Memory Processes PDF

Memory Explicit Implicit Memory Memory Declarative, Nondeclarative, Conscious Unconscious Episodic Semantic Classical Procedural...

Memory Explicit Implicit Memory Memory Declarative, Nondeclarative, Conscious Unconscious Episodic Semantic Classical Procedural Priming Memory Memory conditioning Memory Implicit Experiences Facts, effects Motor skills, activation of General e.g. habits, tacit concepts in Knowledge Conditioned rules long-term emotional memory reactions Adapted from: Psychology by Peter Gray, p.356, 2003 (4th Edition) Implicit memory: Classical conditioning and priming Unconscious associations between stimuli – Dentists drill - > pain -> anxiety Priming – Display or mention of one concept leads to ‘spreading activation’ to other related concepts E.g. “Money, withdraw, robbery” / “River, flow, boat” Probe: “He walked towards the bank”  DECLARATIVE MEMORY – Semantic memory – Episodic memory PROCEDURAL MEMORY – Memory for how to do things – not verbalisable, not available to conscious awareness – learnt through gradual, incremental experience; not “one-trial” learning Dissociations: Implicit memory performance is different from explicit memory – Levels of processing – Modality/Format, e.g. case or font – Delay / Retention interval – Amnesic patients  Different memory systems? – Different neuroanatomical structures underlie implicit and explicit memory? – Declarative vs Procedural (Squire, 1987) BUT in what sense does fragment completion rely on procedural memory? – Tendency to create MORE memory systems to account for new dissociations  False Memory Misleading ‘post-event’ information – Eyewitness “Misinformation paradigm” Loftus (1974) – leading questions and wording of questions Social pressure (lost in a shopping mall)  False Memory Fitting memory to Schemas and Scripts Source confusion Hypnosis? “spreading activation” in semantic memory  Flashbulb memories People have very vivid and detailed memories surrounding dramatic world events – Are these memories really more accurate? A special neural mechanism is activated? (Brown & Kulik, 1977) But aren’t they rehearsed more frequently?  Flashbulb memories Neisser’s (1982) Pearl Harbour experience More recent research suggests we are more confident about flashbulb memories, but they decay just like other memories Talarico and Rubin (2003) estimated the accuracy of participants’ flashbulb memories of the 9/11 terrorist attacks (and their selected everyday memories) by comparing the details of their original memories against their memories reported 1, 6, or 32 weeks later. This graph shows that the number of consistent details in subjects’ flashbulb memories and everyday memories declined at the same pace, suggesting that flashbulb memories are not more accurate or longer lasting than other memories. (Data from Talarico & Rubin, 2003) Text and graph from Weiten 2007, Psychology Themes and Variations, 7th Edition, p.269  Flashbulb memories Study on September 11th memories by Conway, Skitka, Hemmerich and Kershaw (2009) – In 2001 678 people completed a survey between September and October – In 2002 half were retested before the anniversary and half were tested after – In 2003 a final survey was given (to the remaining 319 participants) Each survey asked for recollections and confidence ratings for each Findings of Conway et al. (2009). Table from Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, p.609 (C=consistency; CR=confidence rating) Findings of Conway et al. (2009). Table from Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, p.615  Lifetime memories What is infantile amnesia? What might cause it?  Lifetime memories What is the reminiscence bump? Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reminiscence_bump