COGNITIVE LE

VEL OF

ANALYSIS

L O N G - TE R M M

E M O R Y

DO NOW

Get in rows and columns and start studying for the quiz you have today! You have 5 minutes…

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE RETENTION OF INFORMATION

• Elaborate• Generate and test• Organize• Match learning and testing

conditions

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE RETENTION OF INFORMATION

• Associate what you are learning to what you already know

• Avoid the “illusion of learning”

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE RETENTION OF INFORMATION

Take breaks Memory is better for multiple short study sessions

(spacing effect) Consolidation

Distributed versus massed practice effect Difficult to maintain close attention throughout a long

study session Studying after a break gives feedback about what you

already know

OTHER FACTORS THAT AID ENCODING

Creating connections, cues for remembering Organizing to-be-remembered information

Capitalize on retrieval cue → word or other stimulus that aids recall for other words in that category

ENCODING SPECIFICITYWe learn information together with its contextBaddeley’s (1975) “diving experiment” Best recall occurred when encoding and retrieval occurred in the same

location

Grant et al.’s (1998) “studying” experiment

STATE-DEPENDENT LEARNINGLearning is associated with a particular internal state

Eich & Metcalfe (1989)

Two days

LONG-TERM MEMORY

Long-term memory (LTM) = system that is responsible for storing information for extended periods of time

“Archive” of information about past events and knowledge learned

Storage stretches from a few moments ago to as far back as one can remember

LTMLarge capacity to hold

information Information held for an

extended period of time

STM/WMRelatively small capacity

to hold information Information held for

relatively brief period of time

Emphasis on manipulating information

LTM & STM/WM

Dynamic interaction during a conversation: hold exact wording in mind (WM) and simultaneously access information regarding the content/context (LTM)

LONG-TERM MEMORY: PROVE IT…

Korsakoff’s syndrome

Chronic alcoholism/deficiency of vitamin B1Results in destruction of frontal and temporal lobesSTM generally intact

Retention of information for seconds is okayRetrograde amnesia

Loss of ability to recall some past eventsAnterograde amnesia

Loss of ability to develop and retain new memory Inability to recognize people just met

LTM: DOUBLE DISSOCIATION

Surgical removal of bilateral hippocampus

Contracted herpes simplex encephalitis → brain (hippocampus) was attacked

Unclear: “Encephalopathy” = disorder of the brain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwigmktix2Y Clive Wearing: accomplished musician, seemed aware that he had children, had a sense of doctors,

remembered how to play the piano…

“HM”: Henry Gustav Molaison (1926-2008)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/us/05hm.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

SERIAL POSITION CURVE

Murdoch (1962) proposed the idea of a serial position curveMemory better for stimuli presented at the beginning and end of the list

Primacy effect Superior memory for stimuli presented at the beginning of a

sequence More time to rehearse, more likely to enter LTM

Recency effect Superior memory for stimuli presented at the end of a

sequence Most recently presented words are still in STM

Murdoch, 1962

To LTM??

In STM??

At least one imaging study has demonstrated different patterns of activation for words with early and late serial positions (see Talmi et al., 2005)

There is debate regarding whether different patterns of activation should be observer

CODING IN LONG-TERM MEMORY

Visual coding Recognize an individual based on their appearanceAuditory coding Recognize a person based on their voiceSemantic coding You remember the gist or meaning of something that happened

Predominant type; remember meaning not exact wording

TYPES OF LONG-TERM MEMORY*****

declarativeNon-declarative

TYPES OF LONG-TERM MEMORY: EXPLICIT/CONSCIOUS

Episodic involves mental time travel No guarantee of accuracy Mental time travel: the experience of traveling back in time to reconnect with

events that happenedSemantic does not involve mental time travel General knowledgeEpisodic and semantic show a double dissociation

The experience of traveling back in time to reconnect with events that happened

SEPARATION OF EPISODIC AND SEMANTIC MEMORIES

“K.C.” damaged hippocampus and related areas after involvement in a motorcycle accident

Semantic memory intact, can remember general information about the pastHe is aware that his brother died

No episodic memory, cannot relive any events of his pastHe is unable to recall where he was when his brother passed away

SEPARATION OF EPISODIC AND SEMANTIC MEMORIES

“Italian woman” suffered an attack of encephalitis (inflammation of brain)

Impaired semantic memoryCouldn’t remember meanings of words on the shopping list or location of items in the store

Episodic memory for past events was preservedCould recall daily events and what she accomplished months before

SEPARATION OF EPISODIC AND SEMANTIC MEMORIES

Retrieving episodic and semantic memories activate different brain regions

Activated with autobiographical memories (episodic)

Activated by facts (semantic)

Levine et al. (2003)

EPISODIC SEMANTIC

Episodic can be lost, leaving semantic Acquiring knowledge may start as episodic →“fade” to semantic

Semantic can be enhanced if associated with episodic

Personal semantic memory: semantic memories that have personal significance More likely to recall Cleveland Browns players form the mid-

1980s because I attended/watched games with family/friends

TYPES OF LONG-TERM MEMORY: IMPLICIT/UNCONSCIOUS****

Implicit: non-declarative memory that unconsciously influences behavior (nonknowing memory)

Priming Procedural memory Classical conditioning

PRIMING

Repetition priming: presentation of one stimulus affects performance on that stimulus when it is presented again

Seeing the word bird may cause you to respond more rapidly to another presentation of the word bird

Conceptual priming: enhancement caused by the priming stimulus is based on the meaning of the stimulus

Presentation of the word animal might cause you to respond more rapidly to later presentation of the word bird

PRIMING: WHY IT MATTERS/WHAT IT ILLUSTRATES

Graf et al. (1985) Three groups: (1) medical inpts, (2) pts undergoing ALC txment, (3)

amnestic pts Rate word preference 1 to 5 Tested: (1) recall words [explicit], (2) given a three-letter fragment and

asked to add letters to create the first word that comes to mind

Key point: Priming can occur even when there is little explicit memory

IMPLICIT MEMORY

Warrington and Weiskrantz (1968)

Korsakoff’s syndrome patientsSTM semi-intact; LTM impaired

Showed fragmented pictures, participant had to identify the object

Sequentially shown more and more complete versions of the picture until it was recognizable

Tested day after day

IMPLICIT MEMORY IN EVERYDAY EXPERIENCE

Perfect and Askew (1994)

Propaganda effect: more likely to rate statements read or heard before as being trueImplications for advertisementsImplications for campaigns

IMPLICIT MEMORY: PROCEDURAL MEMORY

Procedural memory is sometimes referred to as skill memory (memory for actions)

No memory of where or when learned

Perform procedures without being consciously aware of how to do them

People who cannot form new LTMs can still learn new skills (e.g., H.M.)

IMPLICIT MEMORY: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Pairing a neutral stimulus with a reflexive response

REVIEW

Next week:-Ways to improve encoding and retrieval of information-Changes in the brain associated with forming memories-Integration with SL

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY (AM)Recollected events that belong to a person’s pastEpisodic memory for events from our life plus

personal semantic memories of facts about our lives

Multidimensional Spatial, emotional, and sensory components

Visual experience often plays a significant role in forming and retrieving AM

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORYCabeza et al (2004) Compared brain activation caused by autobiographical memory and

laboratory memory

Participants viewed pictures of Duke University Photographs they took (A-photos) Photographs taken by someone else

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY

Both types of photos activated brain structures associated with Episodic memory Processing scenes

Photographs participants took also activated brain structures associated with

PROCESSING INFO ABOUT THE SELF Memory for visual space Mental time travel memory

Areas in the parahippocampal gyrus that were activated by the A-photos and the L-photos: Activation was much greater for the A-photos.

Parietal cortex showing similar areas activated by both the A-photos and the L-photos during the memory test.

MEMORY OVER THE LIFESPANWhat events are remembered well? Significant events in a person’s life Highly emotional events

REMINISCENCE BUMPParticipants over the age of 40 asked to recall events in their

lives

Memory highest for recent events and for events that occurred in adolescence and early adulthood (between 10 and 30 years of age)

REMINISCENCE BUMPHypotheses about the reminiscence bump

REMINISCENCE BUMP

Self-image hypothesis Memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person’s self-image or life

identity is being formed People assume identities during adolescence and young adulthood

Many transitions occur between ages 10 and 30

REMINISCENCE BUMPCognitive hypothesis Encoding is better during periods of rapid change that are followed by

stability

REMINISCENCE BUMP

• Cultural life-script hypothesis• Each person has

• A personal life story• An understanding of culturally expected events’

• Personal events are easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script

• Self-image: period of assuming person’s self-image• Cognitive: encoding is better during periods of rapid change• Cultural life script: culturally shared expectations structure recall

MEMORY FOR EMOTIONAL STIMULI

Emotional events remembered more easily and vividlyEmotion improves memory, recall may become greater with time Enhance consolidation process?Key structure: amygdala

LaBar & Phelps (1998) Tested ability to immediately recall arousing words and neutral wordsDolcos et al. (2005) Tested ability to recall emotional and neutral pictures a year after initial

presentation

FLASHBULB MEMORIES

Memory for circumstances surrounding shocking, highly charged important events

Typically, we “recall” where we were, and what we were doing

FLASHBULB MEMORIES

Key features of our flashbulb memories:

How do you evaluate flashbulb memories?

FLASHBULB MEMORIES

Talarico & Rubin (2003): Decrease in the number of details remembered was similar for memories of 9/11 and an everyday event; belief that memory was accurate remained high for 9/11, but decreased for everyday event.

FLASHBULB MEMORIES

Davidson et al. (2006) Shortly after, asked numerous questions surrounding 9/11:

“How did you hear about the news?” “Who was present?”

Same questions asked about significant event that occurred days prior to 9/11

Memories for 9/11more resistant to fading after a year than memory for other events that occurred around that time

FLASHBULB MEMORIES

Narrative rehearsal hypothesis Repeated viewing/hearing of event after initial exposure can potentially

impact memory Watching news coverage, discussing the event with others, etc… Could introduce errors in own memory