AP Psychology Short School Notes

AP Psychology 12/12/13 Atkinson-Shiffrin Processing Model • Sensory memory • Short-term memory • Long-term memory Sensory memory • Iconic memory: the ability to remember an exact representation of a visual stimuli for a few tenths of a second. • Echoic memory: the ability to remember an auditory stimuli for 3-4 seconds, even if attention is diverted. Short-term memory • Your short-term memory is very limited without meaning or rehearsal—both in time and capacity (Magical Number Seven ± two). Long-term memory • Our space to store information is basically limitless (see: Kim Peek). Storing memories • Are memories contained to one single spot? Penfield (1939) removed parts of the temporal lobe or hippocampus to control epilepsy. No memory loss initially suggested two locations for memory. Lashley (1950) cut out pieces of rats’ brains and tested their ability to complete previously completed mazes. There was no single spot. Hypothesis: memories are in engrams. An engram is a memory trace stored on neural tissue. Synaptic changes • Neural changes occur in synapses. • When learning, synapses release more serotonin, which increases efficiency of transmitting signals. • The strengthening of these neural signals is called long-term potentiation (LTP). • LTP helps us learn & form associations—memory! • LTP cannot be shut down with an electrical signal, as Gerard (1953) hypothesized. It is already in long-term memory. Implicit vs. Explicit memory • Implicit memory: no conscious awareness of learning (also called procedural memory). Can still occur without hippocampus…cerebellum is responsible. • Explicit memory: conscious, intentional recollection of learning (also called declarative memory—you can declare it). Occurs in hippocampus (called consolidation). • Alzheimer’s patients: perfume. • Create your own test to see if both implicit and explicit memory are functioning. Retrieval • Two types of retrieval: recall and recognition. • Recall: ability to summon information learned (answering an open-ended question) • Recognition: ability to identify information learned (answered a multiple-choice question) …why multiple-choice tests are dumb!! • Relearning: you learn things quicker if you’ve learned them before. Retrieval Cues • The context of your memory: associated surroundings, moods (called mood-congruent memory), tastes, smells, sights, etc. • This is called the “encoding specificity principle.” • Mnemonic devices…what is this one for?? Can Mary Kate adequately detain the lilting kleptomaniac moving closer? • Priming: an implicit memory that is related to another memory, helping to bring it to the forefront of explicit memory. • Inability to remember a word: TOT phenomenon. • Déjà vu: the feeling that you have experienced something before due to context. Essential Question • Explain how knowledge of a stimulus is later retrieved, using all relevant steps and terms (you do not need to include sensation unless you are really feeling ambitious). • Switch papers & critique each others’ explanation.