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Questions and Answers
What is the primary distinction between short-term memory and working memory?
What cognitive component does Baddeley's working memory model identify as responsible for controlling attention and coordinating information from different sources?
Which type of memory is primarily involved in recalling specific facts and events?
What effect describes the phenomenon where people tend to remember the first and last items in a list better than those in the middle?
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In terms of memory retrieval, what do retrieval cues assist with?
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Which type of amnesia restricts the ability to form new memories after a particular event?
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What is NOT a factor that can enhance memory encoding?
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What mechanism is believed to strengthen synaptic connections and is a fundamental process in learning?
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Which component of Baddeley's working memory model is responsible for processing visual and spatial information?
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What is the primary function of the central executive in working memory?
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Which type of memory is characterized by the ability to recall learned skills and tasks?
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What is the difference between retrograde amnesia and anterograde amnesia?
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Which type of memory is primarily associated with unconscious learning and is less susceptible to forgetting?
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Which method did Ebbinghaus use to study memory retention?
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What does the levels of processing theory suggest about memory encoding?
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Which factor is most likely to enhance memory retrieval according to the encoding specificity principle?
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Study Notes
Memory
- Memory is the ability to store and retrieve information.
- Sensory Memory is the brief storage of sensory information (visual, auditory, etc.) lasting milliseconds.
- Short-Term Memory is a limited-capacity store that holds information for a short amount of time (seconds to minutes). Typically holds 5-9 items.
- Long-Term Memory is a relatively permanent storage system for information. Duration is indefinite.
- Sperling's partial report method demonstrated that sensory memory holds a lot of information, but it fades quickly.
- Atkinson-Shiffrin Model proposed that information flows through three stages: sensory, short-term, and long-term.
- Working Memory differs from short-term memory by focusing on the active manipulation and processing of information.
Working Memory
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Baddeley's Working Memory Model proposes three components:
- Phonological Loop: stores and manipulates verbal information.
- Visuospatial Sketchpad: stores and manipulates visual and spatial information.
- Central Executive: controls attention, manages the other components, and coordinates the flow of information.
- Phonological Similarity Effect: memory is worse when items sound similar.
- Word Length Effect: Memory for lists of shorter words is better than for longer words.
- Articulatory Suppression: Repeating a sound disrupts rehearsal and reduces performance.
- Central Executive is key for tasks requiring planning, decision-making, and multitasking.
- Brain regions involved in Working Memory: Prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, and hippocampus.
Long-Term Memory
- Brain stimulation and memory: Penfield's work on brain stimulation showed that memories can be triggered by electrical stimulation of the brain.
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Types of Long-Term Memory:
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Explicit Memory: Consciously recalled memories (e.g. remembering facts, events).
- Semantic Memory: General knowledge and facts.
- Episodic Memory: Personally experienced events.
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Implicit Memory: Unconsciously recalled memories (e.g. skills, habits).
- Procedural Memory: Knowing how to do things (e.g. riding a bike).
- Priming: Exposure to a stimulus influences subsequent responses.
- Conditioning: Learning associations between stimuli.
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Explicit Memory: Consciously recalled memories (e.g. remembering facts, events).
- Semanticization of LTM: As memories age, they lose episodic detail and become more like semantic knowledge.
- Propaganda Effect: Increased likelihood of believing something you've been exposed to multiple times, even if it's false.
- Neural structures for Explicit Memory: Hippocampus, temporal lobe, and frontal lobes.
- Neural structures for Implicit Memory: Basal ganglia, cerebellum, and amygdala.
- Retrograde Amnesia: Loss of memory for events prior to the injury or illness.
- Anterograde Amnesia: Inability to form new memories after the injury or illness.
- Patient H.M., Clive Wearing, and E.P. Case studies of amnesia that revealed key insights about memory processes.
- Functions spared in Amnesia: Procedural memory, working memory, some implicit memory.
Memory Processes
- Encoding: Transforming information into a usable form for storage.
- Consolidation: Stabilizing the memory over time.
- Retrieval: Accessing stored information.
- Levels of Processing Theory: Memory is a function of how deeply information is processed.
- Encoding Specificity Principle: Retrieval cues should be present at encoding for memory to be successful.
- Ebbinghaus's Study: Forgetting occurs rapidly at first, then levels off over time.
- Serial Position Effect: Better memory for items at the beginning (primacy) and end (recency) of a list.
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Ways to enhance Encoding:
- Rehearsal: Repeating information.
- Generation: Creating information oneself.
- Elaboration: Connecting new information to existing knowledge.
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Factors impacting Encoding:
- Attention: Paying attention to information is crucial for encoding.
- Motivation: Effort and interest can enhance encoding.
- Emotion: Emotional arousal can improve or impair encoding.
- Remember/Know procedure: Participants asked whether they "remember" or "know" a word.
- Recall: Retrieving information without any cues.
- Recognition: Retrieving information given cues.
- Testing Effect: Testing yourself improves learning and retention.
- Synaptic Consolidation: Changes in synaptic strength occur within minutes to hours after learning.
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Systems Consolidation: Changes in brain networks occur over days, weeks, or years after learning.
- Standard Model: Hippocampus is crucial for initial consolidation, but its role diminishes over time.
- Multiple Trace Model: Hippocampus remains involved in retrieving memories, even those long ago.
- Hebbian Learning: Cells that fire together, wire together.
- Long-Term Potentiation: A long-lasting increase in synaptic strength following high-frequency stimulation.
- Major neurotransmitters and receptors involved in learning and memory: Glutamate, acetylcholine, dopamine.
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Retrieval Cues: Any stimulus that helps access a memory.
- Context-dependent memory: Memory better when retrieval happens in the same environment as encoding.
- State-dependent memory: Mood & physiological state at encoding influence retrieval.
Memory
- Memory is the ability to store and later retrieve information.
- Sensory memory holds information for a brief period of time (milliseconds) with a large capacity.
- Short-term memory holds information for a short period (seconds) with a limited capacity (7 +/- 2 items).
- Long-term memory has a large capacity and stores information for long durations (minutes to years).
- Sperling’s partial report method demonstrated the vast capacity of sensory memory by having participants report a row of letters from a brief flash.
- Atkinson-Shiffrin Model explains that information moves from sensory memory to short-term memory through attention, and from short-term memory to long-term memory through rehearsal or encoding.
- Working memory is a more active system than short-term memory, it manipulates and processes information, rather than simply holding it, allowing for complex cognitive tasks.
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Baddeley's Working Memory Model encompasses 3 components:
- Phonological Loop: processes verbal information, evidenced by the phonological similarity effect (similar-sounding words are harder to remember) and word length effect (shorter words are easier to remember).
- Visuospatial Sketchpad: processes visual and spatial information.
- Central Executive: coordinates the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad, manages attention and retrieval strategies, and is the most important part of working memory.
- Episodic Buffer: integrates information from the other components and long-term memory, creating a unified experience.
Long-Term Memory
- Long term memory holds information for extended periods and has a seemingly unlimited capacity.
- Penfield’s work showed electrical stimulation in the brain could evoke memories, suggesting a neurological basis for memory.
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Explicit Memory requires conscious effort and includes two subtypes:
- Semantic Memory: general knowledge about facts and concepts.
- Episodic Memory: memories of personal experiences.
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Implicit Memory does not require conscious effort and includes:
- Procedural Memory: memories for performing actions, like riding a bike.
- Priming: enhanced processing of a stimulus due to prior exposure.
- Conditioning: learning through associations between stimuli and responses.
- Semanticization of Long-term Memory (LTM): the episodic details of a memory fade and only semantic details remain, making an event seem like general knowledge over time.
- Propaganda Effect: repeated exposure increases belief in a statement, regardless of its truthfulness.
- Explicit Memory relies on the hippocampus and other medial temporal lobe structures.
- Implicit Memory relies on different brain structures, including other brain regions like the basal ganglia for procedural memory.
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Tests of Implicit and Explicit Memory:
- Explicit memory: recall and recognition tasks.
- Implicit memory: word stem completion tasks, and perceptual identification tasks.
- Retrograde amnesia: inability to remember events that occurred before the injury or event.
- Anterograde amnesia: inability to form new memories after the injury or event.
- Patient H.M., Clive Wearing, and EP: all had severe amnesia due to brain damage, illustrating distinct roles of brain structures in memory.
- Functions spared in amnesia: procedural skills, implicit memory, and semantic memory may be preserved.
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Memory processes include:
- Encoding: converting information into a form that can be stored in memory.
- Consolidation: solidifying memory into a lasting state.
- Retrieval: accessing stored information.
- Levels of Processing Theory states that deeper processing of information at encoding leads to better memory.
- Encoding Specificity Principle describes how retrieval cues that are similar to the encoded information are more effective for retrieval.
- Ebbinghaus’s study demonstrated the forgetting curve, showing that memory decays over time but the rate of forgetting slows down.
- Serial Position Effect: better memory for items at the beginning (primacy effect) and end (recency effect) of a list, likely due to rehearsal.
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Strategies to enhance encoding:
- Rehearsal: repeating information to keep it in short-term memory.
- Generation: creating new information to enhance encoding.
- Organization: structuring information into meaningful categories.
- Elaboration: connecting new information to existing knowledge.
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Factors affecting encoding and retrieval:
- Attention: focus on the information to be remembered.
- Motivation: interest and relevance to the learner.
- Sleep: adequate sleep improves memory consolidation.
- Stress: high levels of stress can impair memory.
- Remember/Know procedure: participants are asked to say if they remember learning specific items or just know that their memory is based on something. This provides insight into conscious recollection vs. familiarity-based retrieval.
- Recall involves retrieving information without any cues. Recognition involves identifying previously learned information from a set of options.
- Testing Effect shows that retrieval practice (testing yourself) improves long-term memory.
- Synaptic Consolidation involves strengthening synaptic connections between neurons involved in a memory, a process that takes place over hours.
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Systems Consolidation involves transferring memories from the hippocampus to other brain regions for long-term storage.
- Standard Model: hippocampus is crucial for initial memory formation and gradually transfers memories to other areas.
- Multiple Trace Model: hippocampus remains involved in retrieving even older memories.
- Hebbian Learning: neurons that fire together wire together, strengthening connections between neurons associated with a memory.
- Long-Term Potentiation (LTP): a persistent strengthening of synapses that contributes to learning and memory.
- Key neurotransmitters involved in learning and memory: Glutamate, Acetylcholine, Dopamine.
- Retrieval cues: stimuli that trigger the retrieval of a memory.
- Mood and state dependency: memories are more easily retrieved when the internal state (mood or physiological state) matches the state during encoding.
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Description
Explore the fascinating concept of memory in this quiz covering sensory, short-term, and long-term memory. Delve into the Atkinson-Shiffrin model and Baddeley's working memory theory. Test your understanding of these crucial psychological principles.
