EXPLORING
PSYCHOLOGY
EIGHTH EDITION IN MODULES
David Myers
PowerPoint Slides
Aneeq Ahmad
Henderson State University
Worth Publishers, © 2011
Memory
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Information Processing
Module 20
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The Phenomenon of Memory
Studying Memory: Information
Processing Models
Encoding: Getting Information In
 How We Encode: Levels of Processing
 What We Encode
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Storage: Retaining Information
 Sensory Memory
 Working/Short-Term Memory
 Long-Term Memory
 Storing Information in the Brain
Retrieval: Getting Information
Out
 Retrieval Cues
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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 the persistence of learning over time. It is our
ability to store and retrieve information.
Human memory can be pretty amazing.
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People who were shown the whole image 17 years before were more likely to
identify the fragment.
Studying Memory:
Information Processing Models
To remember any event we must:
- Encode, or process the information into
our brains
- Store, or retain, the information
- Be able to retrieve the information, get it
back out
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Studying Memory:
Information Processing Models
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) proposed that we form
memories in three stages:
1. We first record to-be-remembered information as
a fleeting sensory memory.
2. From there, we process information into a shortterm memory bin, where we encode it through
rehearsal.
3. Finally, information moves into long-term
memory for later retrieval.
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Modified Three-Stage Processing
Model of Memory
The Atkinson/Shiffrin model, though important, is
limited and fallible. The updated model is below.
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Modifications to the Three-Stage
Model
•
Some information skips the first two stages
and enters long-term memory automatically.
•
Since we cannot focus on all the sensory
information received, we select information
that is important to us and actively process it
into our working memory.
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Working Memory
A newer understanding of short-term memory
that involves conscious, active processing of
incoming auditory and visual-spatial
information, and of information retrieved from
long-term memory
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Encoding: Getting Information In
How We Encode
1. Some information (route to your school) is
automatically processed.
2. However, new or unusual information
(friend’s new cell-phone number) requires
attention and effort.
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Automatic Processing
We process an enormous amount of information through
automatic processing, encoding without conscious effort,
such as:
Space: While reading a textbook, you automatically encode
the place of a picture on a page.
Time: We unintentionally note the events that take place in a
day.
Frequency: You effortlessly keep track of things that happen
to you.
Well-learned material: For example, seeing words in your
native language you can’t help but register their meaning.
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Effortful Processing
Effortful processing
requires attention and
conscious effort, but often
leads to durable and
accessible memories.
Learning the concepts in
this module requires
effortful processing.
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Effortful Processing
When learning new
information be can boost
memory through rehearsal, or
conscious repetition.
Ebbinghaus studied rehearsal
by using nonsense syllables:
TUV YOF GEK XOZ
Through this he discovered the
spacing effect - the tendency
for distributed study or
practice to yield better longterm retention than through
massed study or practice.
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Effortful Processing
The serial position effect, our tendency to
recall best the last and first items in a list, further
illustrates the benefits of rehearsal.
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What We Encode
1. Encoding by meaning
2. Encoding by images
3. Encoding by organization
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Encoding Meaning
Processing the meaning of verbal
information by associating it with what
we already know or imagine. Encoding
meaning (semantic encoding) results in
better recognition later than visual or
acoustic encoding.
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Visual Encoding
Imagery, or mental pictures, is a powerful aid to
effortful processing, especially when combined
with semantic encoding.
Imagery is at the heart of many mnemonic
devices, or memory aids. Some modern
mnemonic devices rely on both acoustic and
visual codes.
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Organizing Information for
Encoding
Chunking
Mnemonic devices can help organize material
for later retrieval.
Chunking, organizing items into familiar,
manageable units, often occurs automatically.
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Chunking
Try to remember the numbers below.
1-7-7-6-1-4-9-2-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1
If you are well versed with American history,
chunk the numbers together and see if you
can recall them better. 1776 1492 1812 1941.
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Hierarchy
Hierarchies takes a few broad concepts and
breaks them down into categories and
subcategories.
Fig 20.9
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Storage: Retaining Information
Storage is at the heart of memory. Three
stores of memory are shown below:
Sensory
Memory
Working
Memory
Long-term
Memory
Encoding
Events
Encoding
Retrieval
Retrieval
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Sensory Memory
Researcher George Sperling showed people
groups of letters and later asked them to recall
what they saw.
His experiments revealed iconic memory – a
momentary sensory memory for visual stimuli –
and echoic memory – a momentary sensory
memory for auditory stimuli.
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Working Memory
To test the duration of a memory Peterson and Peterson
(1959), asked people to remember three-consonant
groups and prevented rehearsal by asking them, for
example, to start at 100 and count aloud backward by
threes.
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Working Memory
Working memory, the new name for short-term
memory, has a limited capacity (7±2) and a short
duration (20 seconds).
Short-term recall is slightly better for random
digits than it is for random letters, and also
slightly better for what we hear than for what we
see.
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Long-Term Memory
Our capacity for storing long-term memories is
essentially limitless.
The Clark’s nutcracker can locate 6,000 caches of
buried pine seeds during winter and spring.
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Storing Memories in the Brain
1. Loftus and Loftus (1980) reviewed previous
research data showing, through brain
stimulation, that memories were etched into
the brain and found that only a handful of
brain stimulated patients reported
flashbacks.
2. Using rats, Lashley (1950) suggested that
even after removing parts of the brain, the
animals retain partial memory of the maze.
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Synaptic Changes
In Aplysia, the California sea slug, Kandel and
Schwartz (1982) showed that serotonin release
from neurons increased after conditioning.
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Synaptic Changes
Both Photos: From N. Toni et al., Nature, 402, Nov. 25 1999. Courtesy of Dominique Muller
Long-Term Potentiation
(LTP) refers to synaptic
enhancement after
learning (Lynch, 2002).
An increase in
neurotransmitter release
or receptors on the
receiving neuron
indicates strengthening
of synapses.
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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
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Storing Implicit & Explicit Memories
Explicit Memory refers to facts and experiences that one can
consciously know and declare. Implicit memory involves
learning an action while the individual does not know or
declare what she knows.
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Storing Implicit & Explicit Memories
Amnesia is the loss of memory.
Most people suffering from amnesia lose
explicit memory, but retain implicit memories.
They may lose the names of loved ones, but still
know how to brush their teeth.
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Hippocampus
Hippocampus – a neural center in the limbic
system that processes explicit memories.
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Cerebellum
Cerebellum – a neural center in the hindbrain
that processes implicit memories.
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Retrieval: Getting Information Out
Retrieval refers to getting information out of
the memory store.
Spanky’s Yearbook Archive
Spanky’s Yearbook Archive
Even if OprahWinfrey and Brad Pitt had not become famous, their high
school classmates would most likely still recognize their yearbook photos
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Retrieval: Getting Information Out
Remembering an event requires more than encoding it
and retaining it. You must also be able to retrieve it.
In recall a person must retrieve information learned
earlier, as on a fill - in - the - blank test.
In recognition the person need only identify items
previously learned, as on a multiple - choice test.
Relearning assesses the amount of time saved when
learning material for a second time.
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Retrieval Cues
Memories are held in storage by a web of
associations. These associations are like anchors
that help retrieve memory.
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Priming
To retrieve a specific memory from the web of
associations, you must first activate one of the
strands that leads to it. This process is called
priming.
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Context Effects
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 (Godden & Baddeley, 1975).
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Context Effects
Déjà Vu means “I've experienced this before.”
Cues from the current situation may
unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier
similar experience.
It happens most commonly to well - educated,
imaginative young adults, especially
when tired or stressed.
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Moods and Memories
Memories are mood-congruent, meaning we
usually recall experiences that are consistent
with our current. Emotions, or moods, serve as
retrieval cues.
Jorgen Schytte/ Still Pictures
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