Download Memory

Take out a piece of
paper…..
• Name the seven dwarves…..
Now name them…..
Was it easy or hard?
• It depends on several
things….
• If you like Disney
movies?
• When was the last time
you have seen the
movie?
• Are people around you
being loud pain in the
butts so you cannot
concentrate?
Memory
The persistence of learning over time
through the storage and retrieval of
information.
The Memory Process
Three step process….
1. Encoding: getting the information
into your brain
2. Storage: retaining that encoded
information over time
▫
You can’t store info if you don’t
encode it
3. Retrieval: getting information out
of memory
▫
You can’t retrieve what you don’t
store
How We Encode
• Parallel Processing: our
brain is able to process
many things at one time
(not like a computer)
• How do we encode (get
info into our brains)?
1. AUTOMATIC
2. EFFORTFUL
Encoding: Automatic Processing
• Automatic Processing: unconscious
encoding of incidental info
 Space: encode the place on a page
where you read that info, later you
know where to find it
 Time: you keep a mental note of
sequence of day’s events, if you leave
your phone somewhere you can
retrace your steps
 Frequency: keep track of how many
times things happened (I walked
passed Mrs. Lantz 3 xs Friday after
school!)
Flashbulb Memory
• Unique type of automatic
processing
• Flashbulb Memory: a clear
memory of an emotionally
significant moment/event
▫ Hormonal changes triggering
emotions
▫ Ex: first kiss
▫ Ex: Where were you/what
were you doing when you
heard about the 9/11
attacks?
Encoding: Effortful Processing
• Effortful Processing:
encoding that requires
attention and conscious
effort
▫ Ex: the concepts in this
unit
▫ Ex: have an appointment so
you put it in your phone
calendar/planner
• Rehearsal: the conscious
repetition of information
• Going over and over and over
and over…
Ebbinghaus & the Spacing Effect
• Hermann Ebbinghaus
this name!!!)
(remember
▫ Overlearning
 a lot of rehearsing (the amount of
time you spend learning increases
the amount remembered)
▫ Spacing Effect: DON’T CRAM!!!
 When you space out your
studying/practicing you will
retain information longer (long
term memory) than if you cram
(short term memory &
overconfidence)
▫ Forgetting Curve
 Spacing effect
Take out a piece of paper and name all
the Presidents…
Serial Position Effect
• Serial Positioning Effect:
we tend to recall first and
last items in a list best
▫ Primacy Effect-first
items
▫ Recency Effect-last items
• V vs. A encoding activity
Type 1:
Visual Encoding
• Visual Encoding: the
encoding of picture
images
• Imagery: mental
pictures
• Much easier to
remember words
that you can have
a mental image of
than an abstract
word
• Fire vs.
statistical
significance
Type 2:
Acoustic Encoding
• Acoustic Encoding:
the encoding of
sound, especially
the sounds of words
• Ex: “if the glove
doesn’t fit, you
must acquit”
• Ex: sleepy, dopey,
sneezy…
Type 3: Semantic Encoding
• Semantic Encoding:
the encoding of
meaning
• Rephrase what
you hear/read
• 2 MAJOR ideas
into meaningful
• 1. What we remember
terms
is depends on time
spent learning
• 2. you making it
meaningful
Strategies to improve
• Chunking: Organizing
items into familiar, 1-4-9-2-1-7-7-6-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1
manageable units
• "My Very Educated
• Mnemonic devices:
Mother Just Served Us
memory aids, esp.
Nine Pizzas"
techniques that use
visual imagery &
• ROY G BIV
organizational devices
• Other Strategies
• Hierarchies
• Rehearsal
▫ Dividing info into
groups, subgroups… • Imagery
• Method of Loci
▫ Think outlines
Storage
3 Stages of Memory
• 1: Sensory Memory
▫ The immediate, very brief
recording of sensory information
in the memory system
▫ Iconic: short memory of visual
stimuli
▫ Echoic: short memory of auditory
stimuli
• 2: Short-Term Memory
▫ Activated memory that holds a few
items briefly before the info is
stored or forgotten
• 3: Long Term Memory
▫ The permanent & limitless
storehouse of the memory system
Storing Memories
Long Term-Potentiation (LTP)
• Long-lasting strengthening of
synapses between nerve cells
▫ Neural basis for learning &
long term memory
• In other words…they learn to
fire together and get better
at it…helping with memory &
learning
Long Term Memory
• Implicit Memory
(nondeclarative/procedural): you remember
things without consciously thinking about it
▫ Ex: walking, bike riding, playing an
instrument
▫ Processed in other brain areas, including
cerebellum
• Explicit Memory (declarative): memory of
facts & experiences that you consciously
think about
▫ Processed in hippocampus
▫ Semantic Memory: store info w/ meaning
about facts…
 Ex: Pearl Harbor occurred in 1941/wwii
▫ Episodic Memory: our own individual
memories
 Ex: your favorite birthday party
Retrieval: Getting Information Out
Recall
• you must retrieve the
information from your
memory
• fill-in-the blank or
essay tests
Recognition
• you must identify the
target from possible
targets
• multiple-choice tests
The Context Matters!!!
• Flashbulb Memories
• Mood Congruent Memory
▫ Tendency to recall
experiences that are
consistent with your good
or bad memory
Why do we Forget?
Getting a new bus
number and
forgetting old bus
number.
• 3 Sins of Forgetting
▫ Encoding Failure
 We fail to notice details & don’t
encode that info
▫ Storage Decay
 Some of our memories decay over time
▫ Retrieval Failure
 Tip of the tongue phenomenon
• Retroactive Interference: new
information blocks out old information
• Proactive Interference: old
information blocks out new
information
Calling your new girlfriend
• Tip: focus on what is blocked!
by old girlfriends name.
Memory Construction
• Misinformation effect
• Incorporating misleading information
into one’s memory of an event
• How fast were the cars going when
they “smashed” vs. “hit” each
other?
• Even imagining events can enter our
memories!
• Source amnesia
• People don’t accurately remember the
source of the information
• Memories are not always what they
seem
• Elizabeth Loftus!!!!!
• A constructed memory is a created
memory, not the actual memory!
Accuracy & Durability of Memory
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Priming
déjà vu
Forgetting
Eyewitness Testimony
False Memories
Constructed Memories
Improving Your Memory!
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Mnemonics
Method of loci
Distributed practice (don’t cram!)
Overlearning
Imagery