Inf1: Intro to Cognitive Science
Introduction to human memory
Alyssa Alcorn, Helen Pain and Henry Thompson
& Richard Shillcock
1 /17
Today’s goals
Begin looking at some of the distinctions made in research
into human memory.
Look at two case studies of amnesia
2 /17
Memory
Memory involves retaining information over varying
timescales, storage, and retrieval.
Memory is not monolithic; e.g. semantic memory versus
episodic memory.
Retrograde amnesia versus anterograde amnesia.
Retrieval can alter memories.
The language and manner in which we are questioned can
distort the content of memory.
Confidence in the accuracy or completeness of a memory
is a very poor predictor of what we actually remember.
Forgetting is adaptive.
3 /17
Case studies
Case studies as “natural experiments”.
The non-homogeneity or case studies; are neurotypical
individuals homogeneous?
4 /17
Case study 1:Henry Gustav Molaison “HM”
(1926 - 2008)
In 1953 doctors removed patient
HM’s hippocampal lobes, nearby
medial temporal lobes, and other
structures to cure debilitating
epileptic seizures, without knowing
that this brain area had a primary
responsibility for long-term
memory.
5 /17
Case study 1:Henry Gustav Molaison “HM”
(1926 - 2008)
6 /17
Case study 1:Henry Gustav Molaison “HM”
(1926 - 2008)
7 /17
Case study 2: Clive Wearing
Clive Wearing (UK) suffered encephalitis and has complete
retrograde and anterograde amnesia. He live in a window of
30 seconds or less and is always consciously aware of “just
waking up for the first time”, unless distracted by activity.
8 /17
Case study 2: Clive Wearing
Clive meets his wife effusively every time. He has very little
knowledge of his past life and even of the last sentence he
heard. He cannot form new memories. He keeps up what is
often a monologue around particular themes.
9 /17
Case study 2: Clive Wearing
He can talk profusely, make jokes, and interact. He can play
music and can conduct a choir. He can recognize his wife
and children. He has extensive semantic knowledge. He
behaves coherently when producing a sequence. He finds
his way around his house.
10/17
Case study 2: Clive Wearing
The world initially appeared confusing. Sacks retells Clive’s
wife’s story of him continually rediscovering a chocolate in
his hand.
Clive went from confusion, to despair, to depression, and
finally towards coping.
Clive has no personal narrative.
Clive’s pattern of impairment suggests some distinctions
between “types” of memory ...
11/17
Types of memory
Squire (1992)
These are abstract universals. They give us some initial
traction on the domain. We can talk about ordered relations
between them.
12/17
Types of memory
Long term memory (LTM) versus short term memory (STM).
Explicit memory (or declarative memory) can be consciously
retrieved and stated. It can be episodic or semantic.
Implicit memory (or non-declarative memory, or procedural
memory) refer to performance or to fixed action patterns.
13/17
Gaining a non-monolithic view of memory
HM’s experience demonstrated that the hippocampus was
involved in memory, rather than being distributed around the
brain.
14/17
Milner’s (1962, 1968) study of HM
Over hundreds of training trials HM was involved able to
learn a route through a maze, and retain it over days.
15/17
An ethical question
Can someone like HM or Clive give consent to participate
in research?
16/17
References
To watch the videos again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu9UY8Zqg-­-Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwigmk*x2Y
Memory (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009)
The Abyss: Music and amnesia (article on Clive Wearing; Sacks 2008)
Further analysis of the hippocampal amnesiac syndrome: 14-year
follow-up study of H.M. (Milner, Corkin, & Teuber, 1968)
H. M., an Unforgettable Amnesiac, Dies at 82 (NYT Obituary of
patient HM by Benedict Carey, 2008)
See reading list for links.
17/17
Other topics
Incubation
Sleep consolidation
DRM
18/17