GRE® Psychology Cognitive: Memory Part 4

No, memories recovered under hypnosis are likely to be imagined/false!

Although hypnosis has many beneficial uses that are supported by research, such as helping children with cancer better tolerate chemotherapy and reducing symptoms for adults with IBS, it has a deleterious effect on memory. Hypnosis can lead to the formation of rich false memories.

Loftus's work focuses on understanding memory better in order to reduce injustices in the legal system.

1. Discovery of the Misinformation Effect/ development of methods for lab research of the Misinformation Effect/Expert testimony regarding the effects of leading questions & eyewitness testimony fallibility.

2. Development of research methodology for implanting rich false memories/Major role in the Memory Wars/Role as an important legal expert in cases involving recovered/false memories of trauma

Loftus developed the methodology to investigate the role of misinformation in memory, discovering the Misinformation Effect-- i.e, providing false or biased information can significantly alter an individual's memories of an event.

(Also, inclusion of outright false information in questions can cause participants to remember false details of events!)

She found that using biased language in questions regarding a video of a car accident video led participants who had watched the video to significantly changed their memories of the video. This finding has important implications for the use of leading questions with witnesses.

The Memory Wars were a highly acrimonious conflict between some clinicians and researchers regarding the validity of recovered memories of traumatic events.

Some noted therapists, such as Judy Herman, strongly supported the validity of recovered trauma memories. (For an explanation of Herman's work and point of view, please consult her book Trauma and Recovery). Others, such as Elizabeth Loftus, were concerned that some therapists were unintentionally implanting rich false memories (For an explanation of Loftus's work, please read Loftus and Ketcham's The Myth of Repressed Memory).

Schacter's 7 Sins of Memory are:

1. Transience

2. Absent-mindedness

3. Blocking

4. Misattribution

5. Suggestibility

6. Bias

7. Persistence

For more an overview of Schacter's seven sins, please read this resource from Scientific American.

1. Central Executive 2. Phonological Loop 3. Visuospatial Sketchpad 4. Episodic Buffer
Each component plays a distinct role in processing different types of information, with the central executive coordinating the flow of information.

To coordinate attention and manage the flow of information between the three subsystems.

The central executive does not store information itself but is crucial for tasks that require complex cognition, such as reasoning and comprehension.

Verbal and auditory information

The phonological loop is essential for language acquisition and consists of a phonological store and an articulatory rehearsal process to maintain information.

True

It is involved in tasks requiring visualization, such as navigating a route or visualizing objects, and helps integrate visual and spatial data.

coherent

The episodic buffer connects information from the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and long-term memory, providing a multi-dimensional understanding of experiences.

A strategy to increase memory capacity by grouping individual elements into larger, meaningful units.

Chunking helps overcome the limited capacity of working memory by organizing information into manageable blocks, enhancing recall and comprehension.

Higher working memory capacity allows for better handling of multiple pieces of information, enhancing performance in complex tasks

Individuals with greater working memory capacity can focus better, resist distractions, and process information more efficiently, leading to improved cognitive function.

7 ± 2 items

This 'magical number' suggests an average person can hold between 5 to 9 items in working memory, although chunking can effectively increase this capacity.

Hippocampus

The hippocampus is crucial for forming new memories and is deeply involved in the process of transferring information from short-term to long-term memory.

The process by which synaptic changes make memories more stable at a cellular level over hours to days.

Synaptic consolidation involves changes at the neuron level, such as long-term potentiation, which strengthens synaptic connections.

True

Systems consolidation is the gradual reorganization of memory across different brain regions, transferring reliance from the hippocampus to the cortex.

A long-lasting enhancement in signal transmission between two neurons that results from stimulating them synchronously.

LTP is considered one of the major cellular mechanisms that underlies learning and memory.

Schema

Schema theory suggests that cognitive structures help us make sense of new information based on past experiences, facilitating memory recall.

Repeatedly recalling information to enhance and boost memory consolidation and recall.

Retrieval practice strengthens memory by forcing the brain to recall and re-process information, making it more accessible later.

A principle stating that memory performance is enhanced when the processes engaged during encoding match those during retrieval.

This concept highlights the importance of the context and manner in which information is learned and later recalled.

Reconsolidation is the process of re-stabilizing a memory trace after it has been reactivated, unlike consolidation, it allows memories to be updated or modified upon reactivation, reflecting new information or experiences.