Memory
super memorist: 20
The persistence of learning over
time through the storage and
retrieval of information.
Was it easy or hard?
• It depends on several
things….
• If you like Disney
movies?
• When was the last
time you have seen
the movie?
• Are people around you
being loud so you
cannot concentrate?
Take out a piece of paper…..
• Name the seven
dwarves…..
Now name them…..
Recall vs. Recognition
Recall
• you must retrieve the
information from your
memory
• fill-in-the blank or essay
tests
Recognition
• you must identify the
target from possible
targets
• multiple-choice tests
The Memory Process
crash course
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.
Three Stage Theory of Memory
Sensory Memory
replication of Sperling's experiment
• A split second
holding tank for ALL
sensory information.
– Iconic (Visual)
– Echoic (Auditory)
Short Term Memory
• The stuff we encode from
the sensory goes to STM.
• Events are encoded visually
(images), acoustically
(sounds) or semantically
(meanings).
• Holds about 7 (plus or minus
2) items for about 20
seconds.
• We recall digits better
than letters.
Transferring from STM to LTM
• Chunking - organizing items into familiar,
manageable units
• Mnemonic Devices
1-4-9-2-1-7-7-6-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1
"Mary Very Easily Makes Jam Saturday Unless
No Plums."
• Rehearsal – repetition, repetition, repetition
Long Term Memory
• unlimited storehouse of
information
• Explicit Memories (Declarative)
– Facts Memorized (Semantic)
– Events / Experiences (Episodic)
• Implicit Memories (Nondeclarative or Procedural)
– Skills
– Example: how to ride a bike, shoot
a basketball
Storing Memories - Encoding
Effortful Processing
• done actively, “with
effort”, on purpose
• Studying for a test
• Completing AP Psych
reading assignment
• Drilling with AP Psych
flashcards
Automatic Processing
• done passively, “without
effort”, by “accident”
• Remembering what you
ate for breakfast this
morning
• Remembering the score
of sporting event
• Remembering who you
first spoke to today
Storing Memories - Encoding
• Amnesia - generally, the loss
of memory
• The Physical Basis of Memory
– No one area houses memories
– Ongoing Electrical Activity
– Synaptic Changes
• Long-term Potentiation (LTP)
– increase in a synapse’s firing
potential after stimulation
(engram)
• program 17
• modern example
Encoding Processes
• Visual Encoding: the encoding
of imagesexample
• Acoustic Encoding: the
encoding of sound
• Semantic Encoding: the
encoding of meaning
 the most effective
 encoding with multiple process
types is even more effective
Memory Strategies
start @ 7:04
• Mnemonic devices are strategies to improve
memory by organizing information
– Method of Loci: ideas are associated with a place
or part of a building example
– Peg-Word system: peg words are associated with
ideas (e.g. “one is a bun”)
– Word Associations: verbal associations are
created for items to be learned
Chunking
Chunking & other methods
• Organizing items
into familiar,
manageable units.
• Often it will occur
automatically.
#
1-4-9-2-1-7-7-6-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1
Do these numbers mean anything to you? Chunk- from Goonies
1492, 1776, 1812, 1941 how about now?
Chunking
Write down as many of the
states of the US as you
can remember!
Take out a piece of paper and name all the
Presidents
Encoding Information
• Serial Positioning Effects –
the tendency for recall to
be affected by the order of
encoding
– Primacy Effect –more likely
to recall items at the
beginning of a list
– Recency Effect – likely to
recall items at the end of a
list
– What else influenced your
ability to recall?
Serial Positioning Effect
• Our tendency to recall best the
last and first items in a list.
Presidents
Recalled
If we graph an average person remembers presidential listit would probably look something like this.
Encoding – The Spacing Effect
• distributed study or practice yields better
long term retention
• cramming is minimally effective
 What, then, would be good strategies for
preparing for AP Psych tests?
 For the AP Exam in the spring?
The Context Matters!!!
crash course
• Flashbulb Memories
– a clear memory of an
emotionally significant
moment or event
• Mood Congruent Memory
– the tendency to recall
experiences that are
consistent with your
current mood
• State Dependent Memory
– memory that is recalled
under the consciousness
conditions it was
formed
Memory Construction
• Memories are not always what
they seem.
• Misinformation Effect –
incorporating misleading
information into one’s memory
of an event
• Elizabeth Loftus
Misinformation Effect
Depiction of Accident
Leading Question: About how fast were
the cars going when they hit each other?
Misinformation Effect
Leading Question: About how fast were the cars
going when they smashed into each other?
Forgetting – Encoding Failure
Which is the Right Penny?
AUTOMATIC ENCODING
(From Nickerson & Adams, 1979)
Forgetting – Retrieval Failure
• Retroactive
Interference: recent
information blocks out
old information.
• Proactive
Interference:
previous information
blocks out new
information.
Getting a new bus
number and
forgetting old bus
number.
Calling your
new girlfriend
by old
girlfriend’s
name.
Clive Wearing
• Repression – Freud’s concept of the basic
defense mechanism that banishes from
consciousness anxiety arousing thoughts,
feelings, and memories
Forgetting - Storage Decay
• Even after encoding something well,
we sometimes forget it.
• Herman Ebbinghaus’ experiments
with non-sense syllables
– Showed the memory fades quickly,
but then the speed at which it fades
levels out.
Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve
Types of Amnesia
Clive Wearing
•
•
Causes: Brain Damage, Shock,
Repression, Stress and Illness
Amnesia is forgetting produced by
brain injury or trauma
– Retrograde amnesia refers to
problems with recall of information
prior to a trauma
– Anterograde amnesia refers to
problems with recall of information
after a trauma
–
50 1st dates trailer
– Infantile Amnesia: Before 3 years old
– Source amnesia-where did I hear or
read that??
Significant People - Memory
George Miller
– Research on Short-term Memory Capacity
– “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus
Two” (1956, Harvard)
• established 7, + or – 2 as the limit of storable
information
• also first developed the concept of “chunking” to
aid in memory retention