Learning and Memory Lecture 7 PDF

Memory: Basic Conceptual Approaches PSYC 3022 Learning and Memory Instructor: Mala Ramesar  We have all had experiences where we forget Memory: simple things or tasks like where we placed our keys or an item from the grocery list Introduction We are yet...

Memory: Basic Conceptual Approaches PSYC 3022 Learning and Memory Instructor: Mala Ramesar  We have all had experiences where we forget Memory: simple things or tasks like where we placed our keys or an item from the grocery list Introduction We are yet still capable of remembering complex things Reconciling this discrepancy points to memory being explained by different compartments or components rather than as a single unit This partitioning of memory is called the Multiple Systems Approach Multiple Systems Approach There are several reasons to justify the Multiple Systems Approach Generalisations about memory cannot be done. Different forms of memory have different principles There is heuristic value in compartmentalising memory. Disaggregating smaller compartments each with its own characteristics makes understanding memory simpler Empirical support through dissociation and double dissociation studies Components Partitioning memory starts with identifying of Memory different memory stores Approach Dual Store theory, proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) qualitatively distinguishes between Long-term Memory and Short-term memory This theory is also referred to as the Modal Model of Memory Dual Store Theory Short-term Memory Long-term Memory Holds information briefly, prone to Memories are more durable forgetting unless there is rehearsal Limited capacity; holding a few items Almost unlimited capacity Items can be displaced Items are retained Allows rehearsed information to be Stores information received from STM transferred to LTM Evidence of ST and LT Memory Stores Serial position curve – recall of words on a list is contingent on several factors A slower rate of presentation of words allows for rehearsal of information which facilitates information moving from short-term memory into long-term memory This explains primacy effect Evidence of ST and LT Memory Stores Brain damaged patients who have been rendered amnesic Patient H.M. had the hippocampus and other nearby areas removed in an attempt to treat epilepsy His IQ increased, and his personality remained unchanged however, he was unable to learn new long-term information, like new vocabulary, events, names, places This pattern of what is remembered and what is forgotten provides evidence of a dissociation between STM and LTM Divisions of LTM: Episodic and Semantic Episodic Memory Personal memory system Retains contextual and temporal information “I remember” Can be acquired from a single exposure Semantic Memory General knowledge Do not know when we acquired the knowledge Acquired after several exposures “I know” Divisions of LTM: Episodic and Semantic Commonalities between episodic and semantic memories include: They can be communicated flexibly in a different format from which it was acquired. We can recognise a picture taken from an event attended a year ago even if we have not seen the event from that specific angle [Episodic memory]. We can also provide details directions of the route from home to work [Semantic memory] The can be consciously recalled The ability to articulate these memories have led researchers to use the term declarative memory or explicit memory  Divisions of LTM: Procedural Learning and Priming Explicit Memory Implicit Memory Fact memory Skill memory Declarative Procedural Knowing that Knowing how Autobiographical Perceptual Memory Habit Conscious recollection Skills Divisions of Procedural learning is the acquisition of LTM: knowledge of how to do things and includes Procedural perceptual skills, motor skills, and cognitive skills. Learning and Procedural knowledge is the “knowing how” while episodic and semantic memory is more of Priming “I remember that…..” Procedural learning is the acquisition of rules for performing a task, and is not something we can consciously recall Divisions of Priming refers to a facilitated response to a stimulus that has been recently experienced, for LTM: example, identification of a word stimulus is Procedural enhanced by prior exposure to that stimulus Learning and Word identification tasks test priming using two phases: Priming Phase 1: the word “TABLE” may appear on a list of words for participants to read Phase 2: word stem identification where the stem “TAB” is presented OR word fragmentation tasks like “T_B_E” is presented Divisions of Long-Term Memory Long-term Memory Declarative Nondeclarative Memory Memory Classical Episodic Semantic Procedural Conditioning Priming Habits  Stages of Memory and Memory Stores Memory can be viewed as memory stages For a memory to occur, we must first form the memory, retain it and then be able to retrieve it Each of these stages are not perfectly isolated Processing Approaches Depth of processing model The issue of remembering is connected to the kind of processing This model assumes that memory is a single unit and variations in the degree of cognitive processing determines whether something is remembered Forgetting is therefore due to shallow processing, and retention is due to elaborate processing Shallow versus deep processing is represented in maintenance rehearsal and elaborative rehearsal Maintenance rehearsal is a passive repetition of something Elaborative rehearsal is an active form of processing where we meaningfully analyse and comprehend material Processing Approaches Depth of processing model Condition 1 Identify words with the letter “e”. Shallow Elaborate processing does not mean there is an intention to learn. processing Remembering is due to the quality of processing rather than the goal of Condition 2 Come up with words that rhymed with processing – incidental learning the list word College students given a list of words and asked questions that elicit Condition 3 Determine if list words fell into a specific different levels of processing: given category On a recall test, words which received deeper processing were better recalled Processing Transfer-Appropriate Processing Approaches Memory retrieval requires us to reinstate the cognitive operations at encoding Cognitive operations refer to what we perceive, manipulate, think about, or interpret about the stimuli The type of processing for implicit and explicit  Prior Knowledge If we are able to connect something new that we are to learn to something we already know, to Process give meaning to this new item we are learning, Approaches we would be better able to remember it and recall it. This is based on the principle that it is easier to remember information you can interpret in the context of things you already know. It’s a strategy that can be used for studying. If you scan the chapter you are to study, you start to get a good understanding of what are the main points in the broader topic of the chapter  Forgetting curve and Consolidation Processing Through Ebbinghaus’ work, we were able to determine that most forgetting happens within Approaches minutes or even days of the initial learning/memorisation If you can recall an event months after it occurred, then you are likely to remember it permanently Older memories are stable while new memories are vulnerable to disruptions  Cues Processing Recalling information can be done under different conditions: Approaches Free recall – recalling information in the absence of cues pr prompts [essays] Cued recall – a prompt is provided to jog your memory [fill in the blanks] Recognition – selecting the correct answer from options provided [MCQ)  The connectionist model attempts to explain learning by modelling the neural changes which underlie learning and memory According to this model, memory results from Connectionist the activation of networks of interrelated concepts Model Memory of a specific event or situation would be stored in its own activation pattern, and if you were to recall the memory, it would require a reconstruction or an activation of the elements in that pattern  5 assumptions Each neural unit can have connections to several other neural units. This means that each can be used in a series of other combinations to form multiple sources of knowledge Strengthening and weakening of these neural networks occurs in the same way as we learned with stimulus Connectionist response pairings. The activation process works in the same was as the Model activation of a single neuron where after activation, the neural network goes back to a baseline resting state. Multiple inputs may be required to a neural unit to be activated. Multiple layers of neural units are hypothesized. Outer layers for input and output are observable but r layers can combine and summate activation from the previous layer.  Connections are based on a series of neural units which connect with each other Assume a neural unit represents the name “John” It activates something about a specific “John” if other neural units which represents Connectionist additional information is also activated Model When we recall something, other information associated with it becomes active and gives us a wealth of information The starting point for connectionist models is the presence of potential interconnections among the neural units Applications Applications  The processes of acquisition, retention and recall of information can be hampered or enhanced by several things Memory There are common ways in which fact and event memory can malfunction. Failure - Broadly these are: Interference Interference Source amnesia False memory. Memory Failure Interference occurs when two memories overlap in content reducing the strength of either one of the memories or both memories Proactive interference occurs where old information can disrupt new learning Retroactive interference occurs where new information can disrupt old learning  Source amnesia is where we remember a fact or an event but forget the source. One form of source amnesia is cryptomnesia which is where we think that our thoughts are new and novel and often times leads us to commit plagiarism. Memory Failure – Source Amnesia  False memories are memories of events that never actually happened. False memories occur when people are Memory prompted to imagine missing details, and later, they mistakenly remember Failure – False those events as the truth. Memory The more a person imagines an event, the more they are likely to believe that it actually happened.  Amnesic Syndrome Caused by injury to the hippocampus. It is characterised by the inability to form and retrieve new LT memories [anterograde amnesia], some retrograde amnesia [memories just before the event], and a reasonable normal Memory ST memory Failure – Korsakoff syndrome Caused by prolonged alcohol abuse and vitamin Types of deficiency. Characterised by anterograde and retrograde amnesia Amnesia Psychogenic amnesia One forgets the past or part of the past that preceded the amnesia. The memory is not lost, just inaccessible to conscious retrieval End of Lecture 7