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Memory
The Phenomenon of Memory
Def: an indication the learning has persisted over time. Our ability to store and
retrieve information.
Flashbulb Memory: a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or
event
Information Processing
Encoding: the process of storing information into the memory system – for
example, by extracting meaning
Storage: the retention of encoded information over time
Retrieval: the process of getting information out of memory storage
Atkinson-Shiffrin Model of Memory
Three stages
1. Sensory Memory – the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information
in the memory system
2. Short-term Memory – activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such
as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is
stored or forgotten.
3. Long-term Memory – the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the
memory system. Includes knowledge, skills and experiences.
Working memory
- a newer understanding of short-term memory that
involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial
information and of information retrieved from long-term memory.
Central Executive
directs focus
Visual-spatial Loop
Auditory Rehearsal
Encoding: Getting Information In
Automatically Process: space, time, and frequency
Effortful Processing
Rehearsal
Total Time
Spacing Effect
encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
conscious repetition of info, either to maintain it in
consciousness or to encode it for storage
amount remembered depends on time spent learning
tendency for distributed study or practice to yield
better long-term retention than is achieved through
massed study or practice
Serial Position Effect
What We Encode
Encoding Meaning
our tendency to recall best the last and first items in
a list
Craik and Tulving’s Level of Processing
Visual – What is looks like
Acoustic – what it sounds like
Semantic – What it means
Visual Encoding
Imagery
Mnemonics
Organizing
Chunking
Hierarchies
ENCODING
Mnemonics
Imagery
Demo: 50 states recall
Method of Loci
list of items
Charcoal
Pens
Toilet paper
Hammer
Link method
form image of items that links them
EX: image of newspaper, shaving cream, pen,
utensils, lamp
Chunking
organize into familiar, manageable unit
Ex. Acronyms (ROY G BIV)
Hierarchy
location
backyard
study
bathroom
garage
STORAGE: Retaining information
Three Memory Stores
Sensory
Working
Memory
Memory
Long-term
Memory
Sensory Memory
long delay leads to greater memory loss
Iconic
Visual (1/2 sec)
Echoic
Sound (3-4 sec)
Hepatic
Touch (<1 sec)
Working Memory
(aka Short Term Memory)
Limited capacity (7± 2); short duration (20 sec)
Demo: F B I T W A C I A I B M
4 chunks: FBI TWA CIA IBM
Long-term Memory
Unlimited capacity store (est 1000-10,000 billion
bits of information)
RETRIEVAL: Getting Information Out
Recognition
person must identify an item amongst other
choices (ex. Multiple choice)
Recall
person must retrieve info using effort. Ex. Fill in
Relearning
save 50% time when learning material 2nd time
Retrieval Cues
memories are held in storage by web of
associations. Need to use these anchors to
retrieve memories
Priming
to retrieve specific memory from the web of
associations, we must first activate one of the
strands that leads to it.
Context Effects
Scuba divers experiment
Forgetting
Three Sins of Forgetting:
□ Absent-mindedness – inattention to details produces encoding failure
□ Transience – storage decay over time
□ Blocking – inaccessibility of stored information
Three Sins of Distortion
□ Misattribution – confusing the source of information
□ Suggestibility – the lingering effects of misinformation
□ Bias – belief-colored recollections
One Sin of Intrusion
□ Persistence – unwanted memories
Encoding Failure
Info never makes it to LTM; influenced by age;
Attention also influences
Storage Decay
Forgetting curve (Ebbinghaus)
Retrieval Failure
Proactive Interference
Forward acting; disruptive effect of prior
learning on the recall of new information
Retroactive Interference
backward acting; the disruptive effect of
new learning on the old information
Motivated Forgetting
Cookie-memory phenomenon –
unknowingly revise our own history
Repression – defense mechanism that
banishes from consciousness anxietyarousing thoughts, feelings, and memories
Storing Memories in the Brain
 Penfield (1967) – old memories are etched in the brain
 Loftus and Loftus (1980) – reviewed Penfield’s work and showed that only a handful of
brain stimulated patients reported flashbacks
 Lashley (1950) – suggested that even after removing parts of the brain, the animals retain
part of the memory of the maze
Synaptic Changes
 Serotonin released from neurons increases after conditioning
 LTP (Long Term Potentiation) – synaptic enhancement after learning. An increase in
neurotransmitter release or receptors on the receiving neuron indicated strengthening of
synapses
Stress Hormones and Memory
 Heightened emotions make for stronger memories
 Continued stress may disrupt memory
Storing Implicit and Explicit Memories
 Explicit Memories – facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare
 Hippocampus is the neural center in the limbic system that processes explicit memories
 Implicit Memories – learning an action while the individual does not know or declare
what she knows
 H.M. – after losing his hippocampus in surgery, remembered everything before the
operation (declarative - explicit) but cannot make new memories (procedural – implicit)
This is called anterograde amnesia
 Cerebellum – neural center in the hindbrain that processes implicit memories
Anterograde amnesia
Can’t form any new memories
Retrograde amnesia
Can’t remember events from before accident or illness
Infantile amnesia
Inability for children younger than 3 to form long-term
memories. Biological explanation – hippocampus is not fully
developed to store information. Language could also be a factor.
MEMORY CONSTRUCITON
Misinformation Effect – incorporating misleading information into our memory of an event
Loftus and Palmer did study showing participants a car crash. Half the group was asked how fast
were the cars going when they “smashed” into each other, the other half was asked how fast were
they going when they “hit” each other. The group with the word “smashed” estimated they were
going 10 mph more than the other group. Asked a week later if they remembered seeing glass,
the group asked “Smashed” were twice as likely to say yes.
Source Amnesia – attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about,
read about or imagined. “Mr. Science” study
False Memories
Repressed or Constructed?
Some adults actually do forget childhood episodes of abuse.
False Memory Syndrome
A condition in which a person’s identity and relationships center around a false but strongly
believed memory of a traumatic experience, which is sometimes induced by well-meaning
therapists.
Children’s Eyewitness Recall
Children’s eyewitness recall can be unreliable if leading questions are posed. However, if
cognitive interviews are neutrally worded, the accuracy of their recall increases. In cases of
sexual abuse, this usually suggests a lower percentage of abuse.
Memories of Abuse
Are memories of abuse repressed or constructed?
Many psychotherapists believe that early childhood sexual abuse results in repressed memories.
However, other psychologists question such beliefs and think that such memories may be
constructed.
Constructed Memories
Loftus’ research shows that if false memories (lost at the mall or drowned in a lake) are implanted
in individuals, they construct (fabricate) their memories.
Consensus on Childhood Abuse
Leading psychological associations of the world agree
on the following concerning childhood sexual abuse:
1. Injustice happens.
2. Incest and other sexual abuse happens.
3. People may forget.
4. Recovered memories are commonplace.
5. Recovered memories under hypnosis or drugs are unreliable.
6. Memories of things happening before 3 years of age are unreliable.
7. Memories, whether real or false, are emotionally upsetting.
Improving Memory
1. Study repeatedly to boost long-term recall.
2. Spend more time rehearsing or actively thinking about the material.
3. Make material personally meaningful.
4. Use mnemonic devices:
 associate with peg words — something already stored
 make up a story
 chunk — acronyms
5. Activate retrieval cues — mentally recreate the situation and mood.
6. Recall events while they are fresh — before you encounter misinformation.
7. Minimize interference:
 Test your own knowledge.
 Rehearse and then determine what you do not yet know.