LONG TERM MEMMORY
Javeria Nasir
Long-term memory is intended for storage of information
over a long period of time. It can store a seemingly
unlimited amount of information almost indefinitely.
Whereas STM focuses on the present, LTM helps to forge
links between our past and present experiences, memories
or information.
LTM holds a vast quantity of information which can be stored for long
periods of time.
The information kept here is diverse and wide-ranging and includes:
- all of our personal memories
- our general knowledge
- our beliefs about the world
LTM is not a passive store of information, but a dynamic system which
constantly revises and modifies stored knowledge in the light of new
information.
LTM Capacity And Duration
Auditory Visual
Memory for distant events is affected by:
Degree of initial How often it was
encoding rehearsed over time
Types of LTM
Procedural memory
• Part of the long-term memory is responsible for knowing how to do things, i.e.
memory of motor skills.
• It does not involve conscious (i.e. it’s unconscious - automatic) thought and is
not declarative.
• For example, procedural memory would involve knowledge of how to ride a
bicycle.
Semantic memory
• Part of the long-term memory responsible for storing information about the
world.
• It involves conscious thought and is declarative.
• This includes knowledge about the meaning of words, as well as general
knowledge.
• For example, London is the capital of England.
Episodic memory
• Part of the long-term memory responsible for storing information about events
(i.e. episodes) that we have experienced in our lives.
• It involves conscious thought and is declarative.
• An example would be a memory of our 1st day at school.
The frontal cortex stores many permanent memories and is
involved in deep processing
The hippocampus has been found to be an important structure for
memory. In recording studies of rat hippocampal cells, researchers
have found that cells of the hippocampus that were activated
during initial learning are reactivated during subsequent periods of
sleep.
It is as if they are replaying the initial learning episode to achieve
Cognitive
consolidation into long-term storage (Scaggs & McNaughton, 1996;
Wilson & McNaughton, 1994). Neuroscience
and LTM
This effect has also been observed in humans.
After learning routes within a virtual town, participants slept.
Increased hippocampal activity was seen during sleep after the
person had learned the spatial information. In the people with the
most hippocampal activation, there was also an improvement in
performance when they needed to recall the routes (Peigneux et
al., 2004).
Autobiographical Memories
Autobiographical memory refers to memory of an individual’s history.
Autobiographical memory is constructive. One does not remember exactly
what has happened. Rather, one remembers one’s construction or
reconstruction of what happened.
Recent work has illustrated the importance of self-esteem in the formation
and recall of autobiographical memory. People with positive self-esteem
remember more positive events, whereas people with negative self esteem
remember negative events.
An often-studied form of vivid memory is the flashbulb
memory—a memory of an event so powerful that the person
remembers the event as vividly as if it were indelibly
preserved on film (Brown & Kulik, 1977).
A memory is most likely to become a flashbulb memory
under these circumstances:
The memory trace is important to the individual
It has an emotional effect on the individual
Tasks for
Measuring
Memory
Recall vs. Recognition
Recall means to
produce any
information; fact,
word, or item from Recognition means to
memory identify an item that you
have observed previously.
Research suggests that
Recognition memory is usually much better than recall.
Recall tasks generally elicits deeper levels of information processing
than anticipation of recognition tasks. Informing participants of the
type of future test they will take can influence the amount of
learning that occurs.
Receptive means “responsive to a stimulus.” In a recognition-
memory task, you respond to stimuli presented to you and decide
whether you have seen them before or not. It requires Receptive
knowledge
Recall-memory tasks, in which you have to produce an answer,
require expressive knowledge
Implicit vs. Explicit Memory
The difference between Implicit and explicit memory depends on the type of
recall required.
Explicit memory require conscious recall. We need to make an effort to
remember
Implicit memory does not require conscious awareness. We don’t have to
focus when we are accessing information from memory. E.g: Procedural tasks;
riding a bike etc
Mnemonic Devices
Method of Loci
Peg Word System
Key Word System
Organizational Schemes
Acrostics
Mnemonic devices are techniques a person can use to
help them improve their ability to remember something.
In other words, it's a memory technique to help your brain
better encode and recall important information.
Essentially, such devices add meaning to otherwise
meaningless or arbitrary lists of items
Method Of Loci
In the method of loci, we visualize walking around an area with distinctive,
well-known landmarks and link the various landmarks to specific items to be
remembered.
This method uses visualization to organize and recall information.
This method works on the assumption that it is easier for us to remember
locations that are familiar to use. If we relate objects to these, it becomes
easy for us to memorize them.
A thought experiment:
Think of a place you know well (e.g., your house), and mentally go through it.
Associate each object with a location in the place.
When the list (objects) need to be recalled simply think of the house and all
the locations that you have thought of.
Pegword System
In the pegword system, associate each word
with a word on a previously memorized list
and form an interactive image between the
two words.
Associate new words or concepts with a list
of words you already know
Key Word System
In using the keyword system, create an interactive image that links the sound
and meaning of a foreign word with the sound and meaning of a familiar
word.
Suppose that you needed to learn that the French word for butter is beurre.
First, you would note that beurre sounds something like “bear.” Next, you
would associate the keyword bear with butter in an image or sentence. For
instance, you might visualize a bear eating a stick of butter. Later, bear would
provide a retrieval cue for beurre.
Categorical Clustering/Organizational
Schemes
In categorical clustering, organize a list of items into a set of categories. This
is usually done on a semantic level
Acrostics
Acrostics: A sentence where the first letter of every word provides cues for
other important terms
Acronyms
Acronyms: devise a word in which each of its letters
stands for a certain other word or concept. e.g: USA, IPP
Acrostic: Bring Old Dizzy Mary A Sandwich
Acronym: BODMAS
