General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Memory
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Chapter 7
Memory: Some Key Terms
• Memory: Active system that receives, stores, organizes,
alters, and recovers (retrieves) information
• Encoding: Converting information into a useable form
• Storage: Holding this information in memory for later use
• Retrieval: Taking memories out of storage
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.2
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.2 Remembering is thought to involve at least three steps. Incoming information is
first held for a second or two by sensory memory. Information selected by attention is then
transferred to temporary storage in short-term memory. If new information is not rapidly
encoded, or rehearsed, it is forgotten. If it is transferred to long-term memory, it becomes
relatively permanent, although retrieving it may be a problem. The preceding is a useful model
of memory; it may not be literally true of what happens in the brain
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Chapter 7
Sensory Memory
• Storing an exact copy of incoming information for a few
seconds; the first stage of memory
– Icon: A fleeting mental image or visual representation
– Echo: After a sound is heard, a brief continuation of
the sound in the auditory system
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Chapter 7
Short-Term Memory (STM)
• Holds small amounts of information briefly
– Working Memory: Another name for STM; like a
mental “scratchpad”
– Selective Attention: Focusing (voluntarily) on a
selected portion of sensory input (e.g., selective
hearing)
– Phonetically: Storing information by sound; how most
things are stored in STM by sound (phonetically)
• Very sensitive to interruption or interference
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Chapter 7
Long-Term Memory (LTM)
• Storing information relatively permanently
• Stored on basis of meaning and importance
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Chapter 7
Short-Term Memory Concepts
• Digit Span: Test of attention and short-term memory;
string of numbers is recalled forward or backward
– Typically part of intelligence tests
• Magic Number 7 (Plus or Minus 2): STM is limited to
holding seven (plus or minus two) information bits at
once
– Information Bits: Meaningful units of information
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Chapter 7
More Short-Term Memory Concepts
• Recoding: Reorganizing or modifying information in STM
– Information Bits: Meaningful units of information, like
numbers, letters, or words
– Information Chunks: Information bits that are grouped
into larger chunks
• Maintenance Rehearsal: Repeating information silently
to prolong its presence in STM
• Elaborative Rehearsal: Links new information with
existing memories and knowledge in LTM
– Good way to transfer STM information into LTM
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Chapter 7
Long-Term Memory Concepts
• Constructive Processing: Re-organizing or updating
long-term memories on basis of logic, reasoning, or
adding new information
• Pseudo-Memory: False memories that a person believes
are true or accurate
• Memory Structure: Pattern of associations among bits of
information
• Network Model: Memory mode that views it as an
organizational system of linked information
• Redintegrative Memory: Memories that are
reconstructed or expanded by starting with one memory
and then following chains of association to related
memories
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.4
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.4 A hypothetical network of facts about animals shows what is meant by the
structure of memory. Small networks of ideas such as this are probably organized into larger
and larger units and higher levels of meaning.
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.5
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.5 The tower puzzle. In this puzzle, all the colored disks must be moved to another
post, without ever placing a larger disk on a smaller one. Only one disk may be moved at a time,
and a disk must always be moved from one post to another (it cannot be held aside). An amnesic
patient learned to solve the puzzle in 31 moves, the minimum possible. Even so, each time he
began, he protested that he did not remember ever solving the puzzle before and that he did not
know how to begin. Evidence like this suggests that skill memory is distinct from fact memory.
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Chapter 7
Types of Long-Term Memories
• Procedural: Long-term memories of conditioned
responses and learned skills
• Declarative: LTM section that contains factual
information
• Semantic Memory: Impersonal facts and everyday
knowledge
– Subset of declarative memory
• Episodic: Personal experiences linked with specific times
and places
– Subset of declarative memory
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.6
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.6 In the model shown here, long-term memory is divided into procedural memory
(learned actions and skills) and declarative memory (stored facts). Declarative memories can be
either semantic (impersonal knowledge) or episodic (personal experiences associated with
specific times and places).
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Chapter 7
Measuring Memory
• Tip-of-the Tongue (TOT): Feeling that a memory is
available but not quite retrievable
• Feeling of Knowing: Feeling that allows people to predict
beforehand if they will be able to remember something
(typically seen on game shows like Jeopardy)
• Recall: Supply or reproduce facts or information with
some external cues; direct retrieval of facts or
information
– Hardest to recall items in the middle of a list; known
as Serial Position Effect
– Easiest to remember last items in a list because they
are still in STM
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.7
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.7 The serial position effect. The graph shows the percentage of subjects correctly
recalling each item in a 15-item list. Recall is best for the first and last items.
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Chapter 7
Measuring Memory (cont'd)
• Recognition Memory: Identifies correctly previously
learned material
– Usually superior to recall
• Distractors: False items included with a correct item
– Wrong choices on multiple-choice tests
• False Positive: False sense of recognition
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Chapter 7
Relearning
• Learning again something that was previously learned
– Used to measure memory of prior learning
• Savings Score: Amount of time saved when relearning
information
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Chapter 7
Additional Memory Concepts
• Explicit Memory: Past experiences that are consciously
brought to mind
• Implicit Memory: A memory not known to exist; memory
that is unconsciously retrieved
• Priming: When cues are used to activate hidden
memories
• Internal Images: Mental pictures
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.8
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.8 (a) “Treasure map” similar to the one used by Kosslyn, Ball, and Reiser (1978) to
study images in memory. (b) This graph shows how long it took subjects to move a visualized
spot various distances on their mental images of the map.
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Chapter 7
Eidetic Imagery (Somewhat Like
Photographic Memory)
• Occurs when a person (usually a child) has visual
images clear enough to be scanned or retained for at
least 30 seconds
• Usually projected onto a “plain” surface, like a blank
piece of paper
• Usually disappears during adolescence and is rare by
adulthood
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.9
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.9 Test picture like that used to identify children with eidetic imagery. To test your
eidetic imagery, look at the picture for 30 seconds. Then look at a blank surface and try to
“project” the picture on it. If you have good eidetic imagery, you will be able to see the picture in
detail. Return now to the text and try to answer the questions there. (Redrawn from an
illustration in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.)
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Chapter 7
Forgetting
• Nonsense Syllables: Meaningless three-letter words (fej,
quf) that test learning and forgetting
• Curve of Forgetting: Graph that shows the amount of
memorized information remembered after varying
lengths of time
• Encoding Failure: When a memory was never formed in
the first place
• Memory Traces: Physical changes in nerve cells or brain
activity that occur when memories are stored
• Memory Decay: When memory traces become weaker;
fading or weakening of memories
• Disuse: Theory that memory traces weaken when
memories are not used or retrieved often
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.10
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.10 The curve of forgetting. This graph shows the amount remembered (measured by
relearning) after varying lengths of time. Notice how rapidly forgetting occurs. The material
learned was nonsense syllables. Forgetting curves for meaningful information also show early
losses followed by a long gradual decline, but overall, forgetting occurs much more slowly.
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.11
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.11 Some of the distractor items used in a study of recognition memory and encoding
failure. Penny A is correct but was seldom recognized. Pennies G and J were popular wrong
answers.
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Chapter 7
Additional Theories of Forgetting
• Memory Cues: Any stimulus associated with a memory;
usually enhance retrieval of a memory
– A person will forget if cues are missing at retrieval
time
• State-Dependent Learning: When memory retrieval is
influenced by body state; if your body state is the same
at the time of learning AND the time of retrieval,
retrievals will be improved
– If Robert is drunk and forgets where his car is parked,
it will be easier to recall the location if he gets drunk
again!
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.12
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.12 The effect of mood on memory. Subjects best remembered a list of words when
their mood during testing was the same as their mood was when they learned the list.
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Chapter 7
Even More (!) Theories of Forgetting
• Interference: Tendency for new memories to impair
retrieval of older memories, and vice versa
• Retroactive Interference: Tendency for new memories to
interfere with retrieval of old memories
• Proactive Interference: Prior learning inhibits (interferes)
with recall of later learning
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.13
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.13 The amount of forgetting after a period of sleep or of being awake. Notice that
sleep causes less memory loss than activity that occurs while one is awake.
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.14
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.14 Effects of interference on memory. A graph of the approximate relationship
between percentage recalled and number of different word lists memorized. (Adapted from
Underwood, 1957.)
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Figure 7.15
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.15 Retroactive and proactive interference. The order of learning and testing shows
whether interference is retroactive (backward) or proactive (forward).
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Chapter 7
More on Forgetting
• Repression: Unconsciously pushing painful,
embarrassing or threatening memories out of
awareness/consciousness
– Motivated forgetting, according to some theories
• Suppression: Consciously putting something painful or
threatening out of mind or trying to keep it from entering
awareness
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Chapter 7
Flashbulb Memories
• Memories created during times of personal tragedy,
accident, or other emotionally significant events that are
especially vivid
– Where were you when you heard that the USA was
attacked on September 11th, 2001?
• Includes both positive and negative events
• Not always accurate
• Great confidence is placed in them even though they
may be inaccurate
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Chapter 7
Memory Formation
• Retrograde Amnesia: Forgetting events that occurred
before an injury or trauma
• Anterograde Amnesia: Forgetting events that follow an
injury or trauma
• Consolidation: Forming a long-term memory
• Electroconvulsive Shock (ECS): Mild electrical shock
passed through the brain, causing a convulsion; one way
to prevent consolidation
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Chapter 7
Memory Structures
• Hippocampus: Brain structure associated with
information passing from short-term memory into longterm memory; also associated with emotion
– If damaged, person can no longer “create” long-term
memories and thus will always live in the present
– Memories prior to damage will remain intact
• Engram: Memory trace in the brain
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Chapter 7
Ways to Improve Memory
• Knowledge of Results: Feedback allowing you to check
your progress
• Recitation: Summarizing aloud while you are rehearsing
material
• Rehearsal: Reviewing information mentally (silently)
• Elaborative Rehearsal: Look for connections to existing
knowledge
• Selection: Selecting most important concepts to
memorize
• Organization: Organizing difficult items into chunks; a
type of reordering
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Chapter 7
Ways to Improve Memory (cont'd)
• Whole Learning: Studying an entire package of
information at once, like a poem
• Part Learning: Studying subparts of a larger body of
information (like text chapters)
• Progressive Part Learning: Breaking learning task into a
series of short sections
• Serial Position Effect: Making most errors while
remembering the middle of the list
• Overlearning: Studying is continued beyond bare
mastery
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Chapter 7
Ways to Improve Memory Concluded
• Spaced Practice: Alternating study sessions with brief
rest periods
• Massed Practice: Studying for long periods without rest
periods
• Lack of sleep decreases retention; sleep aids
consolidation
• Hunger decreases retention
• Cognitive Interview: Technique used to improve
memories of eyewitnesses
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Chapter 7
Mnemonics: Memory “Tricks”
• Any kind of memory system or aid
– Use mental pictures
– Make things meaningful
– Make information familiar
– Form bizarre, unusual or exaggerated mental
associations
• Keyword Method: Memory aid; using a familiar word or
image to link two items
General Psychology: GuangDong University of Foreign Studies
Chapter 7
Using Mnemonics to
Remember Things in Order
• Form a Chain: Remember lists in order, forming an
exaggerated association connecting item one to two, and
so on.
• Take a Mental Walk: Mentally walk along a familiar path,
placing objects or ideas along the path.
• Use a system.