PSYCHOLOGY
Ch. 10
Memory
How do we divide the thinking
process?
Perception, attention, memory & executive function
Perception: Seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and
or smelling your surroundings, allowing you to
respond appropriately.
Your hunger spurs the thinking process.
Memory: Stores the name of your favorite pizza
joint. Enables you to give directions to your house
for delivery.
Includes:
★ STM: short term/working memory
★ LTM: long-term memory
★ subconscious/implicit knowledge
Sensory Memory works as a filter. It allows us time to determine what to pay
attention to.
YouTube: The Mystery of Memory (30 minutes)
This is essential for understanding memory in a deep and meaningful way.
I highly recommend that you view this video.
How Does Memory Work?
encoding, storage, & retrieval
These are the processes by which
we:
★ get info in - encoding
★ hang on to it - storage
★ get it back out - retrieval
Experiment Time…..
• Take out a sheet of paper and put your name
on it. You will need it for the rest of the class
period.
• I will show you a set of pictures and try to
remember the pictures. You will have 15
seconds to look at them
• Write down all the pictures you
saw
• How did you do?
• Did you get shell, umbrella,
butterfly, pie, backpack, cook,
football?
Name the 7 Dwarfs
Write each name in your notes on a
piece of paper.
Name the 7
Dwarfs
Was this difficult for you?
It all depends on these factors...
★ Do you like Disney movies?
★ How long ago did you watched the
movie?
★ How loud or distracting were the people
around you when you are trying to
remember?
YouTube: Endless Memory, Part I - 60 Minutes - Superior Autobiographical
Memory
YouTube: 60 Minutes - Endless Memory - Superior Autobiographical
Memory, Part II
Encoding
Information from environment is encoded when
it enters body through the senses.
visual, acoustic, & semantic encoding
Visual is most effective, but most
successful way is to encode in all 3 ways.
Like the computer taking input from a
keyboard, mouse or touch screen smartphone
or tablet.
The typical brain has about 100 trillion synapses, which are the points where
nerve cells in the human brain connect with other cells.
Storage
★ Sensory Memory
★ Short-Term Memory STM
★ Long-Term Memory LTM
STM (or ‘working memory’) Limit not only
on number of items it can hold,
but also on duration (20 seconds or so).
Use of rehearsal helps to increase the
likelihood that memories will be
recalled.
LTM is divided into
explicit memories (knowing facts)
& implicit memories
(remembering how to move your body when walking)
Organization of Long Term Memory
Psychologists have divided memory into
explicit & implicit memory.
Explicit (Declarative) - memory for
information that you are aware
"knowing what"
Includes: facts, events
Can be divided into Episodic & Semantic
Episodic- times, places, autobiographical
events.
Semantic- meanings and impersonal
facts/ideas.
Implicit (Procedural) - memory that
influences your behavior but for which you
have no conscious awareness
"knowing how to perform tasks (conditioned
responses)
Retrieval
Key to accessing information from Long
Term Memory (LTM) is to have an
appropriate retrieval cue.
Mnemonics: memory aid that relies on
reorganization of information for easy
retrieval. (Song - information for a test)
"Mary Very Easily Makes Jam Saturday Unless No Plums."
Encoding Specificity (or Transfer Appropriate
Processing): Retrieval is better when context in
which we are trying to retrieve
something matches context in which it
was learned.
Context: part of the overall memory. By
reinstating context when retrieval is
occurring, we are creating an optimal
recall situation.
Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Save February, with twenty-eight days clear, &
twenty-nine each leap year.
Flashbulb Memory
Clear moment of an emotionally or
historically significant moment/event
Where were you when...
Studies prove: Although people believe such memories
are more complete & accurate, they are actually just as
flawed as those stored in less emotional situations.
November 4, 2008
Obama Elected
November 22, 1963, Dallas, TX
John F. Kennedy, Assassinated
May 2,
2011
January 28, 1986 Space Shuttle
Challenger Disaster
Capacity of STM – Short Term Memory
Learning sounds & meanings of new words,
or seeing pictures while a storyteller tells a
tale.
Want to remember large amounts
of information: our recall will be
easier if we can use chunking to
group information together.
Learning the sounds & meanings of new
words, or seeing pictures while a storyteller
tells a tale.
The "Magic Number" =
7 digits, plus or minus 2
(5..6..7..8..9)
Chunking storage in STM
Remembering 10-digit
phone number is much
easier if we remember:
pattern 3-3-4
281-867-5309
Rather than recalling 10
unconnected numbers
Psychologist George Miller
published original study,
1956
Please take a moment to test your
short-term memory.
On the next slide you will find a
list of 15 letters.
Your task: Remember them all.
T WAN BAC BSC PRC IA
How did you do?
Try it again.
TWA NBA CBS CPR CIA
Please recall the items in
the next picture.
Draw the picture!
YouTube: Feats of Memory That Anyone Can Do
Take out a piece of paper and name all
the Presidents…
Encoding Information
• Primacy Effect
– The first number/letter/word in a
list will be remembered the
most.
• Recency Effect
– The last word heard in a list will
be one of the most remembered.
• Serial Positioning
Effect
Turn to a blank sheet of paper.
Pick out the names of the 7 dwarfs.
Grouchy Gabby Fearful Sleepy
Smiley Jumpy Hopeful Shy
Droopy Dopey Spiffy Wishful
Puffy Dumpy Sneezy Pop
Grumpy Bashful Cheerful Teach
Sporty Nifty Happy Doc
Wheezy Stubby Poppy
How many did you remember this time?
Did you do better on the 1st or
2nd dwarf memory exercise?
Recall vs. Recognition:
With recall - you must
retrieve the information
from your memory
(fill-in-the blank tests)
With recognition - you
must identify the target
from possible targets
(multiple-choice tests)
Which is easier?
Can you identify the “real” penny?
Why do we have trouble finding the "real" penny?
We don't have any need to know the details, other than the color, size, and
feel.
Then again... do we even NEED the penny anyway?
YouTube: John Green asks Obama - Why all the Pennies? President stumped.
Iconic Memory
Iconic memory involves
the memory of visual
stimuli. It is how the brain
remembers an image you
have seen.
For example, look at an object
in the room you are in now,
and then close your eyes and
visualize that object. The
image you "see" in your mind
is your iconic memory of that
visual stimuli.
Echoic Memory
• Echoic memory is when a person is
asked to remember a series of
numbers someone else was reciting
immediately after the sequence was
stopped.
• If the person responds immediately,
then the chances of he/she
remembering all the numbers is high.
• Normally stored for slightly longer
periods of time than iconic memories.
MAINTENANCE vs. ELABORATIVE REHEARSAL
Even though you live in the United States and probably see hundreds of
pennies a week, it is difficult to identify the real one from fake ones. Mere
repetition, such as seeing something over and over again does not guarantee
a strong memory.
Maintenance Rehearsal = repetition
Elaborative Rehearsal = linking new information to material that is already
known
Improves your chances of remembering it!!!!
Forgetting
Getting a new bus
number and
forgetting old bus
number.
• Retroactive
Interference: new
information blocks out old
information.
• Proactive Interference:
old information blocks out
new information.
• Forgetting can be a result
of decay, interference, or
repression.
Calling your new girlfriend by old girlfriends
name.