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Human Memory
Chapter 7
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I. Human Memory
Basic Questions
Basic Answers
 How does
information get
into memory?
 How is information
maintained in
memory?
 How is information
pulled back out of
memory?
 Encoded
 Storage
 Retrieval
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Analogy: computers ~ human memory
*both encode, store and retrieve information
Weiten: Themes and Variations 5th ed.
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II. Information Processing Theories
 Subdivide memory into 3 different
stores
 Sensory Memory/Register
 Short-term Memory (STM)
 Long-term Memory (LTM)
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Atkinson & Shiffrin “Box Theory”
 One of the most influential IPM’s (information
processing models/theories) of memory
Weiten: Themes and Variations 5th ed.
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A. Sensory Memory
 Brief preservation of information in original
sensory form
 Auditory/Visual – approximately ¼ second
 George Sperling’s “matrix” (1960)
 Classic experiment on visual sensory store
 Demonstrated how quickly information in
sensory register decays
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B. Encoding:
Getting Information Into Memory
1. The role of attention
 Focusing awareness
 Selective attention = selection of input
 Filtering:
 early (before meaning) or late (after meaning)?
 current research supports the idea that we can
move the filter for late or early filtering
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2. Levels-of-Processing Theory:
 Craik and Lockhart (1972) theorized incoming
information is processed at different levels.
 Encoding levels:
 Structural (how it looks) = shallow
 Phonemic (how it sounds)= intermediate
 Semantic (what it means) = deep
 Deeper processing = longer lasting memory codes
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Craik’s and Lockhart’s levels of processing
Weiten: Themes and Variations 5th ed.
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 Retention levels
increase as
processing
deepens!!!!
 Scientific support
for my
“Study beyond
recognition”
motto!!!!
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3. Enriching Encoding:
Improving Memory
 a. Elaboration = linking a stimulus
to other information at the time of
encoding
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(Enriching Encoding con’t)
 b. Visual Imagery = creation of visual images to
represent words to be remembered
 Mnemonic devices – method of loci or peg-word
approach
 Dual-coding theory- enhance memory using visual
& semantic codes together Paivio (1986)
 c.



Self-Referent Encoding
Making information personally meaningful
Relate it to something you already know!
Reasoning for using your own examples on your
cards!!
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C. Short Term Memory (STM)
 1. Limited duration – ~20 seconds without rehearsal

Rehearsal – the process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking
about the information – helps by keeping information active!
 2. Limited capacity

Magic number = 7 plus or minus 2 (Miller)

Chunking – grouping familiar stimuli into meaningful units to store
as a single unit – this increases STM capacity!
 3. Serial position phenomenon
Idea that the position of an item in a sequence will influence how
well it is recalled
Two forms:
primacy effect recency effect -
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3. STM Updated! “Working Memory”
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 STM not limited to phonemic encoding
 Loss of information not only a result of decay
 “Working Memory” – (Baddeley, 1986)
 Similar to traditional STM, but includes a greater
variety of functions and more complicated processes
 4 components
 Phonological rehearsal loop
 Time (2 seconds recitation time), not item based
 Visuospatial sketchpad
 Hold and manipulate visual information
 Executive control system
 Handles info as you manipulate it – ex. problem solving
 Episodic buffer
 Allows components to integrate info./buffer btw. working
and LTM/limited capacity
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D. Storage:
Maintaining Information in Memory
Where were you
on 9-11?
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E. Long-Term Memory:
Unlimited Capacity
 1. Unlimited? Yes! Permanent? Not likely!
 Evidence suggests flashbulb memories (vivid
long-lasting memory usually associated w/ and arousing
event) and recall through hypnosis are fallible!
 2. Debate: Are STM and LTM really different?
 Phonemic vs. Semantic encoding occur in both
 Decay vs. Interference based forgetting
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3. Organization Tendencies in Memory
 a. Clustering – tendency to remember
similar/related items in groups
 Ex: grouping turkey & dressing on a grocery list
 b. Conceptual Hierarchies –
classification system using common
properties
 Ex:
Fruits
Apple
Orange
Banana
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Organization Tendencies in Memory
Con’t
 c. Schemas – organized clusters of
information about an item/event
based on prior knowledge
 EX: you have a scheme of how a doctor’s office
looks/ you EXPECT it to look a certain way!
 d. Scripts – a special scheme for
common activities
 EX: you have a script for how to drive a car
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Organization Tendencies in Memory
Con’t
 e. Semantic Networks – concepts and their
web of interrelated pathways

EX: Look on page 278 (I have tip-of-the-tongue
phenomenon right now!)
 Explains why one memory can lead to another!
 f. Connectionist Networks and Parallel
Processing Distribution (PDP) Models
 Cognitive processes, including memory, depend on
activation of interconnected pathways
 Assert memory is NOT sequential!
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F. Retrieval:
Getting “Accurate?” Information Out
 1. The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon


a failure in retrieval
Can be helped by retrieval cues – stimuli which help gain
access to memories
 2. Reinstating either the external or internal “context”
 State-dependent memory –
better memory for material tested in the same, emotional,
mental or drug-induced state as when the information was
learned
 Mood congruent memory - *a form of state dependent
memory
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Retrieval con’t
 3. Reconstructing memories
 Memory is NOT exact, we tend to fill in the
gaps
 Ex: telephone activity
 4. Misinformation effect (Loftus) –
post event information influencing the
accurate recall of past events
 Effect can have a huge impact on eye-witness
testimony!!!
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Retrieval con’t
 Misinformation effect is explained in
part by the unreliability of…
 Source monitoring - the process of
making attributions about the origins of
memories
 Did you read it or hear it on TV??
 Reality monitoring - type of source
monitoring involving determining
whether memories are based in actual
events (external sources) or your
imagination (internal sources)
 Was it real or imagined?
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III. Forgetting:
When Memory Lapses
 A. Measuring Memory
 Retention – the proportion of material retained
 Tasks used to measure retention:
 Recognition (Hey, study BEYOND this!)
 Recall - pulling out info w/o cues
 Relearning
 Ebbinghaus
 Famous researcher on forgetting
 Used nonsense syllables to test retention
 “Forgetting Curve”
 Current research suggests this curve is
unusually steep
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B. Why Do We Forget?
 1. Psuedoforgetting – looks like
forgetting, but really the info was never
stored…usually due to lack of attention so that
encoding does not occur
 Ex: studying for hours, but never really
attempting to remember it
 2. Ineffective Encoding – superficial
encoding
 Ex: looking at the book, but not really reading it
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Why Do We Forget?
con’t
 3. Decay theory – memory traces fade
with time
 4. Interference theory – forgetting
occurs because of competition from other
material.
 Proactive - old information interferes with
the retention of new information
 old
new
 Retroactive - new information impairs the
retention for previously learned information.
 old
new
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Weiten: Themes and Variations 5th ed.
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C. Retrieval Failure
 1. Encoding Specificity – the value of a retrieval cue
depends on how well it corresponds to the way the
information was originally coded
 2. Transfer-Appropriate Processing – if the
processing measure and retention measure are
similar, retrieval is easier
 3. Repression
 Authenticity of repressed memories? Very
controversial!! Needs more scientific research!
* Remember Elizabeth Loftus from the video clip?
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IV. The Physiology of Memory
 A. Biochemistry
 Memory is related to alteration in synaptic
transmission
 Durable changes in synaptic transmission
may be the building blocks of memories.
 Hormones and protein synthesis has also
been shown to influence memory formation
* Remember the study on the video when the lady had to
put her arm in ice water after looking at the slides?
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The Physiology of Memory con’t
 C. Anatomy
 Hippocampus – helps consolidate/encode
memories
 Thalamus – helps form memory traces
 Amygdala -
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The Physiology of Memory con’t
 D. Organic Forgetting
 Retrograde amnesia – failure to
remember previously stored information
 old
X (x= when amnesia started)
 Anterograde amnesia – inability to
form new memories
X
new
 Life Without Memory: Clive Wearing video clip
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Amnesia diagram
Weiten: Themes and Variations 5th ed.
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V.
Are There Multiple Memory
Systems?
 A. Declarative Memory – memory for factual information
 Semantic – knowledge
 Episodic – personal episodes
* Both semantic and episodic memories are “explicit”, meaning
we intentionally recall them
 B. Procedural Memory – memory for actions/skills
* This memory is “implicit”, it is unintentionally remembered.
* Some research shows these may be stored in a different part
of the brain.
 C. Prospective (to do) vs. Retrospective (past)
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Weiten: Themes and Variations 5th ed.
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VI. Improving Everyday Memory
 Engage in adequate rehearsal
 Distribute practice and minimize interference
 Emphasize deep processing and transferappropriate processing
 Organize information
 Use verbal and visual mnemonics
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Study for your quiz!!!
 Cards are due!
 Use three-point format, especially the
examples!
 Study BEYOND recognition!
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