General Psychology (PY110)
Chapter 5
Memory
Sensory
Split
Second
Limited
Capacity
Short-Term
30
Seconds
Long-Term
Forever
Limited
Duration
Increasing Short Term Memory
Goal= Short term
 Maintenance Rehearsal

Long Term
◦ repeating information in short-term memory
to keep in from fading from short-term
memory

Chunking
◦ a strategy for making more efficient use of
short-term memory by recoding information
Information Processing System
Encoding
The process of
transferring
information from
one memory
stage to the next
Storage
The process of
maintaining
information in a
particular
stage
Retrieval
The process of
bringing stored
information from
long-term
memory to the
conscious level
in short-term
memory
Encoding Failure

Encoding failure theory says that
sometimes forgetting is not really
forgetting, but rather that the information
never entered long-term memory in the
first place.
Now an example of encoding failure…
An Example of Encoding Failure
Methods for Improving Encoding

Mnemonics:
◦ Useful for remembering
lists of items, especially
ordered lists, especially
ordered lists, speeches,
and long passages of
text.

Spacing
(Distributed)effect:
◦ Superior long term
memory for spaced
study versus massed
study (cramming).
Methods of Retrieval
Recall
requires the
reproduction of the
information with
essentially no
retrieval cues
Example:
Recognize
requires the
reproduction of the
information with
essentially no
retrieval cues
Example:
Relearn
also called the
savings method, is a
measure of the
amount of time
saved when learning
the information for
a second time
Example:
Essay
Multiple choice
Studying for a
comprehensive
final
Recall
Primary Effect and Recency Effect

Primacy

Recency
In a list of words the
recall of the items at the
start of the list is
superior to those in the
middle.
In the same list the
recall of the words at
the end of the list
will also be superior
Ebbinghaus Curve for Forgetting
Theories of Forgetting
 Interference Theory
◦ Proposes that other information
interferes and makes the forgotten
information inaccessible.
There are two types of
interference…
Types of Interference


Proactive
interference occurs
when information you
already know makes it
hard to retrieve newly
learned information
Retroactive
interference occurs
when information you
just learned makes it
hard to retrieve old
information
Proactive and Retroactive
Storage Decay Theory

suggests that forgetting
occurs because of a
problem in the storage
of the information
◦ The biological trace of
the memory gradually
decays over time and
the periodic usage of
the information will help
to maintain it in storage
Psychoanalytic

Repression
◦ Unknowingly placing an unpleasant memory
or thought in the unconscious.
Not remembering a traumatic incident in
which you witnessed a crime.