Biopsychology - Chapter 11 (Learning, Memory And A
Biopsychology - Chapter 11 (Learning, Memory and A
Exam (elaborations)
Biopsychology - Chapter 11 (Learning, Memory and Amnesia) Questions and Answers
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Biopsychology - Chapter 11 (Learning, Memory and A
Institution
Biopsychology - Chapter 11 (Learning, Memory And A
Biopsychology - Chapter 11 (Learning, Memory and Amnesia)
Learning - Answer- Deals with how experience changes the brain
-Focuses on the changes in the nervous system that are induced by experiences
Memory - Answer- Deals with how these changes are stored and subsequently reactivated
-Focus...
Biopsychology - Chapter 11 (Learning,
Memory and Amnesia)
Learning - Answer- Deals with how experience changes the brain
-Focuses on the changes in the nervous system that are induced by experiences
Memory - Answer- Deals with how these changes are stored and subsequently
reactivated
-Focuses on how changes are maintained over time and expressed (recalled)
What kind of processes are learning and memory? - Answer- -Neuroplastic
processes: they deal with the ability of the brain to changes is functioning in
response to experience
-Note: Memory and learning are inseparable
Amnesia - Answer- Condition characterized by the incapacity to remember
Bilateral Medial Lobectomy - Answer- Removal of the medial portion of the temporal
lobe in both sides of the brain - including most of hippocampus, amygdala and
adjacent cortex
Lobectomy - Answer- Operation in which lobe or major part of one is removed from
the brain
Lobotomy - Answer- Operation in which a lobe, or major part of one, is separated
from the rest of the brain by a large cut but is not removed
Patient HM - Answer- -Underwent bilateral medial temporal lobectomy to alleviate
severe epilepsy (in 1953).
-The tissue removed on both sides included the hippocampus, amygdala and
adjacent cortex (rhinal cortex).
-His epileptic condition improved, but he suffered devastating amnesic effects.
Retrograde Amnesia - Answer- -Backward Acting
-HM had some degree of it as he could remember his childhood well but less well
those episodes within the last two years before surgery
Anterograde Amnesia - Answer- -Forward Acting
-Short-term memory was within normal range (digit span of 6 digits). -But he could
not form new long-term memories.
-He could not consolidate new memories (process of transferring short-term
memories into long-term memories).
Digit Span +1 Test - Answer- -HM could remember about 6 digits; normal can
remember about 15.
, Block Tapping Memory Span Test - Answer- -9 blocks spread out on board and
asked to watch neuropsychologists test a sequence, and then repeat them with
same series of touches
-HM could follow 5 blocks, within the normal range.
-However he couldn't learn 6 even after it was repeated 12 times
Global Amnesia - Answer- -Block tapping memory span test showed that HM had
global amnesia: amnesia for information presented in sensory modalities
Incomplete Pictures Test - Answer- -Nonsensorimotor motor test of memory that
employs 5 sets of fragmented drawings (each contain objects but differ in degree of
sketchiness)
-Subjects asked to identify 20 objects from sketchiest to identifiable
-HM improved in an hour, but couldn't remember doing the task
Pavlovian Conditioning - Answer- Learned eyeblink pavlovian conditioning task
(pairing sound with air puff on the eye)
-Two years later, HM retained conditioned response, but couldn't remember training
What did HM's symptoms suggest? - Answer- -That individual brain structures could
be related to specific memory (mnemonic) processes
-Supporte theory that there are different modes of storage for short term and long
term memory
Memory Consolidation - Answer- -This was HM's specific problem that he had
difficult with
-Memory Consolidation: transfer of short term memories in long term storage
What were two parallel memory systems that HM's conditions suggested? - Answer-
Explicit (conscious memories) and Implicit memories (memories that are expressed
by improve test performance, but without conscious awareness)
Repetition Priming Tests - Answer- Tests to assess implicit memory
-Ex: Incomplete-picture test and test that involve memory for words
-Amnesiacs can improve at recognizing word fragments if they see the complete
words beforehand, even if they do not recall seeing the words
Having two memory systems raises the questions - do we have two parallel memory
systems? What is the advantage of having second conscious system? - Answer- -
Suggested answer is to confer flexibility - ability to use learning in different ways or
contexts
-Studies showed although amnesic patients were able to learn an implicit task, they
could not use this knowledge in a diff context
-Evolution of explicit memory systems provided for flexible use of information
Semantic memories - Answer- Explicit memories for general facts or information
-Ex: What one would learn in school, language, grammar, and facts
Episodic memories - Answer- Explicit memories for events and experiences in one's
life
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