Memory
Information
Processing
Information Processing Model
• Encoding - getting information into the
memory system
• Storage - the retaining of encoded
information over time
• Retrieval - getting encoded information
out of memory storage
Encoding:
Automatic and
Effortful Processing
Automatic Processing
• The unconscious encoding of some
information without effort
• Usually information on space, time and
frequency
Effortful Processing
• Encoding that requires attention and a
conscious deliberate effort
• The best processing is through rehearsal
or practice.
Rehearsal
• The conscious repetition of information
in order to encode it
• The more time spent on rehearsal, the
more information one tends to
remember.
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”
Overlearning
• Continuing to rehearse after the point
the information has been learned
• Rehearsing past the point of mastery
• Helps ensure information will be
available even under stress
Encoding:
Serial Position Effect
Serial Position Effect
• The tendency to recall the first and last
items in a list
• Primacy effect – the ability to recall
information near the beginning of a list
• Recency effect – the ability to recall
information near the end of a list
Encoding:
Spacing Effect
Spacing Effect
• The tendency for distributed practice to
yield better retention than is achieved
through massed practice
Distributed Practice
• Spreading rehearsal out in several
sessions separated by period of time
• Usually enhances the recalling of the
information
Massed Practice
• Putting all rehearsal together in one long
session (cramming)
• Not as effective as distributed practice
Encoding:
Encoding Meaning
Semantic Encoding
• The encoding of meaning
• Encoding information that is meaningful
enhances recall
Acoustic Encoding
• Encoding information based on the
sounds of the information
Visual Encoding
• Encoding information based on the
images of the information
Self-Reference Effect
• The enhanced semantic encoding of
information that is personally relevant
• Making information meaningful to a
person by making it relevant to one’s
life
Encoding:
Encoding Imagery
Encoding:
Mnemonic Devices
Mnemonic Device
• A memory trick or technique for
remembering specific facts
• “Every good boy does fine” to
remember the notes on the lines of the
scale
• “People say you could have odd lots of
good years” as a way to remember how
to spell “psychology”
Method of Loci
• A mnemonic device in which the person
associates items to be remembered with
imaginary places
Peg-Word System
• A mnemonic device in which the person
associates items to remember with a list
of peg words already memorized
• Goal is to visualize the items to
remember with the items on the pegs
Peg Word System
Encoding:
Organizing
Information
Chunking
• Organizing information into meaningful
units
• More information can be encoded if
organized into meaningful chunks.
Storage
Three Storage Systems
• Three distinct storage systems :
– Sensory Memory
– Short-Term Memory (includes
Working Memory)
– Long-Term Memory
Storage:
Sensory Memory
Sensory Memory
• The brief, initial coding of sensory
information in the memory system
– Iconic store – visual information
– Echoic store – sound information
• Information held just long enough to
make a decision on its importance
Storage:
Short-Term Memory
Short-Term Memory
• Conscious, activated memory which
holds information briefly before it is
stored or forgotten
• Holds approximately seven, plus or
minus two, chunks of information
• Can retain the information as long as it
is rehearsed
• Also called “working memory”
Storage:
Long-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory
• The relatively permanent and limitless
storehouse of the memory system
• Holds memories without conscious
effort
Flashbulb Memory
• A vivid, clear memory of an
emotionally significant moment or event
• Can be personal memories or centered
around a shared event
Storage:
Memory and the
Brain
Long-Term Potentiation
• An increase in a synapse’s firing
efficiency
• Believed to be the neural basis of
learning and memory
Storage:
Explicit and Implicit
Memories
Explicit Memory
• Memory of facts and experiences that
one must consciously retrieve and
declare
• Processed through the hippocampus
Implicit Memory
• Memory of skills and procedures that
are retrieved without conscious
recollection
• Processed through the cerebellum
Memory and the Hippocampus
• Damage to the hippocampus would
result in the inability to form new
explicit memories, but the ability to
remember the skills of implicit
memories
Memory and the Hippocampus
Retrieval
Retrieval
• The process of getting information out
of memory storage
• Two forms of retrieval
– Recall
– Recognition
Recall
• A measure of memory in which the
person must retrieve information learned
earlier
• Essay, fill-in-the-blank, and short
answer test questions test recall
Recognition
• A measure of memory in which a person
must identify items learned earlier
• Multiple choice and matching test
questions test recognition
Retrieval: Context
Context Effect
• The enhanced ability to retrieve
information when you are in an
environment similar to the one in which
you encoded the information
Retrieval:
State Dependency
State Dependent Memory
• The enhanced ability to retrieve
information when the person is in the
same physical and emotional state they
were in when they encoded the
information
• The retrieval state is congruent with the
encoding state
Forgetting and
Memory Construction
Information Processing Model
• Encoding - getting information into the
memory system
• Storage - the retaining of encoded
information over time
• Retrieval - getting encoded information
out of memory storage
Forgetting as
Encoding Failure
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)
Forgetting as Storage
Failure
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)
Permastore Memory
• Long-term memories that are especially
resistant to forgetting and are likely to
last a lifetime
Forgetting as
Retrieval Failure:
Interference
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
Forgetting as
Retrieval Failure:
Motivated Forgetting
Repression
• Part of Freud’s psychoanalysis
• Process of moving anxiety-producing
memories to the unconscious
• Supposed means of protecting oneself
from painful memories
• Not well-supported by research;
stressful incidents are actually more
likely to be encoded
Memory Construction
Memory Jigsaw Analogy
• Memories, rather than being like a video
tape, are formed as bits and pieces.
• People may retrieve only some of the
pieces of the memory
Elizabeth Loftus (1944- )
• Does research in memory construction
• Has found that subjects’ memories vary
based on the wording of questions
• Demonstrated the misinformation effect
Misinformation Effect
• Incorporating misleading information
into one’s memory of an event
• Affects eyewitness testimony
Memory
Construction:
Children’s Recall
Children’s Testimony on Abuse
• Research has shown children’s
testimony to be unreliable
• Children are very open to suggestions
• As children mature their memories
improve
Accurate Interviewing Methods
• To promote accuracy with children’s
testimony the interviewer should:
– Phrase questions in a way the child
can understand
– Have no prior contact with the child
– Use neutral language and do not lead
or suggest answers
The End