Psych346 - study guide
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- Desirable Difficulty and Metacognition
- o Desirable Difficulty: • It is the term we used to describe the conditions that make things slower and harder to learn, meaning it’s more difficult at first. However, it’s desirable because if you put in the effort to work through the difficulty when first learning it, improve long term learning; it increases comprehension and deep understanding of the topic. Also, you’ll be able to apply it to new situations. • Example: reading through notes is easy to do and quizzing yourself is harder, but it will help with long term learning. • Caveat: Must be attainable. o Metacognition and the Illusion of Knowing: • Metacognition is the idea that you don’t know what you know. • This is the problem with desirable difficulty. • *Conditions that lead to fast/easy learning and good remembrance, ultimately lead to poor long term memory and generalization • Blocked vs. spaced Practice • Concrete vs. Abstract
- Double Dissociation
- Variable A= _____ Variable B= _____ Variable A affects function ______ Variable B affects function ______ *If A and B have different effects on functions 1 and 2, then it's a double dissociation.
- Nyberg and Tulving: Types of Dissociations and Memories
- ⬢ Semantic ⬢ Episodic ⬢ PRS/Priming ⬢ Procedural o Types of Dissociations: ⬢ Functional = changing one variable ⬢ Developmental = comparing different age groups ⬢ Brain Damage = comparing those with brain damage and those without ⬢ Pharmacological = comparing drug effects
- Tulving's Classification System and Squire's Classification System
- o Tulving’s Classification System: • Tulving divides things up by asking: Can you say it happens to me? • Episodic – autonoetic – have a personal experience for it • Semantic – noetic – you have the knowledge or you don’t, but you don’t have a personal tie to it. • Procedural and Priming – anoetic – unconscious memory o Squires Classification System • Looked to divide things up by Declarative vs. Nondeclarative (if you need conscious memory or not) • Declarative: Memory for facts and events. Requires the hippocampus. o Semantic – Memory for facts o Episodic – Memory for Events • Nondeclarative: Learning and memory that do not require conscious changes. o Procedural/Skills o Priming o Disspositions o Nonassociative
- Long Term Potentiation
- o A process by which repeated electrical stimulus to a nerve’s axon led to an increase in the size of the potential generated by that neuron at the synapse. • Think of brother in back seat of a car… o This repeated electrical stimulus eventually makes the synaptic transmission more effective o LTP strongly represented in the hippocampus and surrounding regions. This is important to note because these regions are important for long term memory. Therefore, LTP correlates with long term memory. o Studies on LTP: Morris Water Maze • There was a bucket of water with a series of items in them as well as a platform located just below the surface. • Rats were put into the water and swam around until the found the platform. • After doing this multiple times, they quickly learned where the platform was and eventually could find it very quickly. • However, rats that had lesions to the hippocampus could not find that platform as readily, indicating that the hippocampus is involved in spatial learning. • In a second study, instead of being lesioned, the rats were administered a drug called AP5 which blocks the induction of LTP in the hippocampus. As the dosage increases, the effects of spatial learning does too (decreases). o Other studies: • Drugs that enhance synaptic transmission → enhance learning and LTP
- Sperling and Sensory Memory
- o Sperling looked at sensory memory…specifically iconic memory. o Iconic Memory: is the type of memory term that is applied to the VERY brief storage of visual information. o The Experiment: • Briefly presented a visual array of letters (12 letters, 3 rows of 4) and then asked for a recall • Results: people were able to remember 4-5 items, but they had this illusion that they saw this whole thing before they could actually report what they saw • To avoid this problem of forgetting during reporting, Sperling had them recall fewer letters. However, he didn’t tell them in advance which ones he wanted. • He required that they only had to recall 1 of the 3 lines. To indicate which line, he gave a tone (different tone for different row). • Because he didn’t tell them in advance which row he wanted, he required them to look at all of the letters and therefore could be represented as a whole picture. (Multiply score by 3). However, needed to be tested immediately. • Output Interference: Maybe the loss is due to the fact that we loose information as we’re “outputting†information. • Could be another factor, too: Retina. They have a sensory storage, too. When you stimulate them, they hold for a bit. • Masking: A process by which perception/storage of a stimulus is influenced by events either right before (forward masking) or more commonly after (backward masking) • The brighter the light during the interval, the poorer the performance. o Occurs with same eye → suggesting interference before eyes combine information o Bright light: field mask → between sensory process and sensory storage • Countour-based Mask o Occurs when presented to different eyes → suggesting the interference happens during storage after the 2 eyes combine information o “Scribbled†→ between sensory storage and pattern recogntion. o In essence, you’re “scribbling out†the patterns.
- - What seems to be “special†or different about flashbulb memories, what properties and processes seem to be shared with event memories
- o Flashbulb Memories: • They are usually rich and full of detail. People think that they have very vivid memories. They’re usually associated with a high degree of emotionality and consequentiality. • Confidence remains high even though consistency/accuracy declines. • There are no good predictors for flashbulb memories, but attention to media and ensuing conversations are predictors for event memories. o Properties and Processes Shared with Event Memories: • People forget flashbulb and event memories at similar rates… fast in the beginning and then it slows down (when retention is 1-3 years)
- Emotional vs. Detail memory and the brain
- o This is the Sharon et al experiment. • Looked at if you lived near/far from the towers and which parts of your brain were activated when recalling memories of the events vs. summer events. o Results: • People closer to the WTC had more of an activation in the amygdala (associated with emotion, fear), and less activation in the parahippocampal (associated with details.) Therefore, there was more activation for emotion rather than for detail. • Nevertheless, this is not a “now-print†mechanism because they don’t test anything to do with accuracy, but it fits well with the data suggesting emotion influences memory.
- Problems with the Modal Model
- o 1. We don’t go around rehearsing information, yet we can still remember things. According to the modal model, you rehearse in the short term store which moves it to the permanent long term store. o 2. Brain damaged patients. • Patients with impaired short term memory, but normal long term memory (and vice versa). According to the modal model, this shouldn’t be possible, because they are supposed to have to use their short term memory to get to their long term memory. o 3. Levels of Processing: maintains that learning depends on the way in which material is processed, rather than just time in short term storage, as the modal model suggests. The modal model suggests that simply holding items in the short-term store would guarantee learning.
- Evidence FOR and AGAINST short term/long term storage
- • Patients KF and PV vs. HM and KC • Patients with impaired short term memory, but normal long term memory (and vice versa). According to the modal model, this shouldn’t be possible, because they are supposed to have to use their short term memory to get to their long term memory. Therefore, they must be separate because how could one part be impaired, while the other is still in tact. • Maybe the real problem is that they have difficulty with relations and less about LTM and STM o Task: shown a picture of a room. They were asked if they had seen the picture before, and if yes, has anything moved. • Amnesiacs and controls about the same for saying, “Yes, I’ve seen that before.†• However, even for when they JUST saw the picture (STM) … same goes for long term memory…they had a hard time saying if something moved. • Serial Position Curve: Primacy and Recency Effect • Primacy effect: A tendency for the first few items in a sequence to be better recalled than most of the following items (Suggests Long Term Memory) • Recency Effect: A tendency of the last few items in a sequence to be well recalled (suggests short term memory) o Reinterpretation: Recency effects can occur under conditions in which the short term trace is thought to be disrupted. Also, recency effects have been demonstrated over longer intervals. • Because the recency effect are found across a wide range of situations, with some cases being disrupted for a few seconds while others persist for months, suggests that the recency effect isn’t just due to ONE type of memory storage. Instead, it takes advantage of the fact that most recent items are easiest to recall. • Brown Petersen Task • The Task: Read and memorize letters; compute sum; recall the sum and letters o The longer you made people pay attention to the sum, the worse the recall got. Studies that showed the numbers did not interfere with letters because they were not similar. Therefore, this fading must be due to a short term memory goes away. • Reinterpretation: o However, then showed that on the first trial do not get worse over time. This study using nonsense syllables, showed that it didn’t matter how long the delay is with the trial. This is evidence that there is not a separate short term, because if there was a short term store, then it should matter. They showed that there are more problems in the later trials. This called this proactive interference….having a harder time recalling due to the fact that you have all of this other “stuff†in your head. o Then there was a test that looked at words that are phonologically or semantically similar. If they are semantically related This is the same thing for phonological/semantic coding. o or semantically similar.. if hsow that semantically similar than switch… • Acoustic/Phonologic vs. Semantic Codes • Originally thought that it was phonological codes that influences short term memory and semantics didn’t. Phonological codes don’t rely on long term memory… therefore, they are different stores. • However, they showed that when they changed the categories (semantics), then performance got better. This showed that it is based on a semantic code and that there are not separate short term and long term memories. …because semantics requires you to remember things from your long term memory.
- Phonological Similarity Effect
- • Remembering the sequence of 5 dissimilar words is easier than remembering the sequence of 5 similar words. (similar meaning isn’t a big factor) • Affected by articulatory suppression for words that are read (because need loop to hear the words) • Articulatory suppression does NOT affect words that presented verbally (because goes straight to buffer) • The effect is removed when lists are increased in length and participants are allowed several trials (similarity of meaning becomes more important in these circumstances). • Phonological similarity effect happens for words that are presented visually, too. • Under articulatory suppression, because you can’t pronounce the words, it doesn’t matter if they are phonologically similar or not under articulatory suppression, but similar and dissimilar sounding words will be retained at a lower and equal level.
- The Word Length Effect
- • As word length increases, performance for remembering words decreases. • Articulatory suppression takes away the word length effect, because under articulatory suppression, you can’t rehearse the words, so it doesn’t matter how long the words are. • This disruption occurs regardless of whether they are presented visually or auditorially.
- Separability of Visual and Spatial Components of VSSP
- ⬢ Spatial memory: where? ⬢ Spatial Task: Block tapping task ⬢ Object memory: what? ⬢ Classical visual Task: put block in Grid ⬢ Evidence for the separation between these 2: ⬢ When asked to do a task that potentially intereferes with one of these tasks, then that is reduced. Example: pattern span is more disrupted by a visual processing task such as viewing shapes, rather than a spatial task.
- Acoustic/Phonologic vs. Semantic Codes
- • Originally thought that it was phonological codes that influences short term memory and semantics didn’t. Phonological codes don’t rely on long term memory… therefore, they are different stores. • However, they showed that when they changed the categories (semantics), then performance got better. This showed that it is based on a semantic code and that there are not separate short term and long term memories. …because semantics requires you to remember things from your long term memory.
- 1.explicit > implicit 2.implicit > explicit 3. Phonological Store 4. Phonological Rehearsal 5.Spatial Storage 6. Object Storage 7. Executive
- 1. medial temporal lobe 2. Caudate 3. Parietal, Broca's Area 4. Broca's Area, left premotor/sma 5. Right premotor 6. Right DLPFC 7. Anterior Cingulate, DLPFC
- o Broca’s: o Right DLPFC o Right Premotor o Left Premotor o SMA o Parietal/ BA40 o Anterior Cingulate
- o Broca’s: Phonological loop o Right DLPFC: Object storage o Right Premotor: Spatial Storage o Left Premotor: Phonological loop o SMA: Phonological Loop o Parietal/ BA40: Phonological Storage o Anterior Cingulate: executive
- Baddeley's Classical Model and his revisions
- o Baddeley’s classical model went the completely opposite way of the Modal Model, saying that they are completely separate systems (whereas the Modal Model said that the long term is dependent on the short term memory). o His classical model included the executive function which oversaw the phonological loop (verbal) and VSSP (spatial/object). o However, certain studies showed evidence against this model. • Example: House and face scanned.. Showed that there were similar brain activations for short term and long term memory. Therefore, they can’t be separate systems. • Therefore, Baddeley had to rethink his model. o Modifications: • Added the episodic buffer • Added arrows of communication • Now his models show that they are still independent systems, but they influence each other. Episodic Buffer: multidimensional code..helps bind components together. It's the communication between short term and long term.
- Fluid vs. Crystallized
- Fluid: attention, short term storage, no long term changes...seen in the VSSP, episodic buffer, and phonological loop Crystallized:can hold onto long term knowledge...seen in visual semantics, episodic long term and language
- Types of Executive Processes
- 1. Attention and Inhibition 2. Task management 3. Planning 4. Monitoring 5. Coding - especially with regards to time and space (episodic buffer)
- 4 Types of Classical Conditioning
- o 1. Delayed → works best because can predict the stimulus o 2. Simultaneous → doesn’t allow for any prediction o 3. Backwards → bad o 4. Trace → normal people learn it and amnesics eventually do, but it requires you to keep a trace of the stimulus in mind. Can’t be too far away or won’t make associations. **requires the hippocampus to be working properly
- Operant Conditioning
- • Positive Reinforcement – encourage/hug • Negative Reinforcement – take away from stimulus • Positive Punishment – spanking (doing something) • Negative Punishment – Remove favorite toy (take something away that is good) • **Best way to make it unpredictable is: variable ratio → vary the rewards/punishment, so they don’t know when to expect something…most durable memory
- Circadian Influences on Memory and Learning
- 1. children and older adults are usually morning people 2. young adults are typically evening people 3. Explicit memory (recall, vocab) is best on your peak hours 4. If want to test implicit memory, then do it at offpeak hours when implicit memory won't be affected by explicit. **changes matter more for fluid tasks (digit span and block design) as opposed to crystallized (vocab)
- 2 Brain regions in competition with each other during skill learning
- 1. medial temporal lobe (explicit) 2. caudate (implicit)
- Variables that influence borth primacy portion of serial position curve and other LTM tasks
- 1. rate of presentation 2. word frequency - familiar words are easier. 3. imageability of words 4. age of participant. 5. physiological state
- 4 Characteristics of a serial Position Curve
- 1. Primacy effect 2. Recency effect 3. As length of list increases, ability to recall an individual item.. probability decreases, but probability to recall more items increases. 4. primacy effect goes away when delay filled with activity such as counting
- 2 major problems with the phonological loop
- 1. doesn't account for serial order 2. no clear specification for how we retreive information from the loop
- 2 components of Central Executive
- 1. Automatic - based on existing habits 2. SAS - limited central executive
- Problems Baddeley's Model couldn't seem to handle
- 1. phonological loop holds ~2, while the digit span is 7 2. imagery isn't dependent on VSSP 3. LTM and STM interactions