Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

Concept Map273Imperfect MemoriesFactors that contribute to false memories:• Elizabeth Loftus (b. 1944) studies showed how misinformationeffect can distort memories• Source confusion• Schema distortion can occur because of previously learnedinformation about a topic (schemas) or a sequence of actions (scripts)• Imagination inflation can produce a sense of false familiarity• Blending fact and fiction• SuggestionThe Search for the Biological Basis of MemoryKarl S. Lashley (1890–1958)• Concluded memories are distributedrather than localized as a memorytrace in the brainRichard F. Thompson (b. 1930)• Showed that memory for a simpleconditioned reflex is localized in thebrain• Memories can be both distributedand localizedEric Kandel (b. 1929)• Showed that forming a new memoryproduces functional and structuralchanges in neurons• As memory becomes established,long-term potentiation occursInsights about how memory isprocessed in the brain have comefrom studying people with amnesia,which can be caused by injury orbrain surgery.Retrograde amnesia:Backward-acting amnesiathat disrupts process ofmemory consolidationAnterograde amnesia:Forward-acting amnesiaDementia is the progressivedeterioration of cognitive functions,especially memory and reasoning;occurs as a result of a disease orother physical condition.Most common form of dementiais Alzheimer's disease (AD),which is characterized bybeta-amyloid plaques andneurofibrillary tangles in the brain.Most famous case of anterogradeamnesia was that of HenryMolaison (1926–2008), knownfor years only by his initials H.M.Brenda Milner (b. 1918) andSuzanne Corkin (b. 1937)Studies of H.M. showed that explicitmemory and implicit memory involvedifferent brain regions.Brain structures involvedin memory:• Hippocampus• Cerebellum• Amygdala• Frontal lobes, includingthe prefrontal cortex• Medial temporal lobes