CHAPTER 8: Tests of Memory Functioning
Types of Memory and Their Functions
Working memory = active form of memory. Short term memory = passive form of
memory
• Not the same thing
Long-term memory
• Declarative (explicit) memory: deals with factual material that is conscious and
can be discussed or declared
o Semantic memory: memory for meaning without reference to the time and
place of learning
o Episodic memory: memory for specific experiences that can be dines in
terms of time or space
• Nondeclarative (implicit) memory: memory that tends to be non-conscious or
lacks awareness
o Item-specific implicit memory: unconscious memory from specific events
o Procedural memory: long-term memory of skills and procedures or how-to-
do-it knowledge
Sensory Memory
Sensory memory/registration: ability to retain impressions of sensory-based information
after the original stimulus has ceased
• First step in memory process
• Large amount of sensory information for brief period of time
• Not always considered part of memory because it refers to sensory information
that is brought in and held until perceptions are formed
First impressions of stimulus:
• Iconic = visual image
o Can last up to 200 milliseconds
• Echoic = auditory stimulus
o Can last up to 2000 milliseconds
Immediate, Short-Term, or Working Memory
Working memory: several bits of information can be stored for a brief period • Second stage in memory process
• Used to be called short-term memory – is now considered more active than a
passive form of short-term
Immediate memory: has the capacity to hold 7 stimulus +/- 2. Is of sufficient duration to
allow a person to respond to ongoing events, even if long-term memory has been lost
(i.e. if a person no longer has long-term memory, they can still respond to stimuli around
them)
• Phonological loop: deals with sound and consists of two parts
o Short-term phonological storage with auditory memory traces
o Articulatory rehearsal component that can review memory traces
• Visuospatial sketch pad: assumed to hold information about what we see and to
be the mechanism for the temporary storage and manipulation of spatial and
visual information (shapes, colours, and location of items in space)
o These two follow Baddeley and Hitch’s model for working memory. They
are ‘slave systems’ that are responsible for short-term maintenance of
information. A ‘central executive’ was responsible for the supervision of
information and the coordination of the slave systems. (See Figure 8.1)
o Recently added to this schema is the episodic buffer: temporary and
limited storage system to hold and integrate information from various
modalities
Hebb stated that immediate memory is maintained in the reverberating neural circuits –
self-contained networks that sustain a nerve impulse by channeling it repeatedly
through the same network. Information will disappear if it is not converted into the long-
term
Long-Term Memory
Long-term = acquiring of new information
Consolidation: process by which information is stored in the long-term memory
• No exact time for this
• May happen without active involvement (incidental learning)
Learning takes more activity than consolidation
Process of Memory Functioning
1. Sensory memory – sensory impressions a. Transfers to working memory through attention, concentration, and
rehearsal
2. Working memory – many processes to move info into long-term Brain areas for working
memory
a. Rehearsal: repetition of information which allows it to Prefrontal – central
executive
remain in working memory long enough to be transferred Left parietal – phonological
to long-term memory loop
Occipital – spatial tasks
b. Brain structures involved: prefrontal cortex ; posterior Inferior temporal – visual
parietal cortex; thalamus; caudate; globus pallatus cache
Left frontal/Brocas’s area –
i. Information moves through these areas by
physically changing the structure of the neurons articulatory control process
3. Long-term memory – consolidation and learning
a. Individual must turn information into something that has meaning and
enough connections so that it can be retrieved
b. Information is stored by growing additional synapses between neurons
c. Brain structures involved: medial temporal lobes around the hippocampus;
diencephalon; and basal forebrain
Example of H.M.: Had a section removed from medial temporal lobes (surgery for
persistent epileptic seizures). Could still reason and repeat short series of digits. Could
not remember things once attention was removed. Retrograde/anterograde amnesia.
Retrieval of Information from Long-Term Memory
Recognition: presentation of cues to help an individual remember
• Easier of two processes
• Example: multiple choice tests
Recall: retrieval of information from long-term without any cues
• Example: essay questions
Difficulties with Memory
Amnesia: total or partial loss of memory that can be associated with brain
damage, a dissociative disorder, or hypnosis. Trauma can also be a reason In most cases
of trauma, a
• Dissociative amnesia: amnesia with no other cognitive deficits
person will
• Retrograde amnesia: characterized by inability to retain old, long- usually have
some combo
term memories, generally for a specific period extending back from of retro and
the onset of the disorder antero
amnesia o May lose some of all of declarative memory
o May lose months before the trauma but have some intact memory for
older information
• Anterograde amnesia: occurs after some type of trauma where the person loses
the ability to learn new information
• Transient global amnesia: includes both retrograde and anterograde amnesia
factors. Lasts for a much shorter period (minutes to days). Can be caused by
concussion or brief cerebral ischemia, or other activities that limit cerebral blood
flow.
Tests of Memory Impairment
Most commonly used batteries are the Wechsler Memory Scale IV (WMS-IV) and the
Memory Assessment Scale (MAS)
Attention, concentration, and motivation are all factors in all forms of memory
assessment
Tests of Attention and Concentration
Orientation
Orientation: ability to be aware of oneself in relationship to the surroundings in which
one is located.
• Requires maintained attention and have adequate perceptual abilities and
memory skills.
• Difficulties with this may be first signs of brain impairment
o However, good orientation doesn’t mean that there’s nothing wrong
• Most common: difficulties for time and place – usually with issues in cortical
impairment or lesions to limbic system
Awareness Interview
Developed to determine an individual’s orientation to various spheres
• Structure interview
• Questions about person, places, time, and person’s awareness of any difficulties
with their motor skills, thinking, speech, and memory
• Has a graded scoring schedule
• High scores correlated with good daily functioning.
• Has a high interrater reliability coefficient Temporal Orientation Test
Developed to detect an errors in day, month, year, day of the week, and present clock
time.
• Scored through system
• Each error subtracts five from 100. Any loss greater than five = significant
temporal disorientation
• Not totally reliable
Personal Orientation Test
Developed to evaluate person’s ability to deal with personal body parts within space.
• Those with left hemisphere damage had greater problems following verbal
instructions
• Those with right hemisphere damage tended to ignore the left side of their body
Test asks for participant to:
• Touch parts of their body named by examiner
• Name parts of their body touched by the examiner
• Touch parts of the examiner’s body that the examiner names
• Touch their own body in imitation of the examiner’s actions
• Touch body according to numbered diagrams
Finger Localization Test
Developed to test finger agnosia
• Deficits with this is related to things like sensory deficits (one hand only impaired)
or finger agnosia = lesions on either side of brain (both hands impaired)
3 parts
1. Identify which of their fingers are touched
2. Same as 1, only with hand shielded from the participant
3. Same as 1, only with two fingers being touched simultaneously
7-9 errors = borderline. 10 – 12 = moderately defective. 13+ = defective
Standardized Road Map Test of Direction Sense
Test of left-right orientation Examiner draws a path while participant is asked whether each turn was to the left or
right.
• More errors = greater deficit
• Men will perform better than women until older
Mental Reorientation Test
Developed to identify difficulties in spatial transformations
Men holding disks are shown on cards, all at different orientations. Asked to identify
which hand holds a disk
Fargo Map Test
Tests difficulties with topographical orientation
Asked to identify places on a map – usually a map of the US
Attention, Concentration, and Tracking
Very difficult to separate.
• Attentional problems may surface as distractibility or inabili
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