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Chapter 7
Memory
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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The Nature of Memory
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Memory Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval
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Forgetting
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Study Tips
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Memory and Health and Wellness
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The Nature of Memory
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retention of information or
experience over time
Three Phases of Memory
 encoding
 storage
 retrieval
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Encoding: Sensory Input
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automatic vs. effortful encoding
What is the role of attention?
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selective attention (purposive focus)
divided attention (multitasking)
sustained attention (vigilance)
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Encoding:
Levels of Processing
Encoding occurs on a continuum…
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shallow processing
intermediate processing
deep processing
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Encoding:
Levels of Processing
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Encoding: Elaboration
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elaboration can enhance memory
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number of mental connections
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vivid examples
self-referencing effect
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Encoding: Imagery
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memory wizards
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dual-code hypothesis (Paivio)
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verbal code – word or label
image code – detailed and distinctive
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image codes are stored as both
superior to verbal codes alone
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Memory Storage
Atkinson-Shiffrin Theory (1968)
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sensory memory
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short-term memory (STM)
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long-term memory (LTM)
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Atkinson-Shiffrin Model
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Storage: Sensory Memory
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rich and detailed information
held in original sensory form
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very brief duration
echoic (auditory) memory
iconic (visual) memory
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Storage: Short-Term Memory
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attention: sensory memory  STM
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limited duration (about 30 seconds)
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limited capacity (7 ± 2)
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Storage: Short-Term Memory
How can we improve STM?
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chunking
 grouping items into a unit
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rehearsal
 conscious repetition of information
 prolongs STM duration indefinitely
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Working Memory –
An Alternative to STM
Is Atkinson-Shiffrin’s theory too simplistic?
Active Memory System
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phonological loop
visuospatial working memory
central executive
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Working Memory Model
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Storage: Long-Term Memory
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relatively permanent with “unlimited” capacity
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explicit long-term memory (declarative)
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episodic memory
semantic memory
implicit long-term memory (nondeclarative)
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procedural memory
classical conditioning
priming
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Storage: Long-Term Memory
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Storage: Explicit LTM
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declarative memory
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conscious recollection of specific facts and
events that can be verbally communicated
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Bahrick (1984) – recall college Spanish
 initial learning is important
 permastore content
 effect of distributed practice
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Storage: Explicit LTM
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Storage: Explicit LTM
Subtypes of Explicit Memory
episodic
autobiographical memories
semantic
knowledge about the world
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Storage: Explicit LTM
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Storage: Implicit LTM
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nondeclarative memory
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affected by a past experience
without consciously recalling it
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procedural memory
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classical conditioning
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priming
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Memory: Organization
Schemas
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script (event schema)
Connectionist Networks
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parallel distributed processing (PDP)
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Memory: Location
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storage is diffuse
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circuits of neurons
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neurotransmitter involvement
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long-term potentiation
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The Smell of Memory
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memory and sensation link
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Proust effect
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implications/applications
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why is smell special?
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Memory: Brain Structure
Explicit Memory
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hippocampus, frontal lobes, amygdala
Implicit Memory
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cerebellum, temporal lobes, hippocampus
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Serial Position Effect
…tendency to recall items at
beginning and end of a list more
readily than those in middle
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Memory: Brain Structures
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Retrieval:
Serial Position Effect
Primacy Effect
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more space in working memory
for elaborative rehearsal during
encoding
Recency Effect
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items still in working memory
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Retrieval: Tasks and Cues
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types of tasks
 recall
 recognition
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encoding specificity
 information present at encoding
effective as retrieval cue
 context-dependent memory
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Retrieval: Special Cases
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autobiographical memories
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life time periods
- reminiscence bump
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general events
event-specific information
emotional memories
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flashbulb memories
traumatic events
repressed memories: motivated forgetting
- first forgotten and later recovered
- Freudian defense mechanism
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False Memory Recovery?
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childhood sexual abuse, other events
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recovered or discovered memories?
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abuse is under-acknowledged
most victims accurately remember at least a part
loss of memory for abuse is possible
false reconstruction of memory is possible
difficult to separate accurate and inaccurate
memories
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Eyewitness Testimony
Distortion
Bias
Inaccuracy
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Forgetting: Memory Failure
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Ebbinghaus
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encoding failure
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retrieval failure/interference theory
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proactive interference
retroactive interference
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Forgetting: Interference
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Forgetting: Memory Failure
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decay theory
 passage of time  forgetting
 does not explain all instances of forgetting
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tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
 effortful retrieval of known information
 can retrieve some information but not all
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Forgetting: Memory Failure
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prospective memory
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remembering to do something in the future
content – remembering what to do
timing – remembering when to do it
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absentmindedness
amnesia
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anterograde amnesia
inability to store new information and events
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retrograde amnesia
inability to retrieve past information and events
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Study Tips - Encoding
give undivided attention
 process deeply
 make associations
 use imagery
 encode early and often
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Study Tips - Retrieval
redo notes
 talk to others
 test yourself
 ask yourself questions
 rest and eat well
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© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Memory and
Health and Wellness
Roles of Autobiographical Memories
 learn from our experience
 develop sense of identity
 bond with others
Memory and Aging
 indicator of brain functioning
 activity inoculates against mental decline
 both physical and mental activity are important
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Chapter Summary
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Identify three phases of memory.
Explain how memories are encoded.
Discuss the three stages of memory storage.
Summarize how memories are retrieved.
Describe how the failure of encoding and retrieval are
involved in forgetting.
Evaluate study strategies based on an understanding of
memory.
Discuss the multiple functions of memory in human life.
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Chapter Summary
Encoding
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attention, levels of processing, elaboration,
and imagery
Storage
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sensory, short-term, and long-term memory
Retrieval
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serial position, retrieval cues, types of
memory
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Chapter Summary
Forgetting
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encoding failure, retrieval failure, interference,
decay, motivated forgetting, amnesia
Study Tips
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encoding, storage, retrieval
Memory and Health and Wellness
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autobiographical memory, memory and aging
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.