Lectures 1-3
How do we measure how a single neuron responds to a stimulus?
Firing rate: how frequently it fires in response to something
Using microelectrodes
What is chunking, and what is working memory capacity?
Chunking: small units can be combined into larger meaningful units to increase working memory capacity
WM capacity: how much you can hold in working memory
What is the hippocampus required for?
Episodic memory (and complex short-term memory)
What is consolidation?
Consolidation transforms new memories from a fragile state to more permanent state
What is autobiographical memory, and when does the reminiscence bump occur?
•Autobiographical memory: Memory for specific experiences from our life, which can include both episodic and semantic components
•Reminiscence bump: enhanced memory for events between 10 and 30 years of age
What does the ventral stream process, and what does the dorsal stream process?
Both process visual information
Ventral: what something is (e.g., object recognition)
Dorsal: spatial information
What are overt and covert attention?
•Overt attention: when you move your eyes to a location and attend to that location
•Covert attention: When you shift your attention without moving your eyes
Describe encoding, retention, and retrieval
Encoding: acquiring information and transforming it into memory
Retention (aka maintenance): the period of time between encoding and retrieval
Retrieval: recalling or recognizing retained information encoded previously
What is the name of the encoding principle that states that spending more time learning will improve memory?
Total time (principle)
Describe retrograde and anterograde amnesia
Retrograde amnesia: loss of episodic memory for events that occurred prior to injury
Anterograde amnesia: inability to form new memories (after brain damage)
How do behaviorism and cognitive psychology differ, and what are examples of evidence against behaviorism?
Behaviorists propose that all of our behavior is driven by reinforcement, not cognitive processing, and that trying to study mental processes is pointless
Evidence against behaviorism:
* Tolman's cognitive maps
* Chomsky's argument about language learning
What are short-term memory (according to current research), working memory, and sensory memory?
Short-term memory is just an umbrella term that includes working memory and sensory memory
Sensory memory: initial stage that holds all incoming information for seconds or fractions of a second
Working memory: limited-capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information
Describe procedural memory, priming, and conditioning
All are types of implicit memory
Procedural memory: memory for actions and skills
Priming: a change in behavior towards a stimulus as a result of past experience
Conditioning: stimulus-response associations
What is the retrieval practice effect?
Retrieval practice effect: testing yourself on information improves memory for it
What are ways to prevent/slow memory decline in aging?
1) Exercise
2) Minimize stress
3) Eat a brain-healthy diet (less saturated fat, less red meat, more antioxidants, more fruits and vegetables, more nuts and seeds)
What are the three main cognitive neuroscience methods categories (used to localize function), and what types of methods are included in each category?
Neuropsychology: examining patients with brain damage
Psychophysiology: measuring brain's electrical activity (includes EEG, MEG, ECoG)
Neuroimaging: measuring bloodflow to create an image of the brain (fMRI, PET)
Bayesian inference proposes that we make inferences by combining our pre-existing beliefs and knowledge with current evidence
Prior: our pre-existing beliefs/knowledge
Describe the serial position curve
Describe the primacy and recency effect, and what causes them
Serial position curve: how well people remember words based on the word’s position in the list
Primacy effect: memory is better for stimuli presented at the beginning of a list (caused by rehearsal)
Recency effect: memory is better for stimuli presented at the end of a list (caused by short term memory)
What is the distributed vs massed practice encoding principle?
Distributed vs massed practice: spreading out practice leads to better learning
Describe the reasons for forgetting
•Decay theory: memory traces are eroded by the passage of time
•Interference theory: older memories are more difficult to retrieve because there is more competition from other memories
What are 3 examples of bottom-up processing, and 3 examples of top-down processing?
Bottom up: salient information, motion, changes and abrupt onsets, and powerful stimuli
Top-down: memory, goals, knowledge, expectations, reward and motivation
What are fixations, saccades, and scanpaths?
•Fixation: when your eyes stop and take in information
•Saccade: moving your eyes from one place to another
•Scanpath: the series of fixations and saccades one makes on a given stimulus
Episodic memory: Memory for a specific, personal experience that often feels like reliving
Recognition and recall are both types of episodic memory
Recall: Retrieval in the absence of the stimulus to be remembered (e.g., describe someone from memory)
Recognition: Retrieval in the presence of the stimulus to be remembered (e.g., Have you seen this person before?)
What is the levels of processing encoding principle?
Levels of processing: deeper or more meaningful processing leads to better memory
Examples of shallow processing (bad for encoding):
•Repeating something over and over to remember it
•Paying attention to what something sounds or looks like
•Memorizing a statement without knowing what it means
Examples of deep processing (good for encoding):
•Thinking about how something relates to you, or how it relates to other information
•Thinking about what the information means
•Applying information
How does aging affect different types of memory?
Episodic memory declines:
•Recall is more disrupted by aging than recognition is
•Recollection is more disrupted by aging than familiarity is
Semantic memory does NOT decline
Implicit memory does NOT decline