Cog Psych Chapter 7 Definitions

These amnesic patients

T• Normal procedural learning w Mirror reading w Mirror tracing w Note Clive Wearing's piano playing Damage to the hippocampus and related brain structures impairs the ability to form new long-term explicit memories. Therefore, Working memory and implicit memory continue to function after hippocampal damage.

Context reinstatement

A procedure in which a person is led to the same mental and emotional state he or she was in during a previous event; context reinstatement can often promote accurate recollection of that event. (page 244)

Korsakoff's syndrome

A clinical syndrome characterized primarily by dense anterograde amnesia. Korsakoff's syndrome is caused by damage to specific brain regions, and it is often precipitated by a form of malnutrition that is common among long-term alcoholics. (page 269)

Amnesia

A disruption of memory, often due to brain damage. (page 267)

remember/know distinction

A distinction between two experiences a person can have in recalling a past event. If you 'remember' having encountered a stimulus before, then you usually can offer information about that encounter, including when, where, and how it occurred. If you merely 'know' that you encountered a stimulus before, then you're likely to have a sense of familiarity with the stimulus but may have no idea when or where it was last encountered. (page 252)

Direct memory testing

A form of memory testing in which people are asked explicitly to remember some previous event. Recall and standard recognition testing are both forms of direct memory testing. Often contrasted with indirect memory testing. (page 255)

Indirect memory testing

A form of memory testing in which research participants are not told that their memories are being tested. Instead, they're tested in such a way that previous experiences can influence current behavior. Examples of indirect tests include word-stem completion, the lexical-decision task, and tachistoscopic recognition. Often contrasted with direct memory testing. (page 256)

Source memory

A form of memory that enables a person to recollect the episode in which learning took place or the time and place in which a particular stimulus was encountered. (page 251) you remember the source event/ have episodic memory

Activation level

A measure of the current status for a node or detector. Activation level is increased if the node or detector receives the appropriate input from its associated nodes or detectors; activation level will be high if input has been received frequently or recently. (page 246)

Source confusion

A memory error in which one misremembers where a bit of information was learned or where a particular stimulus was last encountered. (page 259) • 29% of subjects picked people out of the lineup that they had only seen in the mug shots, and not in the actual event . • Similar confusions have happened outside the laboratory. —> Processing Fluency

Explicit memory

A memory revealed by direct memory testing and usually accompanied by the conviction that one is, in fact, remembering -- that is, drawing on some sort of knowledge (perhaps knowledge about a specific prior episode, or perhaps more general knowledge). Often contrasted with implicit memory. (page 255). When you think of memory, you are usually thinking of explicit memory When you think of memory, you are usually thinking of explicit memory two different types of explicit memory. SEMANTIC AND EPISODIC

Implicit memory

A memory revealed by indirect memory testing and usually manifested as a priming effect in which current performance is guided or facilitated by previous experiences. Implicit memories are often accompanied by no conscious realization that one is, in fact, being influenced by specific past experiences. Often contrasted with explicit memory. (page 255) implicit memory is demonstrated by indirect tests. Subjects are not asked to explicitly remember what they have experiences previously. lexical-decision task, word-completion, familiarity

Patient HM

A patient whose hippocampus and temporal lobes were removed surgically to control epilepsy caused severe anterograde amnesia (can't form new memories) a little of retrograde as well. working memory unaffected! he liked doing puzzles

Context-dependent learning

A pattern of data in which materials learned in one setting are well remembered when the person returns to that setting, but are less well remembered in other settings. (page 242)

Semantic priming

A process in which activation of an idea in memory causes activation to spread to other ideas related to the first in meaning. (page 249) bread node and butter node association retrieval —two words in the pair are related to meaning therefore semantic

Spreading activation

A process through which activation travels from one node to another, via associative links. As each node becomes activated, it serves as a source for further activation, spreading onward through the network. (page 247)

Word-stem completion

A task in which research participants are given the beginning of a word (e.g., 'TOM') and must provide a word that starts with the letters provided. In some versions of the task, only one solution is possible, so performance is measured by counting the number of words completed. In other versions of the task, several solutions are possible for each stem, and performance is assessed by determining which responses fulfill some other criterion. (page 255)

Lexical-decision task

A test in which participants are shown strings of letters and must indicate, as quickly as possible, whether or not each string of letters is a word in English. It is proposed that people perform this task by 'looking up' these strings in their 'mental dictionary.' (page 248) implicit memory tests two versions... participants were asked if letter sequence was an actual word and association between two words and if priming strengthened those associations. Nurse Node and Doctor Node. --> helps describe semantic priming.

Subthreshold activation

Activation levels below response threshold. Subthreshold activation, by definition, will not trigger a response; nonetheless, this activation is important because it can accumulate, leading eventually to an activation level that exceeds the response threshold. (page 246)

Illusion of truth

An effect of implicit memory in which claims that are familiar end up seeming more plausible. (page 258) shows how misinterpreting an implicit memory subjects see a series of statements. They rate each according to the likelihood that it is true or false. • Statements seen before are rated as more likely to be true. w It doesn't seem to matter that they were told not to believe these statements there is a delay so participants lose source memory but not familiarity. seen also in a similar experiment where male statements are false and women statement are true. • Frank Foster says that house mice can run an average of four miles per hour. • Gail Logan says that crocodiles sleep with their eyes open. • If you have explicit recall of seeing that Frank Foster said ..., then you will report it as false. • If you do not explicitly recall seeing the statement, but it seems familiar, you may conclude that it is true. • Statements seen earlier were more likely to be rated true than statements not seen before question of interest is how sentence credibility is influenced by sentence familiarity.

Anterograde amnesia

An inability to remember experiences that occurred after the event that triggered the memory disruption. Often contrasted with retrograde amnesia. (page 267)

Retrograde amnesia

An inability to remember experiences that occurred before the event that triggered the memory disruption. Often contrasted with anterograde amnesia. (page 267)

Nodes

An individual unit within an associative network. In a scheme using local representations, nodes represent single ideas or concepts. In a scheme using distributed representations, ideas or concepts are represented by a pattern of activation across a wide number of nodes; the same nodes may also participate in other patterns and therefore in other representations. (page 246) nodes are the lightbulbs that turn on due to electricity.

Associations (or associative links)

Functional connections that are hypothesized to link nodes within a mental network or detectors within a detector network; these associations are often hypothesized as the 'carriers' of activation from one node or detector to the next. (page 246) associations are the wires that help send the information (electrical signal) to turn on the nodes.

Familiarity

In some circumstances, the subjective feeling that one has encountered a stimulus before; in other circumstances, the objective fact that one has indeed encountered a stimulus before and is now in some way influenced by that encounter, whether or not one recalls that encounter or feels that the stimulus is familiar. (page 251) a face as familiar, but have no source memory as to when you met this person before Activity in rhinal cortex during encoding leads to familiarity

hippocampus

Neurons in this area are particularly sensitive to lack of oxygen

Godden and Baddeley (1975)

Researches using 18 divers, 36 unrelated words. 4 conditions to learn and recall: DD, DW, WW, WD. Easier to recall in same place. helps explain context dependent learning

Summation

The addition of two or more separate inputs so that the effect of the combined inputs is greater than the effect of any one input by itself. (page 246)

Response threshold

The quantity of information or activation needed to trigger a response in a node or detector, or, in a neuroscience context, a response from a neuron. (page 246)

Processing pathway

The sequence of nodes and connections between nodes through which activation flows when recognizing or thinking about a stimulus or idea. The speed or ease of activation flow is referred to as processing fluency. (page 261)

Processing fluency

The speed or ease of processing involved in recognizing or thinking about a stimulus or idea; usually understood as a reflection of the speed or ease with which activation moves through a processing pathway. (page 262) Reisberg proposes that we explain these types of implicit memory in terms of processing fluency. • When we perceive a stimulus once, something changes in the perceptual system so that we can perceive it more easily next time. • According to Reisberg, we interpret this processing fluency as familiarity.

Attribution

The step of explaining a feeling or event, usually by identifying the factors (or an earlier event) that are the cause of the current feeling or event. This term is often elaborated with the more specific term 'causal attribution.' (page 251)

Recognition

The task of memory retrieval in which the items to be remembered are presented and the person must decide whether or not the item was encountered in some earlier circumstance. For example, one might be asked, 'Have you ever seen this person before?' or 'Is this the poster you saw in the office yesterday?' Often contrasted with recall. (page 251) UTILIZES MEMORY TO GAIN FAMILIARITY NOT NECESSARILY PULLED OF OF MEMORY. DRAW INFORMATION FROM WHAT YOU REMEMBER

Recall

The task of memory retrieval in which the rememberer must come up with the desired materials, sometimes in response to a cue that names the context in which these materials were earlier encountered (e.g., 'Name the pictures you saw earlier'), and sometimes in response to a cue that broadly identifies the sought-after information (e.g., 'Name a fruit' or 'What is the capital of California?'). Often contrasted with recognition. (page 251) RETRIEVED COMPLETELY OUT OF MEMORY

Encoding specificity

The tendency, when memorizing, to place in memory both the materials to be learned and some amount of their context. As a result, these materials will be recognized as familiar, later on, only if the materials appear again in a similar context. (page 244) participants are more likely to recall the target word "lifted" if given the cue of "something heavy" in a scenario... hints are important and help with the general context

picture priming

View series of pictures in lab, naming each. • After delay, return to lab. • See series of pictures, naming each. • Faster to name pictures seen previously. • Delay can be as long as 48 weeks.

Famous Names Test Jacoby 1989

When identifying famous names, subjects often choose unknown names that they saw 24 hours previously • These names sometimes seem familiar, but without any source memory as to where they were seen. • From this familiarity, subjects might infer that they are famous The Famous Names test is an implicit memory test. It shows the effect of exposure to a stimulus, without asking for explicit memory of the episode in which the stimulus was seen.

Smith, Glenberg, and Bjork (1978)

a study that explained if learning and testing took place in different rooms —- varying in appearance, sounds, and scents. Those in different rooms were asked to explain the original room's characteristics. Both versions performed similarly. Shows that there doesn't need to be physical context but rather a psychological context to be tested. helps explain context reinstatement!

Ischemia

an inadequate blood supply to an organ or part of the body, especially the brain and heart muscles.

Semantic Memory

general knowledge about the world § Alphabet, the world is round, England is in Europe, etc.

Episodic Memory

knowledge of specific episodes in your life § What you did during spring break, etc.

anoxia

lack of oxygen in blood

episodic memory

the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place

skill learning

the process of learning to perform a challenging task simply by repeating it over and over Performance improves with practice. ex. mirror reading, mirror tracing (drawing a star), bike riding Memories for skills such as mirror reading and bicycle riding are called procedural memories. They are one type of implicit memory. • Explicit memories are sometimes called declarative memories. • The distinction between declarative (explicit) memories and procedural (implicit) memories can be described as the difference between "knowing that" and "knowing how".

Clive Wearing Case Study

• British musician • Viral encephalitis w Damaged hippocampus bilaterally w Also frontal lobe damage • Often feels like he has just become conscious. no working memory ability, had anterograde amnesia (no new memories), and only really remembered his wife. has little ability to acquire new semantic memories. • Retains his musical ability.

Bechara et al (1995).

• One patient has damage to amygdala. iNHIBITS EMO RESPONSE • Another patient has damage to hippocampus .iNHIBITS MEMORY AND LEARNING • Both shown series of lights of different colors. w Blue light followed by loud horn. • When later tested with blue light, amygdala patient shows no fear response, but can report which color was followed by the horn. • The hippocampus patient showed a fear response (measured with skin conductance), but could not answer which color was followed by the horn.

Whittlesea, Jacoby, & Girard (1990)

• View series of words. • Test word is presented. Judge whether it was seen previously. • Test words obscured by moving dots. Some easier to read than others. • Subjects are more likely to report words as familiar when it is easier to read. • Confusing processing fluency with familiarity. • In another experiment, subjects judge how clearly a word is presented. • Words seen previously are rated as being clearer to see than words not seen before. • Familiarity can be confused for processing fluency, just as processing fluency can be confused for familiarity. feeling of familiarity comes from processing fluency