PSYCH 147 REVIEWER -Deborah Talmi and coworkers (2005) measured the fMRI
CHAPTER 6: LONG-TERM MEMORY: STRUCTURE response to tasks involving STM and LTM. They rst presented a
Korsakoff’s syndrome- a condition caused by a prolonged de list of words to participants, as is done to determine a serial
ciency of vitamin B1, usually as a result of chronic alcoholism. position curve. But instead of asking participants to recall the
The deficiency leads to the destruction of areas in the frontal words, they presented a single “probe” word. The participants’
and temporal lobes, which causes severe and permanent task was to indicate whether the word had been presented
impairments in memory. before. Their brain activity was measured with fMRI after the
anterograde amnesia- the loss of the ability to assimilate or probe was presented and as they were preparing to respond.
retain new knowledge. -The results indicated that probe words that were from the
retrograde amnesia, the loss of memory for events that have beginning of the list (which, if remembered, would therefore
happened in the past. represent long-term memory) activated areas of the brain
DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN LONG-TERM MEMORY AND associated with both long-term memory and short-term
SHORT-TERM MEMORY memory.
Long-term memory (LTM) is the system that is responsible for -probe words from the end of the list only activated areas of the
storing information for long periods of time, an “archive” of brain associated with short-term memory.
information about past events in our lives and knowledge we Types of Long-Term Memory
have learned.
Long Term and Short-Term Processes
-LTM therefore provides both an archive that we can refer to
when we want to remember events from the past, and a wealth
of background information that we are constantly consulting as
we use working memory to make contact with what is
happening at a particular moment.
Serial Position Curve
-Did they remember more words from the first or last five than
from the middle? Individual results vary widely, but when
Murdoch did this experiment on a large number of participants
and plotted the percentage recall for each word against the
word’s position on the list, he obtained a function called the
serial position curve.
-Murdoch’s serial position curve indicates that memory is better
for words at the beginning of the list and at the end of the list Explicit memory (also called conscious memory or declarative
than for words in the middle. Superior memory for stimuli memory), on the left of the figure, consists of episodic
presented at the beginning of a sequence is called the primacy memory, memory for personal experiences, and semantic
effect. A possible explanation of the primacy effect is that memory, stored knowledge and memory for facts.
participants had time to rehearse these words and transfer -called explicit, because their con- tents can be described or
them to LTM, according to Dewey Rundus reported
-Superior memory for stimuli presented at the end of a Implicit memories (also called non- declarative memory or
sequence is called the recency effect. One possible unconscious memory) are memories that are used without
explanation for the better memory for words at the end of the awareness, so the contents of implicit memories cannot be
list is that the most recently presented words are still in STM. reported
Coding in Long-Term Memory -One type of implicit memories that has influenced Cliff’s
-auditory, visual, and semantic coding can occur for STM (with behavior is priming—a change in response to a stimulus
auditory and visual coding being the most prominent). LTM can caused by the previous presentation of the same or a similar
also involve each of these types of coding. For example, you stimulus
use visual coding in LTM when you recognize someone based -Another type of implicit memory is procedural memory, also
on his or her appearance, auditory coding when you recognize called skill memory, which is memory for doing things
a person based on the sound of his or her voice, and semantic classical conditioning- is another form of implicit memory;
coding when you remember the general gist or meaning of occurs when pairing an initially neutral stimulus with another
something that happened in the past. stimulus results in the neutral stimulus taking on new
-Although all three types of coding can occur in LTM, semantic properties.
coding is the predominant type of coding in LTM. Semantic EPISODIC AND SEMANTIC MEMORY (EXPLICIT)
encoding is illustrated by the kinds of errors that people make Distinguishing Between Episodic and Semantic Memory
in tasks that involve LTM -Endel Tulving (1985) has suggested, however, that episodic
Recognition memory- is the identification of a stimulus that and semantic memory can also be distinguished based on the
was encountered earlier type of experience associated with each
-The procedure for measuring recognition memory is to present -defining property of the experience of episodic memory is
a stimulus during a study period and later to present the same that it involves mental time travel—the experience of traveling
stimulus plus others that were not presented back in time to reconnect with events that happened in the past
-In a recall test, the person must produce the item to be -Tulving describes this experience of mental time travel/
recalled. An example of a recall test is a fill-in-the-blanks exam episodic memory as self-knowing or remembering.
question. In contrast, an example of recognition is a multiple- -the experience of semantic memory involves accessing
choice exam, in which the task is to pick the correct answer knowledge about the world that does not have to be tied to
from a number of alternatives remembering a personal experience. This knowledge can be
Locating Short-and Long-Term Memory in the Brain things like facts, vocabulary, numbers, and concepts
Neuropsychological Studies Connections Between Episodic and Semantic Memories
-We will see that studies of patients have established a double -the knowledge that makes up semantic memories is initially
dissociation between STM and LTM. That is, there are some attained through a personal experience that could be the basis
patients with functioning STM who can’t form new LTMs and of an episodic memory, but memory for this experience often
other patients who have poor STM but functioning LTM. Taken fades, leaving only semantic memory
together, these two types of patients establish a double -semantic memories that have personal significance are easier
dissociation, which indicates that STM and LTM operate to remember than semantic memories that are not personally
CHAPTER 6: LONG-TERM MEMORY: STRUCTURE response to tasks involving STM and LTM. They rst presented a
Korsakoff’s syndrome- a condition caused by a prolonged de list of words to participants, as is done to determine a serial
ciency of vitamin B1, usually as a result of chronic alcoholism. position curve. But instead of asking participants to recall the
The deficiency leads to the destruction of areas in the frontal words, they presented a single “probe” word. The participants’
and temporal lobes, which causes severe and permanent task was to indicate whether the word had been presented
impairments in memory. before. Their brain activity was measured with fMRI after the
anterograde amnesia- the loss of the ability to assimilate or probe was presented and as they were preparing to respond.
retain new knowledge. -The results indicated that probe words that were from the
retrograde amnesia, the loss of memory for events that have beginning of the list (which, if remembered, would therefore
happened in the past. represent long-term memory) activated areas of the brain
DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN LONG-TERM MEMORY AND associated with both long-term memory and short-term
SHORT-TERM MEMORY memory.
Long-term memory (LTM) is the system that is responsible for -probe words from the end of the list only activated areas of the
storing information for long periods of time, an “archive” of brain associated with short-term memory.
information about past events in our lives and knowledge we Types of Long-Term Memory
have learned.
Long Term and Short-Term Processes
-LTM therefore provides both an archive that we can refer to
when we want to remember events from the past, and a wealth
of background information that we are constantly consulting as
we use working memory to make contact with what is
happening at a particular moment.
Serial Position Curve
-Did they remember more words from the first or last five than
from the middle? Individual results vary widely, but when
Murdoch did this experiment on a large number of participants
and plotted the percentage recall for each word against the
word’s position on the list, he obtained a function called the
serial position curve.
-Murdoch’s serial position curve indicates that memory is better
for words at the beginning of the list and at the end of the list Explicit memory (also called conscious memory or declarative
than for words in the middle. Superior memory for stimuli memory), on the left of the figure, consists of episodic
presented at the beginning of a sequence is called the primacy memory, memory for personal experiences, and semantic
effect. A possible explanation of the primacy effect is that memory, stored knowledge and memory for facts.
participants had time to rehearse these words and transfer -called explicit, because their con- tents can be described or
them to LTM, according to Dewey Rundus reported
-Superior memory for stimuli presented at the end of a Implicit memories (also called non- declarative memory or
sequence is called the recency effect. One possible unconscious memory) are memories that are used without
explanation for the better memory for words at the end of the awareness, so the contents of implicit memories cannot be
list is that the most recently presented words are still in STM. reported
Coding in Long-Term Memory -One type of implicit memories that has influenced Cliff’s
-auditory, visual, and semantic coding can occur for STM (with behavior is priming—a change in response to a stimulus
auditory and visual coding being the most prominent). LTM can caused by the previous presentation of the same or a similar
also involve each of these types of coding. For example, you stimulus
use visual coding in LTM when you recognize someone based -Another type of implicit memory is procedural memory, also
on his or her appearance, auditory coding when you recognize called skill memory, which is memory for doing things
a person based on the sound of his or her voice, and semantic classical conditioning- is another form of implicit memory;
coding when you remember the general gist or meaning of occurs when pairing an initially neutral stimulus with another
something that happened in the past. stimulus results in the neutral stimulus taking on new
-Although all three types of coding can occur in LTM, semantic properties.
coding is the predominant type of coding in LTM. Semantic EPISODIC AND SEMANTIC MEMORY (EXPLICIT)
encoding is illustrated by the kinds of errors that people make Distinguishing Between Episodic and Semantic Memory
in tasks that involve LTM -Endel Tulving (1985) has suggested, however, that episodic
Recognition memory- is the identification of a stimulus that and semantic memory can also be distinguished based on the
was encountered earlier type of experience associated with each
-The procedure for measuring recognition memory is to present -defining property of the experience of episodic memory is
a stimulus during a study period and later to present the same that it involves mental time travel—the experience of traveling
stimulus plus others that were not presented back in time to reconnect with events that happened in the past
-In a recall test, the person must produce the item to be -Tulving describes this experience of mental time travel/
recalled. An example of a recall test is a fill-in-the-blanks exam episodic memory as self-knowing or remembering.
question. In contrast, an example of recognition is a multiple- -the experience of semantic memory involves accessing
choice exam, in which the task is to pick the correct answer knowledge about the world that does not have to be tied to
from a number of alternatives remembering a personal experience. This knowledge can be
Locating Short-and Long-Term Memory in the Brain things like facts, vocabulary, numbers, and concepts
Neuropsychological Studies Connections Between Episodic and Semantic Memories
-We will see that studies of patients have established a double -the knowledge that makes up semantic memories is initially
dissociation between STM and LTM. That is, there are some attained through a personal experience that could be the basis
patients with functioning STM who can’t form new LTMs and of an episodic memory, but memory for this experience often
other patients who have poor STM but functioning LTM. Taken fades, leaving only semantic memory
together, these two types of patients establish a double -semantic memories that have personal significance are easier
dissociation, which indicates that STM and LTM operate to remember than semantic memories that are not personally
