Download Storage and Retrieval

CHS AP Psychology
Unit 7 Part Ia : Memory
(Cognition)
Essential Task 7.2:
Outline principles that help improve memory
functioning at each stage:
encoding - attention, chunking, serial positioning effect,
deep versus shallow processing, and rote rehearsal
storage - decay theory, elaborative rehearsal, spacing
effect, method of loci, and link method
retrieval - retroactive interference, proactive
interference
Storage: Retaining Information
Storage is at the heart of memory. Three
stores of memory are shown below:
Sensory Memories
The shortest retention of all memory stores IF not
rehearsed.
The duration of sensory memory varies for the
different senses.
Iconic
0.5 sec. long
Echoic
3-4 sec. long
Hepatic
< 1 sec. long
Decay Theory
• The decay theory argues that the
passage of time causes forgetting.
• The longer information is not accessed,
increases the chances of forgetting it.
Working Memory
Working memory is a new name for
short-term memory
• has a limited capacity (7±2)
• short duration (20 seconds)
When working on its own without help
from the Long Term Memory (LTM)
Capacity
The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some
Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information
(1956).
MUTGIKTLRSYP
You should be able to
recall 7±2 letters.
George Miller
Duration
Peterson and Peterson (1959) measured the
duration of working memory by manipulating
rehearsal. Would have to repeat consonant
chunks without rehearsal, and the further the
time went when they were allowed to repeat,
the less they were able to remember.
CHJ
MKT
HIJ
547
547
544
541
…
The duration of the working memory is
about 20 sec.
CH??
Working Memory Duration
Long-Term Memory
Essentially unlimited capacity store.
The Clark’s nutcracker can locate 6,000
caches of
buried pine seeds during winter and spring.
Synaptic Changes
Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
refers to synaptic
enhancement after learning
(Lynch, 2002). It’s a longlasting change in the
structure or function of a
synapse that increases the
efficiency of neural
transmission.
Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
• LTP is the physical basis for learning:
– Drugs that block LTP interfere with learning
– Mice engineered to lack an enzyme
needed for LTP can’t learn their way out
of a maze
Stress Hormones & Memory
Heightened emotions (stress-related or
otherwise) make for stronger memories.
Flashbulb memories are clear memories of
emotionally significant moments or events
Types of Long Term Memory
• Explicit memory
– Memory for information we
can readily express and are
aware of having
– This information can be
intentionally recalled
– Episodic Memories - Memories
for personal events in a specific
time and place
– Semantic Memories - Memory
for general facts and concepts
not linked to a specific time
Types of Long Term Memory
• Implicit memory
@#$!&
– Memory for information that
we cannot readily express
and may not be aware of
having
– Cannot be intentionally
retrieved
– Procedural memories: Motor
skills and habits
– Emotional memories: Learned
emotional responses to
various stimuli
Where Are Memories Stored?
Hippocampus
Hippocampus – a neural center in the limbic
system that processes explicit memories.
Anterograde Amnesia
After losing his hippocampus in surgery, patient
Henry M. (HM) remembered everything before
the operation but cannot make new memories.
We call this anterograde amnesia.
Anterograde
Amnesia
(HM)
Memory Intact
No New Memories
Surgery
Cerebellum
Cerebellum – a neural center in the hindbrain
that processes implicit memories.
Maintaining Long-Term
Memory
• Rote rehearsal
– Repetition can result in long-term
memory
– Only effective if there is intent to learn
material
– Example: What does a penny look like?
Maintaining Long-Term
Memory
• Elaborative rehearsal
– Process of relating new information to
information already stored in memory
– Meaning is assigned to new information
and then linked to as much existing
knowledge as possible
Link Method
• First imagine a silly, memorable image that
represents the type of list you want to remember.
Also include in this image the first item on the list
(see below for example). This image is your header
for the list.
• Think of another silly, memorable image that links
the first item on the list to the second item and so
on.
Activity
• Close your eyes
• Count the number of windows you
have in your house
Method of Loci (Places)
• Most of you used the method of Loci to
“walk through” your house in your mind
and count the windows
Retrieval:
Getting Information Out
• Retrieval refers to getting information
out of the memory store.
Measures of Memory
• Recognition: Identifying the item
among other choices
• Recall: retrieve information with effort
• Relearning: the individual shows how
much time (or effort) is saved when
learning material for the second time
Retrieval Cues
Memories are held in storage by a web of
associations. These associations are like
anchors that help retrieve memory.
water
smell
fire
smoke
Fire Truck
heat
truck
red
hose
Priming
To retrieve a specific memory from the web
of associations, you must first activate one
of the strands that leads to it. This process is
called priming.
Where and when matters:
Context Effects
• Situational factors
– Recall of information is better if
environment is the same as when
information was learned
• State-dependent memory
– Recall of information is better if person is in
the same physiological state as when
information was learned
Déjà Vu
• Déjà Vu means “I've experienced this
before.” Cues from the current situation may
unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier
similar experience.
Parallel Processing
• Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon is
when you can almost recall
something, but can’t quite get it.
• If you leave it your brain will
continue to work on this problem
eventually surfacing with the
answer.
• Thus you later yell out the name of
the actor and everyone looks at
you like you are odd.
Interference
• Retroactive interference
– Occurs when new information interferes
with information already in memory
– Retro means old
– In this term the old information is being
tested
– Thus the new information is doing the
interference.
Try remembering the following
number
8132163
• Ok that was easy because nothing
interfered with you.
Now let’s try some
interference
• Try remembering this number
4982631
• What was the first number I had you
remember?
Retroactive Interference
• This is an example of retro-active
interference
• The OLD (retro) information was being
tested.
• So, what type of music should you
listen to when you write an essay?
– Yep, music with NO LYRICS!
Retroactive Interference
Sleep helps prevent retroactive
interference. Therefore, it leads to
better recall.
Interference
• Proactive interference
– This is when new information is being tested.
– The old information already in your LTM interferes.
– It is tough to teach an experienced show dog
new tricks.
– Psychologists have found that recall of later items
can be improved by making them distinctive
from early items.
• For example, people being fed groups of
numbers to remember did much better when
they were suddenly fed a group of words
instead. This is called release from proactive
interference
learned
I need a volunteer that knows
their colors.
• Don’t read the words, just say the
colors they’re printed in and as fast as
you can
• This is called the stroop effect
Red
Yellow
Green
Blue
Red
Blue
Yellow
Green
Blue
Red
Interference
• When you look at the words you see
both its color and meaning.
• When they are in conflict you must
make a choice
• Experience has taught you that word
meaning is more important than color
so you retrieve that information.
• You are not always in complete
control of what you pay attention to.
Schemata
• A schema is a set of beliefs or expectations
about something based on past experience
• Incoming information is fit with existing
schemata
• Schemata can also influence the amount of
attention paid to a given event
• Reconstruction
– Memories can be altered with each retrieval
– We do this to keep the schemata of our self and
our environment