Memory
Psychology 40S C. McMurray
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Memory
Memory is the basis for knowing your friends,
your neighbors, the English language, the
national anthem, and yourself.
If memory was nonexistent, everyone would be
a stranger to you; every language foreign; every
task new; and even you yourself would be a
stranger.
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The Phenomenon of Memory
Memory is any indication that learning has
persisted over time. It is our ability to store and
retrieve information.
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My Memory:
Finish the following statements in your notebook:
1. My memory is __________
(Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor)
2. This is because _______
3. I am usually good at remembering _____
4. This is because ______
5. I would like to get better at remembering _____
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2 minute memory game
Umbrella
Cat
Science
Swimming
Soccer
Alice
Fish
Water
Math
Football
Basketball
Bird
Andrew
English
Erin
Sun
Porcupine
Beach
Jordan
French
Memory:
3 Levels of Processing
Keyboard
(Encoding)
Disk
(Storage)
Sequential Process
Monitor
(Retrieval)
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Information Processing Model
1. Encoding – get information into our brain
2. Storage – retain that information
3. Retrieval – get the information back out
(This information processing model was developed by Atkinson
and Richard Shiffrin)
Other psychologists have added to this process by suggesting that
the first step is a split-second encoding of sensory memory (all the
sensory information in the memory system)
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3 Storage Systems
Sensory
Memory
Short
Term
Memory
Long
Term
Memory
Sensory Stimulus
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How We Encode
Reflect on what has happened so far in your day.
•
•
•
•
•
What time did you wake up
What did you have for breakfast
What time did you get to school
What was your route to get to psychology class today?
Who have you spoken to today
Clearly, automatic processing happens so effortlessly
that it is difficult to turn off. We automatically process
information about space, time, and frequency. At any
point did you think, “I have to remember these events
because Mrs. McMurray might ask me!”
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Encoding: Getting Information In
How We Encode
1. Some information (route to your school) is
automatically processed. (Automatic
Processing)
2. However, new or unusual information
(friend’s new cell-phone number) requires
attention and effort. (Effortful Processing)
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Effortful Processing
© Bananastock/ Alamy
Spencer Grant/ Photo Edit
Committing new
information to memory
requires effort just like
learning a concept from
a textbook. Such
processing leads to
durable and accessible
memories.
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What We Encode
1. Encoding by meaning
We need to make what we want to
remember meaningful (Semantic Encoding)
2. Encoding by images
We can also remember things that allow us
to form a visual image
3. Encoding by organization
We also remember information when it is
organized
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Encoding Meaning
Semantic Encoding
Self-reference Effect – Relating the
information to your own life making it
personally relevant.
A lot of the material in this course is easy to learn and
remember because it is all about behavior and mental
processes as they relate to you
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Visual Encoding
Mental pictures (imagery) are a powerful aid to
effortful processing, especially when combined
with semantic encoding.
Both photos: Ho/AP Photo
Showing adverse effects of tanning and smoking
in a picture may be more powerful than simply talking about it.
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Organizing Information for
Encoding
Break down complex information into broad
concepts and further subdivide them into
categories and subcategories.
1. Chunking
2. Hierarchies
3. Concept Maps
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Mnemonics
Visual and Organizational Encoding
Imagery is at the heart of many memory aids.
Mnemonic techniques use vivid imagery and
organizational devices in aiding memory.
Three common mnemonic devices are:
Acronyms
Method of loci or Memory Palace
Peg-word system
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Remembering Names
• The Office... Mnemonic Device to
remember names
House Bunny remembering names
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Knuckle mnemonic for the number of days in
each month. Each projecting knuckle
represents a 31-day month.
Mnemonic Devices: Peg Word
Peg Word is a technique for memorizing lists. Learn this
rhyme and link it to the list of things you need to
remember. The objects “bun” are the pegs of the system.
One is a bun
Two is a shoe
Three is a tree
Four is a door
Five is a hive
Six is sticks
Seven is heaven
Eight is a gate
Nine is wine
Ten is a hen
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Chunking
Acronyms are another way of chunking
information to remember it.
HOMES = Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
ROY G. BIV = Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
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Chunking
The capacity of the working memory may be
increased by “chunking.”
F-B-I-T-W-A-C-I-A-I-B-M
FBI TWA CIA IBM
4 chunks
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Hierarchy
Complex information broken down into broad
concepts and further subdivided into categories
and subcategories.
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Concept Maps
A concept mapping is a technique that organizes
information.
Concept maps show the relationship between
concepts. They allow you to visualize connections
and organize lots of information into a form that is
easily understood.
It is easier for the brain to make meaning, when
information is organized into visual formats.
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Sample 1: Student Concept Map using Introduction to Psychology Vocabulary
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Review: Encoding
• Encoding is translating sensory information
into a form in which it can be stored.
• Encoding is the first process of memory.
Storage
Short Term Memory/Working Memory
• After information is encoded, it must be stored.
Storage is the second process of memory; it is the
maintenance of encoded information over time.
• The strategies we use for storage are closely
related to the strategies we use for encoding.
Short-Term Memory
(Working Memory)
Our short-term memory is limited in
capacity to about seven (unrelated) items
and lasts approximately 20 seconds without
rehearsal.
Activity: Magical Number 7 plus or minus 2
Short term memory contains information that is
“of possible interest.” Information worth holding
on to must be rehearsed to transfer it to long-term
memory.
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Rehearsal
To keep information in short-term memory
for more than a few seconds, you usually
have to repeat the information to yourself,
in your mind or out loud.
To demonstrate the impact of rehearsal, write down the
gifts in the familiar song “Twelve Days of Christmas”
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The Mentalist
Memory Palace Technique
Memory Palace
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Ted Talk
Mnemonic wizards: incredible
feats of memory
• Watch the incredible memory
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Retrieval
(Long Term Memory)
• Retrieval is the third process of memory; it is the
process of locating stored information and
returning it to conscious thought. Getting the
information OUT!
Keyboard
(Encoding)
Disk
(Storage)
Monitor
(Retrieval)
Long-Term Memory
Long term memory refers to the storage of
information over extended periods of time.
Essentially unlimited capacity store.
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Stress Hormones & Memory
Heightened emotions (stress-related or
otherwise) make for stronger memories.
Flashbulb memories are clear memories of
emotionally significant moments or events
Scott Barbour/ Getty Images
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Measures of Memory
In recall, the person must retrieve information
using effort. (A fill-in-the blank test requires
recall.)
1. Mrs. McMurray’s youngest daughter is ______.
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Measures of Memory
In recognition, the person must identify an item
amongst other choices. (A multiple-choice test
requires recognition.)
1. Name Mrs. McMurray’s youngest daughter.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Sally Sue
Laura
Lorraine
Jimmy John
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Context Effects
Putting yourself back in the context where you
experienced something can prime your memory
retrieval.
Scuba divers recall more words underwater if they
learned the list underwater, while they recall more
words on land if they learned that list on land
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Moods and Memories
We usually recall experiences that are consistent
with our current mood (state-dependent
memory). Emotions, or moods, serve as retrieval
cues. Our memories are mood-congruent.
Mood-congruent memory – the tendency to
recall experiences that are consistent with one’s
current good or bad mood.
Jorgen Schytte/ Still Pictures
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Déjà Vu
Déjà Vu means “I've experienced this before.”
Cues from the current situation may
unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier
similar experience.
© The New Yorker Collection, 1990. Leo Cullum from
cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved
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2 minute memory game
Retrieval Cues
Activity: handout 8-7
Memories may be inaccessible until we have
cues for retrieving them. Memory is held in
storage by a web of associations.
To retrieve a specific memory, you first need
to identify one of the strands that leads to
it…this process is called PRIMING
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Forgetting
An inability to retrieve information due to
poor encoding, storage, or retrieval.
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Encoding Failure
We cannot remember what we do not
encode.
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Memory Construction
While tapping our memories, we filter or fill in
missing pieces of information to make our
recall more coherent.
Misinformation Effect: Incorporating
misleading information into one's memory of
an event.
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Misinformation and Imagination
Effects
Eyewitnesses reconstruct their memories when
questioned about the event.
Depiction of the actual accident.
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Misinformation
Group A: How fast were the cars going
when they hit each other?
Group B: How fast were the cars going
when they smashed into each
other?
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Memory Construction
A week later they were asked: Was there any
broken glass? Group B (smashed into) reported
more broken glass than Group A (hit).
Broken Glass? (%)
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40
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30
20
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10
0
Group A (hit)
Group B (Smashed into)
Verb
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Constructed Memories
Loftus’ research shows that if false memories
(lost at the mall or drowned in a lake) are
implanted in individuals, they construct
(fabricate) their memories.
Don Shrubshell
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2 minute memory game (again)
Coat
Dog
Math
Skating
Baseball
Anne
Frog
Sand
Soccer
Chicken
Psychology Football
John
French
Ernie
Rain
Racoon
Forest
Jackie
Spanish
Improving Memory
1. Study repeatedly to boost long-term recall.
2. Spend more time rehearsing or actively
thinking about the material.
3. Make material personally meaningful.
4. Use mnemonic devices:



associate with peg words — something already
stored
make up a story
chunk — acronyms
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Improving Memory
5. Activate retrieval cues — mentally recreate
the situation and mood.
6. Recall events while they are fresh — before
you encounter misinformation.
7. Minimize interference:
1.
2.
© LWA-Dann Tardiff/ Corbis
Test your own knowledge.
Rehearse and then determine what you do not
yet know.
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