Download Memory - mphspsych

Taken from:
http://web.mit.edu/persci/people/adelson/checkershadow_proof.html
Radical Interactive Demos on Lightness Perception:
http://web.mit.edu/persci/gaz/
Good Morning!!
Chapter 9
Memory
Prepare to Exercise It!!
Memory
1. Describe memory in terms of information
processing, and distinguish between sensory
memory, short-term memory, and long-term
memory.
2. Distinguish between automatic and effortful
processing, and discuss the importance of
rehearsal.
3. Explain the importance of meaning, imagery,
and organization in the encoding process.
Memory
Grouchy
Dumpy
Bashful
Shorty
Nifty
Doc
Gabby
Sleepy
Sniffy Wishful
Sneezy
Lazy
Cheerful
Happy
Wheezy
Dopey
Smiley
Puffy
Pop Grumpy
Teach
Shy
Stubby
Droopy
Jumpy
Fearful
Hopeful
Memory
Sleepy
Dopey
Grumpy
Sneezy
Happy
Doc
Bashful
<<in order of most to least likely to recall>>
Memory
 Memory – any indication that learning
has persisted over time
 Alt. Def. – process by which we
recollect prior exp., info. and skills
learned in the past.
 memories are personally constructed
 why two people can experience the
same event and have totally different
memories of it
Memory
 Flashbulb Memory
 a clear memory of an emotionally
significant moment or event
 Eg. JFK death
 9-11 Incident
Memory
 3 Types- 1. Episodic Memory- mem of specific events stored in a
sequential series of events (last time you went on a date)
 Flashbulb is a type of Episodic
 2. Semantic/ Declarative Memory-general knowledge of
the world, stored as facts, meanings, or categories rather
than sequentially.
 3. Procedural Memory-mem of skills and how to perform
them. Might be sequential but difficult to describe in
words; things you are not likely to forget
<<skill memory>>
Memory
 Memory as Information Processing
 similar to a computer
 Encoding - write to file
 Storage - save to disk
 Retrieval - read from disk
 Encoding
 the processing of information into the
memory system
 i.e., extracting meaning
Three Stage Processing Model
(Atkinson and Shiffrin 1968)
 Memories are created thru 3 stages:
 1. sensory memory – the immediate, initial recording of sensory info.
into the memory system
360153
 2. short-term memory (working memory) activated memory that holds
a few items briefly before the info. is stored or forgotten
 3. long-term memory – the relatively permanent and limitless
storehouse of the memory system
Encoding: Getting
Information In
Encoding
Effortful
Automatic
Encoding: Getting
Information In
 Automatic Processing- unconscious encoding of
incidental information such as time, space, and frequency,
and of well-learned information such as word meanings
 ex. -You may know exactly where in your notes that a test
answer is even though you can’t remember the answer. Retracing steps to find keys.
 occurs with little or no effort and without interfering with our
thinking of other things (parallel processing)
 also very difficult to turn off
Encoding: Getting
Information In
effortful processing- encoding that requires attention
and conscious effort
 one method of effortful processing is rehearsal
<<conscious repetition to maintain info in
consciousness and encode it for storage>>
ex. 370-9797
Even after we learn material additional rehearsal
(overlearning) increases retention.
>>practice(effortful processing) makes perfect when trying to
learn novel verbal information
A Simplified Memory
Model
Selective Attention to important
Sensory input
or novel information
Encoding
External
events
Sensory
memory
Short-term
memory
Encoding
Long-term
memory
Retrieving
Encoding: Getting
Information In
Encoding
Effortful
Automatic
Encoding
 Ebbinghaus (1850-1909) used nonsense syllables
 TUV ZOF GEK WAV
 more times practiced on Day 1, the fewer repetitions to
relearn on Day 2
 found that the more frequently the list was repeated, the fewer
repetitions it took to relearn the syllables later
 amount remembered depends on time spent learning
 even if you know the material additional rehearsal increases
retention
<<ALSO GAVE US THE FORGETTING CURVE>>
Encoding
Time in
minutes
taken to
relearn
list on
day 2
20
15
10
5
0
8
16
24
32
42
53
Number of repetitions of list on day 1
64
Encoding
 Spacing Effect
 We retain info better when rehearsal is distributed
over time
 distributed practice yields better long- term retention
than massed practice
 Those who learn quickly forget quickly
 Evol perspec: events that are spaced out are more
likely to occur
Next --Activity: Recalling the US Presidents
Encoding: Serial Position
Effect
Percent
age of
words
recalled
30
25
20
Series1
st
ep
ha
ir
pe
n
p
cu
ca
rt
15
10
5
0
do
g
st
ep
ha
ir
pe
n
cu
p
rt
Series1
ca
do
g
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
90
80
Serial Position
Effect--tendency to
recall best the last
items in a list,
combines the
primacy effect and
recency effect
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4 5 6 7 8
Position of
word in list
9
10 11 12
Encoding:
NEXT-IN-LINE EFFECT
next-in-line-effect-when people go around the
room saying their names, their poorest memory is
for what was said by the person just before them
Encoding
 Semantic Encoding-encoding of meaning, including
meaning of words
 Acoustic Encoding-encoding of sound, especially sound
of words
 Visual Encoding- encoding of picture images
Encoding- Craik & Tulving Study
on Levels of Processing (deep v
shallow – p 357 text)
Encoding
 Activity: SRE
 The Self-Reference Effect
 We have excellent recall for information we
can relate to ourselves
 >>find personal meaning in what you are
studying; make it relevant to yourself for
deeper processing and better retention
 Is a type of semantic encoding
Levels of Processing Model
 Levels of Processing Model -An alternative way to think
about memory
 This theory explains why we remember what we do by
examining how deeply the memory was thought about.
Memories are neither short nor long-term but rather:
 DEEPLY(ELABORATELY) OR SHALLOWLY
(MAINTENANCE) PROCESSED
 Explains how context helps memory
 >>can remember a story better than just a sequence
of events
Encoding
 Imagery
 mental pictures
 a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when
combined with semantic encoding (hi-imagery words easier to
recall than low: fire, cigarette, typewriter v. void, inherent,
process)
 Mnemonics (Gordon Bower)
 memory aids
 especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and
organizational devices
Mnemonic Demonstration:
Organizing Information for
Encoding: Mnemonics
 Method of loci
 Used by ancient Greek scholars and orators to
remember length passages/ speeches
 Associating each place with a visual representation of
the to-be remembered topic
Peg-Word System
 One-Bun, Two-Shoe
Organizing Information for
Encoding: Chunking
 Chunking
 organizing items into familiar, manageable units
 like horizontal organization--1776149218121941
 often occurs automatically
 use of acronyms
 HOMES--Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
Organizing Information for
Encoding: Hierarchies
 Hierarchies
 complex information broken down into broad concepts and further
subdivided into categories and subcategories
Encoding
(automatic
or effortful)
Meaning
(semantic
Encoding)
Imagery
(visual
Encoding)
Chunks
Organization
Hierarchies
9-3 Storage & Retrieval
Objectives--Storage:
4. Describe the limited nature of sensory and short-term memory.
5. Describe the capacity and duration of long-term memory, and discuss the biological
changes that may underlie memory formation and storage.
6. Distinguish between implicit and explicit memory, and identify the different brain
structures associated with each.
Retrieval:
7. Contrast recall, recognition, and relearning measures of memory.
8. Describe the importance of retrieval cues and the impact of environmental contexts and
internal emotional states on retrieval.
.
Storage:
Retaining Information
 Iconic Memory (PsychSim Module)
 a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli
 a photographic or picture image memory lasting no more than a few
tenths of a second
 George Sperling (1960); p362 text; PsychSim Ch9
 Echoic Memory
 momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli\
 Lasts longer than iconic: 3-4 sec
 Eidetic Memory
 True photographic memory – extremely rare
STM Test
Storage:
Short-Term Memory
Percentage
90
who recalled
consonants 80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
 Short-Term Memory
(STM)
3
6
9
12
15
18
Time in seconds between presentation
of contestants and recall request
(no rehearsal allowed)
 limited in duration and
capacity
 “magical” number 7+/-2
(George Miller)
 Better for #’s than letters
 Better for info heard than
images seen
 Lasts 20s or less
 Can retain 4 Chunks
Storage:
Long-Term Memory
 How does storage work?
 Karl Lashley (1950)
 rats learn maze/ lesion cortex/test memory
 Found <<Memory NOT Localized>>>
 Synaptic changes
 Long-term Potentiation (LTP)
<<neural basis for learning>>
 Hippocampus forms new synapses or strengthens existing
ones as learning occurs
 increase in synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid
stimulation; increased sensitivity of sending neuron;
increased receptor sites on receiving neuron
Storage:
Long-Term Memory
 Strong EMOTIONS make for stronger memories
 some stress hormones boost learning and retention
 Inc glucose
 <<but>> prolonged stress corrodes neural
connections & shrinks hippocampus (stress hormones
can also block old memories – pub speaking)
Storage:
Long-Term Memory
 Amnesia--the loss of memory
>Retrograde Amn-can’t recall events before
onset
>Anterograde Amn-can’t form/recall memories
of events after onset
 Amnesia patient can learn but has no explicit
memory of it
>Where’s Waldo Exp
>Can be Classically Conditioned but have no
explicit memory of it
Storage:
Long-Term Memory
 Explicit Memory
 memory of facts and experiences that one can
consciously know and declare
 also called declarative memory
 hippocampus--neural center in limbic system that helps
process explicit memories for storage
 Implicit Memory
 retention independent of conscious recollection
 also called procedural/skill memory
 Cerebellum-implicit stored here via brainstem (remember
Eye-blink Classically Conditioned Rabbit)
Storage:
Long-Term Memory
 Amygdala
 Involved in emotional memories
 If damaged, patient/ organism doesn’t have fear conditioning
 If hippo damaged & amygdala intact, have fear response but
don’t remember why (ie. French patient whose Dr. shocked
her hand on bottom of p 368-369)
Storage: Long-Term
Memory Subsystems
This chart is
on p 368
Types of
long-term
memories
Explicit
(declarative)
With conscious
recall
Facts-general
knowledge
(“semantic
memory”)
Personally
experienced
events
(“episodic
memory”)
Implicit
(nondeclarative)
Without conscious
recall
Skills-motor
and cognitive
Dispositionsclassical and
operant
conditioning
effects
Storage:
Long-Term Memory
 MRI scan of hippocampus (in red)
 Lt Hippo damage – memory of verbal info suffers
 Rt Hippo dam – mem of visual design/ spatial loc suffers
Hippocampus
Retrieval: Getting
Information Out
 Recall
 measure of memory in which the person must retrieve
information learned earlier
 as on a fill-in-the blank test
 (DEC W/ AGE)
 Recognition
 Measure of memory in which the person has only to
identify items previously learned
 as on a multiple-choice test
(CONST W/ AGE)
Retrieval/ Retrieval Cues
 Relearning
 memory measure that assesses the amount of time
saved when learning material a second time
 Priming
 activation, often unconsciously, of particular
associations in memory
 Tastes, smells, sights, moods can be retrieval cues
that “prime” memories
Retrieval Cues-Context Effects
Percentage of
words recalled
40
30
20
10
0
Water/
land
Land/
water
Different contexts for
hearing and recall
Water/
water
Land/
land
Same contexts for
hearing and recall
Retrieval Cues
•REST
DREAM
•SNORE
SLUMBER
•SOUND
NIGHT
•TIRED
WAKE
•BED
EAT
•COMFORT
AWAKE
Retrieval Cues
 Deja Vu (French)--already seen
 Associations can cause a person to feel that an event has
occurred when it really has not.
 "I've experienced this before."
 Mood-congruent Memory
 tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s
current mood
 memory, emotions, or moods serve as retrieval cues
 State-dependent Memory
 what is learned in one state (while one is high, drunk, or
depressed) can more easily be remembered when in same
state
 Mood inf how we interpret event eg. interp of look as glare
(dep) v. interest (happy)
Retrieval Cues
 After learning to move a
mobile by kicking,
infants had their
learning reactivated
most strongly when
retested in the same
rather than a different
context (Butler &
Rovee-Collier, 1989).
9-3 Forgetting &
Constructive Memory
Forgetting:
9. Explain why the capacity to forget can be beneficial, and discuss the role of encoding
failure and storage decay in the process of forgetting.
10. Explain what is meant by retrieval failure, and discuss the effects of interference and
motivated forgetting on retrieval.
Constructive Memory
11. Describe the evidence for the constructive nature of memory and the impact of
imagination and leading questions on eyewitness recall.
12. Discuss the difficulties in discerning true memories from false ones and the reliability
of children’s eyewitness recall.
13. Discuss the controversy over reports of repressed and recovered memories of
childhood sexual abuse.
Forgetting

1.
2.
3.
4.
4 types/ Reasons
As Encoding Failure
Storage Decay (Decay Theory)
Interference
Motivated Forgetting (Repression)
Forgetting
 Forgetting as encoding failure
 Information never enters the long-term memory
 Age effects: As age inc, encoding dec – Brain less responsive w/
age
Attention
External
events
Short- Encoding
Sensory
term
memory Encoding
memory
Encoding
failure leads
to forgetting
Longterm
memory
Forgetting
 Forgetting as encoding
failure
 Which penny is the real
thing?
 See p 378 in text
Forgetting-Storage Decay
Percentage of
list retained
when
relearning
 Forgetting
Curve/ LawEbbinghaus
forgetting curve
over 30 days-initially rapid,
then levels off
with time
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
12345
10
15
20
25
Time in days since learning list
30
Forgetting Curve
<<rem Ebbinghaus gave us this>>
 The forgetting curve for Spanish learned in school
Percentage of 100%
original
90
vocabulary
80
retained
Retention
drops,
70
then levels off
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 3 5
9½
14½
25
35½
49½
Time in years after completion of Spanish course
Retrieval Failure
 Forgetting can result from failure to retrieve
information from long-term memory
Attention
External
events
Sensory
memory
Encoding
Encoding
Short-term
Long-term
memory
Retrieval memory
Retrieval failure
leads to forgetting
Forgetting as
Interference
 Learning some items may disrupt retrieval of other information
 Proactive (forward acting) Interference
 disruptive effect of prior learning on recall of new information
(eg. Buy new comb lock, Ebbinghaus)
 Positive transfer- exception; eg. Latin helps learning of French
 Retroactive (backwards acting) Interference
 disruptive effect of new learning on recall of old information
(teacher learning student names of class effects recall of
names in previous class)
 Sleeping/ Exc minimizes retroactive int
Forgetting as
Interference
Forgetting
 Retroactive Interference – sleep reduces interference
Percentage
of syllables
recalled
90%
Without interfering
events, recall is
better
80
After sleep
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
After remaining awake
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Hours elapsed after learning syllables
8
Forgetting
 Forgetting can occur at
any memory stage
 As we process
information, we filter,
alter, or lose much of it
ForgettingInterference
 Motivated Forgetting
 people unknowingly revise memories
 Repression
 defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxietyarousing thoughts, feelings, and memories
 Protects self-concept & minimizes anxiety
 *researchers think rep rarely really occurs
Memory Construction
 “Like a scientist who infers a dinosaur’s
appearance from its remains, we infer our past
from stored information plus what we now
assume.”
 Schemas Direct memory construction
 >>framework for organizing and interpreting
unfamiliar information/ stimuli
 Restaurant Exp. p382
Memory Construction
Elizabeth Loftus- Memory Researcher
Depiction of actual accident
 Eyewitnesses
reconstruct
memories when
questioned
Leading question:
“About how fast were the cars
going when they smashed into
each other?” (v. control group hit each other)
Memory
construction
Memory Construction
 We filter information and fill in missing pieces
 Misinformation Effect
 incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event
 Can result from suggestibility of leading questions
 As memory fades (time), misinf becomes easier
 the effect is so strong that most people find it hard or impossible to
tell the difference b/w real and suggested memories
 as well tell a story from memory we fill in gaps with logical
assumptions, and the more we recall the experience, the more the
assumptions become part of the memory
 After retelling story, guessed details get into our memory as if
we’ve actually observed them
Memory Construction
Source Amnesia
 when we encode memories we sort diff. aspects of them to diff.
parts of the brain
 the source of the memory is usually one of the weakest parts of our
memory

ex. Did an event really happen or do we remember it from a
dream?
 source amnesia (sometimes called source misattribution)attributing to the wrong source an event that we have experienced,
heard about, read about, or imagined
Ex. Mr. Science Exp (Debra Poole & Stephen Lindsay)
Ex. Ronnie Reagan patriotic campaign speech-misattributed WWII
heroic commander from movie
>>both on p 374 text
Memory Construction
 Discerning true v. false memories
 Hippocampus equally involved/ active in false recalling
Roediger & McDermott Study (1996):
 Presented word lists such as candy, sugar, honey & taste
 Then asked if they saw sweet
 Participants swore they did
 PET Scan showed activity in hippocampus but none in
Temp Cortex(Wernicke’s Area) on false memory
 No sensory record in Temp Lobe
 Caveat: This technique only works for recent memories
 Constructive memories feel real to person telling them
 Only true way to diff true v. false is w/ physical evidence
or validated reports of an event (eg. written records)
Memory Construction
 Memories of Abuse
 Repressed or Constructed?
 Child sexual abuse does occur
 Some adults do actually forget such episodes
 False Memory Syndrome
 condition in which a person’s identity and relationships
center around a false but strongly believed memory of
traumatic experience
 sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists
Memory Construction
Children’s Eyewitness Recall
 Preschoolers more suggestible than older children/ adults
 Use “cognitive interviewing” technique to boost accuracty
by 50%(less suggestive ?’s, ask to visualize scene to
activiate retrieval cues)
 Neutral adult must use words they’ll understand
 Involved adults should not talk with them
 Stephen Ceci and Maggie Bruck (1995)
Memory Construction
 1990s “Memory Wars”Controversy over “The Courage to
Heal” and “Memory Worker” Therapists
 One woman in a 30 sec therapy session recalled that her
father had abused her at 15 months. Roseanne Barr
then came forward in 1991 claiming recal sexual abuse
beginning in infancy
 Who is most often victimized-abused children whose
recollections are disbelieved or falsely accused adults
whose reputations are ruined?
Memory Construction
 Most people can agree on the following:
Injustice happens
Incest happens
Forgetting happens
Recovered memories are commonplace
Memories recovered under hypnosis or drugs
are especially unreliable
 Memories of things happening before age 3
are unreliable
 Memories, whether false or real, are upsetting





Improve Your Memory
 Study repeatedly to boost recall
 Spend more time rehearsing or
actively thinking about the material
 Make material personally meaningful
 Use mnemonic devices
 associate with peg words--something
already stored
 make up story
 chunk--acronyms
Improve Your Memory
 Activate retrieval cues--mentally recreate situation and mood
 Recall events while they are fresh-- before you encounter
misinformation
 Minimize interference
 Test your own knowledge
 rehearse
 determine what you do not yet know
>>humans are overconfident—
Self-test especially recall