Download Introduction to Psychology

Memory
AP Psychology


Persistence of
learning over time
via the storage and
retrieval of
information
Can you remember
your first memory?
Why do you think
you can remember
certain events in
your life over others?


Memory as Information Processing
 similar to a computer
 write to file
 save to disk
 read from disk
Encoding
 the processing of information into the memory system
 code and put into memory
 Acoustic, Visual, & Semantic Encoding
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Storage
 the retention of encoded information over time
 maintain in memory
Retrieval
 process of getting information out of memory
 recover from memory
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Episodic – specific events in your life
Semantic – generalized knowledge
of the world that does not involve a
specific event
Procedural (skill memory) –
knowledge of how to perform a
physical task
Explicit Memory – used to
deliberately remember
something
 Implicit Memory – unintentional
influence of prior experiences

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4 Models of Memory that attempt to explain
what and how well items are remembered:
Levels-of-Processing –
1.
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What we remember is dependent on how deeply the
information is processed or rehearsed
Elaborative rehearsal – applying to real-life
Maintenance rehearsal - repetition
Transfer-appropriate processing model
1.

Remembering things is determined by how well the
encoding matches what is retrieved
Parallel distributed processing models (PDP)
2.

New facts change our knowledge base by altering
interconnected networks, facts, and associations.
Information processing models
3.
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There are three stages of mental processing required
before information can be firmly stored in memory –
sensory, short-term, long-term
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Sensory Memory
 the immediate, initial recording of sensory
information in the memory system – holds
info for a fraction of a second
Working Memory
 focuses more on the processing of briefly
stored information
 The part of the memory that allows us to
mentally work with, or manipulate,
information being held in our memory
 Try This: How many windows are on the front of your
house or apartment building? What did you do to
remember this?
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Short-Term Memory (STM)
 activated memory that holds a few items
briefly – if no further processing occurs,
STM disappears in 20-30 seconds
 look up a phone number, then quickly
dial before the information is forgotten
 Immediate memory span = 7 +/- 2
Long-Term Memory (LTM)
 the relatively permanent and limitless
storehouse of the memory system

Chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units
 like horizontal organization--1776149218121941
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often occurs automatically
use of acronyms
 HOMES--Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
 ARITHMETIC--A Rat In Tom’s House Might Eat
Tom’s Ice Cream

Brown-Peterson Procedure – unless rehearsed,
material stays in short-term memory for about
18 seconds

Organized information is more easily recalled

Serial Position Curve – a tendency to
recall both the first and last parts of a list
when memory is immediately tested
 Primacy and Recency Effects
Percent
age of
words
recalled
90
80
Serial Position
Effect--tendency
to recall best
the last items in
a list
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
Percentage
90
who recalled
consonants 80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
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Short-Term
Memory
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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
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
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Recall
 measure of memory in
which the person must
retrieve information
learned earlier
 as on a fill-in-the blank
test
Recognition
 Measure of memory in
which the person has only
to identify items
previously learned
 as on a multiple-choice
test
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Relearning
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memory measure that assesses
the amount of time saved when
learning material a second time
Priming

activation, often unconsciously,
of particular associations in
memory
déjà vu -- already seen

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cues from the current situation may subconsciously
trigger retrieval of an earlier similar experience
"I've experienced this before."
Mood-congruent Memory
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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

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 & RoveeCollier, 1989).
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Forgetting as encoding failure
Information never enters the long-term
memory
Attention
External
events
Short- Encoding
Sensory
term
memory Encoding
memory
Encoding
failure leads
to forgetting
Longterm
memory
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Forgetting as
encoding failure
Which penny is the
real thing?
Percentage of
list retained
when
relearning
60

50
40
30
20
10
0
12345
10
15
20
25
Time in days since learning list
30
Ebbinghau
s
forgetting
curve over
30 days-initially
rapid, then
levels off
with time

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

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

Learning some items may disrupt
retrieval of other information
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Proactive (forward acting) Interference
 disruptive effect of prior learning on recall
of new information

Retroactive (backwards acting)
Interference
 disruptive effect of new learning on recall of
old information

Retroactive 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
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Forgetting can
occur at any
memory stage
As we process
information, we
filter, alter, or
lose much of it
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Motivated Forgetting
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people unknowingly revise memories
Repression

defense mechanism that banishes from
consciousness anxiety-arousing
thoughts, feelings, and memories
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We filter information and fill in missing
pieces
Misinformation Effect
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incorporating misleading information into
one's memory of an event
Source Amnesia

attributing to the wrong source an event that
we experienced, heard about, read about, or
imagined (misattribution)
Depiction of actual accident

Eyewitnesses
reconstruct
memories when
questioned
Leading question:
“About how fast were the cars
going when they smashed into
each other?”
Memory
construction

Memories of Abuse

Repressed or Constructed?
 Child sexual abuse does occur
 Some adults do actually forget such episodes
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False Memory Syndrome
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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
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Most people can agree on the following:
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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
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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
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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