Download Unit 7 Cognition: Memory Memory: the persistence of learning over

Unit 7 Cognition: Memory
Memory: the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.
Flashbulb Memory: a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.
Encoding: the processing of information into the memory system (i.e., getting information into
memory).
Storage: the retention of the encoded information over time.
Retrieval: the process of getting information out of memory storage.
Information Processing
External events are first recorded in fleeting sensory memory. If we pay attention to this information, it
will be encoded into short-term memory. With further encoding and rehearsal, the information will be
recorded in long-term memory.
Sensory Memory: the immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system (iconic
= visual sensory memory; echoic = auditory sensory memory).
Short-term Memory: activated memory that holds a few items (7 + or - 2) briefly (about 30 seconds),
such
as the 7 digits of a telephone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten.
Long-term Memory: the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.
ENCODING: GETTING INFO IN
Automatic Processing: effortless, unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time,
and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.
Effortful Processing: encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.
Rehearsal: the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it
for storage.
Ebbinghaus' Retention Curve: Ebbinghaus found that the more times he practiced a list of nonsense
syllables on day 1, the fewer repetitions needed to relearn them on day 2. In other words, the more
time we spend learning new information, the better we retain it.
Spacing Effect: the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is
achieved through massed study or practice (i.e., cramming doesn't work well).
Serial Position Effect: our tendency to recall best the first and last items in a list. More specifically:
Recency Effect: When asked to recall items immediately, we remember items at the end of the list
best.
Primacy Effect: When asked to recall items at a later time, we remember items at the beginning of
the list best.
How We Encode Information
Visual Encoding: the encoding of picture images.
Acoustic Encoding: the encoding of sounds, especially the sound of words.
Semantic Encoding: the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.
*NOTE: Processing a word deeply--by its meaning (semantic encoding)--produces better recognition of it
at a later time than does shallow processing of its appearance (visual encoding) or its sound (acoustic
encoding).
Unit 7 Cognition: Memory
Imagery: mental pictures; a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with
semantic encoding.
Mnemonics: memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational
devices.
Chunking: organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.
STORAGE: RETAINING INFO
Sensory Memory
Iconic Memory: a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image
memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second (this phenomenon was studied by Sperling).
Echoic Memory: a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds
and words can still be recalled with 3 or 4 seconds.
Short-term Memory: temporary memory storage. Most people can hold about 7, plus or minus 2, bit of
information in STM. Depending on the type of info, it won't remain in STM much longer than about 1030 seconds.
Long-term Memory: relatively permanent and limitless memory storehouse. Both serotonin and stress
hormones have been found to be important in the formation of memories.
Long-term Potentiation (LTP): an increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief, rapid
stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.
1. Implicit Memory (non-declarative): recall of information that does not require conscious effort.
a) Procedural Memory: Memory for skills (cognitive and motor), such as riding a bicycle or saying
the alphabet. These skills become almost automatic with time.
b) Dispositional Memory: all of the behaviors.
learned through classical and operant conditioning.
**Implicit memories are processed by the cerebellum.
2. Explicit Memory (declarative): memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously
know and "declare".
a) Episodic Memory: Memory of personal experiences; it is like your memory "diary".
b) Semantic Memory: Memory of facts and general knowledge; it is like your memory
"encyclopedia".
**Explicit memories are processed by the hippocampus.
RETRIEVAL: GETTING INFO OUT
Recall: a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier (e.g.,
fill-in-the-blank test)
Recognition: a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously
learned (e.g., multiple-choice test.
Relearning: a memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material
for a second time.
Priming: the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.
Context Effects: memory is better for information that is retrieved in the same (or similar)
context in which it was learned (e.g., words memorized underwater are best recalled
underwater).
Mood-congruent Memory: the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's
current good or bad mood.
Unit 7 Cognition: Memory
FORGETTING:
1. We may not remember information simply because we never encoded it.
2. We also lose information simply due to the passage of time, this is called decay.
3. We also lose information due to interference.
a) Proactive Interference: the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new
information.
b) Retroactive Interference: the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old
information.
4. Through motivated forgetting, we may alter or rearrange our memories to make ourselves
feel better (e.g., forgetting that you ate 10 cookies in a sitting while on a diet).
Repression: A form of motivated forgetting. In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense
mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.
Misinformation Effect: incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event
(studied extensively by Elizabeth Loftus).
Source Amnesia: attributing something we have heard about, read about, or imagined to the
wrong source (often believing we personally experienced it).
**Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories.
Remember: overall, eyewitness memories are quite fallible...especially children's recollections
of events. Additionally, when "repressed" memories of abuse are "recovered" through the use of
hypnosis, there is a high probability that the memories are false (false-memory syndrome
Information Processing Model of Memory
Unit 7 Cognition: Memory
Types of Long-term Memory
Explicit
(Declarative)

Requires conscious effort

Involves the Hippocampus
Semantic Memory
Episodic Memory
Retention of facts and
general knowledge
Retention of personal
experiences
(it’s like an encyclopedia)
(it’s like a diary)
Implicit
(Non-declarative)


Does not require conscious effort
Involves the Cerebellum
Procedural
Memory
Dispositional
Memory
Retention of skills-motor and cognitive
(e.g., riding a bike,
driving a car, or
reciting your "A B
C’s")
Retention of conditioned
associations learned
through operant or classical
conditioning (e.g., fearing
snakes, feeling good when
you earn an "A")
Unit 7 Cognition: Memory
The Hippocampus
Unit 7 Cognition: Memory