Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
CHAPTER 6:
Memory
Memory
An Information-Processing Model
The Sensory Register
Short-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory
Autobiographical Memory
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Information-Processing Model of
Memory

A model of memory in which information must
pass through discrete stages via the processes of
attention, encoding, storage, and retrieval.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Memory
Types of Memory
Sensory Memory
Records information from the senses for up to three
seconds
 Examples are Iconic (Visual) Memory and Echoic
(Auditory) Memory

Short-Term Memory
Holds about seven items for up to twenty seconds before
the material is forgotten or transferred to long-term
memory

Long-Term Memory
Relatively permanent, can hold vast amounts of
information

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
The Sensory Register
 Invented by George
Sperling
 A letter array is shown
briefly
 After array is gone, tone
signals which row to
report
 Subjects recalled more
letters when signaled to
recall only one row
compared to trying to
recall all the letters
Testing for Iconic Memory
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
The Sensory Register
Duration of Iconic Memory
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Short-Term Memory
Capacity
Memory-Span Test
 Read the top row of digits, then look away and repeat them
back in order. Continue until a mistake is made. The
average capacity is seven items of information.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Short-Term Memory
Capacity
Increased Memory Span
 Two students practiced
memory span tasks for
an hour 3-4
days/week.
 After six months, digit
span had increased
from 7 to 80 items.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Short-Term Memory
Capacity
Chunking
Process of grouping distinct bits of
information into larger wholes to increase
short-term memory capacity.
 Take 5 seconds to memorize as much as possible
on the next slide.
 Then, try to reproduce the arrangement of pieces.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Short-Term Memory
Capacity
The Value of Chunking
 Was the number
correct around seven
pieces? Or, was the
information chunked?
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Short-Term Memory
Duration of Short-Term Memory
 Subjects memorized
nonsense syllables, (e.g.,
MJK, ZRW).
 To prevent rehearsal, they
were given a distracter task
during the waiting period.
 When a cue was given,
subjects tried to recall the
letters.
 Short-term memories vanish
within twenty seconds.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Short-Term Memory
Functions of Short-Term Memory
Term used to describe shortterm memory as an active
workspace where
information is accessible for
current use.
 Baddeley’s model of working
memory contains three elements:




Working Memory
A “central executive”
Auditory working memory
Visuo-spatial working memory
 Material can enter conscious
workspace from senses or from
long-term memory
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Short-Term Memory
The Serial-Position Effect
 Serial Position Curve
Indicates the tendency to
recall more items from the
beginning and end of a list
than from the middle.
 Both groups of subjects
showed primacy effects, good
recall of first items on list.
 Only the no-delay group
showed recency effects, good
recall for last items.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Short-Term Memory
The Long-Term Serial-Position Effect
 Can you name the
U. S. Presidents?
 Can you name them
in the correct order?
 Note that these
subjects exhibited
both primacy and
recency effects.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Encoding
 Subjects were shown lists of
words and asked to use one of
three strategies:



Elaborative Rehearsal
Visual: Is the word printed in
capital letters?
Acoustic: Does the word rhyme
with _____?
Semantic: Does the word fit the
sentence _________?
 The more thought involved
(elaborative rehearsal), the
better was their memory.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Storage
 Procedural Memory


Stored long-term knowledge of learned
habits and skills.
Examples are how to drive, ride a bike, tie
one’s shoes, etc.
 Declarative Memory


Stored long-term knowledge of facts about
ourselves and the world.
Includes both semantic (nonpersonal) and
episodic (personal) memories
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Storage
 Semantic Network
 A complex web of
Semantic Networks
semantic associations
that link items in
memory such that
retrieving one item
triggers the retrieval
of others as well
 Supported by
research using the
lexical decision
making task
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Storage
 Hippocampus: Part of the
The Hippocampal Region
limbic system that plays a key
role in encoding and
transferring new information
into long-term memory.
 Anterograde amnesia

Inability to store new
information
 Retrograde amnesia

Inability to retrieve
memories from the past
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Retrieval
 Explicit Memory


The types of memory elicited through the conscious
retrieval of recollections in response to direct
questions.
Conscious retention, direct tests, disrupted by amnesia,
encoded in the hippocampus
 Implicit Memory


A nonconscious recollection of a prior experience that
is revealed indirectly, by its effects on performance.
Nonconscious retention, indirect tests, intact with
amnesia, encoded elsewhere
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Retrieval
Context-Dependent Memory
 Russian-English bilinguals were prompted in
English and in Russian to recall stories.
 They recalled more Russian-experienced
events when interviewed in Russian and more
English-experienced events when interviewed
in English.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Retrieval
Retention Without Awareness
 Amnesic patients and
normal controls were
tested for memory of
words learned previously.
 Amnesics performed
poorly on explicit memory
tasks.
 However, performance on
implicit memory tasks was
similar to control subjects.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Retrieval
Implicit Memory in Everyday Life
 Déjà vu

A sense of familiarity but no real memory
 The false-fame effect

Names presented only once, familiarity but no real
memory, assume person is famous
 Eyewitness transference

Face is familiar, but situation in which they
remembering seeing face is incorrect
 Unintentional plagiarism

Take credit for someone else’s ideas without awareness
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Forgetting
The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Forgetting
Long-Term Forgetting Curve
 How much Spanish
vocabulary is
remembered over
time?
 Most forgetting occurs
within the first three
years.
 After that, memory
remains stable.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Forgetting
Can You Recognize a Penny?
 One reason
people forget is
due to lack of
encoding.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Forgetting
 Proactive Interference

The tendency for previously learned
material to disrupt the recall of new
information
 Retroactive Interference

The tendency for new information to disrupt
the memory of previously learned material
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Forgetting
Interference and Forgetting
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Long-Term Memory
Reconstruction
“Office” Schema
 Study this picture for
30 seconds.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
List as many objects as you can
recall from the photograph you just
saw.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
How to Improve Memory
 Mnemonics









Memory aids designed to facilitate the recall of new
information.
Increase Practice Time
Increase the Depth of Processing
Hierarchical Organization
Verbal Mnemonics
Method of Loci
Peg-Word Method
Minimize Interference
Utilize Context Effects
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Autobiographical Memory
Memorable Transitions
 Autobiographical Memory
 The recollections people
have of their own personal
experiences and
observations.
 People’s memories are most
vivid for times of transition.
 In college, these are memories
from the beginning of the first
year and end of the last year.
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin
Autobiographical Memory
 Flashbulb Memories

Highly vivid and enduring memories, typically for
events that are dramatic and emotional
 Childhood Amnesia

The inability of most people to recall events from
before the age of three or four
 Hindsight Bias

The tendency to think after an event that one knew
in advance what was going to happen
Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin