MEMORY_1

MEMORY_1

1. MANIPULATION & IMPROVEMENT OF MEMORY

   • Measures of retention are the methods of assessing how much information has been stored in memory.
     • Re-learning: Relearning (or the savings method) is relearning previously learned material, then calculating the amount of information retained in memory by subtracting this information from the original learning.
   • Enhancing Memory
     • Mnemonic Devices
       • Acronym
       • Acrostic
       • Narrative chaining
     • Encoding Specificity: State & context dependent cues
       • State- Dependent Cues- Cues associated with an individual’s internal state, both psychologically and physiologically
       • Context- Dependent Cues- Recall is enhanced if there are the same external environmental conditions or cues present at the time of learning as there are at the time of retrieval

2. MODELS FOR EXPLAINING MEMORY

   • Atkinson- Shiffrin Multi Store Model
     • Separate, yet interacting stores. Each with different capacities & duration.
       • EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF MSM: SERIAL POSITION EFFECT: an effect that supports the Multi Store Model where words (when using free recall) are better recalled at the beginning ( transferred into LTM) and at end of word list (still in STM)
       • STM: CHUNKING: a method used to increase the capacity of STM. When small bits of information are grouped into larger ones. Such as taking single numbers in a phone number 0413324567 into three larger chunks 0413 324 567
       • SENSORY: Iconic = visual sensory memory. Echoic = auditory sensory store
     • Baddely & Hitch's Working Memory Model
       • The term ‘working memory’ is used to emphasise the active part of memory where information we are consciously aware of is actively ‘worked on’ in a variety of ways
         • VS- Briefly STORES visual info as mental representation or using imagery
         • PL- Briefly STORES verbal info in sound based form.
         • CE is boss! Makes decisions, use SIM-- Switches attention, Inhibits irrelevent info, Modifys and updates memories
         • EB- Retrieves necessary info from LTM into working memory and encodes updated info back into LTM
         • Working memory & multitasking: only one store can be used at the same time. But different stores can be used simultaneously
   • Craik and Lockhart Levels of Processing
     • This memory system is a continuous dimension in which memories are encoded related to the ease with which they can be retrieved. The depth that we process information during learning determines how well it is stored in LTM.
     • Semantic Network Teory
       • The semantic network theory proposes that information in LTM is organised in a hierarchy according to particular concepts.
         • Key words used when describing model: Hierarchical, links, nodes.
           • The closer the association between nodes, the shorter the link and the quicker the recall.
       • ORGANISATION OF LTM
         • implicit memories : memories that are not consciouslly formed (including emotional memories)
           • Procedural memories: "how to" memories
         • explicit memories: conscious memories
           • declarative memories " knowing that" memories
             • semantic memories: factual memories
             • episodic: autobiographical memories

3. MECHANISMS OF MEMORY FORMATION

   • Brain structures involved in memory
   • Consolidation Theory--- relatively permanent neural changes due to experience which takes approximately 30 minutes and takes place in hippocampus
     • Functional changes: Increase in amount of neurotransmitter released Increased sensitivity of the post synaptic dendrites to that particular neurotransmitter
     • Structural changes: Dendritic branching of post synaptic neuron- more dendrites grow ( meaning more synapses and more neurotransmitters) Filigree appendages grow on pre synaptic grow- spouts or growths from axon terminals to create stronger communication

4. STRENGTHS & LIMITATIONS OF THEORIES OF FORGETTING

   • Memory and ageing: Significant decline in memory is NOT part of the normal ageing process
     • Working memory & STM: Simple tasks not as affected as complex tasks. Verbal recency most affected. Visual recency least affected.
     • LTM: Episodic memories decline steadily over time. Prospective memory (remembering to do things in the future) is particularly affected. Procedural and semantic memories are relatively unaffected by age.
       • The ability to recall information declines with age. The ability to recognise the same information does not decline with age
     • Reasons for memory decline in healthy elderly: slowing of CNS, loss of confidence & motivation
   • Amnesia: total or partial memory loss that can be temporary or permanent
     • Retrograde amnesia: loss of past memories formed prior to damage , usually due to damage in the cerebral cortex (where LTMs are stored)
     • Anterograde amnesia: inability to form new LTM. Usually due to damage to hippocampus.
   • Alzheimer's Disease: Characterised by a gradual, widespread degeneration of neurons.
     • Amyloid plagues: proteins that form among axon terminals and interfere with communication between neurons
     • Neurofibrillary tangles: build up of protein inside neurons, kills brain cells
   • Theories of Forgetting
     • Interference theory: proposes that information is lost due to the interference between new information and previously learned (old) information. Interference is most likely to happen when new and old information is similar.
       • Retroactive interference is when new information interferes with old information.
       • Proactive interference is when existing (old) information interferes with new memories.
     • Retrieval Failure Theory/cue dependent forgetting: proposes that information has not been lost from LTM. Rather, the information cannot be retrieved because there is a lack of retrieval cues, or the correct retrieval cue is not being used.
       • The tip of the tongue (TOT) phenomenon is a feeling that occurs when we are aware of knowing something, but not able to retrieve it from memory at the particular point in time.
     • Decay theory: Proposes that when information is not used in LTM it will gradually fade over time. When new information is learned, a memory trace is formed. A memory trace is a physiological change in the brain chemistry. When unused, or not visited, memory traces weaken or fade over time.
       • LIMITATION OF DECAY: why some unused memories fade whereas other unused memories can be recovered, given the right cues • Decay theory cannot explain why older people, particularly those suffering from dementia, fail to remember recent events, but have vivid memories of events long past.
     • Motivated forgetting is a coping mechanism that the brain employs to hide or forget painful, anxiety-provoking or traumatic memories.
       • SCRU
         • Supression: A conscious refusal to access a memory that is available.
         • Repression: Where painful or distressing memories and unconsciously pushed to an inaccessible part of the mind and the person is unaware these memories exist.
       • LIMITATION OF THEORY: The validity of this theory has been questioned. Maybe such memories have been implanted into the mind, and there is usually no way of knowing if the memories are real.
   • Forgetting Curve: The forgetting curve graphically represents this rate and amount of forgetting.

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