Download Memory

Chapter 7
Memory
Objectives
7.1 Overview: What Is Memory?
• Explain how human memory differs from an objective
video recording of events.
7.2 Constructing Memory
• Identify the ways that effortful processing can help to
encode information into memory.
7.3 The Three Stages of Memory
• Discuss how the three memory stages are involved in
encoding new information into memory.
7.4 Organizing Information in Memory
• Describe the main ways that information is organized
in long-term memory.
Objectives
7.5 Retrieval from Memory
• Examine the successful retrieval of information from
long-term memory.
7.6 Reconstructing Memories
• Explain how information from long-term memory may
include misinformation.
7.7 Forgetting
• Analyze how forgetting improves memory.
7.8 How to Improve your Memory
• Identify principles that can improve memory.
What is Memory?
• Memory: The enduring
consequence in the
mind of our
experiences with the
world
Constructing Memory
• Encoding: The process of taking new
information and storing it in short- and
long-term memory
• Automatic processing: Information made
available without conscious effort
• Incidental memory: Explicit knowledge
you did not intentionally encode
• Priming: The activation of information in
memory from a related cue
Effortful Processing
Data from Craik, F. I. M, & Tulving, E. (1975). Depth of processing and the retention of
words in episodic memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 104, 268–294.
Levels of Processing
• Elaboration: Tying new information to that
already stored in memory
• Self-reference effect: Associating
information with oneself to aid in retrieval
• Generation effect: Memory is better for
information that we create ourselves.
Mnemonics
• Method of loci: Mnemonic for
remembering items by placing them on a
familiar path
• Link method: Forming links between
concepts to make them more memorable
The Three Stages of Memory
Figure 07.07: The Atkinson-Shiffrin stage model proposes three separate memory storage
areas. Information moves between them, within short-term memory, and out of long-term
memory.
Sensory Memory
• Iconic memory: Sensory memory for
visual information taken in
• Echoic memory: Sensory memory for the
sound reaching your ears
Short-Term Memory or Working
Memory
• Maintenance rehearsal: Reactivating
information in short-term memory to keep
it in mind
• Chunking: Grouping separate elements
into a related unit in memory
• Working memory span: The amount of
different pieces of information that can be
held in conscious memory for a short time
and reported back correctly
Long-Term Memory
Storing Memories in the Brain
Figure 07.15: The hippocampus, part of the limbic system, plays a vital role in the formation
of new memories.
Organizing Information in Memory
Semantic Memory
• Concept: A “building block” or basic unit
of knowledge
• Category: A cluster of similar concepts
• Conceptual hierarchy: Organization of
related concepts into levels of categories
Semantic Network Model
Source: Reproduced from Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading
activation theory of semantic processing. Psychological Review, 82, 407–428.
© Donald Miralle/Lifesize/Thinkstock
© Stockbyte/Thinkstock
Courtesy of Helene C. Stikkel/U.S.
Department of Defense
Schemas
Figure 07.21: Schemas in memory organize information and guide our behavior.
• Episodic memory: Recall of
your own personal,
autobiographical experiences
• Flashbulb memory: An
emotional or vivid event that
appears to be well
remembered
© Gulnara Samoilova/PA Photos/Landov
Episodic Memory
Figure 07.24: The attack on the World Trade
Center on 9/11 was a surprising event that
many people experienced as a "flashbulb
memory" that they will never forget.
Procedural Memory
• Procedural memory captures actions: how
we move, perform, and manipulate
objects.
Retrieval from Memory
Retrieval Cues
• Cued recall: Retrieving information from
related pieces of information
• Encoding specificity: The principle that
cues present at encoding will be the best
cues for retrieval
• Mood congruence: Matching emotional
mood as a cue at encoding and retrieval to
improve memory
Adding Context
• Encoding specificity suggests the context
of an event, or the circumstances
surrounding it, is very important for
retrieval.
• The need to reinstate context in order to
recall experiences in memory may be the
cause of an amnesia we all suffer from:
childhood amnesia.
Retrieval Practice
• Testing can be a means of improving
learning, not just of assessing its results.
• Taking a memory test enhances later
retention, a phenomenon known as the
testing effect.
• The overlearning principle shows that
performance can still be improved even
when accuracy is at 100%.
Reconstructing Memories
• Source Monitoring: Memory for the
circumstances of acquiring information
• The misinformation effect: Adding new,
incorrect information to a memory after the
event
• False memories: Inaccurate information
incorporated into memory
– Implicit memory
– Imagination inflation
– Continued influence effect
Data from Ebbinghaus, H. (1885; reprinted in 1913). Memory: A
contribution to experimental psychology. (Translation by H. Roger &
C. Bussenius). New York: Teacher's College Press.
Measures of Forgetting
Figure 07.34: Ebbinghaus' forgetting curve.
The Speed of Forgetting
Relearning
• Relearning: A measure of forgetting and
learning that is based on how easy it is to
learn information again at a later time
Theories of Forgetting
• Decay theory: The notion
that information fades from
memory on its own
• Interference theory: New
knowledge can disrupt
recently learned memories
• Spacing effect: Learning
is improved if study effort
is distributed over time
Data from Cepada, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006).
Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis.
Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380.
Types of Forgetting
• Repression: Mentally pushing away
explicit recall of unpleasant memories
• Alzheimer’s disease: A progressive
memory disorder in which people lose
access to explicit memory
• Dementia: Clinical diagnosis of major
memory loss with age or disease
How to Improve Your Memory
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Actively construct memory
Schedule study sessions
Test to learn
Cue retrieval
Techniques for Improving Memory