Three step process….
1. Encoding: The processing of information into the memory system.
2. Storage: The retention of encoded material over time.
3. Retrieval: The process of getting the information out of memory storage.

Haptic memory – tactile sensations
(1.3 secs)

•
Brain processes many things at different levels at the same time
•
Automatic (not conscious)
–
Remembering space, time, frequency, well-learned info
– i.e. driving slowly down a street
(automatic) while looking for an address (conscious)
•
Effortful (conscious)
–
Rehearsal/repetition
–
Must consciously attend to/
– think about

 Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables
 TUV ZOF GEK WAV
 the more times practiced on Day 1, the fewer repetitions to relearn on Day 2 = RELEARNING
EFFECT

• DO NOT CRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Distributed practice is better than massed practice for enhanced memory
• Overlearning = continuing to rehearse even after learned does enhance later memory

• Primacy Effect
– Items @ beginning of list
• Recency Effect
– Items @ end of list
= Serial Positioning Effect (more likely to remember items at the beginning & end of list
(less likely to remember items in middle of list)

• Visual Encoding: the encoding of picture images.
• Acoustic Encoding: the encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words.
• Semantic Encoding: the encoding of meaning (such as the meaning of words).

 Imagery (technique for visual encoding)
 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

 Chunking
 organizing items into familiar, manageable units
 like horizontal organization--1776149218121941
 often occurs automatically
 use of acronyms
 HOMES-H uron, O ntario, M ichigan, E rie, S uperior
 ARITHMETIC-A R at I n T om’s H ouse M ight E at
T om’s I ce C ream

 Organized information is more easily recalled in groups

• One is a bun
• Two is a shoe
• Three is a tree
• Four is a door
• Five is a hive
• Six is sticks
• Seven is heaven
• Eight is a gate
• Nine is swine
• Ten is a hen

• Honey
• Dog food
• Sugar
• Oranges
• Ice cream
• Peanut butter
• Bread
• Pork chops
• Milk
• Potato chips

Haptic memory – tactile sensations
(1.3 secs)

• Iconic memory
– Brief sensory memory of images
(tenths of a second)
• Echoic memory
– Brief sensory memory of sounds (2-4 secs)
• Haptic memory
– Memory for touch/tactile sensations

Percentage who recalled
90
• Limited duration & capacity consonants
80
70
60
• Magical number (7+/-
2 items)
50
40
30
20
• Events are encoded visually, acoustically or semantically.
10
0
3 6 9 12 15 18
• We recall digits better than letters.
Time in seconds between presentation of contestants and recall request
(no rehearsal allowed)

Storage: Long-Term Memory (LTM)
 How does storage work?
 Engrams (physical traces of memory)
 Karl Lashley (1950)
 Memories must be stored throughout the brain (no single place)
 Synaptic changes
 Long-term Potentiation
 Biological evidence of memory
 increase in synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation

Retrospective Memory Prospective Memory

Memory of the past
(i.e. remembering your first day of school, remembering the Homecoming dance, etc.)

Memory for things that will happen in the future
(i.e. I have a dentist appt. tomorrow at 3, next week is my sister’s birthday, etc.)

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

Storage: Long-Term Memory (LTM)
 Strong emotions make for stronger memories =
FLASHBULB MEMORIES
• Mood-dependent memory  we remember info in same mood as when it was encoded/learned
• State-dependent memory  remember when in same conscious state as learned/ rehearsed

Retrieval: Context Effects/Context-
Dependent Memory
• Godden and Baddeley (1975)
Percentage of words recalled
40
30
20
10
0
Water/ land
Land/ water
Different contexts for hearing and recall
Water/ water
Land/ land
Same contexts for hearing and recall

• Recall v.
Recognition tasks
• Priming - activation of unconscious associations in memory (déjà vu)

• Mood-dependent memory  we remember info in same mood as when it was encoded/learned
• State-dependent memory  remember when in same conscious state as learned/rehearsed

Retrieval: Context Effects
• Godden and Baddeley (1975)
Percentage of words recalled
40
30
20
10
0
Water/ land
Land/ water
Different contexts for hearing and recall
Water/ water
Land/ land
Same contexts for hearing and recall

• The White House is pictured on the back of a
$20 bill. What is the on the back of a $10 bill? $5 bill? $1 bill?
• Whose faces are on Mt. Rushmore?
• What letters accompany the number 4 on a phone?
• What is the Statue of Liberty holding in her left hand?
• How many sides are there on a #2 pencil?

Forgetting: Encoding Failure

 Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables
 TUV ZOF GEK WAV
 the more times practiced on Day 1, the fewer repetitions to relearn on Day 2
 If not rehearsed, forgetting occurs rapidly, but then levels off

• Info never gets to LTM
External events
Attention
Sensory memory
Shortterm
Encoding memory
Encoding
Longterm memory
Encoding failure leads to forgetting

Percentage of list retained when relearning
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 10 15 20 25
Time in days since learning list
30
 Ebbinghaus forgetting curve over 30 days-initially rapid, then levels off with time

 The forgetting curve for Spanish learned in school
Percentage of original vocabulary retained
100%
90
80
70
20
10
0
60
50
40
30
Retention drops, then levels off
1 3 5 9½ 14½ 25 35½ 49½
Time in years after completion of Spanish course

 Forgetting can result from failure to retrieve information from long-term memory
External events
Attention
Sensory memory
Encoding
Encoding
Short-term memory
Retrieval
Long-term memory
Retrieval failure leads to forgetting

• Proactive (forward-acting) interference  old info disrupts memory of new info
• Retroactive (backward-acting) interference  new info disrupts memory of old info


 people unknowingly revise memories

 defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Disruption of explicit memories
• Infantile amnesia: difficult to remember vivid memories from before ages 2-3
• Dissociative amnesia: inability to remember info due to psychological trauma


Elizabeth Loftus

We filter information and fill in missing pieces

Misinformation Effect
 incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

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

Kaplan, H. Memory (PPT file). Retrieved from
AP Psychology Commune Web Site: http://www.appsychology.com
Myers, D.G. (2011). Myers’ psychology for AP.
Holland, MI: Worth Publishers.