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Memory
PS124-11
Introduction to Psychology
December 12, 2011
Memory
 Memory is the ability to store and retrieve information over
a period of time.
 Two types of memory, first is explicit – knowledge or
experiences that can be consciously remembered. Example:
Remembering to drive from driving lessons.
 Second, is implicit, the influence of experience on behavior.
Example: Improving driving skills as a result of driving lessons.
Explicit Memory
 Episodic and Semantic
 Episodic – firsthand experiences.
 Semantic – knowledge of facts and concepts of the
world.
 Measures of explicit memory
 Recall memory test – involves bringing from memory information
previously remembered.
 Recognition memory test – involves determining whether information
has been seen or learned before.
 Relearning (savings) – a measure of explicit memory involving how more
quickly information can be processed or learned when it is studied again
after being previously learned and forgotten.
Implicit Memory
 Procedural, Classical conditioning, and Priming
 Procedural – refers to unexplainable knowledge of how to do
things.
 Classical conditioning – associating neutral stimulus with
another stimulus creating a natural occurring response.
 Priming – refers to changes in behavior as a result of
experiences that have happened frequently or recently.
Stages of Memory
 Sensory memory – brief storage of sensory information.
 Iconic memory – visual sensory memory
 Echoic memory – auditory sensory memory
 Short-term memory (STM) – where small amounts of
information can be stored for more than a few seconds but
less than a minute.
 Working memory – process use to make sense of, modify,
interpret, and store information in STM.
 Long-term memory – memory storage that can hold
information for days, months, and years.
Improve STM
 Maintenance Rehearsal – process of repeating information
mentally or out loud with the goal of keeping it in memory.
 Example – saying a phone number out loud
 Chunking – process of organizing information into smaller
groupings, to increase the number of items that can be held
in STM.
 Example – MTVCNNABCFOX; can be remembered if broken
down; MTV CNN ABC FOX
Encoding & Retrieval
 Encoding - process which we place things that we experience
into memory.
 Retrieval – process of reactivating information that has been
stored in memory.
Improving Memory
 Elaborative encoding – material is better remembered if
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processed more fully.
Self-reference – material is better remembered if it is linked
to thoughts about self.
Forgetting curve – information learned drops off rapidly
with time.
Spacing effect – information is learned better when it is
studied in shorter periods spaced over time.
Overlearning – continue to learn even if we think we know
the information well.
Improving Memory
 Context-dependent learning – there’s better retrieval when it
occurs in the same situation in which we learned the material.
 State-dependent learning – there’ better retrieval when we are
in the same psychological state as we were when we learned the
material.
 Primacy effect – we tend to better remember stimuli that are
presented early in a list.
 Recency effect – we tend to better remember stimuli that are
presented later in a list.
Improving Memory
 Retroactive interference – occurs when learning something
new impairs our ability to retrieve information that was
learned earlier.
 Proactive interference – earlier learning impairs our ability
to encode information that we try to learn later.
Structures of LTM
 Categories – network of associated memories that have
features in common with each other.
 Prototypes – when members of the category is more average
or typical of the category.
 Schemas – pattern of knowledge in long-term memory that
helps us organize information.
Cognitive Biases
 Cognitive biases – errors in memory or judgment that are
caused by inappropriate use of cognitive processes.
 Source monitoring – ability to accurately identify the source of
a memory
 Sleeper effect – refers to attitude change that occurs over time when we
forget the source of information.
 Confirmation bias – tendency to verify and confirm our
existing memories rather than to challenge and disconfirm
them.
Cognitive Biases
 Functional fixedness – when schemas prevent us from seeing
and using information in new and nontraditional ways.
 Misinformation effect – errors in memory that occur when new
but incorrect information influences existing accurate
memories.
 Overconfidence – when we are certain that our memories and
judgments are accurate than we should be.
 Flashbulb memory – vivid and emotional memory of an unusual event
that we believe we remember well.
 Salience – when some stimuli grab our attention and make
them more likely to be remembered.
Cognitive Biases
 Heuristic – an information process strategy that is useful in
many cases but may lead to errors when misapplied.
 Representativeness heuristic – tendency to make judgments
according to how well the event matches our expectations.
 Availability heuristic – is the idea that things that come to mid
easily are seen as more common.
 Cognitive accessibility – is the idea that some memories are
more highly activated than others.
 Counterfactual thinking – when we replay events such that they
turn out differently.