Download on Memory

More on Memory
Journal #4
• Think back to your very first day of school. Tell
me what you remember about it. What exact
details can you provide?
– What were you wearing?
– How did you get to school?
• If you do remember this…why might be the
reason for NOT forgetting?
• If you do not remember anything about this day
why might you have forgotten these details?
Why We Forget – 5 Theories
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Decay
Replacement
Interference
Cue-Dependent (and state-dependent)
Repression (AKA psychogenic amnesia)
Also “7 Sins of Memory”
Error
1. Transcience
Type
forgetting
2.
Absentmindedness
forgetting
Def
Reduced
Memory
over time
Reduced
memory
due to
failing to
pay
attention
Example
Forgetting
the plot of
movie
Losing your
keys, or
forgetting
your lunch
7 Sins of Memory
Error
3. Blocking
Type
forgetting
4. Misattribution Distortion
Def
Inability to
remember
needed
information
Example
Failing to
remember the
name of person
you met on the
street
Assigning a
Falsely thinking
memory to the that Richard
wrong source Shiffrin is famous
because his name
is well know.
7 Sins of Memory
Error
Type
5. Suggestibility
6. Bias
Def
Distortion
Distortion
Example
Altering a memory
because of
misleading
information
Influence of
current
knowledge on
our memory for
past events
Developing
false memories
for events that
did not happen
Remembering past
attitudes as similar
to current attitudes
even though they
have changed
7 Sins of Memory
Error
Type
Def
Example
7. Persistence Undesirable The resurgence of Remember an
embarrassing
unwanted or
disturbing memories faux pas
that we would like to
forget
Scenarios
1. Your grandpa forgets what color his first car
was. ___________________
2. Your sister died when you were 4 years old
and you can not remember what occurred.
___________________
3. You forget what kind of pizza is your friends
favorite is, you hear the word bacon and
remember it is pepperoni and
bacon.______________________
4. You are in a good mood when studying for a
test. When you go to write the test you are also
in a good mood and therefore do well at
remembering info for the test.
____________________
5. You witness a car accident. At MPI when you are
telling your story the adjuster asks “how fast
was the RED car travelling, when it came FLYING
around the corner? You now remember the car
being RED, and that it was going really FAST
_______________________
Herman Ebbinghaus
• German psychologist who pioneered the
experimental study of memory
• Known for discovering the “forgetting curve”
• He was determined to show how mental
processes could actually be studied using
experimentation
• He mainly did experiments on himself
• He would use nonsense syllables
– mix up vowel, consonant
• Ex.
AN
OV
UB
– They were meant to be meaningless…i.e. not a
word
• CAT – he would apply meaning to it and picture a cat
•
EX. 100 words…
He would
quickly forget a
lot
of them
NUMBER
OF
“WORDS”
Over time
her would
remember
some of
them
There was always some he
would never forget
TIME
• Findings:
– Retention decreased rapidly at first (rapid forgetting)
and then the rate of loss of information slowed
– Spaced practice tended to reduce the amount of
forgetting
– Overlearning helped retention
• Ebbinghaus also documented the serial position
effect
REMEMBER….
• Memory: the input, storage, and retrieval of
what has been learned or experienced
• Encoding: the transforming of information so
the nervous system can process it
• Storage: the process by which information is
maintained over a period of time
• Retrieval: the process of obtaining information
that has been stored in memory
SENSORY
• Takes in a ton of info – forgets quickly!
STM
• Limited in capacity
– About seven items
• Limited in duration (30 sec) UNLESS IT IS
REHEARSED
– Elaborative (meaningful) VS Maintenance
(repeating) Rehearsal
– Can use mnemonic device
– Or any of the other 10 techniques we learned
– Info can be chunked
Practice
How many dots?
How about now?
More Practice….What type of
rehearsal?
• You are studying an equation for math. You write
it down over and over again on a sheet of loose
leaf.
• You are trying to remember the 5 perspectives
“Biological, Learning, Sociocultrual,
Psychodynamic, Cognitive” so you come up with
this sentence:
– Big Lions Scare People Constantly
LTM
• Semantic memory: knowledge of language,
including its rules, words and meanings.
• Episodic memory: chronological retention of
events of our own life.
• Declarative memory: stored knowledge that
can be called forth consciously as needed.
• Procedural memory: permanent storage of
learned skills that does not require conscious
recollection. (swimming, driving, tying a tie)
Eye Witness Testimonies
Elizabeth Loftus
• Eye witness testimony is a legal term
• Refers to an account given by people of an
event they have witnessed
• Ex. They may need to give a description at a
trial of a robbery or a road accident seen
• This may include identification of perpetrators
or details of the crime scene
• Eyewitness testimony is an important area of
study in cognitive psychology and human
memory
• Jury tends to pay close attention to
eyewitness testimony and generally find it a
reliable source of info
• Research shows….
• Eyewitness testimony can be affectred by
many psychological factors:
– Anxiety
– Stress
– Weapon Focus
– Leading Questions (replacement)
• Elizabeth Loftus – EyeWintessLoftus Vid
• 60 Minutes “Ronald Cotton”