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
frayer models
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 images example
• 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
• 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!!!
• 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
why we forget: crash course
• 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
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuG9YvbQxgg
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
My Trip To Cheesecake Factory
You go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. You are
seated at a table with a white tablecloth. You
study the menu. You tell the female server you
want Avocado Egg Rolls, extra sauce, Roadslide
Sliders, Thai Lettuce Wraps, and Chino-Latino
Steak (medium). You also order a Cherry Coke
from the beverage list. A few minutes later the
server returns with your Avocado Egg Rolls. Later
the rest of the meal arrives. You enjoy it all,
except the Chino-Latino Steak is a bit overdone.
Cheesecake factory
How did you order the steak?
Was the red tablecloth checkered?
What did you order to drink?
Did a male server give you a menu?
You will now see a series of 8 slides timed 2
seconds apart.
Rest
Snore
Sound
Tired
Bed
Slumber
Night
Last ;Recall as many as you can.
Cheesecake factory
How did you order the steak?
Was the red tablecloth checkered?
What did you order to drink?
Did a male server give you a menu?
What type of interference did you experience?
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
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