Memory Class Chapter 9 PDF

Class 17 Scarlett Horner, MA PSYCH 3610: Memory Fall 2024 Thurs 11/7  Forgetting Incidental Forgetting – Memory failures that occur without intention to forget Motivated Forgetting – Includes intentional forgetting and unconscious forgetting triggered by...

Class 17 Scarlett Horner, MA PSYCH 3610: Memory Fall 2024 Thurs 11/7  Forgetting Incidental Forgetting – Memory failures that occur without intention to forget Motivated Forgetting – Includes intentional forgetting and unconscious forgetting triggered by motivations We forget things more with time Due to things like decay, interference, and contextual shifts  Forgetting Curve Forgetting Curve – Logarithmic decline in memory over time – Sometimes called Retention Function Found in well learned and poorly learned information Found in recall more than recognition Permastore – Information kept after a long time  Accessibility vs. Availability Forgetting failures are often measured by failure to recall But recognition is easier than recall! Accessibility/Availability Distinction – Accessibility – Ease of which a memory can be retrieved – Availability – Is a memory stored? Both recognition and recall can be inaccessible, but still available – Example: Multiple Choice Exams! Problem: We can’t measure availability of memories! – Remember Unit 1: We can’t quantify memory storage  New Memories Are Vulnerable Jost’s Law – If two memories are equally strong at a given time, the older one will be more durable and forgotten less rapidly – Bear in mind the forgetting curve New memories are vulnerable to forgetting as they are not well consolidated Synaptic Consolidation takes time System Consolidation – Remember: Consolidated Episodic Memories do not need the hippocampus as much!  Reactivated Memories Reactivated Memories can also be disrupted and need to be restabilized Kroes et al. (2013) – Reactivated memories are vulnerable to forgetting Reconsolidation – How consolidated memory restabilizes again after reactivation  Retesting Reminder: Items that are retested more often are forgotten less Caveat: We must retest on the correct information We may be retrieving a memory of a memory  Passage of Time Passage of Time often causes forgetting – But it’s nuanced, as we discussed Trace Decay – Idea that memories get weaker over time Possibly that the structures of a memory decay – Evidence of biological memory degradation in animals Could be caused by neurogenesis, especially in the hippocampus – Example: Infantile Amnesia  Trace Decay is Controversial Must prove forgetting grows over time Would need to control for other variables Models will focus on interference It’s possible that time is correlated with another factor that causes forgetting – Shifts in Context – Interference  Contextual Fluctuation Contextual Fluctuation – Changes in incidental context over time Distant memories more deviated from current context than newer memories People who daydream after memorizing words perform worse after study – Especially worse for those who daydream about being far away (more different context)  Interference Interference – Similar memory traces impairing retrieval – Many memories are similar, meaning interference is common Competitors – Traces that compete for a cue – Like how many cues active a target, many targets activate a cue Interference increases with more competitors  Retroactive Interference Retroactive Interference – Interference where newer memories impede retrieval for older information – Example: Retrieving a French word instead of a Spanish word because you learned French second. The more you learn new items, the more they interfere with older ones  Retroactive Interference Baddeley & Hitch – Evidence of Retroactive Interference in Rugby Players who played more games had worse remember for newer ones due to retroactive interference  Proactive Interference Proactive Interference - Interference where older memories impede retrieval for newer information – Example: Retrieving a Spanish word instead of a French word because you learned Spanish first Underwood (1957) – People who study 2 lists of nonsense words perform worse on second list than people who only study one  Part-Set Cuing Impairment Part-Set Cuing Impairment – When presenting part of a set of items impairs your ability to recall the rest of the set Cues Increase Competition! Bauml & Aslan (2004) – Cued items in part set are not stronger! – Forgetting is focused on retrieval Collaborative Inhibition – Group remembers less material than they would as separate people – Very robust – May be due to the same mechanisms as part-set cuing impairment  Retrieval Induced Forgetting Retrieval Induced Forgetting (RIF) – Retrieval of some target items impairs later ability to recall other items related to those targets Retrieval Practice Paradigm – Procedure to study RIF Practicing another word can cause forgetting  RIF and Studying Studying half of items improves recall half of items studied HOWEVER… It harms memory for unstudied items! Note: This is only the case with recall, not recognition – This effect is seen in essays and fill in the blank questions, but not multiple-choice questions  RIF Influences Memories Conroy & Salmon (2006) – Children’s memories of unretrieved events are worse when asked to retrieve parts of memory Physically painful events can be forgotten using retrieval of positive aspects of memory Socially Shared RIF – As we reminisce, we forget aspects we do not reminisce over Mnemonic Convergence – Discussion of memories aligns them – Can have political consequences  Causes of Interference Associative Blocking – A cue fails to elicit a target trace because it elicits a stronger competitor Associative Unlearning – The associative bond between a stimulus and memory trace is weakened over time – Two Factor Model of Retroactive Interference – Blocking and Unlearning are both required for Retroactive Interference Inhibition of Memory – Inhibition of interfering responses causes them to be less active  Inhibition Differs from Associative Unlearning – The link is not broken, it’s inhibited – The associative link still exists Inhibition due to preventing interference  Properties of Inhibition Cue independence – Inhibited memories generalize to other cues Retrieval Specificity – The act of retrieval causes RIF Strength Independence – Strength of practiced memories does not impact RIF Interference Dependence – RIF is only seen when interference is needed Attention Dependence – Less attention = Less RIF  Neural Evidence of Inhibition Cortical Pattern Suppression – Patterns of forgotten items are suppressed/inhibited – Involves vlPFC and ACC Evidence of rats having retrieval-induced forgetting – Generalizes across species Retrieval involves the PFC, thus RIF also involves the PFC – See this in humans and rats  A Functional Purpose of Forgetting? Forgetting may play a role in maintaining flexibility Allows for effective cognitive control  Questions? Any remaining questions about the study material?  Problem for Next Class What are some reasons we’d want to forget things? Reminder, you have an Assignment 3 due November 19th! Read Chapter 10! Have a good reading week!