Download Encoding

Cognition Domain
•kali9/istockphoto
Memory
•Rodrigo
Blanco/istockphoto
Information Processing Model
• Encoding – process of getting
information into the memory system.
• Storage – The retention encoded
information over time.
• Retrieval – The process of getting
information out of memory storage.
Information Processing Model
PHOTOS: CHARLES T. BLAIR BROEKER
Module 22: Information Processing
Encoding
Module 22: Information Processing
Encoding:
Automatic Processing and
Effortful Processing
Automatic Processing
• The unconscious and effortless
process of encoding certain
information
• such as space, time and frequency.
Effortful Processing
• Encoding that requires attention and
conscious effort.
• The best processing is through rehearsal
or practice.
Automatic/Effortful Processing
Rehearsal
• The conscious repetition of
information.
• The more time spent on rehearsal, the
more information one tends to
remember.
Rehearsal and Retention
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)
• German philosopher who did
pioneering memory studies.
– Developed the forgetting curve, also called the
“retention curve” or “Ebbinghaus curve”
Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve
Overlearning
• Continuing to rehearse even after it has
been memorized
• Rehearsing past the point of mastery
• Helps ensure information will be
available even under stress
Module 22: Information Processing
Encoding:
Serial Position Effect
Serial Position Effect
• The tendency to recall the first and
last items in a list more easily.
– Primacy effect – the ability to recall information
near the beginning of a list
– Recency effect – the ability to recall information
near the end of a list
Primacy/Recency Effect
Module 22: Information Processing
Encoding:
Spacing of Rehearsal
Spacing Effect
• The tendency for distributed practice to yield better
retention than is achieved through massed practice
– Distributed Practice
• Spreading rehearsal out in several sessions separated
by period of time
• Usually enhances the recalling of the information
– Massed Practice
• Putting all rehearsal together in one long session
(cramming)
• Not as effective as distributed practice
Module 22: Information Processing
Encoding:
Encoding Meaning
Encoding Meaning
• Semantic Encoding
– Encoding of meaning.
– Encoding information that is meaningful
enhances recall
• Acoustic Encoding
– Encoding information based on the sounds of the
information
• Visual Encoding
– Encoding information based on the images of the
information
Visual Encoding
Self-Reference Effect
• Enhanced semantic encoding of
information that is personally relevant
– Making information meaningful to a person by
making it relevant to one’s life
Module 22: Information Processing
Encoding:
Encoding Imagery
Encoding Imagery
ROBERT CLAR/AURORA
• Visual images easily encode
• Especially extremely positive or
negative images
Module 22: Information Processing
Encoding:
Mnemonic Devices
Mnemonic Device
• A memory trick or technique.
• “Every good boy does fine” to
remember the notes on the lines of the
scale
• “I before E except after C” to remember
spelling words
Examples of Mnemonic Devices
• Method of Loci
– Mnemonic device in which you associate items
you want to remember with imaginary places
• Peg Words
– Mnemonic device in which you associate items
you want to remember with a list of words
already you have already memorized
– Goal is to visualize the items to remember with
the items on the pegs
Peg Word System
Module 22: Information Processing
Encoding:
Organizing Information
Chunking
• Organizing information into
meaningful units.
• More information can be encoded if
organized into meaningful chunks.
Chunking
•Take ten seconds to memorize the above line of letters.
Chunking
•Take ten seconds to memorize the above line of letters.
Chunking
Module 22: Information Processing
Storage
Three Storage Systems
• Three distinct storage systems :
– Sensory Memory
– Short-Term Memory (includes
Working Memory)
– Long-Term Memory
Sensory Memory
• Brief, initial coding of sensory
information in the memory system.
– Iconic store – visual information
– Echoic store – sound information
• Information held just long enough to
make a decision on its importance
Short-Term Memory
• The part of your memory system that
contains information you are consciously
aware of before it is stored more
permanently or forgotten.
– Holds approximately seven, plus or minus two,
chunks of information
– Can retain the information as long as it is
rehearsed
• Also called “working memory”
Short-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory
• The relatively permanent and limitless
storehouse of the memory system.
– Holds memories without conscious effort
Flashbulb Memory
• A vivid, clear memory of an
emotionally significant moment or
event.
– Can be personal memories or centered around a
shared event
Module 22: Information Processing
Retrieval
Retrieval
• The process of getting information out of
memory storage
• Two forms of retrieval
– Recall
• The type of retrieval in which you must search
for information that you previously stored
– Ex. a fill-in-the-blank test
– Recognition
• The type of retrieval in which you must identify
items you learned earlier
– Ex. a multiple choice test
Retrieval
Module 22: Information Processing
Retrieval:
Context
Context Effect
• The enhanced ability to retrieve
information when you are in an
environment similar to the one in
which you encoded the information.
Context Effect
Module 22: Information Processing
Retrieval:
State Dependency
State Dependent Memory
• The enhanced ability to retrieve
information when you are in the same
physical and emotional state you were
in when you encoded the information.
– The retrieval state is congruent (the same as)
with the encoding state
Module 23
Forgetting and Memory
Construction
Module 23: Forgetting and Memory Construction
Forgetting as Encoding
Failure
Information Processing Model
REVIEW
• Encoding – The process of getting
information into the memory system.
• Storage – The retention of encoded
information in memory over time.
• Retrieval – The process of getting
encoded information out of memory
storage.
Encoding Failures
• People fail to encode information
because:
– It is unimportant to them
– It is not necessary to know the
information
– A decrease in the brain’s ability to
encode
Which is the Right Penny?
(From Nickerson & Adams, 1979)
Which is the Right Penny?
(From Nickerson & Adams, 1979)
Module 23: Forgetting and Memory Construction
Forgetting as Storage
Failure
The Forgetting Curve
(Adapted from Ebbinghaus, 1885)
Module 23: Forgetting and Memory Construction
Forgetting as Retrieval
Failure:
Interference
Interference
• A retrieval problem when one memory gets
in the way of remembering another
• Two types of interference:
– Proactive interference
• When an older memory disrupts the
recall of a newer memory.
– Retroactive interference
• When a more recent memory disrupts
the recall of an older memory.
Proactive Interference
Retroactive Interference
Module 23: Forgetting and Memory Construction
Forgetting as Retrieval
Failure:
Motivated Forgetting
Repression
• In Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory,
– the process of moving anxiety-producing memories to
the unconscious.
• A proposed way of protecting oneself from painful memories
• NOT well-supported by research;
• stressful incidents are actually more likely to be encoded
Module 23: Forgetting and Memory Construction
Memory Construction
Memory Jigsaw Analogy
• Memories, rather than being like a video
tape, are formed as bits and pieces.
• People may retrieve only some of the
pieces of the memory
Elizabeth Loftus (1944- )
• Research established the constructed
nature of memory.
– Has found that subjects’ memories vary based on the
wording of questions
– Demonstrated the misinformation effect
• Incorporating misleading information into a memory of
an event.
– Affects eyewitness testimony
Misinformation Effect
Module 23: Forgetting and Memory Construction
Memory Construction:
Children’s Recall
Children’s Testimony on Abuse
• Research has shown children’s
testimony to be unreliable
• Children are very open to suggestions
• As children mature their memories
improve
Accurate Interviewing Methods
• To promote accuracy with children’s
testimony the interviewer should:
– Phrase questions in a way the child
can understand
– Have no prior contact with the child
– Use neutral language and do not lead
or suggest answers
Module 23: Forgetting and Memory Construction
Memory Construction:
Recovered Memories
Accuracy of Memories
The End