Memory

Memory

1. Short term memory

   • Focuses on tast at hand Previous 20 seconds, eg working out a times table equation
   • No longer than 20 seconds
   • 5 - 9 digits (7)
   • Chunking
     • Organising material into meaningful groupings

2. Episodic memory

   • Recalls previous sequence of events, eg, what you saw on the way to work yesterday
   • Encoding
     • Initial learning of information
     • Distinctiveness
       • Encoding will be more prominent if there something stood out, eg seeing hot air balloons on your drive to work will help you remember the drive
     • Flash bulb memory
       • Remembering particular news and memory around that. Captured in the mind like a flashbulb, eg, where you were when you found out about 9/11
     • Recoding: - False memories - DRM effect
       • Recoding follows encoding, of how you make sense of information you learned. Room for error: when recoding details can be added which lead to false memories DRM effect is when you recall information that was not there in the first place
     • Pragmatic inference
       • Inference in when something isn't explicitly stated, yet you draw to that conclusion. Pragmatic inference is when you draw to one particular conclusion.
   • Storage
     • Memory traces / Engrams
       • Engrams are left in the brain when memries are stored - brain alters itself
       • Consolidation
         • Consolidation is a process of how engrams are created. Consolidation stabilises memory traces. Consolidation is transferring from the hippocampus to a more durable representation in the cortex in order for the to last
     • Retention interval
       • Time between learning the new information and testing/reciting the information learned
       • Retroactive interference
         • When new/additional information during retention interval is added that clouds the learned information
         • Main cause of forgetting
         • Misinformation effect
           • During retention interval when new erroneous information is added, may disrupt personal recollection of the event, eg, when witnessing a car crash, other witnesses reports may influence your own recollection of the event
       • Proactive interferance
         • Past memories that interfere with encoding of the new information during retention interval
   • Retrieval
     • Available information
       • Info that is stored in the memory, but how much is stored in not known
     • Accessible information
       • Information that is stored and that we are able to retrieve
     • Encoding specificity principle
       • Phenomenon of remembering something better when the conditions under which we retrieve the information are similar to the conditions under which they were encoded, eg, studing for the exams in the same room that you will be taking the exams
       • Cue overload principle
         • For for retrival cue to work, the cue cannot be overloaded with too many memories, eg studying for all exams in the exams rooms throughout all of highschool
       • Recognition failure of recallable words
         • A cue will be most effective depending on how the information was encoded, eg, remembershing authors, some will be easier with only last names, like Shakespear and others will require the first and last name
     • Testing effect/ Retrieval practice effect
       • When retrieving previous memories, the act of retrieval itself makes the the memory more likely to be retrieved again
     • Retrieval induced forgetting
       • Retrieving information can cause us to forget other information
     • Mnemonic devices
       • A strategy to help remember large amounts of information

3. Semantic memory

   • Recall of general knowledge, eg American president, 206 bones in body

4. Collective memory

   • Joint memory of several people or a community, eg, a memory of people your street when you moved in

5. Autobiographical memory

   • Recall a memory of personal events, eg first year of school

6. Forgetting

   • Encoding failures
     • Don't learn information attentively in the first place
   • Decay
     • Memories fade over time and information is harder to recall, especially if memory is not rehearsed
   • Inadequate retrieval cues
     • Lack sufficient reminders, eg forgetting a password unless a 'hint' is provided
   • Interference
     • Proactive and retroactive inteferance where other memories are blocking or getting in the way of retrieving a desired memory
   • Trying not to remember
     • Purposefully trying to forget a memory
   • Amnesia
     • Often with damage to the medial temporal lobe and the hippocampus
     • Anterograde amnesia
       • Inability to recall events after the onset of amnesia
     • Retrograde amnesia
       • Inability to recall events before the onset of amnesia Rare to experience retrograde amnesia without also anterograde amnesia
       • Temporally graded retrograde amnesia
         • Inability to recall memories from just prior to the onset of amnesia with memory intact from previous events
     • Functional amnesia
       • Loss of memory that cannot be attributed to a brain injury or any obvious brain disease
     • Dissociative amnesia
       • Patients have a history of trauma. The amnesia is retrograde. Individuals may lose most/all their autobiographical memories and sense of personal identity

7. Eye witness testimony

   • Misinformation effect
     • Memory error caused by exposure to incorrect information between an original event, (eg a crime) and later memory test (eg, interview, court appearance). This contaminates the memory of what the subject witnessed. eVEN SLIGHT DIFFERENCE IN HOW THE QUESTION IS WORDED CAN LEAD TO MISINFORMATION EFFECT
   • Identifying perpetrators
     • Foils
       • Other individuals of the line up - photos or otherwise, that are not the suspect
     • Photo spread
       • Line ups with perpetrators are usually done with photographs of people, rather than live people
     • Poor vision or viewing conditions during crime
     • Stressful witnessing experiences
     • Too little time to view the perpetrator
     • Too much delay between witnessing crime and identifying suspect
     • Identifying a perpetrator from a race other than their own
     • Fair line up
       • Pepetrators should not stick out The suspect and foils should be equally as likely to be chosen by the witness Double blind line up Unbiased instructions for witnesses Lineups in sequential fashion
   • Memory biases
     • Just because a memory is incorrect or 'wrong' it is not less memorable
     • Tip of the tongue effect
       • Something on the tip of your tongue but you can't quite name it, eg, someones name
     • Schemas
       • A memory template created through repetitive exposure to a particular class of objects or events, eg going to a new library for the first time you would expect that it has tables ans chairs and they are not noticeable
     • False memories
       • Memory of an event that never actually occured Sometimes this can be manipulated