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Human Memory
Part 1: D’you remember?
Well, it depends…
The Big Three Questions

How does information get into memory?

How is information maintained in memory?

How is information pulled back out of memory?
Encoding, Storage, Retrieval
Encoding: Getting Information Into Memory

The role of attention

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“Paying” attention and the cognitive
miser
Focusing awareness
Selective attention = selection of
input
– When does this happen?
– Early or Late?
–Debatable
– The Cocktail Party Effect
Fig 7.3 – Models of selective attention. Early-selection models propose that
input is filtered before meaning is processed. Late-selection models hold that
filtering occurs after the processing of meaning. There is evidence to support early,
late, and intermediate selection, suggesting that the location of the attentional filter
may not be fixed.
Levels of Processing:
You Down with LOP? Yeah you know me!
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Incoming information processed at
different levels:
Deeper processing = longer lasting
memory codes
Encoding levels:
– Structural = shallow (what it looks like)
– Phonemic = intermediate (what it sounds like)
– Semantic = deep (what it means)
Fig 7.4 – Levels-of-processing theory. According to Craik and Lockhart (1972), structural,
phonemic, and semantic encoding—which can be elicited by questions such as those shown on
the right— involve progressively deeper levels of processing, which should result in more
durable memories.
Enriching Encoding: Improving Memory
Elaboration
= linking a stimulus to other
information at the time of encoding
–Thinking of examples: tying in previous chapters
Visual
Imagery = creation of visual images to
represent words to be remembered
–Easier for concrete objects: Dual-coding theory
–Creates two codes: visual and semantic
Self-Referent Encoding
–Making information personally meaningful
–Brain structures and my Grandfather
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
(and other memory tricks)
Acronyms
– PEMDAS
Method of Loci
– Groceries in my bedroom
Peg Method
– Bacon on peg 5
The bizarreness effect
– The talking neuron
• Check out my Soma!
Part 2
Keep holdin’ on:
Maintenance and storage in memory
Storage: Maintaining Information in Memory
Analogy: information storage in
computers ~ information storage in
human memory
 Information-processing theories

– Subdivide memory into 3 different stores
• Sensory, Short-term, Long-term
Fig 7.8 – The Atkinson and Shiffrin model of memory storage.
Sensory Memory: Not just for the 4th of July


Brief preservation of
information in original
sensory form
Auditory/Visual –
approximately ¼
second
 Why?
-
-
Sparklers (or my
flashlight)
Listen. To. This.
Sentence.
Short Term Memory (STM)

Limited capacity – Miller’s magical number 7 plus
or minus 2
- How many digits are there in a telephone number?
– Chunking – grouping familiar stimuli for storage as a single
unit ( so that 7 + / - 2 still applies)

Limited duration – about 20 seconds without
rehearsal
– Rehearsal – the process of repetitively verbalizing or
thinking about the information
– Right before a test… but elaborative rehearsal is better :)
Short-Term Memory as “Working Memory”

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STM not limited to phonemic encoding
Loss of information not only due to decay
 Interference, too (think of the last example…)
Could those numbers interfere?
3 components of working memory
– Phonological rehearsal loop
– Visuospatial sketchpad
– Executive control system
Long-Term Memory: Unlimited Capacity

Permanent storage?
– Flashbulb memories
– Evidence for permanence?
–The question of accuracy… misinformation…
–The 9-11 studies; eyewitness testimony
Debate: are STM and LTM really different?
– Phonemic vs. Semantic encoding
– Decay vs. Interference based forgetting
Part 3
Its all coming back, its all coming
back to me now.
How is Knowledge Represented and
Organized in Memory?

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Clustering and Conceptual Hierarchies
Remembering similar items in groups
Sort of a natural chunking
Schemas and Scripts
Sets of abstract knowledge about an
object or event…
-Instructors schema
-The “saying hello” script
Semantic Networks
Connectionist Networks and PDP Models
I
like birds
Semantic Networks
Schblantic betworks… what does
all this mean?
Retrieval: Getting Information Out of Memory

The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon – a failure in
retrieval
– Retrieval cues… the first letter of the word…

Recalling an event
– Context cues… remember elementary school?

Reconstructing memories
– Misinformation effect
– Cryptomnesia: inadvertent plagiarism
• Source monitoring: where did the info come from?
• reality monitoring: did I think that, or did it really happen?
Forgetting: When Memory Lapses

Retention – the proportion of material retained
– Recall: no cues
– Recognition: identification out of an array or list
– Relearning: how quickly you learn material the second
time around

Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve
 Important Dead dude, studied his own
memory for nonsense syllables.
-Plotted the now famous forgetting curve
Fig 7.18 – Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve for nonsense syllables.
Why Do We Forget?

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Ineffective Encoding - didn’t
get in.
Decay theory: use it or loose it
Interference theory: other info
gets in the way
– Proactive: previously learned info
interferes with new info
– Retroactive: new info interferes
with previously learned info
Fig 7.21 – Retroactive and proactive interference. Retroactive interference occurs when
learning produces a “backward” effect, reducing recall of previously learned material. Proactive
interference occurs when learning produces a “forward” effect, reducing recall of subsequently
learned material.
What Words Do You Remember?
The Physiology of Memory
The Case of Clive Wearing