Memory

• Working Memory (WM)


  Active system that processes and manipulates information from STM
• Working Memory (WM)


  • Emphasizes a wider role in cognition
  • Contents of WM originate from sensory input but retrieved from LTM
• Short-Term Memory (STM)


  Passive retention of material
• Components of Working Memory


  • Phonological Loop
  • Visuospatial Sketchpad
  • Episodic Buffer
  • Central Executive
• False positives


  Incorrect recognition of something as being previously encountered
• Phonological Loop


  Briefly stores mental representations of sounds
• Misinformation effect


  Incorporation of inaccurate information into actual memory
• Visuospatial Sketchpad


  Briefly stores visual and spatial information
• Misinformation effect


  • Memories can be inaccurately reconstructed
  • NB to keep witnesses apart
• False memory syndrome


  Creation of inaccurate or false memories through the suggestion of others
• Episodic Buffer


  Temporary storage space which integrates STM and LTM
• Memory V


  Chapter 13
• False memory syndrome


  • Often while the person is under hypnosis
  • Easier to recall real memories but also easier to create false memories
  • False memories can be accidentally created by a therapist's suggestions during a session
• Central Executive


  Directs and monitors overall action between components
• Creating false memories


  1. The event must be made to seem as plausible as possible

  2. Information given must be believable
• Room


  G9, Ground Level, Beattie Building
• Example of Working Memory

  • How much is 87 + 36?
• Long-Term Memory (LTM)


  • Information is placed here to be kept more or less permanently
  • Unlimited storage space
  • Available vs Accessible
• Campus


  Upper Campus
• Memory I: Memory processes

  Chapter 13, Section 2
• Constructive processing of memory


  Similar to creating a story
• Consolidation is the process of converting short-term memories into long-term memories
• Lecture Outline


  • Neuroscience of memory
  • Place of memory
  • Memory disorders: Amnesia and Alzheimer's Disease
• Models


  Chapter 13, Section 3
• Semantic network model


  • Information is stored in the brain in a connected fashion
  • Related concepts stored physically closer to each other
• Constructive processing of memory


  • Memories altered and updated to include new information and details can be left out
  • Example: Hindsight bias
• Memory II: Memory types

  Chapter 13, Section 4
• Lesion studies


  • Brain areas can be associated with memory
  • Does not mean that memory is solely dependent on the specific region/area
• Curve of Forgetting


  Hermann Ebbinghaus (1913) study of memorized nonsense syllables
• Memory


  The ability to encode, store, retain and subsequently recall information and past experiences in the human brain
• Declarative Memory


  • Involves factual knowledge
  • Conscious or intentional memory retrieval
• Memory Consolidation


  1. Synaptic consolidation

  2. Remodeling of synapses

  3. System consolidation

  4. Transference of memories from the hippocampus to areas of the cortex
• Memory Types and Processes


  Chapter 13, Section 5
• Types of memory


  • Sensory memory
  • Short term memory
  • Long term memory
• Encoding Failure


  Failing to encode / process information into long-term memory in the first place
• Episodic Memory


  • Knowledge concerning personal experiences
  • When, where, and what happened in the episodes of our lives
• Memory III: What can go wrong? And how to improve memory.

  Chapter 13, Section 6
• Brain area involved in the formation of long-term memories

  Posterior Cingulate
• Three-Stage Memory Model


  • Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
• Memory Trace Decay


  Memory trace: physical change in the brain, if these traces are not used = decay