PSYCH 202 1st Edition Lecture 5 Introduction to Memory Processes o From learning to memory Learning and social adaptation depend on our memory capacities When learning occurs memories specific types of knowledge seen in different patterns of motor emotional and verbal behavior are established There is no learning without memory When memories are destroyed what was learned is altered fundamentally o Memories don t involve one specific part of brain Some specific memories are more activated in some parts of the brain over others o Cerebellum interpositive nucleus o Physical reality of memory memories make lasting alterations in structure and function of central nervous system Psychologists have called these physical traces of memory Engrams 3 types of Engrams or memory traces Procedural knowledge of memory what you know how to do in behavior Semantic or declarative knowledge or memory what you know as verbally represented Episodic memory recollection of experiences stories another types of verbal or declarative knowledge process Engrams determine your personal perspective on life Condition stimulus Originally had no meaning but then is associated with something you learned You don t have to learn how to blink or flinch for ex when sand blows in your eyes Where exactly are our memories our engrams Karl Lashley trained rate to learn mazes then removed increasingly large areas of cortex His conclusion memory is not localized in any specific area of brain Implication memories are distributed across areas of cortex Zimbardo suggests perhaps Lashley was correct about the location of complex memories but the conclusion may not apply to simple memories Experiment on specific location of one classically conditioned memory o o o o o o o Richard Thompson s work with rabbits suggests simple memories may be localized rather precisely He maps the electrical activity of nerve cells that relate to an actual learned behavior as demonstrated in a particular classical conditioning process Picture notes Engram It is historical term for the elusive physical trace of memory LTM Anatomy in Thompson s experiment the memory for the conditional response was located In human verbal conscious learning the hippocampus is central to formation of EXPLICIT MEMORY storage is in more distributed neural networks Role of synapses denser and more numerous with enriched environments and opportunities for learning Neurotransmitters unknown specific roles but Ach DA 5 HT NE all involved see past notes for unfamiliar abbreviations Describe explain Greenough s first experiment 2 environments Enriched Normal What was the IV and its levels What 4 different DV s can be described More endritedinput fields More synapses space between neurons Blood supply increase More glial cells part of experience Input area was much more elaborated Vascular system blood storage Animals had more capillaries Rats had more glial cells Greenough has said Adding synapses adds residue of experience The wiring diagram of the brain is a function of its incorporated history 2 thousand more synapses per neuron for rats in enriched environments compared to controls Here he says the wiring diagram was actually embellished for animals in the enriched environments compared to Describe explain Greenough s 2nd experiment Contrast between rat on wheel and doing obstacle course Massive change in blood supply The prevailing model Picture Sensory model We only remember stimulation that enters our sensory memory processes if it Receives attention in conscious experiencing of one or more modalities Is held and maintained in STM working memory Is encoded and stored in LTM o Can be retrieved from LTM with appropriate cues Forgetting can occur at each level Three types of memory in above model Sensory Stores a brief copy 3 seconds of stimuli that registers during sensory processing product of transduction Iconic memory a transduced encoded visual snapshot or icon and lasts 1 second Echoic memory seems to last for at least several seconds Short term AKA working memory STM requires attention and has limited capacity STM stores 7 2 noticed items for up to 30 seconds longer with rote or maintenance rehearsal Chunking increases STM capacity experts chunk bits of information as do successful learners at all levels Chunking facilitates encoding and transfer to LTM facilitates consolidation of information in STM into LTM Serial position Tendency for us to remember what we experience first and at end of list Primary and recency effect Long term our enduring recollection of recent and remote past Types of LTM s Explicit declarative Are accessible to consciousness we can talk about them they can be declared consciously Includes Episodic memory of one s own specific past experiences and major episodes of knowledge from world around flashbulb memories Big events we all recall Semantic memory of facts and general declarative knowledge Examples of measuring explicit memory recollection of facts events consciously retrieved in response to direct questions Recall vs recognition tests Naming the 7 dwarfs recall vs selection of names from list recognition Recognition is easier than recall Encoding of explicit LTM s Elaborative rehearsal needed to create meaningful chunks and hierarchies Must go beyond rote rehearsal maintenance rehearsal to deeper processing meaning and self relevance Not engaging in elaborative rehearsal is the mistake of many students in one type of studying where the student over engages in rote review of notes and highlighting in book In elaborative rehearsal you create a rich semantic network see below built on cues you have created yourself Craik and Tulving 1975 experiment List of words presented one at a time followed by one of 3 mental tasks Visual judgment Acoustic judgment Semantic judgment Results in later recognition memory task 10 vs 50 vs 80 accuracy respectively Video damage to right and left frontal lobes Implicit non declarative