Memory 2 Retrieval

Memory 2 Retrieval

1. Process

   • retrieval - a progression from one or more retrieval cues to a target memory trace through associative connections - the aim is to make the target available - retrieval cues - bits of info about the target memory that guide the search - target memory trace - the particular memory we are searching for - associations - bonds that link together items in memory, vary in strength
     • Contextual cues to retrieval - spatio temporal = location and time cues during event - mood = emotional state during event - physiological = physical state one was in during event - cognitive - collection of concepts one has thought about around the event

2. Context dependent memory

   • Environmental context dependent memory - principle encoding specificity - we encode info along with its contact - reinstates original encoding environment and facilitates retrieval - tsk = taunt divers word pairs in one of 2 contexts - dry land or under water - tested recall in same or different environment - material best recalled in envrionment it was learnt
   • State dependent memory - recall depends on the match between the participant internal environment at encoding and retrieval - recall is best if encoding and retrieval both occur when drunk?? under the influence of marujana or caffeine?? under the influence of exercising or at rest
     • Mood dependent memory - recall is dependent on the match in mood states between encoding and retrieveal - task - encoding: pleasant or unpleasant mood - test - 2 days later, same or opposite mood prior to recall - results - free recall vastly improved when mood states matched
       • Cognitive context dependent memory - similar to TAP - retrieval. better if same cognitive tasks are involved - also includes ideas, thoughts and concepts that occupied our attention - memory facilitated when cognitive context at encoding matched retrieval - task = cues to bilinguals either Russian or English - results - generated memories tended to be from same linguistic context - conclusion - memories are easier to access when retrieval takes place in same mode as they were encoded

3. Reconstructive memory

   • Retrived memory is not entirely intact - figure out some aspects of recalled experience - reconstructive memory = inferential aspect of memory - told passage was about Helen Keller, were more likely to think 'she was deaf, dumb and blind appeared in passage

4. Recognition memory

   • decide whether one has encountered a stimulus before - presents stimulus unlike in recall - discrimination between old and new stimulus - measure of participants level of guessing and decision making bias for accepting items as old
     • signal detection theory - SDT to understand and explore recognition memory decisions - developed by auditory perception - auditory task - detect a tone presented against BG noise - hard or easy to detect -
       • Dual process theory - SDT cannot account for all recognition memory phenomena - word frequency effect - low freqeucny words are better recognised (although high frequency words are better recalled) - STD incorrectly predicts low frequency words should be less familiar - recgongion men based on 2 types of memory or process - familiarity - described by signal detection - recollection - like cued recall
         • Recollection being an attention demanding process is selectively disrupted by divided attention during encoding, divided attention during recognition, advanced age and damage to prefrontal cortex - familiarity is usually faster than recollection
           • Remember/know procedure - participants decide - remember the item being presented previously (recollection) - know it was presented previously (familiarity)

5. Episodic memory and the brain

   • uniquely human but episodic like memory studied in birds and rats - neurophysiology and neuroimaging studies strongest evidence - medial temporal lobe supports encoding and retrieval - the MTL includes highly interconnected regions: the hippocampus, the perirhinal context, the entrohinal cortex, the parahippocmpal contex - the amygdala also part of it
     • Brain region - hippocampus = recall/recollection - perirhinal/entorhinal cortex = recongion memory, familiarity - the hippocampus is important but the surrounding P/e cortex can support recognition even when hippocampus is compromised
       • Studies - damage in hippocampus - recall/recollection deficit
         • taxi drives have larger posterior hippocampus than novice drivers - brain differences increased with more taxi experience