Memory
Module22 :Information Processing
Module 23:Forgetting and Memory Construction
There are Three steps in
information processing
 1. Encoding-or getting information into the
memory system
 2. Storage or retaining information in memory
over time
 3. Retrieval or getting information out of memory
storage
Encode
external
events into
memory
Memory
storage
Retrieval
of stored
memories
Sources
 Thinking About Psychology-Second Edition
 allpsych.com/psychology101/memory.htmlCach
ed - Similar
 Association for Psychological Science: Books
 www.psychologicalscience.org/books
Automatic processing and
Effortful Processing
 Automatic processing is the unconscious process of
remembering without any effort.
 Effort processing encoding that requires attention and
conscious effort.
 Research shows that the most effective way of
remembering is rehearsal the conscious repetition of
information
 Over learning – continuing to rehearse information you
have already memorized
Serial Position Effect
 Serial position effect- Tendency to recall the first
and last items in a list more easily.
 The primacy effect enhances are ability to recall
items near the beginning
 The regency effect enhances are ability to recall
items near the end of the list
Spacing of rehearsal
An example is the difference between studying a
week before the test and cramming the information a
night before the test
Encoding Meaning
 Semantic processing encoding by meaning
 Self reference effect enhanced semantic
encoding of information that is personally
relevant or relating it to your own life.
Encoding imagery
 Encoding an image is more easy like
remembering 9/11 we can remember this
image
Mnemonic Devices
 Mnemonic devices is a memory trick or
technique
 Method of loci – associating items you want to
remember with imaginary places
 Peg word system associating items you want to
remember with a list of words you have already
remembered
 Two is a shoe
 Three is a tree
 Four is a door
Organizing Information
 Chunking-organizing information into meaningful
units
 Effectiveness of chunking
 Give yourself 10 seconds to learn the letters in
row 1.now row 2. the identical letters appear in
both rows nut they are easier to remember if they
are chunked
ROW1 RNN TYW KTYU ACDF OAHNSOO RTA UO UCR OYO
ROW 2 ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU
Sensory memory
 Humans have five main senses: sight,
hearing , taste, smell, and touch sensory
memory allows individuals to retain these
impressions and relate them.
Short term memory
 Part of your memory system that contains
information you are consciously aware of
before it is stored permanently or
forgotten.
 Short term memory decays rapidly within
a few seconds most people cannot recall
three consonants and by 20 sec they
have completely los the three
consonants
Long term Memory
 Long term memory is the relatively
permanent and limitless storehouse of the
memory system
 Flashbulb memory is a vivid clear memory
of an emotionally significant moment or
event
 Compare your memory to that of a Clarks
nutcracker it can remember up to 6,000
places where it stored seeds for the winter.
Explicit and implicit memories
 Explicit memory- memory of facts and experiences
 Implicit memory- memory of skills and procedure
Types of long
term memories
Explicit With conscious
recall processed by
Hippocampus
Facts general
knowledge ( the
name of the largest
ocean)
A structure
in the limbic
system
linked to
explicit
memory
Personally
experienced
events (what I
had for Breakfast)
Implicit Without conscious
recall (processed by the
cerebellum)
Motor Skills
(how to walk)
Cognitive skills
(how to read)
Processes implicit
memory as well
as coordinating
voluntary
movement and
balance
Retrieval
 Recall-information you must search as in a fill in the
blank test
 Recognition-type of retrieval in which you must
identify items as a multiple choice test
Context effect
 Context effect- describes the influence of
environmental factors on one's perception of a
stimulus.
State Dependency
 Sate dependent memory enhances ability to
retrieve information when you are in the same
physical and emotional state you were in when
you encoded the information
Forgetting as Encoding
Failure
Which is the
real penny?
Forgetting as Storage Failure
 Permastore memory- long term memory that are
especially resistant to forgetting and are likely to lat
a life time
Forgetting as Retrieval Failure
 Proactive interference- When an older memory
disrupts the recall of a new one
 Retroactive interference – when a more recent
memory disrupts the recall of an older memory
Motivated forgetting
 repression –the process of moving anxiety
producing memories to the unconscious mind
Sources
 Memory and Forgetting in Psychology 101 at
AllPsych Online
 allpsych.com/psychology101/memory.htmlCach
ed - Similar
 Thinking Psychology Second Edition
 Association for Psychological Science: Books
 www.psychologicalscience.org/books