psych346 exam 3

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What were the differences within suppress trials -- later-remembered suppress trials vs. later-forgotten suppress trials?: - MORE HC activation was associated with greater inhibition of to-be-suppressed items - Successful suppression involved = HC activation for items that are not remembered later on "Recall to reject" hypothesis: - The item appears in memory, and HC is activated, in order for you to realize you must suppress it and actively push it down Successfully forgotten SUPPRESS items also showed more activation in DLPFC - Supports idea of active inhibition
Describe the experiment involving directed forgetting and autobiographical memory.: Subjects write down 2 events from each day, one on a white and one on a pink sheet: - Incidental = events on pink sheets, told won't have to remember - Intentional = events on white sheets, told to remember Then, after week 1, half of the participants were told they could forget week 1 events and would only need to remember week 2 On the final test: all subjects were told to try and remember every event (white & pink sheets and weeks 1 & 2)
What were the differences in recall between the think and no-think conditions?: - If word was in the "think" condition, it is remembered best - If word was in "no think" condition, subjects were very bad at recall - The pattern was the SAME for real probe or independent proe
What were the brain activation differences for the respond (think) vs. suppress (no-think) condition?: - More HC activation for respond (think) condition - More DLPFC activation for subjects with greater suppression (DLPFC activity predicts suppression)
Describe psychogenic amnesia.: Stressful precipitant: present Causes: traumatic event Autobiographical memory: severely impaired Personal identity: often lost New learning ability: normal Everyday functioning: normal
Describe brain metabolism in organic and psychogenic amnesia.: Both show reduced metabolism in frontal regions and in MTL
What were the results from the directed forgetting and autobiographical memory experiment?: Week 1: Both types of events remembered more poorly by forget group Week 2: No differences were observed for any events in week 2 (for either group)
Directed forgetting effects are greatest for ____1____ and ___2_____ events.: 1 = negative 2 = low-intensity
How can you overcome inhibition?: You can often reduce/eliminate effects of inhibition by using RECOGNITION tests rather than recall.
Describe the "think/no-think" paradigm.: Step 1: Learn word pairs - Ordeal-roach - Steam-train - Jaw-gum Step 2: Think/no think - Subjects enter an fMRI scanner - If a word is red when presented, you are not supposed to think of the associated word (suppression) - If the word is green, you are supposed to think of its associate - Some words act as controls and are not presented at all Step 3: Test with probe - Subjects must come up with the associated word in response to the real probe or an independent probe - An independent probe is one that has an actual semantic relationship with the associated word
Describe organic amnesia.: Stressful precipitant: none Cause: temporal lobe injury Autobiographical memory: mildly impaired Personal identity: preserved New learning ability: severely impaired Everyday functioning: impaired
What is the implicit associations test? And what were the results?: The test involved showing a picture of one of the following: an African American, a harmless object, a European American, or a weapon. In the first trial, you had to press with your left finger if the picture was an African or a harmless object, and with the right finger if it was one of the other two. In the second trial, African and weapon were on the same finger, and European and harmless were on the other one. Results were that subjects were faster when AFRICAN and WEAPON were paired together. This uses priming as a MEASURE of implicit prejudices by how much faster one trial is over the other.
What is the mere exposure effect? And why does it exist?: More exposures usually INCREASES one's liking of neutral stimuli. BIG IF --> can't hate the stimulus to begin with Why? - Fluency = more we see something, the more familiar it is and the less we have to think about it - Reduced uncertainty
What are some pros and cons of scripts/schemas?: Pros: - They meaningfully organize concepts - They tell us what to expect and what unstated information we can infer Cons: - They sometimes limit our memory or understanding of a potentially vague situation - Can be misleading
What is a thematic organization point (TOP)?: It is a high-level analogies between instances that have similar structures but different in their details. Example -- music or story genres (all songs have the same structure but they are different in beat and lyrics which are details)
What is a memory organization packet (MOP)?: They are events or facts that can be shared across different schemas. Example -- paying, tipping, making an appointment
What are pointers?: They are specific details about an individual situation.
Describe the "spreading activation" view of semantic networks.: The spreading activation view says that one cue will cause activation to be spread throughout the network to all words and ideas that are associated with that cue. Evidence involves "semantic priming": - Subjects perform a lexical decision task in which they have to decide whether a probe is a word. Before the probe word, they will be given a "prime" word that is either related or unrelated to the probe. - Probes with related primes are verified MORE RAPIDLY than unrelated primes. - How much the "speed-up" is when you use a related pair is an indication of how strong of a connection exists
Describe the hierarchical organization viewpoint of semantic networks.: There is some evidence of a hierarchical organization: - Often, patients who lose the capacity to define words precisely may still be able to produce the appropriate superordinate category name (they know that a deer is an animal but may not be able to provide any other specifics about deer). There is evidence, but it is probably not the ultimate organization.
Describe the evidence of the impact of constraint on retrieval.: Constraint -- a more specific cue does a better job of reducing the number of possibilities one has to search through. Example: A subject is given one of two cues: 1) Name a fruit starting with the letter P 2) Name something starting with the letter P, that is a fruit - Cue #1 works better, because it provides a more specific cue that limits the number of possibilities.
Define the Whorfian hypothesis.: Says that language determines our perceptions and representations, and it determines one's view of the world.
Describe the Dani Tribe Color Chips experiment, and its effect on the Whorfian hypothesis.: Focal colors are the basic colors that are quickly and consistently named in the same way by most people. The Dani tribe people only have two words for color, which rougly correspond to "dark" and "light". If Whorf's hypothesis is correct, the Dani people should not be able to distinguish between focal colors as well, because language should determine perception. However, they were able to discriminate focal colors just as well as other people.
Define the "symbolic (or linguistic) fallacy". Give an example of it.: The symbolic fallacy describes a semantic memory system that is only concerned with the links between words. It involves being locked into the idea that words and the connections between them are the sole determinants of perception. Example: - When a child is learning to count, he can learn the numbers but won't understand what it means until it is removed from its abstractness and is actually used to count something.
How do we represent concepts: by words?: Experiment: - We categorize pictures faster than we name them (quicker saying "that's an animal" than "that's a dog") - Categorizing pictures is just as fast as categorizing words Therefore, it can't be the case that we represent concepts as words and then translate them to images
How do we represent concepts: by pictures?: Probably not by pictures. How do you have a picture of abstract concepts like "justice"?
How do we represent concepts: not words, not pictures, probably ________?: We probably store concepts in some "abstract code" which may be translated into a verbal/linguistic form or onto an image when necessary. People may differ in how they access/use the codes: - Some people may use imagery more, and others may use verbal methods more.
How are "retrieval" and "selection" controlled in the brain? Experiment?: Experiment: - Give subjects a list of concepts: "broccoli, lime, strawberry" - Subjects are asked to categorize these concepts on the basis of different categories (green ones, round, fruits, etc) Brain activity: - Activity in the lateral temporal lobe will decrease regardless of task, because it is involved in representing concepts, and the concepts AREN'T CHANGING - Activity and the frontal cortex will decreases if asked the same type of categorization twice - Activity in frontal lobes will INCREASE if asked a different type of categorization in successive questions.
How SPECIFIC are some brain areas in representing concepts?: PPA = solely to represent and process places FFA = solely involved in representing faces These ideas are VERY controversial --> it has been suggested that this is only related to those who have certain types of expertise (dog experts show FFA activation for dogs)
Describe the Nitsch experiment involving learning new concepts.: Subjects were made to learn new (fake) vocabulary by example: - Consistent context = all examples are about one context (i.e. about a restaurant) - Varied context = all examples are from a different context - Hybrid context = first couple are from same context, and later ones are varied Task 1: catergorizing a new example from the original context correctly - Varied context was HARD to learn with few examples - If many examples, all groups learned equally well Task 2: categorize a new example from a DIFFERENT context correctly - Hybrid context performed best
What is the bottom line of the Nitsch experiments involving learning new concepts?: It is best to start with consistency and establish structure Then --> increase diversity and generalization - Elaborative processing!
Define/explain the idea of change blindness.: Change blindness occurs when sensory memory fails to guide one's attention to find the difference between two similar stimuli. - You may not realize context changes - Having memory for where the changes are makes it hard to see them!
Describe the design and results of the Summerfield experiment on attention/memory.: - Subjects were shown scenes, and 2/3 of the scenes had a "target" object in them. - During the training task, each scene was shown 5 times, and each time the subject had to try to find the target object on their own. - Eye-tracking showed fewer eye movements after learning --> memory was directing attention to the target object using prior knowledge of where they found it. - As a scene was shown more times, the amount of time needed to locate the target object decreased
Describe the difference between the visual-orienting, and memory-orienting tasks in the Summerfield experiment, and what were the results of the two tasks?: Visual-orienting task: - One type of scene that was shown was a novel scene with no cue, and subject had to find the target object - Another type of scene was also a new scene, but this time a visual cue would be displayed that would direct the subject on where to look for the target object Memory-orienting task: - One scene was the same as the first scene in the visual-orienting task; new scene with no cue - Other scene was a previously viewed scene, for which memory acted as a cue for where to look for the target object Results: - The memory-based orienting aids search much more than a visual cue which directs the subject on where to look
What are the SHARED regions of brain activation for visual and memory orienting tasks?: - Mostly just remember that they use a shared network - Parietal regions are activated here - Also includes cingulate cortex and intraparietal sulcus
What are some cultural differences in the relationship between attention and memory?: Subjects were shown three types of pictures: - An object-only picture - A background-only picture - A combined picture Results: - Asians pay more attention to context information, whereas Westerners pay more attention to focal objects - More areas are more activated in Americans than in East Asians - Different regions are activated for background processing in East Asians and Americans
How do encoding specificity and explicit memory relate to attention?: If given a list of paired words (like "hope-high") and then asked to write down as many of the 2nd words as you can remember: - Then asked, what's the first word that comes to mind associated with "low"? - Then asked, did you study that word before? - Then asked, write down the word that you studied with "hope". You paid attention to the aspects of HIGH related to HOPE, so that's what you remember - Attention influences how well we will retrieve info - If retrieval process doesn't match encoding, performance declines
What was the Turke-Brown study, and what were their results regarding behavioral information?: -Subjects were shown pictures of scenes, and had to classify them as "indoor" or "outdoor" scenes. - Items were repeated to measure the effect of repeated viewings on reaction time - Then, at the end, given a recognition memory test where they were shown new and old pictures and asked to determine whether they had seen them before or not Results: - Responses were faster for repeated items --> PRIMING - Items that were later remembered on the recognition memory test showed MORE priming
Describe the neural activity results from the Turke-Brown study.: Greater INITIAL activation is seen for items that are later remembered vs. later forgotten - More activation when the item is seen the first time if it is to be remembered later on) Also, there are greater priming-related reductions - There is a correlational relationship between activation the first time and how much less activation you are going to have the second time you see the picture
Describe the findings on "tonic neural activity" from the Turke-Brown study.: Greater activity is seen in the brain before the presentation of items that are explicitly remembered later on. - More activation corresponded with how well you remembered it later - Make sure you are paying attention
Describe brain activation patterns seen when ignoring irrelevant information.: - More activation is seen when we are practicing active focused attention - There is simultaneous deactivation of regions that we want to inhibit - The harder the task, the more work needed to deactivate the irrelevant processes - The second time you see something, you won't have to deactivate as much
Define Balint's syndrome.: It is a neurological syndrome caused by bilateral damage to the posterior parietal and lateral occipital cortices, that has three hallmark symptoms: - Simultanagnosia - Optic ataxia - Oculomotor apraxia
Define retrograde and anterograde amnesia.: Retrograde amnesia = the loss of or inability to remember information that was previously stored in LTM Anterograde amnesia = the inability to store new information in LTM
Define source memory and item-recognition memory.: Source memory = memory for the context in which an item or event was previously encountered Item-recognition memory = memory that allows us to decide whether an item was previously encountered
Define the 7 memory sins.: 1) Tranisence = loss of accessibility of info over time 2) Absentmindedness = inattentive or shallow processing that contributes to weak memories of ongoing events or forgetting to do things in the future 3) Blocking = temporary inaccessibility of info that is stored in memory 4) Misattribution = attributing a recollection to the wrong source 5) Suggestibility = memories that are implanted as a result of leading questions or comments during attempts to recall past experiences 6) Bias = retrospective distortions and unconscious influences that are related to current knowledge/beliefs 7) Persistence = pathological remembrances that we wish to forget but we can't
Transience - what happens to the rate of forgetting over time?: Forgetting over time is best described mathematically as a power function. - The rate of forgetting is SLOWED by the passage of time
Describe the difference between availability and accessibility.: Availability: - Does the memory exist? - Hard to test in humans Accessibility: - Difficulties in "getting to" the memory - Does the cue elicit the memory?
What is the distinction between transience and absentmindedness?: - Transience can occur even when an event or fact is well-encoded and remembered immediately and can occur even when we deliberately search memory in an attempt to recall a specific event or fact - Absent-mindedness refers to forgetting that occurs because of the devotion of insufficient attention to the stimulus at the time of encoding or retrieval
What is the relationship between absent-mindedness and LOP?: - Divided attention at the time of encoding results in poor subsequent memory for target info - Even when attention is nominally devoted to a target item, subsequent memory suffers when encoding occurs at a shallow level
How do absent-mindedness and change blindness relate?: - People observe objects/scenes in which various features are changed over time - Change blindness occurs when people fail to detect those changes - Explanation is that people typically encode features of a scene at a shallow level
What is the timecourse of forgetting?: - Forgetting is rapid at first, but gradually slows down - Rate is more logarithmic than linear
What is Jost's law?: If two memory traces are equally strong at a given time, the older of the two will be more durable and forgotten less rapidly
Describe/explain the phenomenon of permastore.: - Things that are easy to learn and that are used a lot are the ones that are in the permastore - Example given involved foreign vocab learning --> whatever vocab you remember after ~3yrs will be stored with little forgetting for a long time
Describe the relationship between Jost's law and spontaneous recovery.: Example: moving and having to remember your new address - Your first address was well learned and well remembered - After moving, you start to forget the old one and remember the new one (extinction phase) - Eventually, the 2nd one begins to fade away, and the first one has already reached its permastore stage so it has leveled off - The 2nd address is forgotten more than the first one
What is the relationship between Jost's law and interference?: If you learn 2 things that are both associated with the same cue (i.e. two addresses) - If tested immediately after learning the 2nd one, you see RETROACTIVE INTERFERENCE - If you wait a while, you may see PROACTIVE INTERFERENCE
Describe the phenomenon: "something special about being #1".: Experiment involves taking a rat and doing classical conditioning on it --> teaching it fear in response to a bell - Then, you later associate the bell with food - This makes the rat happy and not scared - This is called "extinction" or "counter-conditioning" - If you wait one month, you will produce the FREEZING response again (1st association that was taught) *This also happens in the reverse order, so it's not just the fact that the 1st response was a fear response
Define and give examples of closed and open-loop skills.: Closed-loop skill = a continuous skill, in which each action provides a cue for the next action - Riding a bike Open-loop skill = a skill in which each action involves a separate response to a discrete stimulus - Typing on a keyboard
How do real-life tasks usually relate to closed and open-loop skills?: Most real-life tasks involve a mixture of closed-loop, open-loop, and declarative knowledge
How does learning change one's brain (i.e. rookies vs. experts): - Brain volume differences are seen between novices, amateur musicians, and professional musicians - These differences can be lost over time without practice, however
What are two factors that contribute to a resistance to forgetting?: 1) If a cue has multiple associations, then it is more difficult to separate out the different associations and to remember all of them - However, if a cue only has one association, then it will be more resistant to forgetting 2) Rehearsal and distributed practice -- help to strengthen the connection between a cue and its association, and helps decrease forgetting ** Relationships & distinctiveness
In order to remember something the best, you need both _____1_____ and _____2_____.: 1) Relations 2) Distinctiveness - Something that has many relations but is not very distinctive will be easy to get to, but harder to separate out specific info - Something that is very distinctive but has few relations will be harder to get to, but easier to find specific info once you get there - Therefore, a combination of both is ideal
Identify and explain the two theories of forgetting.: 1) Decay -- memory seems to fade over time - Evidence exists from amnesics; things that happened close to injury were not as well consolidated, so were more likely to fade with time - Some amnesics show worse knowledge for low-frequency than for high-freq words 2) Interference -- memory traces are disrupted or obscured by subsequent learning - Proactive interference occurs when you are initially trying to learn something that already has another cue associated with it - Retroactive interference occurs when you have just learned multiple things; the newer information gets in the way of the older information
Relate the ideas of decay and interference to availability and accessibility.: Availability - does the memory exist? - This is similar to decay: memory fades over time, so it may not even be available anymore Accessibility - difficulties in "getting to" the memory - This relates to interference, because something is blocking the info and not making it accessible
Describe the ideas of cue overload and response competition, and how they relate to interference.: Situation: a cue has some well-learned associations with it - If you try to learn new material associated with that cue, it is initially difficult to do --> this is PI - As you start to learn the new material and develop better connections, you initially see retroactive interference - You experience a change in accessibility, with the newer material having a stronger connection at first
Describe the changes in retroactive and proactive interference over time: - Retroactive = FADES over time - Proactive = becomes more severe over time
Describe the idea of unlearning (relating to forgetting and interference): Unlearning is another way in which people explain forgetting (response competition/cue overload is the other one) - Initially you have a strong connection to #1 - As you learn #2, connection to 2 becomes stronger and older connections weaken and disappear - PROBABLY doesn't happen in humans
What 3 factors determine how different responses compete with one another?: 1) Similarity - The more similar cues are, the harder to tell apart - This is seen with the "release from PI" phenomenon 2) Strength of connection - Often, in response to a cue, a first, habitual response comes to mind and is very hard to overcome 3) Number of connections
Describe the McGeogh and McDonald studies involving proactive and retroactive interference (ABC lists).: Proactive interference test: - Two groups --> control and PI - In first trial, controls "rested" and PI group learned an AB list - Next, both groups learned an AC list (A words from AB list but associated with new, C cues) - Asked for a response from AC list, and recorded how many people in the PI group showed PI from the AB list - PI group DID show proactive interference Retroactive interference: - In first trial, both groups learned AB list - In second trial, controls "rested" and RI group learned AC list - This time, asked for response from AB list, giving a measure of RI - Controls remembered more than the RI group
Why don't experts exhibit massive interference?: - Their knowledge is more organized - They can conduct more specific searches
Describe the phenomenon of part-set cueing.: In class, we learned words from each of 4 categories (birds, insects, footwear, and fish). - Then asked to recall as many words from each list as we could. - When given some of the words from, say, the footwear list, it was actually TOUGHER to remember the other words that weren't given - This is part-set cueing
Describe the phenomenon of retrieval inhibition, and the experiment that demonstrated it.: Subjects studied ALL items from word lists associated with two different cues (red and food). - Some words were associated with both cues (like "cherry"). - During practice, they only retrieved SOME items from ONE category - They did not study ANY items shared with the non-studied category - For example, if they only practiced some words from the category "red", tomato would not be one of the words that they practiced, because it also falls in the non-practiced category (food) The test was: given the category name, come up with as many as possible - Things related to the studied category (red) are well-remembered ONLY if practiced - Unpracticed red words are PUSHED DOWN AND SUPPRESSED - Also, among the non-practiced category (food) words that were NOT related to red were remembered better than words that WERE related to red (note that neither of these words were studied anyway, but there is still a difference in recall) - This suggests CUE-INDEPENDENT FORGETTING

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