Chapter 8 - Cognitive Psych
Chapter 8: Everyday Memory and Memory Errors
Autobiographical Memory: What Has Happened in my Life
Autobiographical memory (AM): recollected events that belong to a person’s past
Experiencing a memory by using mental time travel is episodic memory
Can also contain semantic components
Episodic memories can fade with time, leaving semantic memory
AM = episodic memory for events in our lives plus personal semantic memories of facts about our lives
The Multidimensional Nature of AM
Multidimensional because they consist of spatial, emotional, and sensory components
Patients losing ability to recognize objects or to visualize objects because of damage to visual areas of cortex also experienced loss of AM
Visual stimuli not available to serve as retrieval cues for memories
Cabeza’s Experiment → measured brain activation caused by two sets of stimulus photographs – A photos and L photos (Autobiographical vs. Laboratory)
A and L photos activated many of the same structures in the brain
A photos activated regions associated with processing information about the self, memory for visual space, and recollection
Activation reflects richness of experiencing autobiographical memories as compared to laboratory memories
AM can elicit emotions, in the amygdala
Memory over the Lifespan
Events that become significant parts of a person’s life tend to be remembered well
Transition points in people’s lives appear to be particularly memorable
Reminiscence bump: enhanced memory for adolescence and young adulthood found in people over 40
Three hypotheses to support this idea
Self-Image Hypothesis: memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person’s self-image or life identity is being formed
Development of self-image mainly occur during adolescence or young adulthood
Cognitive Hypothesis: periods of rapid change that are followed by stability cause stronger encoding for memories
Rapid changes occur during these periods of adolescence and young
Autobiographical Memory: What Has Happened in my Life
Autobiographical memory (AM): recollected events that belong to a person’s past
Experiencing a memory by using mental time travel is episodic memory
Can also contain semantic components
Episodic memories can fade with time, leaving semantic memory
AM = episodic memory for events in our lives plus personal semantic memories of facts about our lives
The Multidimensional Nature of AM
Multidimensional because they consist of spatial, emotional, and sensory components
Patients losing ability to recognize objects or to visualize objects because of damage to visual areas of cortex also experienced loss of AM
Visual stimuli not available to serve as retrieval cues for memories
Cabeza’s Experiment → measured brain activation caused by two sets of stimulus photographs – A photos and L photos (Autobiographical vs. Laboratory)
A and L photos activated many of the same structures in the brain
A photos activated regions associated with processing information about the self, memory for visual space, and recollection
Activation reflects richness of experiencing autobiographical memories as compared to laboratory memories
AM can elicit emotions, in the amygdala
Memory over the Lifespan
Events that become significant parts of a person’s life tend to be remembered well
Transition points in people’s lives appear to be particularly memorable
Reminiscence bump: enhanced memory for adolescence and young adulthood found in people over 40
Three hypotheses to support this idea
Self-Image Hypothesis: memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person’s self-image or life identity is being formed
Development of self-image mainly occur during adolescence or young adulthood
Cognitive Hypothesis: periods of rapid change that are followed by stability cause stronger encoding for memories
Rapid changes occur during these periods of adolescence and young