Ch



Ch. 9 Memory

I. Memory is the storing of information over time.

II. Memory involves a three step process.

a. Encoding

i. You must pay attention to the information that you want to place or encode in your memory.

ii. Most information is encoded semantically-based on what it means as opposed to what it looks like (structural) or sounds (phonemic) like.

b. Storage

i. There are separate memory stores that information flows through. Info. Enters through sensory memory, some of this info. Flows to short-term/working memory, and finally some of that flows to long-term memory.

ii. Sensory memory is fleeting only lasting for a few seconds. Only some of the info. that is registered will continue to flow to short-term memory.

1. Selective attention allows only specific info. out of many possible sensory messages bombarding us at any one time to enter into our conscious awareness.

2. Iconic memories are visual and last for only about 1 second.

3. Echoic memories are auditory and last for several seconds.

a. Why do you think it is easier to remember (recall) things that are heard versus seen?

iii. Short-term/working memory is where conscious thinking and processing of information take place. Whatever you are thinking about right now is your short-term memory.

1. Unless info. is important or meaningful or is being actively rehearsed or repeated, it quickly leaves short-term memory and is forgotten when new info. displaces it as we begin to think about something else.

2. Displacement occurs, therefore, when new information enters short-term memory and pushes out existing material (e.g., looking up a phone number and remembering it until you dial it, then it is gone).

3. Short-term/working memory is limited in the amount of info. it can hold.

a. The average adult can hold b/t five to nine bits or chunks of info. (magical number seven, plus or minus two).

b. Chunking involves organizing or grouping separate bits of info. into larger units or chunks (e.g., 58127863 could be chunked into 58 12 78 63. This transforms eight bits of info. into four, thereby freeing up space in short term memory.

i. Acronyms are a great tool for chunking.

c. Information in short-term memory may be new information coming in from the sensory store or it may be old information coming in from long-term memory in order to be thought about and used (hence, working).

iv. Long-term memory is our permanent storehouse of information. If enough repeated rehearsal or practice occurs, info. may be transferred from short-term memory to long-term.

4. Some info. is automatically stored from short-term to long-term memory (very meaningful info.).

5. Most info., however, must be actively rehearsed in order to be transferred to long-term.

6. Research shows that there are at least two broad types of memory circuits in long-term memory: See flow chart.

a. Declarative memory = “fact” memories such as names, dates, and events can be subdivided into semantic memory (store of factual info.) and episodic memory (store of our personal experiences, kind of like a mini episode such as your wedding day, last beach trip, or graduation.

i. Hippocampus involved in formation of new memories (amnesiacs).

b. Procedural (non-declarative) Memory = “skill” memory, such as remembering how to ride a bike, play an instrument, or eat with a fork; learned by repetition and practice and are hard to unlearn; often performed w/o conscious thought. The effects of classical and operant conditioning are also considered procedural memories.

i. Cerebellum involved.

7. The neurotransmitter acetylcholine is linked to memory.

a. Drugs that increase it may improve memory and vice versa.

c. Retrieval

i. Retrieval involves bringing info. from long-term memory to short-term memory so that it can be used or examined.

ii. Retrieval cues help us gain access to a memory. Recall and recognition are the two basic methods of measuring retrieval.

1. Recall: Material must be remembered w/few or no retrieval cues (e.g., essay test).

2. Recognition: Task is loaded w/retrieval cues; material must be remembered through identification of the correct response (e.g., multiple-choice tests).

a. Which is easier?

3. Encoding specificity principle states that retrieval cues are more efficient when they are coded when the information is learned, and that retrieval success is most likely if the context at the time of retrieval approximates that during encoding.

a. State dependent learning: your psychological state of mind when info. was originally learned needs to be the same when trying to retrieve it (If you were happy when you learned something it will be easier to retrieve if you are in a good mood).

b. Locus dependent learning: context or location of where information is learned needs to be the same or similar to where that info. will be tested (Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could take the AP exam in this class room?)

4. Serial Position effect: It is easier to retrieve beginning and

Ending items in a list and most difficult to remember the middle. Why?

a. Primacy effect: When you rehearse a list of items, chances are you start at the beginning. Therefore, it is likely that the info. has already been sent to long term memory. If there is ever a time delay, you are always more likely to remember items at the beginning.

b. Recency effect: Information at the end of a sequence is probably still in short term/working memory.

c. Middle items are least likely to be retrieved b/c they are neither in long term memory or short term memory.

5. Retrieval Failure occurs when we can’t remember something. Why? (never made it to long-term OR…)

a. Tip-of-the-tongue experience: occurs when we are confident that we know information but cannot retrieve it (it is blocked). Recall may not be possible at that moment but recognition would be likely b/c of retrieval cues (e.g., song on the radio).

III. Other Types of memories:

a. Flashbulb memories are very deep, very vivid memories in the form of a visual image assoc. with a particular emotionally arousing event, and is thought to occur in long term memory (e.g., 911 and Kennedy’s assassination).

b. Rosy retrospection occurs when you think your having no fun at the time you experience something, but when you look back on it as a memory you think of it as fun (e.g. When we vacation with 4 kids and I am the only adult female/ “mom” present. By the end of the trip, I am ready to pull my hair out and want to come home. However, after being back home and back to work, I look back on the trip and remember it as enjoyable).

IV. What do we remember?

a. Misinformation effect occurs when after exposed to subtle misinformation many people misremember. As memory fades, the injection of misinformation becomes easier. Did they have a hat or no hat, clean shaven or mustache? That is why Police use open-ended questions with witnesses.

b. Source amnesia involves attributing to the wrong source an event that we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined (Where do I know you from? Was that real or a dream?).

c. Priming is often used to jar our memories. For example, if you tried to remember who sat beside you last year in math class, it might be helpful to refresh your memory with related associations like the set up of the classroom, who sat behind you, in front of you and so on.

d. Mnemonics are strategies for remembering information. They work b/c they add meaning and context to hard-to-remember info. Some are listed below:

i. Rehearsal: repeating info. over and over.

ii. Elaboration: thinking about how new info. is related to info. already in long-term (e.g. like the cerebellum in this chapter…we added memory to balance and coordination).

iii. Method of Loci: used to remember a list of items. Place items on a familiar path (driveway, garage door, refrigerator, etc.)

iv. Peg Word System: used to remember a list of items in a set order. First you have to memorize the peg words like one is a bun, two is a shoe, three is a tree, four is a door, etc. Then you visualize ea. Peg word with whatever it is you need to remember. Let’s practice w/a grocery list.

v. Organization: reorganizing info. into meaningful groupings. Hierarchies in science, spelling words based on identical prefixes, etc.

vi. Metamemory: improving one’s memory by knowing how memory works, its limitations, strategies for remembering, etc.

vii. Spaced Practice (spacing effect): short study sessions over time lead to better learning than does mass practice (one long study session).

e. Dejavu is an eerie sense of having previously experienced a situation.

V. Why do we forget?

a. Decay theory- if info. in long-term memory is not used, it gradually fades over time until it is gone.

b. Interference theory-info. in long-term memory is forgotten b/c other learning gets in the way of what needs to be remembered.

i. Proactive interference occurs when old info. in long term memory gets in the way of remembering new info. (Mrs. Farmer’s word “prold”). E.g., when your old cell number gets in the way of you learning your new cell number.

ii. Retroactive interference occurs when new info. pushes old info. out of short term. (E.g., Learning new students’ names typically interferes with a teacher’s recall of the names of previous students).

c. Brain damage: (Hippocampus/cerebellum or both).

iii. Retrograde amnesia is the term used to describe memory loss for events occurring prior (before) brain injury.

iv. Intergraded amnesia is used to describe memory loss for events that occurred after a brain injury.

1. Which one of these describes the concept behind the movie “50 First Dates”?

d. Motivated forgetting occurs when we try to remember unwanted, unpleasant memories.

e. Ebbinghaus Curve/forgetting curve:

i. Herman Ebbinghaus, through research, came up with the concept of a forgetting curve. He found that most forgetting occurs immediately after learning and then the rate of forgetting slows down considerably.

ii. He also found that learning info. the second time around is quicker. This implies that forgetting is never complete.

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