Introduction to Psychology

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Myers EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (7th Ed)
Chapter 8 Memory James A. McCubbin,
PhD Clemson University Worth Publishers Modified
by Jackie Kroening 10-03-04
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Memory

• Memory
• persistence of learning over time via the storage
  and retrieval of information
• Flashbulb Memory
• a clear memory of an emotionally significant
  moment or event

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Memory

• 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

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Memory

• Storage
• the retention of encoded information over time
• Retrieval
• process of getting information out of memory

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Memory

• Short-term memory
• activated memory that holds a few items briefly
• e.g., the seven digits of a phone number while
  dialing, before the information is stored or
  forgotten
• Long-term memory
• the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse
  of the memory system

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Encoding

• Sensory Memory
• immediate, initial recording of sensory
  information in the memory system
• Working Memory
• concept of memory similar to short-term memory,
  but focusing more on the processing of briefly
  stored information

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EncodingTwo Types
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Encoding

• Automatic Processing
• unconscious encoding of incidental information,
  such as space, time, frequency, and well-learned
  information, such as word meanings
• Effortful Processing
• encoding that requires attention and conscious
  effort

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Encoding

• Rehearsal
• conscious repetition of information
• to maintain it in consciousness
• to encode it for storage

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Encoding

• Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables
• TUV ZOF GEK WAV
• the more times practiced on Day 1, the fewer
  repetitions to relearn on Day 2
• Spacing Effect
• distributed practice yields better long-term
  retention than massed practice
• Study one subject for two hours then another
  subject for two hours

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Encoding
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Encoding
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Encoding Strategies

• Encoding Meaning
• including meaning of words
• Acoustic Encoding
• encoding of sound
• especially sound of words
• Visual Encoding
• encoding of picture images

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Encoding

• Imagery
• mental pictures
• a powerful aid to effortful processing,
  especially when combined with semantic encoding
• Mnemonics
• memory aids
• especially those techniques that use vivid
  imagery and organizational devices

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Encoding

• Chunking
• organizing items into familiar, manageable units
• like horizontal organization-1776149218121941
• often occurs automatically
• use of acronyms
• HOMES-Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
• ARITHMETIC-A Rat In Toms House Might Eat Toms
  Ice Cream

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Encoding- Chunking

• Organized information is more easily recalled

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Encoding- Chunking

• Chunking for those who read Chinese

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Encoding

• Organization benefits memory

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Storage-Retaining Information

• Sensory Memory
• the immediate, initial recording of sensory
  information in the memory system
• Iconic Memory
• a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli
• a photographic or picture image memory lasting no
  more that a few tenths of a second
• registration of exact representation of a scene
• Echoic Memory
• momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli

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Storage--Momentary Photographic Memory
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Storage-Short-Term Memory

• Short-Term Memory
• limited in duration and capacity
• magical number 7 /- 2

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Storage-Short-Term Memory
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Storage-Long-Term Memory

• Double receptor sites

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How Does Storage Work? (Movie Locus of learning
and memory)

• Karl Lashley (1950)
• trained rats to solve maze, then cut out pieces
  of their cortex and retested their memory of maze
• partial memory retained
• Long-Term Potentiation
• increase in synapses firing potential after
  brief, rapid stimulation
• Strong emotions make for stronger memories
• some stress hormones boost learning and retention

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Storage-Long-Term Memory

• Amnesia-the loss of memory
• Implicit Memory
• retention without conscious recollection
• skills and dispositions
• also called nondeclarative memory
• Explicit Memory
• memory of facts and experiences that one can
  consciously know and declare
• Hippocampus -neural center in limbic system that
  helps process explicit memories for storage

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Storage--Long-Term Memory Subsystems
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The Hippocampus
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Retrieval

• Recall
• measure of memory in which the person must
  retrieve information learned earlier
• as on a fill-in-the-blank test
• Recognition
• a measure of memory in which the person need only
  identify items previously learned
• as on a multiple-choice test

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Retrieval (movie memory true or false)
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Retrieval

• Relearning
• a measure of memory that assesses the amount of
  time saved when relearning material for a second
  time
• Priming
• the activation, often unconsciously, of
  particular associations in memory

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Retrieval Cues

• Reminders of information we could not otherwise
  recall
• Memories are primed by retrieval cues.
• Guides to where to look for info
• Context Effects
• memory works better in the context of original
  learning
• When 80-year-old Alana looked at her old wedding
  pictures, she was flooded with vivid memories of
  her parents, her husband, and the early years of
  her marriage.

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Retrieval
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Retrieval Cues
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Retrieval Cues

• Deja Vu-(French) already seen
• eerie sense that "I've experienced this before"
• cues from the current situation may
  subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier
  similar experience
• Mood-Congruent Memory
• tendency to recall experiences that are
  consistent with ones current mood
• memory, emotions, or moods serve as retrieval cues

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Forgetting

• Forgetting as encoding failure

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Encoding

• Forgetting as encoding failure
• Which penny is the real thing?

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Storage Decay
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Forgetting Curve for Spanish
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Retrieval Failure

• Forgetting can result from failure to retrieve
  information from long-term memory

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Forgetting- Interference

• Learning some items may interfere with retrieving
  others
• 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

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Forgetting- Interference
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Forgetting- Interference
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Forgetting

• When do we forget?

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Forgetting

• Motivated Forgetting
• people unknowingly revise history
• Repression (from Psychoanalytic Theory)
• defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing
  thoughts, feelings, and memories from
  consciousness

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Forgetting

• Eyewitnesses reconstruct memories when questioned

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Memory Construction

• We filter information and fill in missing pieces
• Misinformation Effect
• 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)

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Memory Construction

• Injustice Happens
• some innocent people falsely convicted
• some guilty people evade responsibility by
  casting doubt on their truth-telling accusers
• Incest Happens
• no characteristic survivor syndrome
• sexual abuse can leave its victims predisposed to
  problems ranging from sexual dysfunction to
  depression

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Memory Construction

• Forgetting Happens
• forgetting isolated past events, both negative
  and positive, is part of everyday life
• Recovered Memories are Commonplace
• we recover memories of long-forgotten events
• it is unclear that the unconscious mind forcibly
  represses painful experiences and, if so, whether
  these can be retrieved by certain therapist-aided
  techniques

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Memory Construction

• Memories recovered under hypnosis or drugs are
  especially unreliable
• hypnotized subjects incorporate suggestions into
  their memory
• Memories of things happening before age 3 are
  unreliable
• called infantile amnesia
• Memories, whether real or false, can be
  emotionally upsetting

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Improve Your Memory

• 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
• chunk information into acronyms

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Improve Your Memory

• Activate retrieval cues--mentally recreate
  situation and mood
• Minimize interference
• Test your own knowledge
• to rehearse it
• to determine what you do not yet know