a waiting room between STM and LTM. explicit memories.

What characterizes anterograde amnesia?

Hippocampus: Cannot recall new information. They remember all of their old memories. o Can't transfer STM to LTM, so they can only remember new information for about 30 seconds.

What is the immediate memory span, and what is the "magic" number associated with it?

Immediate memory span- maximum number of items that can be recalled perfectly after one presentation. Most people can recall about 7 items perfectly after one presentation, but anywhere between 5-9 is normal.(Magic Number is 7 +/- 2)

How do retrieval cues relate to spreading activation?

Receiving retrieval cues results in the activation of closely related concepts and memories.

What structures are involved in implicit memory?

Structures: cerebellum and basil ganglia Implicit: Having H.M. go to tennis lessons after the accident, he will improve at tennis. He would walk to the bathroom, knowing where it was.

What is working memory?

allows us to hold information in memory while we manipulate it. mental manipulation example: mental math problems. Short-term memory helps us make plans and decisions as we think of possible outcomes to a question

What is the role of hormones and emotion in memory? (see notes added on Blackboard)

i. hormones released during excited, stressed, or emotional states tend to facilitate encoding of memories ii. however, extreme or prolonged stress disrupts memory

What neurotransmitters play a large role in memory?

iAcetylcholine 1. Neurons that release acetylcholine are especially damaged in Alzheimer's disease. 2. Acetylcholine agonists improve memory, acetylcholine antagonists have a negative impact on memory iGlutamate 1. Involved in long-term potentiation

What is the function of sensory memory?

information from the senses is held in memory just long enough for us to identify it. "what was that I heard/saw?" lasts a second or two. Key words: brief, identification

Is it difficult to create false memories?

no

What is the best way to form lasting memories?

not only memorizing information, but linking it to ourselves

What characterizes retrograde amnesia?

o General trauma o Can't remember past prior to the injury o Gradual recovery, recovering earlier memories before later memories. Usually never recover the action of the injury because its like a computer turning off without saving a file.

Who was H. M.?

o H.M. was a 27 year old man who had his hippocampus removed in order to control severe epilepsy. They had no idea that it would have such a devastating effect. For years, he said he was 27 and the year was 1953. He couldn't remember new people he met after the surgery. o He can form new implicit memories.

What are some possible reasons for why we forget?

• Encoding failure • Storage decay: unused memories fade over time like a path in the woods that doesn't get used. • Retrieval failure: the idea that if we can't remember something in our long term memory, it is because we can't access it in our memories. It is there, but we can't get to it. • Forgetting in STM: decay, displacement (new information coming in kicks out old information because short term memory has a specific capacity. ) • Forgetting in LTM: retrieval failure (the information is in there somewhere, we just have problems accessing it.

What basic processes are involved in memory?

• Encoding: getting info into memory • Storage: holding info in memory • Retrieval: Finding info in memory

For what reasons is forgetting believed to occur as regards information stored in STM? In LTM?

• Forgetting in STM: decay, displacement (new information coming in kicks out old information because short term memory has a specific capacity. ) • Forgetting in LTM: retrieval failure (the information is in there somewhere, we just have problems accessing it.

How is memory constructive?

• Memory is subjective, easily biased, easily influenced, continually revised, influenced by beliefs and expectations. We typically revise our past to fit our current understanding. We add and subtract details. How we construct them depends upon our preexisting beliefs. We have a tendency to notice and remember what fits in with our expectations. Expectations arise from schemas.

What is the self-reference effect? The spacing effect?

• Self-reference effect refers to the tendency to have better memory for information that we have applied to our own experiences. Not only memorizing the information, but linking it to ourselves. (most durable memories) --Spacing effect: Our tendency to better remember information if encoding or studying is distributed over time.

What happened in Loftus' classic traffic accident experiment?

Loftus' traffic accident experiment: The wording of her question changed the memories. She asked "how fast were the cares when they...smashed/hit/contact..." and people's memory changed.

How does maintenance rehearsal differ from elaborative rehearsal?

Maintenance Rehearsal: repetition of what you want to remember over and over again in your head without necessarily thinking about the meaning. Often used to memorize lists. Elaborative Rehearsal: thinking about the meaning of the information you are trying to encode. Meaning (semantics) Deeper processing than maintenance rehearsal. The deeper something is processed, the easier it is to retrieve from memory. linking information you are trying to encode with information that you already know.

Are people more likely to repress or remember traumatic events? (see notes on Blackboard)

People are much more likely to over-remember traumatic experiences rather than forget them

What is infantile amnesia? (see notes on Blackboard)

Recovery of memories from before the age of 3 is especially unlikely because we all tend to suffer from infantile amnesia (lack of explicit memories from the first few years of life). Infantile amnesia is believed to be due to the fact that the hippocampus and frontal lobes are slow to mature.

What is memory?

Retention of information over time

What is believed to be the duration of short-term memory?

STM information only lasts about 18-30 seconds unless its rehearsed or you are using it. Example: forgetting someone's name immediately.

What are the characteristics of STM and LTM?

STM: holds only the small amount of information that we are currently using. Capacity: limited. LTM: Conscious and unconscious memories. Unlimited capacity and permanent duration

What are schemas and how do they influence our memories (schema theory)?

Schemas: abstract mental representation that organize what we think/expect about particular situations. o Mental frameworks that organize information o Schema theory-info molded to fit into preexisting schemas, so schemas affect the accuracy of our memories. These schemas affect what we remember and how we remember it. o Influence what we notice and remember o Office experiment: People were asked to remember things they saw in an office. They remembered seeing paper and computers, but did not remember the checkerboard and teddy bear. They remembered their items consistent with the schema for "office" o Example: we have a schema of taking a college class (we know there are tests, assignments, papers, or other things we have to do in order to get a grade. We expect to get a syllabus. You would expect there to be a professor.)

What are the three stages of memory processing according to the Information Processing Model?

Sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory

What is the serial position effect, including the primacy and recency effects? Which effect persists longer?

Serial Position Effects: how well we remember an item on a list depends upon its serial position on a list. We remember things at the beginning and the end. • Primacy effect: refers to our tendency to better recall items at the beginning of the list. Both will be apparent immediately after reading the list, but the items at the beginning of the list will be remembered longer. • Recency Effect: refers to our tendency to better remember items at the end of the list. The primacy effect tends to outlast the recency effect

What is automatic processing?

Space, time, sequence, frequency (what you did today and how long it took)

What is believed to be the capacity and duration of long-term memory?

Unlimited capacity and permanent duration

Effortful processing?

We must work to remember these things, like studying for school. ???

How do synapses change when memory is formed?

a. Changes in the brain's synapses seem to provide the physical basis of new memories i.New synapses may be formed when a memory is formed ii.Existing synapses may be strengthened when a new memory is formed

What is the misinformation effect?

o Memory easily distorted by questions and suggestions, when objects or events not witnessed, but mentioned later on, are incorporated by our memory. o Eyewitness testimony (exposure to news reports, being questioned by lawyers and police can all alter someone's memory) o Remembering what never happened. (it is not difficult to create false memories in subjects)

What are retrieval cues?

o Stimuli that aid retrieval, clues that remind you of something. o Network of associations: information is stored in the brain as a big web of interconnected associations.