Chapter 9
Memory
Memory

Memory
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persistence of learning over time via
the storage and retrieval of
information
Flashbulb Memory
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a clear memory of an emotionally
significant moment or event
Example: September 11
What is your first memory?
Memory

Memory as Information Processing

similar to a computer
write to file
 save to disk
 read from disk
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Encoding
the processing of information
into the memory system

Memory
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Storage

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the retention of encoded information
over time
Retrieval
process of getting information
out of memory

Types of Memory

Sensory Memory

the immediate, initial recording of sensory information in
the memory system

Iconic
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Echoic Memory

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momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli
Short Term Memory


a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli
a photographic or picture image memory lasting no more that a
few tenths of a second
Registration of exact representation of a scene
activated memory that holds a few (7 +/- 2) items briefly
Long Term Memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the
memory system
The Atkinson Shiffrin
Model
Sensory input
Attention to important
or novel information
Encoding
External
events
Sensory
memory
Short-term
memory
Encoding
Long-term
memory
Retrieving
Encoding- Getting
Information In
Encoding
Effortful
Automatic
Encoding

Automatic Processing

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unconscious encoding of incidental
information
well-learned information

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word meanings
we can learn automatic processing
Effortful Processing

requires attention and conscious effort
Ways to Encode

Rehearsal

conscious repetition of information
to maintain it in consciousness
 to encode it for storage
German philosopher Herman Ebbinghaus used 2300
nonsense syllables
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TUV ZOF GEK WAV
the more times practiced on Day 1, the fewer repetitions to
relearn on Day 2
The amount remembered depends on the time spent
learning.
Ways to Encode: Forgetting
Curve
Ways to Encode


Spacing Effect
 distributed practice yields better long
term retention than massed practice
Primacy/Recency (Serial Position Effect)

Example: US Presidents
Ways to Encode

Next In Line Effect
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Hierarchies (Bower)
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Mental pictures
a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic
encoding
Mnemonics

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Outlines
Imagery
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Actors/Projects
memory aids
especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
Method of Loci (Greek drama)
Chunking

Organize information into meaningful units; helps us with unfamiliar meaning

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Like horizontal organization – 1776149218121941
Often occurs automatically
Use of Acronyms

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HOMES – Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
Socks Pulled Over Cold Feet – Sensorimotor, Preoperational, …
Encoding
Storage- Long Term
Memory Subsystems
Types of
long-term
memories
Explicit
(declarative)
With conscious
recall
Facts-general
knowledge
(“semantic
memory”)
Personally
experienced
events
(“episodic
memory”)
Implicit
(nondeclarative)
Without conscious
recall
Skills-motor
and cognitive
Dispositionsclassical and
operant
conditioning
effects
StorageLong Term Memory
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How does memory storage work? (Biological
Perspective)
Synaptic changes

Long-term Potentiation
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Karl Lashley (1950)
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increase in synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid
stimulation
Rats learn maze
lesion cortex
test memory
Strong emotions make for stronger memories

some stress hormones boost learning and retention
StorageLong Term Memory
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Amnesia- the loss of memory
Explicit Memory
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memory of facts and experiences that one can
consciously know and declare
hippocampus- neural center in limbic system that
helps process explicit memories for storage
The Case of HM
Implicit Memory
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retention without conscious recollection
motor and cognitive skills
dispositions- conditioning
StorageLong Term Memory

MRI scan of hippocampus (in red)
Hippocampus
Retrieval- Getting
Information Out
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Recall

the ability to retrieve info learned
earlier and not in conscious
awareness

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Example: Fill in the blank test
Recognition

the ability to identify previously
learned items

Example: Multiple choice test
Retrieval

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Relearning
 amount of time saved when relearning
previously learned information
Priming
 activation, often unconsciously, of
particular associations in memory
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Reminders of information we could not otherwise
recall
Guides to where to look for info
 Context Effects
 memory works better in the context of
original learning
Retrieval Cues

Deja Vu- (French) already seen
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cues from the current situation may subconsciously
trigger retrieval of an earlier similar experience
"I've experienced this before"
Mood Congruent Memory
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tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with
one’s current mood
memory, emotions or moods serve as retrieval cues
State Dependent Memory

what is learned in one state (while one is high, drunk or
depressed) can more easily be remembered when in same
state
Forgetting
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Forgetting as Encoding Failure
Information never enters the memory
system
Attention is selective
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we cannot attend to everything in
our environment
William James said that we would be
as bad off if we remembered
everything as we would be if we
remembered nothing
Forgetting

The forgetting curve for Spanish learned in school
Percentage of 100%
original
90
vocabulary
80
retained
70
Retention
drops,
60
then levels off
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 3 5
9½
14½
25
35½
49½
Time in years after completion of Spanish course
Forgetting as Interference

Learning some items may disrupt retrieval of
other information
 Proactive(forward acting) Interference
 disruptive effect of prior learning on recall
of new information
 Example:
 Retroactive (backwards acting) Interference
 disruptive effect of new learning on recall of
old information
 Example:
Forgetting as
Interference
Forgetting- Interference
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Motivated Forgetting
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Repression
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people unknowingly revise history
defense mechanism that banishes anxietyarousing thoughts, feelings, and memories
Positive Transfer
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sometimes old information facilitates our
learning of new information
knowledge of Latin may help us to learn French
Memory Construction
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We filter information and fill in missing
pieces
Misinformation Effect
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Source Amnesia
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incorporating misleading information into one's
memory of an event
attributing to the wrong source an event that
we experienced, heard about, read about, or
imagined (misattribution)
Infantile Amnesia
Memory Construction
Depiction of actual accident

Eyewitnesses
reconstruct
memories when
questioned
Leading question:
“About how fast were the cars
going when they smashed into
each other?”
Memory
construction
Memory Construction


People fill in memory gaps with plausible guesses
and assumptions
Example:
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Piaget
Your first memory?
Imagining events can create false memories
Children's eyewitness recall

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Child sexual abuse does occur
Some innocent people suffer false accusations
Some guilty cast doubt on true testimony
Memory Construction

Memories of Abuse

Repressed or Constructed?

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Child sexual abuse does occur
Some adults do actually forget such episodes
False Memory Syndrome


condition in which a person’s identity and
relationships center around a false but strongly
believed memory of traumatic experience
sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists