Forgetting and Memory
Construction
MODULE 19
Memory
Step 1: Encoding
Step 2: Storage
Step 3: Retrieval
Memory failure
• Encoding failure- information that doesn’t get
encoded doesn’t make it into storage
Encoding Failures
• People fail to encode information
because:
–It is unimportant to them
–It is not necessary to know the
information
–A decrease in the brain’s ability to
encode
Which is the Right Penny?
(From Nickerson & Adams, 1979)
Which is the Right Penny?
(From Nickerson & Adams, 1979)
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)
• German philosopher who did early
memory studies with nonsense syllables
• Developed the forgetting curve, also
called the “retention curve” or
“Ebbinghaus curve”
The Forgetting Curve
(Adapted from Ebbinghaus, 1885)
The more recent we learned the information the
more likely we are to remember it
Permastore Memory
• Long-term memories that are especially
resistant to forgetting and are likely to
last a lifetime
Retrieval failure
• Failure to retrieve the information counts for
most of our memory failure
• The information is their but we cant retrieve it
Interference
• A retrieval problem when one memory
gets in the way of remembering another
• Two types of interference:
–Proactive interference
–Retroactive interference
Proactive Interference
• The disruptive effect of earlier learning
on the recall of recently stored
information
• An older memory disrupts a newer
memory
Retroactive Interference
• The disruptive effect of new learning on
the recall of previously stored
information
• A newer memory disrupts an older
memory
Sigmund Freud
• Founder of
Psychoanalysis
Repression/motivated forgetting
• The process of moving stressful memories to
the unconscious
Is memory more like a video tape
or a Jigsaw?
False memories
• Elizabeth Loftushttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ_OEHu
A2uw
Misinformation Effect
• Incorporating misleading information
into one’s memory of an event
• Affects eyewitness testimony
Motivated forgeting