This type of memory encoding involves encoding sensory information with specific relevance to the patient, such as a particular word, picture, or event.
Semantic encoding
______ encoding involves encoding sounds such as music or language. The brain uses ______ memory to recall the auditory information that is stored.
Acoustic encoding involves encoding sounds such as music or language. The brain uses echoic memory to recall the auditory information that is stored.
This type of memory encoding uses images and other visual information to form long-term memory. The memory encoded by this process is sorted in iconic memory.
Visual encoding
This area of the brain is responsible for processing and encoding sensory information, linking our senses to memory.
The hippocampus
A patient given a list of names is most likely to remember names from the beginning and end of the list. What effect causes this?
The serial position effect
The______ effect occurs when a patient given a list of names is more likely to recall names from the beginning of the list.
primacy
The______ effect occurs when a patient given a list of names is more likely to recall names from the end of the list.
recency
A list of words is read aloud to a subject: “balloon, bartender, sofa, rickety, marker, hardwood.” Two minutes later, the subject only recalls “balloon” and “hardwood.” This exemplifies:
the serial position effect.
This effect can be thought of as a combination of the primacy and recency effects. It refers to the tendency to recall items from the beginning and end of a list better than those from the middle.
This is any pattern of letters, associations, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering information.
One example is “LAb RAt,” for the two atrioventricular valves.
Mnemonic device
Most people have memorized their social security number as three groups of numbers: XXX-XX-XXXX. This memory-assisting process is known as:
chunking.
Memorizing numbers is very difficult, because one cannot “visualize” numbers by meaning in the way that one can visualize words. Grouping them into larger chunks, however, is helpful.
“SCUBA” and “STAT” are terms that allow people to better remember the ideas of “self-contained underwater breathing apparatus” and “sooner than already there.” These are both examples of which memory aid?
Acronyms
Acronyms are abbreviations formed from the first letters of the words in a phrase or set of ideas.
The brain often makes strong associations between memories and images to aid in recall. If these images are personally specific or important to the patient, this memory technique is called:
self-reference.
True or false:
Information that holds a deeper meaning to the subject, such as personally relatable information (e.g. information relevant to family or friends), is more likely to be recalled.
True
This effect is known as depth of processing.
Identify the three stages of memory.
Sensory, short-term, and long-term memory
______ memory is the initial recall of environmental information relayed to the body. This memory is fast and short-term. For example, if you touch a cold surface, you would briefly remember the cold feeling.
Sensory
Name the two types of sensory memory.
Echoic memory and iconic memory
The brief, transient memory of a sound is termed:
echoic memory.
Echoic memory is one of the two types of sensory memory. Echoic memory is short, lasting about 3-5 seconds. As an example, imagine hearing someone’s ringtone and remembering it very briefly afterwards.
The brief, transient memory of an image is termed:
iconic memory.
Iconic memory is one of the two types of sensory memory. It is even more short-lived than echoic memory (<1 second). For example, imagine closing your eyes and very briefly remembering the exact hair color of a person you have just met.
If a subject is reviewing the image below for 20-30 seconds in order to identify any differences between the two, he or she is most likely using which type of memory?
Short-term memory
Short-term memory is of relatively brief duration, but not as brief as sensory memory. The described interval of 20-30 seconds falls under short-term memory.
This aspect of short-term memory refers to the immediate processing of events and language, such as what is used most often when learning a new concept for the MCAT.
Working memory
Working memory involves the immediate processing of language and events. This is the memory students use when studying a new concept.
When attempting to accurately recall the face of a childhood friend, an adult will employ which memory type?
Long-term memory
Long-term memory is memory that can last a lifetime. This form of memory storage holds information about childhood friends, school names, material learned in school, your birthday, your family, etc.
Long-term memory can be subdivided into which two types of memory?
Explicit memory and implicit memory
Explicit memory includes facts and experiences that can be consciously recalled, while implicit memory is encoded and used unconsciously.
Declarative memory, also called _______ memory, is the memorization of information (knowing the “what”) to the extent that one is able to consciously recall or “declare” it.
For example, imagine that you remember lines from a favorite movie and are able to recite dialogue along with the film.
explicit
Explicit memory can be further sub-divided into episodic memory and semantic memory.
Explicit, or declarative, memory can be subdivided into which two types of memory?
Episodic memory and semantic memory
In short, episodic memory is the memory of personal experiences, while semantic memory is the memory of facts.
This memory represents our experiences and specific events in time in a serial form, from which once can reconstruct events that took place throughout a lifetime.
Episodic memory
In essence, episodic memory is the memory of autobiographical events.
The memory of facts, such as the memory of the names of world leaders, is encoded in:
semantic memory.
This memory is a structured record of facts, meanings, concepts and knowledge about the external world. Semantic memory refers to general factual knowledge, independent of both personal experience and the spatial/temporal context in which the information was acquired.
The common wisdom which states that “you never forget how to ride a bike” actually has a factual basis in ______ memory.
procedural memory
This is the memorization of how to complete a task. For example, one would exercise procedural memory when riding a bicycle or playing a sport.
Procedural memory is a form of ________ memory.
Procedural memory is a form of implicit memory.
Since procedural memory is typically not acquired consciously and is certainly not accessed consciously, it is an example of implicit memory.
Define:
flashbulb memory
A flashbulb memory is an extremely vivid, detailed memory of a moment, typically the moment when the individual heard some shocking or traumatic news.
One common example is the fact that many people who are old enough to remember September 11, 2001 recall exactly what they were doing when they heard the news.
This extremely rare form of memory allows those who have it to remember an image in great detail, even when they have only seen the image once.
Eidetic memory
While some sources use “eidetic memory” interchangeably with “photographic memory,” there are some small distinctions, and of the two, eidetic memory is the term you should understand for the MCAT.
The image below represents an example of which memory storage type?
A semantic network
Semantic networks are neural networks that signify logical or lingual relationships between concepts and ideas.
An MCAT student makes a note to themselves, writing “Remember to watch this biochemistry video by tonight!” This is an example of:
prospective memory.
This refers to memories that must be recalled/used in the future, such as the memory of a task that must be done later.
A patient is shown the picture below for 30 seconds. When asked to name a bird, they reply “seagull.” This is most likely due to:
priming.
Priming is a phenomenon related to implicit memory in which earlier presentation of a word/image/idea impacts what the individual later remembers. Here, the picture of a sand castle and the ocean likely primed the student to say “seagull” because of an association made with the images of found at the beach.
This theory of memory storage and retrieval suggests that the more often two concepts are linked, the stronger the connection between these concepts in semantic networks. For example, recalling a graduation party activates other semantic nodes related to graduation, such as friends who attended, speeches given, etc.
Spreading activation occurs when a series of semantic network nodes are activated.
These nodes create an activation pattern of other, related nodes that are activated. This is how one recalls more details about a particular event.
A student attempts to recall a movie he saw recently. To do this, the student first recalls in which theater he saw the movie, who was in the theater with him, and the name of the main star. This memory assistance is an example of using:
retrieval cues.
A retrieval cue is a prompt that is used to remind us of some idea or concept.
If a patient is asked to recall her day from morning until night and describe it to her physician, she is using which type of recall?
Serial recall
Serial recall is the ability to remember events, items in a list, or any other ideas in the sequence in which they occurred or were presented on the list.
A medical student walking down a hospital corridor is suddenly approached by a patient. This patient grabs him by the arm and asks “Who is the president?” The accurate recall of the president will utilize what form of recall?
Free recall
Free recall is the ability to remember an idea or concept with no warning, priming, or clues.
A patient is given a list of 25 random words to memorize. Later, the researcher asks her to recall only the items on the list that are names of cars. This is an example of which recall type?
Cued recall
Cued recall is the ability of an individual to remember something once cued or asked.
If a researcher looking to test cued recall fails to provide sufficient clues or details for the subject to use to remember information, this may result in:
retrieval failure.
This is the failure of the subject to correctly access the target information.
Which of these statements is more likely to be made by a 74-year-old man in conversation with a friend about his upcoming birthday?
A: “Hey, how old are you turning on the 13th?”
B: “Labor Day? Hey, isn’t your birthday in September?”
B: “Labor Day? Hey, isn’t your birthday in September?”
After the age of 60, it is more difficult to recall memories, but recognition is still present and generally strong. Recognition is memory recovery that takes place if given clues (much like on the multiple-choice questions of the MCAT). In this example, the man uses the cue of Labor Day to recognize the friend’s upcoming birthday.
What two components of affect play a role in memory retrieval?
For this question, it’s important to understand the psychological meaning of the term “affect.”
Emotional bias and mood dependence
Recalling that “affect” (in a psychological sense) refers to emotion and mood makes this question much easier.
Give an example of emotional bias in the context of memory retrieval.
Emotional bias in the context of memory retrieval means that one’s memory becomes polarized according to their current emotion. For example, if an infant is crying, a mother may selectively remember instances when the baby was an annoyance, rather than the many happy memories she has of her child.
Describe mood dependence in the context of memory retrieval.
Mood-dependent memory is exemplified when information that was learned while someone was feeling a specific mood is best remembered when the person is again experiencing that mood.
This is similar to the concept of context-dependent effects.
It is commonly found that adults over 60 years of age have slower information-processing capabilities. This can lead to ______ speech and ______ reaction times.
slower, longer
These are effects of age-related memory changes.
Korsakoff’s syndrome, which has symptoms of memory loss, confusion, irregular speech, and uncoordinated movements, is most closely linked to a dietary deficiency in:
thiamine (Vitamin B1).
A common cause of this deficiency is heavy alcohol abuse.
True or false:
Alzheimer’s disease, Korsakoff’s syndrome, and Parkinson’s disease all initially manifest as memory dysfunction.
False
Alzheimer’s and Korsakoff’s are both pathologies of memory. However, Parkinson’s is a motor disease. While Parkinson’s may eventually progress to dementia, it does not initially manifest as memory dysfunction, and you should be more familiar with its effects on motor function.
______ is a chronic disorder of the ability to recall. While commonly associated with aging, it can also be caused by injury to, or disease of, the brain.
Dementia is a chronic disorder of the ability to recall.
Name the most common cause of dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease
The majority of diagnoses for this progressive disease occur in those aged 65 years or older.
This disease is an autosomal dominant, fatal genetic condition which manifests as memory loss, dementia, and involuntary limb movements. It is caused by neuronal degeneration.
Huntington’s disease
A patient is brought into the ER after suffering a traumatic blow to the head which may have damaged the hippocampus. Which type of amnesia is likely to present itself in this patient over the next few days?
Anterograde amnesia
Anterograde amnesia is the inability to form new memories. Since the hippocampus is involved in the consolidation of long-term memory, this type of amnesia is a possible symptom of hippocampal damage.
Patients who are unable to recall older memories, yet have little trouble learning new information, are most likely suffering from:
retrograde amnesia.
This is the inability to remember old memories, or events that have happened in the past.
Which theory states that memories are like muscles, in that if long-term memories are not recalled often, it will become progressively harder to recall them, potentially leading to the loss of those memories?
Memory decay
When a person firmly believes that they recall an event, but that event never happened or happened differently than the person remembered, the person is experiencing:
a false memory.
False memories are very common in certain contexts, such as witness testimony of a crime or traumatic event. Similarly, the wording of questions asked (for example, by the police) can influence a witness’s memories.
If a man begins dating a new person and often calls his new partner by a previous partner’s name, which type of interference is to blame?
Proactive interference
Proactive interference occurs when previously learned information prevents one from being able to remember information learned later.
A woman who married for a second time finds that she is having difficulty remembering important milestones from her previous marriage, such as anniversaries and common interests. This exemplifies which form of interference?
Retroactive interference
Retroactive interference occurs when the learning of new information (anniversary or milestones from the second marriage) impairs the remembering of information that was learned earlier (similar events in the first marriage).
When asked to describe his sixth-grade classroom, an adult subject recalls details that were not present in his actual classroom, yet nevertheless are commonly associated with classrooms (e.g. rulers and a chalkboard). What memory construction is to blame?
A schema
A schema is the framework of how we recall information, such as structure, components of the situation, or details. Schemas can skew the information recalled.
True or false:
A person incorrectly recalling where, or in what manner, he or she obtained a memory is an example of a source-monitoring error.
True
A source-monitoring error is a memory error where the source of a memory is incorrectly attributed to some specific experience. For example, Dave may learn about a robbery from a classmate, but later will report having learned about it on the radio, reflecting an erroneous source attribution.
In early infancy, as well as during recovery from stroke, the brain can change/alter synaptic connections to produce new or reacquire old motor pathways. This is an example of:
neural plasticity.
Plasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change and adapt according to various environments, behaviors, and emotions, as well as new synaptic processes.
Repetitive training of the hand after a stroke can lead to cortical reorganization of the motor area of the brain to regain hand control. This is an example of which type of neural plasticity?
Map expansion
Map expansion is the flexibility of local brain regions that are dedicated to performing one function. The arrangement of these regions in the cortex is referred to as a map. When one function is carried out frequently enough through repeated behavior or stimulus, the size of the cortical map portion dedicated to this function grows.
A potential problem with this type of neural plasticity is that it may come at the expense of functions that are normally stored in the module but now have to make room for new functions.
One example is interference across brain hemispheres from movement of the unaffected hand while trying to train the movement of a hand affected by stroke.
Homologous area adaptation
This typically occurs during the early critical period of development. If a particular brain module becomes damaged in early life, its normal operations have the ability to shift to a module in the matching, or homologous, area of the opposite hemisphere.
A rat is placed in a maze, in the center of which is food. If the rat is initially successful in finding the food, what change in synaptic connections will allow the rat to find the food even faster the next time?
Long-term potentiation
Long-term potentiation is the process of strengthening neural synapses according to specific activation patterns. As a synapse strengthens, the signal transmission time becomes quicker.
