Download Chapter 9 Memory

Chapter 9 Memory
Memory is the existence of learning over time via the storage and retrieval of information
Flashbulb memory a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.
Memory-it is required that we get information into our brain ( encoding), retain that information
called (storage) and later retrieve or recall that information called (retrieval)
This works similarly to a computer.
We store vast amounts of information in long-term memory. A limitless storehouse of the
memory system.
Short-term memory. - activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as seen digits of a
phone number while dialing. It’s like on screen memory on the computer daily.
Automatic processing Without thinking you encodes an enormous amount of information about
space, time and frequency. Automatic processing happens with little or no effort. We learn how
to get from class to class or we remember what we ate without even thinking about it.
Effortful Processing We encode information that takes effort that requires attention and
conscious effort.
Effortful processing memory can be boosted by
1. Rehearsal--the conscious repetition of information. Ebbinghaus showed that as rehearsal
increases the better our memory or recall. Additional rehearsal increases retention. Next in line
effect. When you play the name game you remember the last name said least.
2. Spacing effect--spaced learning over a period of time increases long-term retention. .
3. Serial Position effect - our ability to remember better the last and first items on a list.
4. We process information by associating it with what we already know.
What we encode?
We process information in 3 ways 1. encoding 2 visualize it 3. mentally organize it.
Encoding Meaning- we encode things on the mental model we construct. We relate it to what we
already know.
A. Semantic meaning –meaning of words
B Acoustic--the encoding of sound
C. Visual the encoding of picture images
In the experiment semantic information yielded the best encoding of verbal information.
We remember things when they have meaning to us or we can relate them to something that has
meaning.
Methods for storing information:
1. Relate material to previously restored material Self-reference effect
2. Visual imagery when you can make a mental picture or visualize the object you can
remember it better
3. Mnemonic devices- memory aids especially those techniques that use wild imagery and
organizational devices.
4. Ex. Peg words. Associates words with other words.
5. Chunking- organizing into familiar units. Ex. 1-4-9-2- 1492. Grouping into acronyms such
as ROYGBIV.
6. Hierarchy-- organizing into charts or breaking down into different parts like a chapter in a
book. .
We forget a lot of information because we never processed it in the first place.
Sensory memory storage- the initial recording of sensory information in the memory.
1. Iconic memory- momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli, lasts no more than a few
tenths of a second.
2. Echoic memory- a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli, sounds and words can be
recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.
We consciously process only limited information in our short-term memory. Not only the time
we keep short-term memory but the amount of information is limited in short-term memory.
The forgetting curve is initially rapid and then levels off. Ex. after taking Spanish you forget
most of it. Three years later you remember about the same as 10 years later.
Forgetting occurs as new information comes in and as the memory trace decays.
Memory and the Brain
Scientists have been searching to connect a part of the brain to memory. Some say memory does
not lie in certain spots.
Studies have shown that the neurotransmitter seratonin seems to release when learning is taking
place. Increased synaptic efficiency makes for more efficient neural circuits.
In experiments rapidly stimulating certain memory-circuit connections has increased their
sensitivity for hours or even weeks to come. This prolonged strengthening of potential neural
firing is called long-term potentiation. It provides a neural basis for learning and remembering
associations. Mice that lack LTP seem to have trouble learning while drugs that enhance LTP
increase learning. A blow to the head or even drinking can disrupt short-term memory from
being transferred to long-term memory and therefore it is forgotten.
Stress hormones can help us to remember emotional events. Emotion triggered hormonal
changes help explain why we remember certain emotional events.
Amnesia- loss of memory
Studies on patients with amnesia have shown that we have 2 types of memories
1. Implicit- nondeclarative memory. Retention of events without recollection. People’s golf
game gets better after they played but they can’t remember that they have played.
2. Explicit memory-declarative-- Having read a story once they will read it faster a second time.
But can’t explicitly declare what they have read.
Hippocampus is area related to new explicit memories in amnesia patients. Left hippocampus
damage effects verbal skills, Right hippocampus damage have trouble with visual designs and
locations. Hippocampus damage does not effect long-term memories only new ones. It is like
the new book section in the library carrying new material before it is transferred to permanent
storage.
Cerebellum is responsible for implicit memories. Since the hippocampus is the last part of the
brain to mature it explains why all the learning in the first three years effects our lives but we
cannot really recall it because the explicit skills of the hippocampus have not developed.
Getting Information Out-Retrieval
Recall the ability to retrieve information learned earlier.
We recognize more than we recall. We can’t remember names of old friends but when shown
pictures we recognize the.
Relearning- a measure that assesses the amount of time saved when relearning previously
learned information. We remember more than we recall but we have to retrieve it.
Retrieval cues
1. Priming- activation of particular associations in the memory.
2. Mnemonic devices help retrieve memory--word associations
3-context clues- recall increased when it is in the same area or context you originally learned it.
Deja vu is similar in that if we have previously been in a similar situation the current situation
may be loaded with cues.
4. Mood congruent- tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current mood.
So if you are in a bad mood everything seems to be bad and perceived as negative.
We also interpret others behavior as being bad because we are in a bad mood.
When we forget we can’t find the retrieval cue we need to remember. Ex. It’s on the tip of your
tongue.
Forgetting is a retrieval failure
Causes of forgetting
Proactive interference interferes or disrupts the recall of new information. Learning a new
number is difficult when the old number interferes with it. Retroactive interference. The
learning of new information interferes with recall of old. Ex. After I learn all my new students
names I have a harder time remembering old ones.
motivated forgetting- we remember less when it’s to our disadvantage to remember or we insist
that we remember to do something more than we really do when we know we should. Ex.
Cookies experiment and study skills course.
Repression- in psychoanalytic theory we put things into our unconscious that are too
uncomfortable to remember.
We remember things sometimes on how we constructed the memory of it. If we are given
misinformation about an event we may misremember the information. Ex. Experiment on
witnessing a car accident hit or smashed. This is called the misinformation effect. Even
repeatedly imagining nonexistent events can create false memories.
Source amnesia- attributing to the wrong source an event that we experience, heard
about, read about or imagined.
Memory is not stored as an exact copy nor retrieved as such. Rather we construct our
memories using both stored and new information.
Eyewitness testimony is often false.
Researchers are suspicious of long repressed memories of sexual abuse, UFO’s, or other
traumas that are recovered with the aid of suggestions or a therapist.