Chapter 6 Outline: Memory
6.1 What are the three processes of memory and the different models of how memory works? (text p.
156)
 Memory can be defined as an active system that receives information from the senses, organizes
and alters it as it stores it away, and then retrieves the information from storage.

Putting It In: Encoding putting information into memory system
LINK to Chapter Three: Sensation and Perception, p. 87
• Keeping It In: Storage keeping information in memory system
• Getting it Out: Retrieval pulling up information from memory
6.2 How does sensory memory work? (text p. 158)
 Iconic sensory memory is the visual sensory memory, in which an afterimage or icon will be held
in neural form for about one fourth to one half of a second.
 Echoic sensory memory is the auditory form of sensory memory and takes the form of an echo
that lasts for up to four seconds.
6.3 What is short-term memory, and how does it differ from working memory? (text p. 160)
 Short-Term and Working Memory

Short-term memory is where information is held while it is conscious and being used. It holds
about 7 plus or minus 2 chunks of information and lasts about 30 seconds without rehearsal.

STM can be lost through failure to rehearse, decay, interference by similar information, and the
intrusion of new information into the STM system, which pushes older information out.
6.4 How is long-term memory different from other types of memory? (text p. 162)
 Long-Term Memory

Long-term memory is the system in which memories that are to be kept more or less
permanently are stored, and is unlimited in capacity and relatively permanent in duration.

Information that is more deeply processed, or processed according to meaning, will be retained
and retrieved more efficiently.
6.5 What are the various types of long-term memory, and how is information stored in long-term
memory
organized? (text p. 164)

Types of Long-Term Information

Procedural memories are memories for skills, habits, and conditioned responses.
LINK to Chapter Four: Learning, p. 117

Declarative memories are memories for general facts and personal experiences and include both
semantic (facts, information) memories and episodic (autobiographical) memories.

Implicit memories are difficult to bring into conscious awareness, while explicit memories are
those
that a person is aware of possessing.

LTM is organized in the form of semantic networks, or nodes of related information spreading
out from a central piece of knowledge.
6.6 What kinds of cues help people remember? (text p. 168)

 Retrieval Cues LINK to Introduction, p. I-5
Retrieval cues are words, meanings, sounds, and other stimuli that are encoded at the same time
as a new memory.

Encoding specificity occurs when physical surroundings become encoded as retrieval cues for
specific memories.

State-dependent learning occurs when physiological or psychological states become encoded as
retrieval cues for memories formed while in those states.
6.7 How do the retrieval processes of recall and recognition differ, and how reliable are our memories of
events?

Recall: HMM…Let Me Think

Recall is a type of memory retrieval in which the information to be retrieved must be “pulled” out
of memory with few or no cues.

The serial position effect, or primacy-recency effect, occurs when the first items and the last
items in a list of information are recalled more efficiently than items in the middle of the list.

LINK to Introduction, I-11

Recognition: Hey, Don’t I Know You From Somewhere?

Recognition involves matching information with images or facts.

Automatic Encoding: Flashbulb Memories

Automatic encoding of some kinds of information requires very little effort to place information
in to long-term memory.

Memory for particularly emotional or traumatic events can lead to the formation of flashbulb
memories, memories that seem as vivid and detailed as if the person were looking at a snapshot
of the event but that are no more accurate than any other memories.
6.8 How are long-term memories formed, and what kinds of problems do people experience as a result?
(text p. 174)

Constructive Processing of Memories

Memories are reconstructed from the various bits and pieces of information that have been
stored away in different places at the time of encoding in a process called constructive
processing.

Hindsight bias occurs when people falsely believe that they knew the outcome of some event
because they have included knowledge of the event’s true outcome into their memories of the
event itself.

Memory Retrieval Problems

The misinformation effect refers to the tendency of people who are asked misleading questions or
given misleading information to incorporate that information into their memories for a
particular event.
6.9 What is false memory syndrome? (text p. 176)
 Rather than improving memory retrieval, hypnosis makes the creation of false memories more
likely.

False memory syndrome is the creation of false or inaccurate memories through suggestion,
especially while hypnotized.

Pezdek and colleagues assert that false memories are more likely to be formed for plausible false
events than for implausible ones
6.10 Why do we forget? (text p. 177)

Ebbinghaus and the Forgetting Curve

Information is mostly lost by one hour after learning, but then gradually fades away. This is
known as the curve of forgetting.


Encoding Failure - A failure to encode information will not produce a memory.
Memory Trace Decay Theory - Assumes the presence of a physical memory trace that decays with
disuse over time.
Interference Theory
Forgetting in LTM is most likely due to proactive or retroactive interference.
Proactive Interference - prior learning interferes with new learning
Retroactive Interference - new learning interferes with retrieval of previous

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6.11 How and where are memories formed in the brain? (text p. 180)
 Neural Activity and Structure in Memory Formation
 Evidence suggests that procedural memories are stored in the cerebellum, while short-term
memories are stored in the prefrontal and temporal lobes of the cortex.
 Semantic and episodic memories may be stored in the frontal and temporal lobes as well, but in
different locations than short-term memory, while memory for fear of objects is most likely
stored in the amygdala.
 The hippocampus appears to be responsible for the storage of new long-term memories. If it is
removed, the ability to store anything new is completely lost.
6.12 How does amnesia occur, and what is Alzheimer’s disease? (text p. 181)
 When Memory Fails: Organic Amnesia
 In retrograde amnesia, memory for the past (prior to the injury) is lost, and can be a loss of only
minutes or a loss of several years.
LINK to Chapter Thirteen: Psychological Therapies, p. 486


ECT, or electroconvulsive therapy, can disrupt consolidation and cause retrograde amnesia.
In anterograde amnesia, memory for anything new becomes impossible, although old memories
may still be retrievable.