Working Memory
What is working memory?
Working memory specifically is the ability to keep information active in mind over a brief delay
What is episodic memory?
Conscious memory of past life events
Explain non-declarative memory (in three words)
Unconscious knowledge systems
What term is used to describe the weakening of memory traces due to the passage of time?
Decay
Which patient is important to the study of working memory, and why?
Patient H.M. demonstrates that long term memory and working memory are organized differently in the brain
What is the difference between anterograde and retrograde amnesia?
Anterograde Amnesia is the inability to remember new events. Retrograde amnesia is the inability to recollect memories acquired before the brain injury
What is ‘priming’?
A facilitative change or bias in the ability to identify, generate, or process a stimulus due to a specific prior encounter with the stimulus
Explain ‘cue availability’
Cue availability is the lack of effective retrieval cues
What have neural measures shown, and why does this occur?
Neural measures show that there are individual differences in controlling access to working memory due to low capacity individuals being worse at sorting through less important information
What are the stages of an episodic memory?
encoding/learning (forming a memory representation) → consolidation (episodic memories are transformed over time) → retrieval/remembering (bringing the representation back in mind)
What specific type of information do we extract from our environment, even if not consciously aware?
Statistical regularities
What is interference, otherwise known as ‘blocking’, and why is it vital in understanding forgetting?
Memory retrieval is competitive. Disrupted target memory retrieval is due to the presence of competing memories
Explain the difference between neuropsychological studies and neurophysiology studies.
Neuropsychological studies (lesion studies) can establish causation, though they have low spatial resolution and specificity, and do not account for function reorganization. Neurophysiology studies record the activity of a single or group of neurons, allowing for high spatial resolution, though it does not test causation and has a limited field of view
What is the importance of the hippocampus in complementary learning systems?
Even if areas of the brain are directly connected, the cortex cannot bind overlapping factors together (ie names and faces) quickly. So they need the hippocampus!
What are three factors which influence how effective practice is?
Spacing, variability, feedback
What is the term to describe the process of the retrieval of one memory results in the weakening of competing memories such that they become less accessible in recovery?
Inhibition (otherwise known as suppression)