The goal of this paper is to understand how the brain and memory processes are intertwined. Read all of the reading resources listed for this week on short-term and long-term memory, and how the various types of memory tie in with the neural mechanisms in the brain. For further readings access the Memory and Brain Mechanisms Paper Suggested Resources In an essay of 1,000-1,250 words, discuss how memories are formed and maintained in the brain through the actions of neural circuitry. Use at least four of the listed resources to address the following questions:
Theoretically, how is working memory similar to and different from long-term memory?
How are memories formed in the brain (using neural circuitry), and how are they maintained?
When is it adaptive to remember, and in what ways may it be adaptive to forget?
Given what we know about brain mechanisms in memory, are our memories accurate? Explain your answer using information on how memories are stored in the brain.
How can knowledge of the brain and memory systems be used to help individuals suffering from memory problems (e.g., poor memory, amnesia, PTSD)?
What role do age and environment play in how memories are formed and maintained?
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines
———–LECTURE NOTES ————
Semantic Memories and Schemas
Introduction
Semantic memory is the part of the cognitive process of memory that organizes knowledge, which is not linked to any particular method on how this knowledge was acquired. Episodic memory is the other side of the coin, and is knowledge that has been acquired by an actual event that has happened to the individual. Both of these types of memory can overlap and the differences are not very clear in some incidents. The semantic and episodic memories are both parts of the long-term memory of an individual. Different parts of the brain store and recall different memory actions, and when a certain part of the brain is damaged, it can affect one area of memory and not another. Disease, brain damage, and old age can affect a person’s memory.
Semantic Memory
Sigmund Freud believed that free association was the individual’s way of using semantic memory to retrieve knowledge. This could eventually be used therapeutically in the treatment of an individual during psychoanalysis. Freud believed the individual would associate a word through this free talking to some event and bring this memory to the conscious state. The individual would be able to use this free association to integrate what was learned in an appropriate healthy manner. Freud believed that all the memory disorders were not brain disorders but psychological disorders that affected memory. This theory of Freud’s is in sharp contrast to other theories of the brain and memory.
Episodic Memory
Episodic memory is the part of long-term memory that is considered autobiographical. This memory is an individual’s life experiences and everyday activities. The individual learns something or experiences an event and it is embedded in the brain. Episodic memory can be influenced by the emotional state the individual is experiencing at the time of the event. Two people may be watching the same event, such as a bank robbery, and each perceive this event differently because of how they are feeling emotionally at this time. Retelling of the event to the police may be different, yet each would believe they are correct because of the state of mind of the individual at the time of the event.
Try watching an event with another person and talk about the similarities and differences that occur during this experience. A person’s previous experiences, emotional state, frame of reference, as well as the interest the person has in the event, determine the memory of the event.
The Brain and Memory
Different areas of the brain control and specialize in different types of memory functions. The brain is not like a computer that can retrieve items with one click of the mouse. This complex organ has millions of neurons that are activated at different sites of the brain and are pooled together and processed to complete the memory. The anatomy and function of the brain can assist the individual’s understanding of memory and how it functions. The frontal lobe, which controls cognition and memory, the temporal lobe, which retrieves the memory information, the parietal lobe, which processes sensory input, and other areas work in harmony to produce memory. Damage to specific areas of the brain through diseases, age, or an accident can affect an individual’s memory and the ability to use this memory. Research on the brain and its ability to adapt to damage is ongoing in order to help people who suffer from brain damage.
Schemas
A schema can be used in a wide variety of ways with human memory. A schema is an outline or the organization of information in memory to understand and remember the event. Schemas are used as patterns and can help students understand complex material even if they have not been exposed to the specific topic to be learned. Teachers who teach music, English, or other subject areas use schemas. The problem with schemas is that an individual has certain biases because of past experiences, geographic location, gender, and age. These biases can lead to different interpretations of the same subject being taught.
Conclusion
Memory is a cognitive process and is complex in nature. The relationship between memory and the brain is close and interactive. The brain adapts and reacts to various stressors, disease, and age that affect the memory of an individual. Brain research is an exciting field of study that can lead to new developments in areas of learning, memory, neuroscience, and various treatments for brain damage patients.
References
Acklin, M. W., Sauer, A., Alexander, G., & Dugoni, B. (1989). Predicting depression using earliest childhood memories.Journal of Personality Assessment, 53(1), 51-59.
Chiriac, J. (2006). The free association method. Psychoanalysis – Techniques and Practice. Retrieved February 8, 2006, from AROPA: http://www.freudfile.org/psychoanalysis/free_associations.html
de Kort, S. R., Dickinson, A., & Clayton, N. S. (2005). Retrospective cognition by food-caching western scrub-jays. Learning and Motivation, 36 (2), 159-176.
Goldenberg, C. (1991). Instructional conversations and their classroom applications. Retrieved February 8, 2006, from eScholarship Repository, University of California, Santa Cruz.: http://repositories.cdlib.org/crede/ncrcdslleducational/EPR02/
Reich, R. R., & Goldman, M. S. (2005). Exploring the alcohol expectancy memory network: The utility of free associates. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 19(3), 317-325.
Stein, H. H. (2003). Good psychoanalytic psychotherapy in film: Three unorthodox examples.Psychoanalytic Psychology, 20(4), 701-709.
Tulving, E. (1972). Episodic and semantic memory. In E. Tulving & W. Donaldson (Eds.), Organisation of memory (pp. 381−403). New York: Academic Press.
Vargha-Khadem, F., & Gadian, D. G. (1997). Differential effects of early hippocampal pathology on episodic and semantic memory. Science, 277(5324), 376-381.
