Chapter 7 Learning (Psychology)

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Encoding

Back 1

the process of acquiring information & entering it into memory

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Acoustic encoding

Back 2

the mental representation of info as a sequence of sounds

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Visual encoding

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the mental representation of info as visuals

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Semantic encoding

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mental representation of an experience by its general meaning

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Storage

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process of maintaining info in memory over time

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retrieval

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process of recalling info stored in memory

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Episodic memory

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memory of an event that happened while one was present

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semantic memory

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a type of memory containing generalized knowledge of the world

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procedural memory

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type of memory containing information about how to do things

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explicit memory

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process in which people intentionally try to remember something

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implicit memory

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unintentional influence of prior experiences

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implicit social cognitions

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past experiences that unconsciously influence a person's judgments about a group of people

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Describe a sensory memory

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info from the senses--sights or sounds--is held for a very brief period of time, often for less than second

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Describe the information processing model

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External stimuli>>Sensory memory>>Short-term memory>>Long-term memory

*If the info in the sensory memory is perceived, it can enter short-term memory
*If nothing further is done, the info will disappear in less than 20 seconds. But if the info in the short-term memory is processed further, it may be encoded into long-term memory, where it will remain indefinitely

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Describe the levels-of-processing model

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Suggests that the most important determinant of memory is how extensively information is encoded or processed when it is first received

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Maintenance rehearsal

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Repeating information over and over to keep it active in short-term memory

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Elaborative rehearsal

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involves thinking about how new material relates to info already stored in memory

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Describe the transfer-appropriate processing model

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a model of memory that suggests that a critical determinant of memory is how well the retrieval process matches the original encoding process

*Experiment example: students told they'd have an essay test/told multiple choice...those who tired to retrieve the info in a way that did not match their encoding method had a harder time

Front 19

Describe the parallel distributed processing model (PDP)

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memory models in which new experiences change one's overall knowledge base

*new experiences don't just provide new facts that are later retrieved individually

*reflect the notion of knowledge networks

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Describe the multiple memory systems approach

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Suggests that hte brian contains several memory systems, each of which resides in a different area & each of which serves somewhat different purposes

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The major function of the sensory memory is to....

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The major function of the sensory memory is to hold info long enough for it to be processed further

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Sensory registers

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Memory systems that hold incoming info long enough for it to be processed further

*Act as temporary storage bins

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Explain why the sensation of smooth movement through the visual field occurs

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The sensations of smooth movement through the visual field occurs b/c you hold each sense in your visual sensory register until your eyes fixate again

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Selective attention

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focuses mental resources on only part of the stimulus field, thus controlling what info is processed further

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Short-term memory (STM)

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maintenance component of working memory, which holds unrehearsed info for a limited time

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Working memory

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part of the memory system that allows us to mentally work w/, or manipulate, info being held in STM

*Has two components: maintenance & manipulation

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What type of encoding seems to dominate in STM?

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Acoustic encoding

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Kinesthetic encoding

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involves physical movement s

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Immediate memory span

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max # of items a person can recall perfectly after one presentation of the items

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chunks

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stimuli that are perceived as one unit or as meaningful groupings of information

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Brown-Peterson Procedure

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a method for preventing rehearsal

*person presented w/ three letters, then counts backward by threes from some number until a signal is given
*Counting prevents the person from rehearsing the letters
*At the signal, the person stops counting & tries to recall the letters
*By varying the # of seconds that the person counts backward, the experimenter can determine how much forgetting takes place over a certain amount of time

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Long term memory (LTM)

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relatively long-lasting stage of memory whose capacity to store new information is believed to be unlimited

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Dual coding theory

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suggests that pictures tend to be remembered better than words b/c pictures are represented in 2 codes--visual & verbal--rather than in only one

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Flashbulb memories

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those vivid recollections of personally significant events that, like a snapshot, seem to preserve all the details of the moment

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Serial position

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where the words are in a list

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Describe the serial-position curve

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shows the changes of recalling words appearing in each position in a list

*For the 1st two or 3 words in a list, recall tends to be very good-a characteristic that is called the primacy effect

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Primacy effect

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a characteristic of memory in which recall of the first 2 or 3 items in a list is particularly good

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Recency effect

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ease of recalling words near the end of a list

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Retrieval cue

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stimuli that help people retrieve info from LTM

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Encoding specificity principle

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states that the ability of a cue to aid retrieval depends on the degree to which it taps into info that was encoded at the time of the original learning

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Context-dependent model

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memory that can be helped or hindered by similarities or differences between the context in which it is learned & the context in which it is recalled

*ex. eyewitness revisits the scene

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State dependent memory

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Memory that is aided or impeded by a person's internal state

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Describe semantic network theory

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suggests that all the concepts we have learned are represented in a dense network of associations

*Suggests that info is retrieved from memory through spreading activation
*So whenever you think about some concept, that concept becomes activated in the network, and this activation--in the form of neural energy--begins to spread along all the paths related to it

Front 44

Describe spreading activation

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whenever you think about some concept, that concept becomes activated in the network, & this activation--in the form of neural energy-begins to spread along all the paths related to it

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Ethnic prejudice can result from _______ _______ errors

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Spontaneous generalization errors

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Schemas

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mental representations of categories of objects, events, and people

*the generalized knowledge contained in schemas provides a basis for making inferences about incoming information during the encoding stage

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Which brain structure is important for STM?

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Prefrontal cortex

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How is STM/working memory limited?

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Limited space (7 plus or minus 2 chunks of information--Miller)

Limited duration (<18 seconds)

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method of savings

*Who?
*Give example

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measuring forgetting by computing the difference between the number of repetitions needed to learn and, after a delay, relearn the same material

*This difference = savings

*If it took Ebbinghaus 10 trials to learn a list & 10 more trials to relearn it, there would be no savings, and forgetting would have been complete. If it took him 10 trials to learn the list & only 5 trials to relearn it, there would be a savings of 50%

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Decay

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the gradual disappearance of the mental representation of a stimulus

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INterference

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process through which either the storage or retrieval of info is impaired by the presence of other info

*Might occur either b/c one piece of info actually displaces other info, pushing it out of memory, or b/c one piece of info makes storing or recalling other info more difficult

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Retroactive interference

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a cause of forgetting in which new info placed in memory interferes w/ the ability to recall info already in memory

*studying French now makes it more difficult to remember Spanish from last semester

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proactive interference

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a cause of forgetting in which info already in the LTM interferes w/ the ability to remember new info

*French words now make it more difficult to learn German next term

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What are the two kinds of change sin synapses associated w/ the formation & storage of new memories?

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1. Stimulation from the eV promotes the formation of new synapses, thus increasing the complexity of the communication networks through which neurons receive information
-Repeatedly sending signals across a particular synapse increases the number of special little branches, called spines, that appear on the receiving cell's dendrites

2. New experiences alter the functioning of existing synapses
-Researchers have discovered that when two neurons fire at the same time and together stimulate a 3rd neuron, that 3rd neuron will later be more responsive than before to stimulation by either neuron alone
-This process of "sensitizing" synapses is called long-term potentiation
-Changing patterns of electrical stimulation can also weaken synpatic connections, a process called long-term depression
-Such changes in sensitivity could account for the development of conditioned responses & other types of learning

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What NTs play important roles in memory formation?

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Acetylcholine
Glutamate--synapses that use this NT in the hippocampus experience changes in sensitivity

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anterograde amnesia

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a loss of memory for any event occurring after the injury

*they may still be able to form implicit memories

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Retrograde amnesia

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involves a loss of memory for events that occurred before a brain injury

*consistent w/ the idea that memory processes are widely distributed

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mnemonics

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strategies for placing info into an organized context in order to remember it