01:830:303 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Prefrontal Cortex, Episodic Memory, Frontal Lobe
3 Nov 2016
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Memory 9/26/16
Recap
• Geiselman & Bjork studies of word recognition – “secondary” or elaborative rehearsal
produced better recognition under all conditions; longer rehearsal produced better
recognition
• Fluid intelligence depends on working memory more than LTM
• Crystallized intelligence depends on more LTM than working memory
Evidence for the episodic / semantic distinction
Neuroimaging: HERA (Hemispheric Encoding / Retrieval Asymmetry) Tulving et al
• The left prefrontal cortex was more involved in the retrieval of information from
semantic memory.
• The right pre-frontal cortex is more involved in the retrieval of episodic memory.
• The left pre-frontal lobe is more involved in encoding into episodic memory.
• No hemispheric differences for encoding into semantic memory.
Memory processes: encoding, representation, and retrieval
• Encoding refers to the learning process.
• Representation is how we store information when it is not currently in use.
• Retrieval is the process of how we activate information from long-term memory and
access it when we need it.
Encoding in episodic memory
• The levels of processing approach/depth of processing:
• Encoding into long-term memory is enhanced by processing for meaning. The
more we focus on meaning (a deep level of processing), the more likely we are to
retain the information.
Craik and Lockhart’s levels of processing
• Influential theory first advanced in 1972.
• Contends that most natural learning is incidental as opposed to intentional.
• Incidental learning means that people encode information not by actively trying
to remember but rather as by-product of perceiving and understanding the world.
• Intentional learning means that people actively engage in learning information
because they know that their memories may be tested.
Levels of processing – shallow to deep
• Memory traces are a product of how strongly encoded items are. What produces a more
strongly encoded item is a deeper level of processing. Deep levels of processing means
attending to meaning rather than sensory characteristics.
• When we process more deeply, that is, using elaborative or meaningful processing, we
will be more likely to remember the information processed. When we process more
shallowly, that is, using maintenance rehearsal or processing for sensory characteristics,
we will remember less of the information processed.
Levels of processing – based on how information is manipulated
• Elaborative processing leads to deeper processing, and maintenance rehearsal leads to
shallow processing.
• Elaborative processing: figuring out the intentions and emotions of characters in
a Shakespeare play.
• Shallow encoding: Do the lines rhyme or not?
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Testing the levels of processing theory
• Craik and Tulving (1975) performed 10 experiments to explore the levels of processing,
to rule out competing explanations and explore the boundaries.
• Some of these tasks asked participants to attend to shallow aspects of stimuli; others to
deeper aspects of stimuli.
• Not told of later memory test (for most of experiments, so these were incidental rather
than intentional learning tasks). Reaction times (RT) also recorded.
The “shallowest level” was “Was there a word present?”
IS the word in capital letters?
Does the word rhyme with…
Is this a type of …
Would the woit in the sentnence:
Levels of processing: results
Experiment 1 and 2
Experiment 1: 5 levels of processing, messy design
Experiment 2: 3 levels, same type of question for each level
Unexpected RECOGNITION test
RT slower for deeper levels of processing. (Maybe time rather than task is important)
Also, items for which the answer was “yes” were more likely to be recognized (except for
the low level of processing).
Subsequent experiments in the series established that
• Level of processing, not time caused the differences in recognition and recall
• Intentional learning (subjects knew ahead of time that they would be tested for memory
of the words) produced the same pattern of results – this seems inconsistent with the
depth of processing argument
• Degree of elaborative processing, not “yes” or “no” response accounted for difference
between yes and no items
• Motivation (e.g. higher payment for correct responses for some categories) did not
change the pattern of results at all
Mnemonic Hint
• Mnemonic Hint 4.1: When learning new information, use elaborative or meaning-based
encoding techniques. Elaborative encoding or deep encoding leads to stronger memory
representations. Elaborative encoding can be idiosyncratic but one of the best meaning-
based techniques is to relate the information to one’s own personal life. (visual and self
reference)
Applications of Levels of Processing
• Survival processing: One of the best ways to enforce coding for meaning is to have
participants evaluate to-be-remembered items in terms of its value to natural survival.
Survival processing improves recall.
The Generation Effect
• The generation effect refers to the observation that memory is better when we generate
associations ourselves than when we simply read of see them.
• Read Condition: rose – hose
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