Memory Systems and Short-Term Memory

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Questions and Answers

At what gestational age does habituation to novel stimuli begin in utero?

32 weeks (correct)

28 weeks

34 weeks

30 weeks

Which age group shows a short-term memory span of 6 items?

12 years

6 years

3 years

9 years (correct)

What memory strategy becomes more sophisticated as children grow older?

Narrative storytelling

Repetition and mnemonics (correct)

Visual imagery

Chunking and organization

What is the primary reason why certain memories are more likely to be distorted by misinformation?

They are plausible events Signup and view all the answers

What is the concept that involves forgetting threatening or upsetting information?

Repression Signup and view all the answers

What significant challenge does the repression theory present in psychology?

It confuses repression with other memory loss Signup and view all the answers

Which term describes the distortion of a memory due to misleading information after the event?

Misinformation effect Signup and view all the answers

What increasingly accurate skill helps individuals assess when memory retrieval requires effort?

Meta-memory Signup and view all the answers

What circumstances make eyewitness testimony less reliable?

The witness is of a different race than the individuals involved Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following describes confabulation?

Mixing up an event that happened to someone else with your own experience Signup and view all the answers

What factors contribute to children's suggestibility during interviews?

Children are exposed to other children's memories Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between flashbulb memories and regular memories?

Flashbulb memories create more confidence in their accuracy Signup and view all the answers

What is source amnesia?

Confusing where or how you learned a piece of information Signup and view all the answers

Under what conditions is confabulation most likely to occur?

The event includes many details that are easy to visualize Signup and view all the answers

What is a key characteristic of memory as a reconstructive process?

Memories are often altered by later experiences Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is most likely to lead to false memories?

Being exposed to suggestive questioning techniques Signup and view all the answers

What describes the concept of the Method of Loci?

Associating items with a specific physical location. Signup and view all the answers

What is one expected consequence of using schemas in memory?

Increased likelihood of memory distortions. Signup and view all the answers

What phenomenon describes the experience of knowing something but being unable to retrieve it?

Tip of the tongue phenomenon. Signup and view all the answers

What does state-dependent memory illustrate?

Memory retrieval correlates with the same emotional state during learning. Signup and view all the answers

What did Donald Hebb propose about the engram?

It involves assemblies of neurons that work together. Signup and view all the answers

What is the main feature of long-term potentiation (LTP)?

Enhancement of connections among neurons due to repeated stimulation. Signup and view all the answers

What type of amnesia is characterized by the inability to form new memories?

Anterograde amnesia. Signup and view all the answers

What is a significant aspect of infantile amnesia?

The completion of hippocampal development by age 2. Signup and view all the answers

What does encoding specificity refer to?

Memory retrieval being dependent on the context during learning. Signup and view all the answers

What is a commonly accepted age by which memories start to form?

By age 2. Signup and view all the answers

What is the duration of iconic memory in sensory memory?

1 second Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following describes the process of pattern recognition in memory?

Identifying a stimulus based on existing long-term memory Signup and view all the answers

What is the typical duration of information retention in short-term memory?

5 to 20 seconds Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the gradual loss of information from short-term memory?

Decay Signup and view all the answers

Which effect refers to better recall of items at the beginning of a list?

Primacy effect Signup and view all the answers

What describes the process of elaborative rehearsal?

Linking information in a meaningful way Signup and view all the answers

Which statement about long-term memory is accurate?

It has virtually unlimited capacity. Signup and view all the answers

What mnemonic technique involves associating words with numbers?

Pegword Signup and view all the answers

In the context of short-term memory, what does interference refer to?

Memories conflicting with one another Signup and view all the answers

What are the key processes involved in memory?

Encoding, storage, and retrieval Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Memory Systems

Sensory memory is a system that holds extremely accurate sensory images momentarily
Sensory information is held in the sensory register and is specific to the sense (e.g., iconic for vision, echoic for hearing)
Information not quickly transferred to short-term memory is lost permanently
Iconic memory - Visual information ; lasts 1 second
Echoic memory - Auditory information ; lasts 5-10 seconds

Short-Term Memory

Limited capacity memory system capable of holding a limited amount (7+/-2 chunks) of information for a short duration
Crucial for temporary storage of information retrieved from long-term memory
Duration is 5-20 seconds
Subject to loss through decay (gradual fading of information) and interference (other memories disrupting current ones)
Retroactive interference (new memories hinder retrieval of old ones)
Proactive interference (old memories hinder retrieval of new ones)

Short-Term/Working Memory

Chunking—combining individual items into larger units
Rehearsal (maintenance) is repeating information to retain it
Rehearsal (elaborative)—making information meaningful

Long-Term Memory

Vast capacity and virtually unlimited
Long duration (lasting decades or a lifetime)
Primacy effect—tendency to remember items at the beginning of a list more readily
Recency effect—tendency to remember items at the end of a list better
Von Restorff effect—distinctive items are more easily recalled
Depth of processing—more meaningful information is better remembered (visual, phonological, semantic processing)

Long-Term Memory Processes

Encoding — processing and transforming information so it can be stored.
Storage—maintaining information over time.
Retrieval—recovering information from storage.

Mnemonics

Memory aids (strategies)
PEGWORD, METHOD OF LOCI, and KEYWORD are mnemonics for remembering lists.

Long-Term Memory: Schemas

Organized mental models used to interpret new situations
Expectations influence memory
Schemas can distort memory

Measuring Memory

Recall: generating information previously remembered.
Recognition: selecting information from a set of options.
Relearning: how quickly information is relearned.

Savings Curve

Shows how much more quickly information is reacquired when it has been learned previously.

Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) Phenomenon

Feeling that information is known but cannot be retrieved

Encoding Specificity

Memory is enhanced when retrieval conditions match encoding conditions (e.g., context, state)

Biology of Memory

Karl Lashley's research on engrams (memory traces) suggested location is not crucial.
Donald Hebb proposed that memory is stored in assemblies of interconnected neurons; neurons that fire together, wire together.
Long-term potentiation (LTP) strengthens connections between neurons through repeated stimulation, which is important for forming and strengthening memories.
Glutamate plays a role in LTP.
Specific brain areas are involved in different aspects of memory (e.g., hippocampus, amygdala, cortex)

Types of Amnesia

Retrograde amnesia: Loss of past memories.
Anterograde amnesia: Inability to form new memories.
Infantile amnesia: Lack of memories from early childhood

Memory Development

Memory span increases with age due to biological maturation, improved conceptual understanding, and enhanced metamemory skills
Children use more memory strategies as they grow (repetition, mnemonics)

The Misinformation Effect

Distortion of memory due to misleading post-event information.

Implanted Memories

False memories can be implanted through suggestive questioning.
More easily implanted for plausible events and distant past events

The Recovered Memory Controversy

The accuracy of recovered memories (e.g., child sexual abuse) may be questionable due to suggestive techniques.

How Accurate is Memory

Eyewitness testimony is not always reliable due to distortions (e.g., leading questions, cross-race identification)
Children's testimony is also susceptible to distortions, especially at younger ages and with suggestive questioning.

The Manufacture of Memory

Memory is reconstructive, not a perfect recording.

Source Monitoring

Difficulty distinguishing the origins of events or memories.

Confabulation

Confusion of events that happened to someone else with personal experiences and/or a belief that a particular event was experienced when it did not occur.

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Description

Explore the different types of memory systems in this quiz, focusing on sensory memory and short-term memory. You'll learn about iconic and echoic memory, and how information is processed and lost over time. Test your understanding of concepts like chunking and interference effects.