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Chapter Seven
Memory
Copyright© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today’s events.
Albert Einstein
THE NATURE OF MEMORY
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Defining Memory
Memory
Internal record or
representation of some prior
event or experience
Constructive Process
Organizing and shaping of
information during processing,
storage, and retrieval of
memories
Memory is not a “videotape” of
the experience, memory is
constructed!
WILEY VIDEO
ANIMATION
Drive Brain
Power
Enhancing
Memory
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Four Models of Memory
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Four Models of Memory, cont.
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
In Depth: Three-Stage Model
ANIMATION
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Enhancing
Memory
Sensory Memory
Iconic Memory
Echoic Memory
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Short-Term Memory (STM)
Also known as
“working
memory”
Maintenance Rehearsal
Repeating information over and
over to maintain it in shortterm memory (STM)
Elaborative Rehearsal
Linking new information to
previously stored material (also
known as deeper levels of
processing)
Chunking Grouping separate
pieces of information into a
single unit (or chunk)
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Encoding Memory
Capacity of Short-Term
Working Memory
and Working Memory depends on
 If some information is selected from
sensory memory to be sent to shortterm memory, how much
information can we hold there?
 George Miller (b. 1920) proposed
that we can hold 7 +/-2 information
bits (for example, a string of 5 to 9
letters).
 More recent research suggests that
the average person, free from
distraction, can hold about:
7 digits, 6 letters, or 5 words.
Test:
–V M 3 C A Q 9 L D
concentration. Despite
this talent, it is generally
a myth that we can
handle two streams of
similar information
simultaneously.
Test: see how many of
these letters and numbers
you can recall after they
disappear.
Duration of Short-Term Memory
(STM)
Lloyd Peterson and Margaret
Peterson wanted to know the
duration of short term memory?
Their experiment (1959):
1. People were given triplets of
consonants (e.g., “VMF”).
2. To prevent rehearsing, the
subjects had to do a
distracting task.
3. People were then tested at
various times for recall.
Result: After 12 seconds, most
memory of the consonants had
decayed and could not be
retrieved.
Encoding:
Effortful Processing Strategies
If we have short-term recall
of only 7 letters, but can
remember 5 words, doesn’t
that mean we could
remember more than 7
letters if we could group
them into words?
 This is an example of an
effortful processing
strategy, a way to encode
information into memory to
keep it from decaying and
make it easier to retrieve.
 Effortful processing is also
known as studying.
Examples:
 Chunking (grouping)
 Mnemonics: images,
maps, and peg-words
 Hierarchies/categories
 Rehearsal, especially
distributed practice
 Deep processing
 Semantic processing
 Making information
personally meaningful
 Can you remember
this list?
Long-term Memory (LTM)
WILEY VIDEO
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Drive Brain
Power
Retrieval and LTM
Serial-Position Effect
Information at the
beginning (primacy effect)
and end (recency effect)
of a list is remembered
better than material in the
middle.
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Retrieval Cues
 Retrieval
challenge:
memory is not
stored as a file
that can be
retrieved by
searching
alphabetically.
 Instead, it is
stored as a web
of associations:
 conceptual
 contextual
 emotional Memory involves a web of associated concepts.
Priming:
Retrieval is Affected by Activating our Associations
 Priming triggers a thread of
associations that bring us to
a concept, just as a spider
feels movement in a web
and follows it to find the
bug.
 Our minds work by having
one idea trigger another; this
maintains a flow of thought.
Priming Example: Define the
word “bark.”
Now what is the definition of
“bark”?
The Power of Priming
 Priming has been
called “invisible
memory” because it
affects us
unconsciously.
 In the case of tree
“bark” vs. dog “bark,”
the path we follow in
our thoughts can be
channeled by priming.
 We may have biases
and associations stored
in memory that also
influence our choices.
Study: People primed with
money-related words were
less likely to then help
another person.
Study: Priming with an
image of Santa Claus
led kids to share more
candy.
Study: people primed with
a missing child poster then
misinterpreted ambiguous
adult-child interactions as
kidnapping.
Context-Dependent
Memory
 Part of the web of
associations of a memory
is the context. What else
was going on at the time
we formed the memory?
 We retrieve a memory
more easily when in the
same context as when we
formed the memory.
 Did you forget a
psychology concept? Just
sitting down and opening
your book might bring the
memory back.
Words learned
underwater are better
retrieved underwater.
State-Dependent
Memory
 Our memories are not just
linked to the external context
in which we learned them.
 Memories can also be tied to
the emotional state we were
in when we formed the
memory.
 Mood-congruent memory
refers to the tendency to
selectively recall details that
are consistent with one’s
current mood.
 This biased memory then
reinforces our current mood!
Memories can even be linked to
physiological states:
“I wonder if you’d mind giving
me directions. I’ve never been
sober in this part of town
before.”
The Serial Position Effect
Priming and context cues are
not the only factors which
make memory retrieval
selective.
The serial position effect
refers to the tendency,
when learning information
in a long list, to more likely
recall the first items
(primacy effect) and the
last items (recency effect).
Which words of your national
anthem are easiest to recall?
In what situation is the
recency effect strongest?
Retrieval and LTM (cont.)
Retrieval Cue
Clue or prompt that helps
stimulate recall or retrieval of a
stored piece of information from
long-term memory
Recall
Retrieving a memory using a
general, nonspecific clue (e.g.,
essay test)
Recognition
Retrieving a memory using a
specific cue (e.g., multiplechoice test)
Priming
Prior exposure to a stimulus
(or prime) facilitates OR
inhibits the processing of new
information, even when one
has no conscious memory of
the initial learning and storage
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Retrieval and LTM (cont.)
Encoding Specificity
Principle
Retrieval of information is
improved when conditions
of recovery are similar to
the conditions when the
information was encoded
Context-dependent memory
Ex: Recall in the same seat or
classroom
Mood congruence
Ex: When you are mad at your
partner, you recall the times
s/he made you mad!
State-dependent memory
Ex: If you learn a joke while
under the influence of alcohol,
you’ll remember it better in
that state.
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Improving Long-Term Memory
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Memory Demonstration
Listen carefully to the list of words—you’ll be asked to recall as many as
possible.
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
The existence of forgetting has never been proved: we only
know that some things do not come to our mind when we want
them to.
Nietzsche
FORGETTING
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Five Theories of Forgetting
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Two Types of Interference
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Four Factors Key to Forgetting
Misinformation Effect
Memory distortion resulting
from misleading post-event
information
Sleeper Effect
Source Amnesia
Forgetting the True Source of a
memory
Information Overload
Information from an unreliable Trying to learn too much at
source, which was initially
one time!
discounted. Later gains
credibility because source is
forgotten
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Research Challenge:
How Quickly We Forget
Answer these questions!
Read the description of the
study on page 260!
1. Hypothesis?
2. Research method (experimental,
descriptive, correlational, or biological)?
3. If you chose the:
Experimental method—label the IV, DV,
experimental group, and control group.
Descriptive method—is this a naturalistic
observation, survey, or case study?
Correlational method—is this a positive,
negative, or zero correlation?
Biological method—identify the specific
research tool (e.g., brain dissection, CT
scan, etc.)
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Memory and the
Criminal Justice System
 Unreliability of eyewitness
testimony
 Confidence in memory is
not a predictor of
accuracy
 Importance of false
memories
 Bitter debate about
repressed memories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4V6aoYuDcg&feature=player_embedded
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEMORY
WILEY VIDEO
Wiring the
Brain
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
Two Ways
Repeated stimulation of a
synapse can strengthen the
synapse by causing the
dendrites to grow more spines
Long-Term Potentiation
Long-lasting increase in neural
excitability, which may be a
biological mechanism for
learning and memory
The ability of a particular
neuron to release or accept
neurotransmitters can be
increased or decreased
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
WILEY VIDEO
Memory
Storage
Emotional Arousal
and Memory
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Brain and Memory
Damage to any one of these areas can affect encoding, storage, and retrieval of
memories. For example, what effect might damage to your amygdala have on
your relationships with others? How might damage to your thalamus affect your
day-to-day functioning?
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Biological Causes of Memory Loss:
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
(a) In retrograde amnesia, the
person loses memories of events
that occured before the accident, yet
has no trouble remembering things
that happened afterward. Old,
“retro” memories are lost.
(b) In anterograde amnesia, the
person cannot form new memories
for events that occur after the
accident (new, “antero” memories
are lost). Anterograde amnesia also
may result from a surgical injury (as
in the case of H.M.) or from diseases,
such as chronic alcoholism.
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Biological Causes of Memory
Loss: Alzheimer’s Disease
 Extreme decrease in
explicit/declarative memory
 Retain some
implicit/nondeclarative
memory
Upon autopsy, brains have:
 tangles from degenerating
cell bodies
 plaques from degenerating
axons and dendrites
WILEY VIDEO
WILEY VIDEO
Alzheimer’s
Barcode
Shrinking
Brains
(left) Note the large amount of red and yellow color
(signs of brain activity) in the positron emission
tomography scans of the normal brain. (right) Now
compare the reduced activity in the brain of the
Alzheimer’s disease patient. The loss is most
significant in the temporal and parietal lobes, which
indicates that these areas are particularly important
for storing memories.
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Tips for Memory Improvement
WILEY VIDEO
Brain
Viagra
WILEY VIDEO
Brain Pills
Use metacognition: Thinking about your thinking!
 Pay attention and reduce interference
 Use rehearsal techniques
 Use the encoding specificity principle
 Improve your organization
 Counteract the serial-position effect
 Manage your time
 Employ self-monitoring and overlearning
WILEY VIDEO
 Use mnemonics
Learning
to Forget
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH95h36NChI
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
More About Mnemonics!
Method of loci
Greek and Roman orators developed
the method of loci to keep track of
the many parts of their long
speeches. Orators would imagine the
parts of their speeches attached to
places in a courtyard. For example, if
an opening point in a speech was the
concept of justice, they might
visualize a courtroom placed in the
first corner of their garden. As they
mentally walked around their garden
during their speech, they would
encounter, in order, each of the
points to be made.
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
More About Mnemonics!
Peg words
To use the peg-word mnemonic, you
first need to memorize a set of 10
images that you can use as “pegs” on
which to hang ideas. For example, if
you learn 10 items that rhyme with
the numbers they stand for, you can
then use the images as pegs to hold
the items of any list. Try it with items
you might want to buy on your next
trip to the grocery store: milk, eggs,
and bread.
http://www.learner.org/vod/vod_window.html?pid=1588
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
More About Mnemonics!
Acronyms
To use the acronym method, create
a new code word from the first
letters of the items you want to
remember. For example, to recall
the names of the Great Lakes, think
of HOMES on a great lake (Huron,
Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior).
Visualizing homes on each lake also
helps you remember your code
word “homes.”
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.