 Memory
 persistence of learning over time via the
storage and retrieval of information
 Any indication learning has persisted
over time
 Flashbulb Memory
 a clear memory of an emotionally
significant moment or event
 Three Memory
Processes:
 Encoding
 Storage
 Retrieval
ENCODING
(Recording
information)
STORAGE
(Saving
information)
RETRIEVAL
(calling up stored
information)
 Encoding
 the processing of information into the memory system
(using your senses)
 Storage
 the retention of encoded information over time
 Ranges from a few seconds to much longer
 Retrieval
 process of getting information out of memory
 Ease of retrieval depends on how efficiently it
was encoded and stored.
Sensory
Memory
Short-Term
Memory
Long-Term
Memory
• Some memory is
lost because it is
not encoded
• More Memory is
lost because it is
not encoded
• Some information
is lost due to
retrieval failure
Sensory Memory
Short-Term
Memory
Long-Term
Memory
Capacity
Virtually
About 7 items in
everything you see
healthy adults
or hear at one
instant
Vast; uncountable
Duration
Fraction of a
second
Less than 20
seconds if not
rehearsed
Perhaps a lifetime
Example
You see
something for an
instant and then
someone asks you
to recall one
detail.
You look up a
telephone number
and remember it
long enough to dial
it.
You remember the
house you lived in
when you were 7
years old.
 Split-second holding tank, holds info less than a
second
 Demonstrated by George Sperling
 Flashed a grid of nine letters for 1/20th of a second,
participants could recall either the top, middle, or
bottom rows perfectly
 Tone (high, medium, or low) used as a cue as to what
row to remember
Q
L
5
 Entire grid is held in memory for
a split second
3
P
X
T
7
V
 Iconic- visual
 Echoic-auditory (slightly longer- 3-4 seconds)
 Most of the information is never encoded- selective
attention
 What we are attending to or what we consider to be
important
 Cocktail party phenomenon
 Short Term Memory (STM)
 activated memory that holds a few items briefly
 Everything we are currently thinking about
 Sometimes called working memory
 look up a phone number, then quickly dial
before the information is forgotten
 Long Term Memory (LTM)
 the relatively permanent and limitless
storehouse of the memory system
 Permanent memory, unlimited capacity
 Can decay or fade
Episodic
• Memories of
specific
events
Semantic
• General
knowledge of
the world,
stored as
facts,
meanings,
and
categories
Procedural
• Memories of
skills and
how to
perform
them; might
be
complicated
to explain in
words
 Automatic Processing
 unconscious encoding of incidental information
 space
 time
 frequency
 well-learned information
 word meanings
 we can learn automatic processing
 reading backwards
 Effortful Processing
 requires attention and conscious effort
 Rehearsal
 conscious repetition of information
 to maintain it in consciousness
 to encode it for storage
 Alternate way to think about memory
 Elaborately (Deeply) Processed will likely to be remembered later, more time spent
studying
 Maintenance (Shallowly) Processed will be forgotten quickly (cramming)
 Explains why we remember stories
than simple repetition
better
 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
 Aka- cramming is not as effective!
 Also called the primary-recency effect
 We tend to remember the first and the last items on a
list and forget those in the middle.
 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 devicesuse of acronyms
 HOMES- Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
 PEMDAS- Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
1776149218121941
 Chunking
 organizing items into familiar, manageable units
 like horizontal organization- 1776149218121941
 often occurs automatically
 DOES NOT help with long term memory, instead increases
the amount of information in STM- “increases the magic
number 7”
 Short Term Memory
 limited in duration and capacity
 “magical” number 7+/-2
Percentage
who recalled
consonants
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
3
6
9
12
15
18
Time in seconds between presentation
of contestants and recall request
(no rehearsal allowed)
 How does storage work?
 Karl Lashley (1950)
 rats learn maze
 lesion cortex
 test memory
 Proved memories weren’t stored in specific places
 Synaptic changes
 Long-term Potentiation
 increase in synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation
 When learning occurs, more neurotransmitter is released into the
synapse, neurons become more efficient
 Alcohol can disrupt memory formation by disrupting this process
 Strong emotions make for stronger memories
 some stress hormones boost learning and retention
 Amnesia- the loss of 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
 AKA declarative
 Implicit Memory- Cerebellum
 retention without conscious recollection
 Procedural memories
 motor and cognitive skills
 dispositions- conditioning
Types of
long-term
memories
Explicit
(declarative)
With conscious
recall
Facts-general
knowledge
(“semantic
memory”)
Personally
experienced
events
(“episodic
memory”)
Implicit
(nondeclarative)
Without conscious
recall
Skills-motor
and cognitive
Dispositionsclassical and
operant
conditioning
effects
LT
StressIt can
shrink!
 MRI scan of hippocampus (in red)
Hippocampus
 Recall
 the ability to retrieve info learned
earlier and not in conscious awarenesslike fill in the blank test
 Recognition
 the ability to identify previously
learned items-like on a multiple
choice test
 Relearning
 amount of time saved when relearning
previously learned information
 Priming
 activation, often unconsciously, of particular
associations in memory
 Reminders of information we could not otherwise
recall
 Guides to where to look for info
 Context Effects
 memory works better in the context of original
learning
 Hearing a song
 Being in the same
classroom
 Mood Congruent Memory
 tendency to recall experiences that are consistent
with one’s current mood
 memory, emotions or moods serve as retrieval cues
 State Dependent Memory
 what is learned in one state (while one is high,
drunk or depressed) can more easily be
remembered when in same state
 Forgetting as encoding
failure
 Which penny is the real
thing?
Percentage of
list retained
when
relearning
 Ebbinghaus-
60
forgetting
curve over
30 days
50
40
 initially
30
rapid, then
levels off
with time
20
10
0
12345
10
15
20
25
Time in days since learning list
30
 The forgetting curve for Spanish learned in school
Percentage of 100%
original
90
vocabulary
80
retained
70
Retention
drops,
60
then levels off
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 3 5
9½
14½
25
35½
49½
Time in years after completion of Spanish course
 Learning some items may disrupt
retrieval of other information
 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
 Retroactive Interference
Percentage
of syllables
recalled
90%
Without interfering
events, recall is
better
80
After sleep
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
After remaining awake
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Hours elapsed after learning syllables
8
Forgetti
ng can
occur at
any
memory
stage
Sensory memory - the senses momentarily
register amazing detail
Short term memory - a few items are
both noticed and encoded
Long-term storage - Some items
are altered or lost
Retrieval from long-term memory depending on interference, retrieval cues
moods and motives, some things get
retrieved, some don’t
Information bits
 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)
 People fill in memory gaps with plausible guesses and
assumptions
 Imagining events can create false memories
Depiction of actual accident
 Eyewitnesses
reconstruct
memories when
questioned
Leading question:
“About how fast were the cars
going when they smashed into
each other?”
Memory
construction
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrrNkY7G7_4