Sensory, Short-term, and Working Memory PDF

# Sensory, Short-term, and Working Memory * Memory = Processes involved in storing and retrieving information. * Information is processed in stages (like a computer). * Encoding: Information is acquired. * Storage: information lies dormant. * Retrieval: information is activated. * Mod...

# Sensory, Short-term, and Working Memory * Memory = Processes involved in storing and retrieving information. * Information is processed in stages (like a computer). * Encoding: Information is acquired. * Storage: information lies dormant. * Retrieval: information is activated. * Modal model of memory - (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968) * (sensory memory) * Ex. getting a new combination lock. * 19-6-8 * Rehearse * Recall * Sensory memory is a buffer * Rehearsal * Input * Sensory memory * (Ex. the spanners) * Short-term memory * Long-term memory * (information) * Output * Sensory memory: some is retained, some is not. * More efficient than processing all information constantly. * Allows us to perceive the environment as continuous (Ex. stop motion animation). * Two types of sensory memory: * Iconic (brief retention of visual information - About 1/2 sec.) * Echoic (brief retention of auditory information - about 2 sec.) * Short-term memory (STM) originally conceptualized as a temporary holding cell. * Peterson & Peterson, 1959 * Speaker: 3 letter comb, 3 num comb, and then count backwards 3. * Keppel & Underwood, 1962 * Participants were experiencing interference, not decay of memory. * Proactive interference: old information impairs our ability to learn new information. * Retroactive interference: new information impairs our ability to recall old information. # Working Memory Groupwork * (auditory part, recalling what someone said) * (executive control: what directs our attention) * Central executive: Manager * Phonological loop * Visuospatial sketchpad * Episodic buffer * (imagining something you've never seen, but pulling memories you have seen) * Long-term memory * Phonological loop: * People tend to confuse letters or words that sound similar (Conrad, 1964). * The longer the words, the fewer we can keep in working memory. * Visuospatial sketchpad or executive control * Having to visualize something mentally makes it difficult to simultaneously complete tasks requiring vision (Brooks, 1968). * Patients with frontal lobe damage have difficulties switching to new goals. * Visuospatial sketchpad: * Mental rotation tasks take longer the greater the degree of rotation (Shepard & Metzler, 1971). * Phineas Gage's injuries decreased his ability to plan and he became impulsive. * We are unable to rehearse in our head if we are speaking aloud at the same time (Baddeley, 1984). * Infants, whose prefrontal cortex has not fully developed, lose track of things that move out of their visual field. # Long-term Memory **Comparing STM & LTM** * Serial position effect - Items @ the beginning and end of a list are remembered best. * **Primacy effect:** * Items at the beginning of a list are easily recalled. * No old information to interfere with new information. * **Recency effect:** * Items at the end of a list are easily recalled. * No new information to interfere with old information (no retroactive interference) * Later items are still in LTM, not STM. * Demonstrates that STM and LTM are distinct. * **Structure** * **Long-term memory** * **Conscious** * Declarative (Explicit) * **Semantic memory** * **Episodic memory** * **Autobiographical memory** * **Unconscious** * Nondeclarative (Implicit) * **Procedural memory** * **Classical conditioning** * **Priming** * **Mandela Effect** * **Declarative (explicit) memory**: Conscious memory for specific information. * Knowledge that can be "declared". * **Episodic memory**: Specific information about people, events, etc. * Can originate from a single experience. * **Semantic memory**: General knowledge * Organized by cues * Organized by categories * Originates from others or repeated experiences. * *We lose episodic information more than semantic information.* * Both episodic and semantic content. * **Remember vs. Know** * **Remember:** Recollection of details (episodic) * **Know:** Familiarity with information (semantic) * Over time, **episodic** detail (remember) is lost quicker than **semantic** (know) detail. # Non-declarative (Implicit) Memory * Learning from experience without conscious awareness * Classical Conditioning- it changes our behaviour but we don’t need to be conscious. * **Priming** - When presentation of one stimulus changes how a person responds to another stimulus even if the participant has no explicit memory of it. * **“Muscle Memory”** - Implicit motor and cognitive skills: * - Consciousness even gets in the way sometime. * - Even repeated exposure is not enough to create a lasting memory. * **Encoding** - The process of acquiring information and transferring it into LTM. * **Rehearsal** * - Literally repeating the information over and over in your mind * - Poor recall later. * - Connections = retrieval pathways. * **Elaborative** - considering the information more deeply; making connections with stored knowledge. * **Levels of processing theory**: Memory depends on how deeply information is encoded. (Craik & Tulving, 1975) * **Shallow Processing** * Little attention to meaning. * Physical attributes. * Rote memorization. * **Deep Processing** * Close attention to meaning. * Relating new to old information. * **Some methods of encoding:** * **Self-reference** - identified as relevant to survival. * **Survival processing** - Memory systems give special priority to information meaningful. * **Generating information** - When you have to generate, you encode better. * **Visual imagery** - converting new information into mental images. (More effective for concrete words than abstract words). * **Organizational schemes** - organizing information sorting info into organizational schemes (Method of Loci). * **Retrieval practice (testing effect)** - enhances our ability to recall information **Bed**, **awake**, **slumber**, **rest**, **eat**, **night**, **sleep**, **sound**, **comforter**, **bashful**, **sleepy**, **doc**, **grumpy**, **happy**, **sneezy**, **smiley**, **dopey** # Retrieval * **Retrieval cues** = Transferring information from LTM to working memory. * More in recognition than recall - easier retrieval. * This can be achieved w/ deep encoding but other types of cues are also encoded with information. * **Encoding specificity** - Recall Is facilitated by cues that recreate the specific way In which information was encoded. * **Context-dependent** - Better recall in the same environment as encoding. * **State-dependent** - Better recall in the same psychological state as encoding. * **Transfer appropriate processing:** better recall if task matches encoding. * **Encoding** the information is one of the biggest factors in whether we are able to retrieve. * **Deeper IS BETTER!** * **Consistencu IS BETTER** # Consolidation * **Consolidation** = Transforming new memories from a fragile state to a more permanent state. * Even when rehearsed information makes it from STM to LTM, it's not immediately consolidated. * Tons of information comes in each day. * Some elaboration or rehearsing took place: where to file for now? (synaptic consolidation) * But is the file system organized correctly, given the new information? Analysis, possible restructuring. * **Synaptic consolidation** - Structural changes at synapses. * **Long-term potentiation** (LTP) - Physiological changes at the synapse increase excitability between neurons along a specific neural pathway # Systems Consolidation * **Systems consolidation**: gradual reorganization of neural circuits. * Standard model of consolidation. 1. Incoming information activates many areas of the cortex. 2. Cortex communicates with the hippocampus. 3. Hippocampus coordinates the connections between previously unconnected cortical areas via reactivation. 4. As connections in the cortex strengthen, need for the hippocampus decreases (scaffolding). * Based partly on case studies of memory loss (amnesia). * **Retrograde amnesia**: inability to retrieve prior long-term memories. * **Graded amnesia**: worse memory loss, closer to the incident, reflecting the degree to which memories have been consolidated. * **The more recent the memory, the more you still need hippocampal scaffolding.** * **Anterograde amnesia**: inability to encode new long-term memories. * **Consolidation has already occurred.** * "50 First Dates" * **Sleep** * **Reactivation** is particularly strong while we sleep. * Leading to higher rates of consolidation. * Minimal interference. * When we retrieve a memory, it becomes fragile again and must be reconsolidated. * Prioritizing information that is “important.” * **Reconsolidation** = The process of consolidating a retrieved memory. * **Rat study - Nader et al., 2000 (inject aniseomycin before consolidation)** # Memory Errors * **Forgetting** * **Causes:** * **Decay**: With the passage of time, memories become difficult to access. * Cell death * (Unused) connections weaken. * Infantile amnesia. * **Interference**: Interference can inhibit learning new information or impair our ability to recall older information. * **Proactive interference:** Old information impairs our ability to learn new information. * **Retroactive interference:** New information impairs our ability to recall old information (learning a new language) * **Retrieval failure** : - can’t access retrieval pathways or strength of the pathways has weakened. - test anxiety can hinder retrieval. * **Blocking**: * **Sometimes retrieval failure is partial**. * **Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon**. * **Source Memory Errors** - * **Over time you remember the content, but don't know the context**. * **Source memory**: Recalling the origin of your knowledge and memories. * **Familiarity Errors:** * **Deja Vu**: A (false) sense of having encountered something before. * **Unexpected processing fluency**. * **False fame effect**: Incorrectly attributing “fame” as the source of knowledge when experiencing familiarity. * **Source misattributions**: Confusing the source of one memory with another. * **Cryptomnesia**: Believing you are the source of an idea or thought when really the source is elsewhere: * **Accidental plagiarism** - still plagiarism! Being mad @ someone in a dream, then waking up @ being mad @ them in real life? * **False memories**: Remembering events that were never experienced. * **Brain game** * (Toppled) X * (Barked) X * (Ate) X * (Chair) # Reconstructive Nature of Memory * Not every detail is recorded in memory. * **Pragmatic inferences fill in the gaps** * **Brewers & Treyens (1981)** -- Each participant asked to wait in an office for study to begin. 35 sec later, participant was removed & asked what was in the office. 113 Participants remembered seeing books when there were none. * **Misinformation effect** - When our memory is altered by things that happen after. * **Implanted memories** - Suggestion and repeated recall can “implant” a completely false memory, complete with details and familiarity. * **Convince people that something happened** * Ex. Hot air balloon, their imagination fills in the detail. * **Flashbulb memories** - Memories we talk about a lot, where you were during a big event, * The Challenger explosion, 1986 They are very confident of their memory recall. * **False confessions in court.** # Reconstructive Nature of Memory * **Reconstructive nature of memory** - Can be exploited by others. * Not every deal is recorded in memory. * **Pragmatic inferences fill in the gaps** * **Brewers & Treyens (1981)** * Each participant asked to wait in an office for the study to begin: 35 seconds later, the participant is removed & asked what was in the office: 113 participants remembered seeing books when there were none. * ** misinformation effect** * When our memory is altered by things that happen after. * **People watched a video of a car accident, after the video they were asked **: "How fast were the cars going when they **hit** the car?" vs. "How fast were the cars going when they **smashed** into the car?"** * HF - 34 mph: Did you see broken glass? - Yes. * Smash- 41 mph: Did you see broken glass? - 32% - 40% * **Implanted memories** * Suggestion and repeated recall can "implant" a completely false memory, complete with details and familiarity. * **Convince people that something happened** * **Ex. Hot air balloon, their imagination fills in the details.** * **Flashbulb memories** * Memories we talk about a lot, where you were during a big event. * **Ex. Challenger explosion, 1986. They are very confident of their memory recall** * **False confessions in court. **