P486LectureOutline

PSYCO 486 - Anticipated Lecture Outline

Topic 1: Introduction

I. The Psychobiological Approach

comparative aspect
living systems aspect

II. The Term "Memory"

memory-as-representation usage
memory-as-process usage

encoding - storage - retrieval

III. Definition of Retention and Forgetting

empirical usage

IV. Distinction Between Learning and Retention

operational
conceptual
functional

V. Measurement of Memory

recognition
recall
relearning

VI. A Conception of Memory

retrieval conception = assumption + 3 interrelated ideas

Topic 2: Forgetting: Effects of Time

I. Forgetting Across Time

demonstration - Schreurs (1998), rabbits
nominal source of forgetting
not functional source of forgetting

II. Hypermnesia

increase in retention as retention interval increases
A. Reminiscence

demonstrations - Erdelyi & associates, humans

B. Incubation

demonstration - Kleinsmith & Kaplan (1963), humans

III. Temporarily Impaired Retention

A. The Kamin effect

poorer retention at intermediate retention intervals than at shorter or longer intervals
demonstration - Bryan & Spear (1976), rats
support for a retrieval deficit account - Klein (1972), rats

B. Multiphasic retention functions

cyclic pattern of good-then-poor retention as retention interval increases
demonstration - Holloway & Wansley (1973), rats
a retrieval-based account - Wansley & Holloway (1975), rats

Topic 3: Forgetting: Effects of Changes in Context

I. The Nature of Context

context vs. events comprising an episode

II. Induced Control by Context

training regime requires or encourages control over remembering by context
A. External Context

demonstration - Edwards, Miller & Zentall (1985), pigeons

B. Internal Context

often referred to as "state-dependent retention" (SDR)
demonstration of SDR - Overton (1964), rats

III. Inadvertent Control by Context Over Retrieval of Conflicting Memories

training regime does not require control over remembering by context
training regime - 2 conflicting memories trained sequentially in different contexts
A. External Context

demonstration - Thomas, McKelvie, Ranney & Moye (1981), pigeons

B. Internal Context

demonstration - Spear, Smith, Bryan, Gordon, Timmons & Chiszar (1980), rats

IV. Changes in Context and Forgetting of Single Memories

changes in context can produce forgetting of single episodes
A. External Context

demonstrations -

Gordon, McCraken, Dess-Beach & Mowrer (1981), rats
Smith (1979), humans

facilitation of recall by context change - Smith, Glenberg & Bjork (1978), humans
manipulate proximal vs. distal aspects of context - Zhou & Riccio (1996), rats

B. Internal Context

demonstration - Bliss (1973), monkeys

Topic 4: Forgetting: Effects of Interference

I. Interference - Definitions & Paradigms

interference - when retention is reduced because of memory for one or more other episodes
proactive interference (PI) paradigm

potential source of interference - info learned prior to target info

retroactive interference (RI) paradigm

potential source of interference - info learned after target info

II. Retroactive Interference (RI)

McGeogh's (1932) emphasis on RI as source of forgetting in humans
RI not solely a function of intrusion errors - Melton & Irwin (1940), humans
second factor in RI - unlearning/suppression of target memory, Barnes & Underwood (1959), humans

III. Proactive Interference (PI)

PI as a powerful source of forgetting in humans -

Greenberg & Underwood (1950)
Underwood (1957)

IV. Interference in Nonhumans

demonstrations of PI in pigeons -

Burr & Thomas (1972)
Kraemer (1984)

Topic 5: Short-Term Retention

short-term retention (STR) - retention of briefly presented episode tested seconds or minutes after occurrence
I. Delayed Matching-To-Sample Task

technique most commonly used to study STR
illustration & distinction between identity & arbitrary versions
accurate performance requires -

learn "rules of the game"
retain info of temporary relevance (i.e., a code) during delay

II. Sources of Forgetting

A. Decay

code spontaneously looses activation during delay
demonstration - Grant (1976), pigeons

B. Retroactive interference

demonstration - Grant & Roberts (1976), pigeons
modality specificity - D'Amato & Salmon (1984) & Colombo & D'Amato (1986), monkeys

C. Proactive interference

vary interval between trials - Grant (1975, in prep), pigeons
vary number of samples - Overman & Doty (1980), monkeys

III. Content of Memory

A. Prospective and retrospective coding

prospective - "forward looking", test code
retrospective - "backward looking", sample code
evidence of prospective coding -

in one-to-one procedure - Roitblat (1980), pigeons
in one-to-many procedure - Grant & MacDonald (1990), pigeons

B. Common coding

in many-to-one procedure, samples associated with the same comparison activate the same code
demonstration - Grant & Spetch (1994)

IV. Code Maintenance

A. The issue

active remembering process which opposes passive forgetting (i.e., decay) process?
research considered under point "B" (below) suggests answer is "yes"

B. Evidence

1. memory for "surprising" events

Grant, Brewster & Stierhoff (1983), pigeons

2. directed forgetting

Grant (1981) & Grant & Soldat (1995), pigeons

Topic 6: Memory for Nontarget Attributes and Spatial Location

I. Memory for Nontarget Attributes (Topic 6a)

target vs. nontarget attributes
A. Contextual attributes

demonstrations of the forgetting of aspects of context -

Perkins & Weyant (1958), rats
Thomas et al. (1985), pigeons

B. CS attributes

demonstrations of forgetting of CS features -

Thomas & Riccio (1979), rats
Richardson, Williams & Riccio (1984), rats
Land, Harrod & Riccio (1998), rats

C. US attributes

demonstration of forgetting of US features - Hendersen, Patterson & Jackson (1980), rats

D. Reinforcer attributes

demonstration of forgetting of reinforcer features - Gordon, Flaherty & Riley (1973), rats

II. Memory for Spatial Location (Topic 6b)

A. Radial maze

basic task - Olton & Samuelson (1976)
1. coding processes

retrospective - "backward looking", remember places visited
prospective - "forward looking", remember places to-be-visited
rats can use optimal strategy (i.e., retrospective early in trial, prospective later in trial)

Cook, Brown & Riley (1985), rats
Kesner & DeSpain (1988), rats & humans

2. chunking

heirarchical organization of representations
illustration in humans
demonstrations in rats - Dallal & Meck (1990) & Macuda & Roberts (1995)

3. primacy & recency effects

primacy - better retention of initial items than middle items in a serial list
recency - better retention of last few items than middle items in a serial list
illustration in humans
demonstration in rats - Harper, McLean & Dalrymple-Alford (1993)

B. Food caching and recovery

in some bird species, storing and recovering food involves memory

Shettleworth & Krebs (1982)
Sherry, Krebs & Cowie (1981)
Clayton & Dickinson (1999) - memory for content of caches

Topic 7: Ontogeny of Memory

infantile amnesia - more rapid forgetting by immature organisms

demonstration in humans - Sheingold & Tenney (1982)

I. The Ontogeny of Brain

age at full brain maturation - humans 12 years; rats 1 month

II. The Ontogeny of Learning

A. Sensory detection and learning

does ability to learn about events develop simultaneously with ability to detect those events?
answer is "no" - Moye & Rudy (1985), rats

B. Qualitative changes

adult-typically learning phenomena may emerge sequentially during ontogeny - Amsel (1986), rats

C. Instances of "better" learning in infants?

instances in which infants demonstrate more rapid or robust learning than adults
these instances may reflect deficiencies in learning mechanisms

III. The Ontogeny of Memory

A. Examples of infantile amnesia

Rovee-Collier and associates, humans
Campbell et al. (1974), rats
Miller et al. (1989), over minutes in rats

B. Causes of infantile amnesia

growth
infantile storage (encoding)

IV. The Paradox

A. Specification

propositions -

experiences during infancy have significant impact on the behavior of the adult
retention of episodes experienced early in life is typically poor

contradiction (paradox)?

B. Resolution?

some early experiences influence adult behavior independent of learning and memory processes
"reinstatement" and "reactivation" may prevent forgetting of episodes experienced early in life

demonstration of reinstatement - Spear & Parsons (1976), rats
demonstration of reactivation - Fagan, Hoffman, Rovee-Collier & Thompson (1981), humans
forgetting of original vs. reactivated memories in humans - Rovee-Collier et al. (1981), humans

Topic 8: Experimentally-Induced Amnesia and Memory Modulation

amnesia - abnormally rapid forgetting
retrograde amnesia (RA) - abnormally rapid forgetting of events experienced prior to onset of cause of amnesia
typical causes - brain insult (e.g., concussion, surgical trauma) and brain deterioration (e.g., chronic alcohol abuse)
I. Experimentally-Induced Retrograde Amnesia (RA)

permits study of nature and properties of RA
amnestic agents - e.g., ECS (electroconvulsive shock), hypothermia (rapid body cooling)
A. Training-agent interval

time-dependent RA - Duncan (1949), rats
modern studies use step-down passive avoidance
one explanation of time-dependent RA - consolidation account

B. Agent-testing (retention) interval

RA apparent at 24 hr retention interval is not always apparent at shorter retention intervals

Geller & Jarvik (1968), rats (amnestic agent - ECS)
Mactutus & Riccio (1978), rats (amnestic agent - hypothermia)

this finding -

is inconsistent with consolidation account
suggests that amnestic agent may influence accessibility, rather than availability, of memories

II. Modulation of Memory

memory modulation - posttraining treatment effects retention of an episode experienced prior to the modulating treatment
A. Modulating agents

1. drugs

demonstration (CNS stimululant, strychnine) - Gordon & Spear (1973), rats

2. hormones & neurotransmitters

demonstration (epinephrine) - Gold & VanBuskirk (1975), rats

3. "surprising" events

demonstration (unexpected shock or no shock) - Wagner, Rudy & Whitlow (1973), rabbits

B. Postacquisition state-dependent retention (PSDR)

retention is enhanced when organism is tested under same state as that induced shortly after training
retrieval account of PSDR
demonstration of PSDR- Richardson, Riccio & Steele (1986), rats
enhancement of retention by strychnine may be an instance of PSDR

Leccese & Grant (1980), rats

C. Modulation of reactivated memories

"old", but reactivated, memories are subject to modulation
negative modulation (by ECS) - Misanin, Miller & Lewis (1968), rats
positive modulation (by strychnine) - Gordon & Spear (1973), rats

D. In humans

by postepisode misinformation - Loftus and associates
erase & replace or coexistence?

McCloskey & Zaragoza (1985)

III. Anterograde Amnesia (AA)

abnormally rapid forgetting of episodes experienced after onset of cause of amnesia
examples of AA agents - concussion, ECS, hypothermia, Korsakoff's syndrome (induced by chronic alcohol abuse)
AA likely reflects -

effects on learning
effects on retrieval (instance of SDR?)

Topic 9: Recovery From Forgetting: Memory Retrieval

primary issue - does forgetting typically reflect information loss (info unavailable) or failure to retrieve stored information (info inaccessible)?
primary conclusion - forgetting typically reflects retrieval failure

primary support - demonstration that forgetting can often be reversed (by reminder or reactivation treatments)

I. Alleviation of Forgetting

A. Spontaneous forgetting

reminder-induced alleviation of forgetting - Hamberg & Spear (1978), rats
combining ineffective reminders can alleviate forgetting - Deweer (1986), rats
effectiveness of reminders can vary as a function of retention interval - Miller, Jagielo & Spear (1991), rats

B. From experimentally-induced amnesia

alleviation of ECS-induced RA by reminder - Gordon & Mowrer (1980), rats
alleviation of hypothermia-induced RA by recooling prior to test - Hinderliter, Webster & Riccio (1975), rats
alleviation of hypothermia-induced AA by recooling - Richardson et al. (1984), Santucci & Riccio (1986)

C. From amnesia in humans

demonstration - Warrington & Weiskrantz (1970)

II. Facilitation of the Retrieval Process

certain drugs (e.g., amphetamine) may enhance effectiveness of memory retrieval in general
A. Instances involving spontaneous forgetting

Quartermain & associates - pretest amphetamine alleviated forgetting of active & passive avoidance
Sara & associates - pretest amphetamine alleviated forgetting of appetitive spatial learning
arousal/attentional enhancement?

B. Instances involving brain damage

Braun, Meyer & Meyer (1966), rats - pretest amphetamine alleviated forgetting induced by posterior cortical lesions

Topic 10: Apects of Human Amnesia

I. Retrograde Amnesia (RA)

in humans, RA evident for episodes experienced 2 to 3 years prior to onset of cause of RA - Squire & Cohen (1979)
in monkeys, experimentally-induced RA for episodes experienced 3 weeks prior to onset of cause of RA - Zola-Morgan & Squire (1990)
difficult to explain RA for relatively old memories

II. Anterograde Amnesia (AA)

at least two factors involved -

deficient encoding
enhanced interference

III. Explicit and Implicit Memory

humans show selective AA (i.e., some episodes are learned and retained)
explicit memory - conscious recollection
implicit memory - retention in the absence of conscious awareness
human amnesics often demonstrate -

deficient explicit memory (deficits in recall & recognition tasks)
normal implicit memory

amnesics can acquire procedural knowledge (learn to play tennis, solve puzzle)
amnesics demonstrate implicit memory for certain types of nonprocedural information

e.g., show normal priming effects - Jacoby & Witherspoon (1982) & Graf, Squire & Mandler (1984)

Topic 11: Memory and Learning

I. Learning As Memory (Representation) Formation

primary point - learning episodes establish representations, and hence learning is memory formation
A. Memory as representation
B. Learning establishes representations

1. Pavlovian conditioning

evidence - Holland (1979)

2. instrumental learning

evidence - Colwill & Rescorla (1985)

II. The Role of Remembering (Retrieval) in Learning

A. Memory as process

primary point - learning is part of the memory process

B. Implications of the learning-as-part-of-memory-process view

failure of an experience to influence behavior could reflect -

failure to learn (i.e., store information)
failure to remember (i.e., retrieve stored information)

in point "C" (below) consider evidence that various phenomena typically regarded as reflecting effects on information storage (learning) actually reflect effects on information accessibility (remembering)

C. "Learning phenomena" which are likely remembering phenomena

1. overshadowing

Kaufman & Bolles (1981), rats - extinction of overshadowing stimulus alleviates overshadowing
Kasprow et al. (1982), rats - reminder treatment can alleviate overshadowing

2. blocking

Balaz, Gustin, Cacheiro & Miller (1982), rats - reminder treatment can alleviate blocking
Miller, McKinzie, Kraebel & Spear (1996), rats - magnitude of blocking can vary as a function of retention interval
Blaisdell, Gunther & Miller (1999), rats - extinction of blocking stimulus alleviates blocking

3. latent inhibition

Kraemer, Randall & Carbary (1991), rats - magnitude of latent inhibition can vary as a function of retention interval
Kasprow, Catterson, Schactman & Miller (1984), rats - latent inhibition alleviated by reminder treatment

4. relative validity

Cole, Gunther & Miller (1997), rats - magnitude of relative validity effect varies as a function of retention interval
Cole, Denniston & Miller (1996), rats - reminder treatment can alleviate relative validity effect

5. extinction

Pavlov (1927), dogs - extinguished responses recover during a retention interval
Bouton & associates - returning to context of acquisition (different from context of extinction) enhances responding (renewal effect)

D. A retrieval-based theory

Spear (1967, 1973, 1978)
Kraemer & Spear (1993), Kraemer & Golding (1998)
Bouton (1993, 1994)

III. Instance-Memory Theories

A. Visual discrimination

Blough (1998)

B. Temporal discrimination

Gibbon & Church (1984)