Psych ch 8

Implicit Emotional Conditioning

• Emotional responses can be classically conditioned and are not always consciously recalled
• Smell can cause emotional responses, possibly due to implicit memories
• Songs can also evoke specific emotions, which could be due to implicit memories

Autobiographical Memories

• Episodic memories are another term for autobiographical memories.
• It is difficult for most people to remember details from years past, such as what they wore or ate on a specific day.
• Marilu Henner has a superior autobiographical memory, a condition known as hyperthymesia
• Hyperthymesia is rare, affecting fewer than 20 individuals, and only a few have been studied.
• Hyperthymesia often appears in adolescence, but two children in the US reportedly have memories from before their tenth birthdays.

Retrieval

• Retrieval is the process of bringing stored information back to conscious awareness.
• The hippocampus is important for processing explicit memories
• Damage to the hippocampus can impair the ability to form new semantic memories.
• Even with hippocampal damage, implicit memories can still be created.

Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex

• The cerebellum plays a role in implicit memories, such as procedural memory, motor learning, and classical conditioning.
• Damage to the cerebellum can impair the learning of conditioned responses.
• Brain scans suggest the prefrontal cortex is involved in memory processing.
• The left inferior prefrontal cortex is more active in semantic tasks than perceptual tasks.
• Encoding is associated with left frontal activity while retrieval is associated with right frontal activity.

Neurotransmitters

• Neurotransmitters, including epinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, and acetylcholine, are involved in memory.
• The specific role of each neurotransmitter is still being researched.

Suggestibility

• Suggestibility is the effect of misinformation from external sources that can lead to the creation of false memories
• Eyewitness testimonies can be unreliable as they are influenced by suggestions.

Eyewitness Misidentification

• Faulty eyewitness identification can lead to wrongful convictions.
• The Innocence Project found that eyewitness misidentification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions.

Mnemonic Devices

• Mnemonic devices are strategies for improving memory.
• Examples include acronyms, such as HOMES for remembering the Great Lakes, and vivid mental imagery.
• The effectiveness of a mnemonic device depends on the strategy used and its memorability.

Memory Improvement Strategies

• Expressive writing, especially about traumatic experiences, can boost short-term memory.
• Studying over time and spacing out study sessions allows for memory consolidation.
• Cramming can hinder memory consolidation and impede access to other learned information.
• Review material regularly, organize and study notes, and take practice quizzes.
• Link new information to existing knowledge.
• Use index cards for study, separating cards into those correctly and incorrectly answered to focus on areas needing further review.
• Study in quiet environments with minimal distractions.
• Aerobic exercise promotes neurogenesis in the hippocampus, which is beneficial for memory.
• Getting enough sleep allows the brain to consolidate information into long-term memory.

Short-Term Memory Retention

• Short-term memory (STM) is limited in capacity and duration.
• Peterson and Peterson (1959) studied STM using trigrams, finding 80% recall after 3 seconds, but only 10% after 18 seconds, suggesting decay within 18 seconds.
• Memory trace decay occurs as the memory trace becomes less activated over time.
• Keppel and Underwood (1962) found that proactive interference also affects STM retention.
• Proactive interference occurs when previously learned information interferes with learning new information.
• STM is affected by both memory trace decay and proactive interference.

Long-Term Memory

• Long-term memory (LTM) has an unlimited storage capacity.
• LTM is believed to be organized in semantic networks, which are interconnected concepts.
• Concepts are categories or groupings of linguistic information, images, ideas, or memories.
• LTM is often studied using observable behaviors, such as skilled actions.
• Implicit procedural memory stores information about how to perform skills, like riding a bike or driving a car.
• Implicit priming is another type of implicit memory where prior exposure to a stimulus affects the response to a later stimulus.

Types of Long-Term Memory

• Explicit memory includes episodic and semantic memory.
• Implicit memory includes procedural memory and things learned through conditioning.
• Semantic networks are believed to be arranged hierarchically.

Retrieval of Information

• There are three ways to retrieve information from LTM: recall, recognition, and relearning.
• Recall involves accessing information without cues.
• Recognition involves identifying previously learned information.
• Relearning involves re-acquiring information that was previously learned.

Brain Functions Involved in Memory

• Memories are stored in various parts of the brain, not just one area.
• Key brain regions involved in memory include the hippocampus, amygdala, and cerebellum.

Storage Decay

• Storage decay occurs when unused information fades over time.
• Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve shows that an average person loses 50% of memorized information after 20 minutes and 70% after 24 hours.

Absentmindedness

• Absentmindedness is a memory error caused by lapses in attention.
• It is often characterized by forgetting something due to a break in focus.
• Examples include forgetting where you put your keys or forgetting what you were about to do when you enter a room.

Memory

• Memory is the ability to store and retrieve information.
• Memory is an information processing system.
• Memory is similar to how a computer processes data.

Encoding

• Encoding refers to how we get information into our brains.
• Encoding can be automatic or effortful.
• Types of encoding include visual (mental), acoustic, and semantic.
• Visual encoding is based on image processing of the information.
• Acoustic encoding focuses on sounds.
• Semantic encoding is based on meanings of words.

Retrieval

• Retrieval refers to the ability to access stored information.
• Retrieval can be affected by various factors.
• The ability to recall information can be influenced by the situation or individual factors.

Brain & Memory

• Parts of the brain are involved with memory.

Memory Problems

• When areas of the brain are affected, one can suffer memory loss.
• Clive Wearing suffered from memory loss after a brain infection affecting his memory areas.
• Clive Wearing was an English musician with herpes encephalitis.

Enhancing Memory

• Techniques can be used to enhance memory.

Memory

• Memory is an information processing system similar to a computer
• To remember, information must be attended to, encoded, stored, and retrieved
• Encoding refers to the process of getting information into the brain

Types of Encoding

• Visual (Mental): Encoding information by creating mental images
• Acoustic: Encoding information by focusing on sounds
• Semantic: Encoding information by understanding its meaning through words

Retrieval

• Retrieval refers to accessing stored information
• Retrieval success can be influenced by factors like encoding strategies and emotional state

Brain Areas Involved in Memory

• Different brain areas are responsible for various aspects of memory

Memory Problems

• Damage to specific brain regions can lead to memory loss
• Clive Wearing, a musician, suffered severe memory impairment due to herpes encephalitis affecting memory-related brain areas

Ways to Enhance Memory

• The presentation mentions using music or pleasant associations as potential memory enhancement strategies
• The presentation concludes with a thank you, suggesting a focus on practical memory techniques might be included in a later section.