Memory
 What
causes us to remember certain
things, but not others?
 Memory is defined as learning that
has persisted over time.
 It is a fundamental component of our
daily lives. We rely on our memories
to let us know who we are, what is
safe, where we live, etc.
 Psychologists
usually focus on three
key questions:
 1. How does information get into our
memory? (Encoding)
 2. How is information maintained in
our memory? (Storage)
 3. How do we get information back
out of our memory? (Retrieval)
 Encoding
is the process of putting
information inside of your
head. Think of encoding like typing a
project on your computer.
 It involves attention, focusing your
awareness on a narrow range of
stimuli or events.
 The next step, storage, involves
maintaining the encoded information
over a period of time.
 Storage
is like pressing “save” on
your computer.
 Finally, there is retrieval, or getting
the information you have stored back
out of your head so you can use
it. This would be the same as finding
and opening the document on your
computer.
 In
order for anything to enter out
memory, it must first be picked up by
our senses.
 This first stage of memory is called
sensory memory, which is defined
as a split second holding tank for all
sensory information.
 Most of what our senses detect, we
forget almost immediately.
 Researcher
George Sterling
demonstrated that sensory memory
exists, and that it only lasts a split
second.
 He flashed a grid of nine letters,
three rows and three columns, to
participants for 1/20 of a second.
 The participants in the study were
directed to recall either the top,
middle or bottom row immediately
after the grid was flashed to them.
 His
experiment demonstrated that the
entire grid must be held in the
sensory memory for a split
second. This type of sensory memory
is called iconic memory.
 If not asked what the letters in the
grid were immediately after the flash,
the participants would have no
recollection of ANY of the letters.
 Other experiments demonstrated the
existence of echoic memory, an
equally split second memory for
sounds.
 Three-Box/Information
processing model of Memory
 Most
of the information in or sensory
memory is not encoded, however
some of it is encoded in the next
stage of our memory: short term
memory.
 What determines which sensory
messages get encoded? Selective
attention: we encode what we are
paying attention to or what is
important to us.
 Short-term
memory is everything
you are thinking of at the current
moment. It is also temporary.
 If you do nothing with them, they
usually fade in 10 to 30 seconds.
 The short-term memory is kind of like
a pier or dock. If you put too many
people on the dock, someone will fall
off into the water. Like the dock, the
short-term memory can only fit a
certain number of things before some
fall off (forget).
 The
average short term memory is
around 7 units. For example, we can
hold about seven numbers in our
short term memory (that is why
phone numbers are seven digits
long).
 Now, we can increase our short term
memory by chunking
information. Chunking is grouping
information into larger units.
 With
phone numbers, we usually
don’t see the individual numbers.
Instead we group and see the
individual pieces as one. (Our area
code, 985, is usually thought of as
“one” number.)
 Think of the numbers 177618121945these digits may seem really hard to
memorize- but if you chunk them into
meaningful units (in this case famous
dates in US history)- 1776- 18121945- then the task becomes much
easier.
A
popular example of chunking is
called mnemonic devices: or
memory aids.
 ROYGBIV (for the colors of the visible
light spectrum) or My very excellent
mother just served us nine pizzas (for
the planets) are examples of
mnemonic devices (but I guess Pluto
is not a planet- so get rid of pizzas
and change nine to nutterbutters and
everything is cool).
 Now
the MOST popular way to get
information from our short-term
memory into the next type of
memory (long-term memory) is to
rehearse the information.
 Rehearsing is just repeating the
information that you have in your
short-term memory enough times so
it gets transferred into the long-term
memory.
 Long-term
memory (LTM) is our
limitless storehouse for information.
 Now although the LTM is unlimited,
memories can decay or fade over
time. LTM is broken down into two
major types (declarative and nondeclarative)
Declarative Memories (also called
explicit memories) are our conscious
memories that we have to put effort in to
remember. There are two tyoes of
declarative (explicit) memories.
1. Semantic memory: General knowledge
of the world stored as facts. If you
remember the names of Columbus's three
boats then you have a semantic memory.
2. Episodic memory: Memories of specific
events. Think of this like episodes of your
life; like remembering your 14th birthday
party.

Non-declarative Memories (also called
implicit memories) are unintentional
memories that we might not even realize we
have. There are two major types:
1. Procedural memories: Memories of skills and
how to perform them. (Riding a bike)
2. Classically conditioning: Anytime you have
been classically conditioned, you form a nondeclarative (implicit) memory. When Pavlov's
dogs salivated at the sound of the tone- their
body remembered the connection between the
food and the bell- that was not a conscious
memory- thus it is non-declarative.

 The
Levels of Processing Model is
just another way of looking at
memory.
 Instead of thinking of memories as
long-term of short-term, this model
looks at them as how deeply they
have been processed.
They are deeply (elaborately) processed or
shallowly (maintenance) processed.
 If you repeat something over and over
again to yourself, take a quiz on it and do
well, but forget it soon after- that
information was shallowly (maintenance)
processed in memory.
 If you give the information meaning while
memorizing it (for example, relate it to
your life or talk about it with friends) then
you should deeply (elaborately) process
the information and it will last much
longer in your memory.

Getting the information out of our heads
so we can use it is a pretty important part
of memory. There are basically two main
types of retrieval: recognition and recall.
 Recognition: is the process of matching
a fact or concept with one already in
memory. You are given a cue and just
have to recognize the right answer.
Multiple choice quizzes test your ability to
use recognition.
 Recall: coming up with an answer from
your memory. Fill in the blanks test your
recall.

In most cases, it is easier to retrieve
information through recognition, rather
than recall.
 The way information is presented to us
greatly affects our retrieval ability. For
example, the primacy effect predicts
that we are more likely to recall items
presented at the beginning of a list.
 The recency effect is demonstrated by
our ability to recall items at the end of a
list.

Finally, there is the serial positioning
effect, which states that when given a
list, we are more likely to retrieve the
items at the beginning and end of a list
and forget the stuff in the middle.
 Context is an important factor in
retrieval. Have you ever tried to
remember someone's name but can only
recall their appearance and or maybe the
first letter of the name?
 This temporary inability to remember
information is sometimes called the tipof-the-tongue phenomenon.

One theory that explains why this might
work is the semantic network theory.
 This theory explains that our brain might
form new memories by connecting their
meaning and context with meanings
already in our memory.
 Thus, our brain creates a web of
interconnected memories, each one in
context tied to hundreds or thousands of
other memories. So by listing traits, you
gradually get closer and closer to the
name and you are finally able to retrieve
it.

 Context
also explains another
powerful memory experience we all
have.
 Think about where you were when
you heard about 9/11. You can
probably tell me where you were and
what you were doing.
 Ask your parents what they were
doing when the Challenger exploded,
when JFK was shot, or during the OJ
white Bronco chase.
These flashbulb memories are powerful
because the importance of the event
caused us to encode the context
surrounding the event.
 The emotional or situational context of a
memory can effect retrieval in yet another
way.
 Studies consistently demonstrate the
power of mood congruent theory;
which is the idea that you are more likely
to recall an item if you are in the same
mood when you encoded the item.

 One
last way the context effects
retrieval is called state dependent
memory. This refers to the idea
that you will more likely retrieve
information if you are in the
emotional of physical state that you
encoded it.
the 1980’s and 1990’s “recovered
memories” were big
headlines. Individuals claim suddenly
to remember events that have been
“repressed” for years, often in the
process of therapy.
 Parents have been accused of
molesting and even killing children
based on these recovered memories.
 In
 Sometimes
these recovered memories
have been corroborated with physical
evidence and justice was served.
 Other times, they have been
discovered to have been fabricatedconstructed recollections of events. A
constructed memory can report
false details of a real event or might
even be a recollection of an event
that never occurred.
 It
is inevitable, we forget
things. Sometimes we forget things
because the memories decay, or we do
not use the memory or connections to
that memory for a long time. (Often
before an AP exam if you have not
reviewed!)
 But the good news is that if the
memory existed in the first place,
relearning the material occurs MUCH
more quickly the second time (and even
more quickly the third). This is called
the relearning effect.
 Another
factor that causes forgetting
is interference. Sometimes other
information in your memory
competes with what you are trying to
recall.
 There are two types of interferences
– retroactive and proactive
 Retroactive
interference: Learning
new information interferes with the
recall of old information. You learn a
new locker combination and now
cannot remember last years
combination.
 Proactive interference: Older
information learned previously
interferes with the recall of
information learned more
recently. You call your new
girlfriend/boyfriend your old one's
name.
How are memories stored in the brain?
 We know that the hippocampus in the
brain is involved in the process of
memories. For example, damage to the
hippocampus can cause anterograde
amnesia in which people cannot encode
new memories but remember ones
already in their long term memory.
 Sometimes they can learn new skills, but
will never remember having learned them,
showing us that procedural memories are
not handled by the hippocampus. We use
our whole brain for storage.

The current theory on how memories are
stored on a neural level is called longterm potentiation.
 Studies show that neurons can strengthen
connections between each other. Through
repeated firings, the connection is
strengthened and the receiving neuron
becomes more sensitive to the messages
from the sending neuron.
 It is kind of like using a machete to clear a
pathway in a jungle. The first time you
chop through it is a slow process. But the
more times you chop through that path, it
becomes clearer.
