Lashley v. Thompson

Lashley v. Thompson

1. 3 kinds of memories:

   • Procedural/motor
     • do things without thinking about them
       • Riding a bike, texting
   • Episodic
     • play back experiences that involve you
       • personal youtube: 1st kiss, graduation
   • Semantic
     • Facts
       • Capital of MA

2. Hypothesis: are memory engrams localized in the brain?

   • Carl Lashley 1950s
     • is memory lost when brain portions are removed?
       • Method: trained rats in a maze
         • Indep. variable: removed part of cerebral cortex
           • Dep. variable: response latency of finding food in maze
       • Null Hypothesis: memory engrams not localized to one part of the brain
         • memories suffered as cortex was removed; did not matter what part was removed - latency was always lost
   • Thompson 1980s
     • if the right side of the brain is removed, would this remove memory engrams?
       • Memory is localized in the brain
         • Result: memory completely obliterated as if rabbit never learned condoned response
       • Methods: used classical conditioned eye-blink with rabbits
         • Indep.variable: removed brain legion
           • Dep. Variable: conditioned eye-blink to tone

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