Processes in Memory
Three step process…
1. Encoding: processing
information into
memory storage
2. Storage: retaining
memories over time
3. Retrieval: getting
information out of
memory storage
Retrieval Tasks
• Retrieving information out of memory storage
through two processes:
1. Recall
2. Recognition


Recall
must retrieve the
information from memory
fill-in-the blank, short
response, or essay tests


Recognition
must identify the
correct target from a set
of choices
multiple-choice tests
Serial-Position Effect
• Primacy Effect
• Remembering the beginning of a list
• the PRIMARY information
• Recency Effect
• Remembering the end of a list
• the most RECENT information
• Serial Positioning Effect
• Remembering the beginning and end of a list
Encoding Specificity
• Information present during encoding tends to be an effective
retrieval cue
• Change in context between ENCODING and RETRIEVAL can
cause memory failure
• Context-dependent Memory: We remember better when we
recall information in the same context in which we learned it
• State-dependent Memory: We remember better when we
recall information in the same state of mind (consciousness) in
which we learned it
• Mood-congruent Memory: We remember better when we
recall information in the same mood in which we learned it
*Setting, consciousness, and emotions can serve as retrieval cues.
Retrieval Cues
• Stimuli that assists in memory retrieval
• Memories are held in storage by a web of
associations
• Associations are like fish hooks that help retrieve
memories
• Priming: The activation of associations in our
memory to help us retrieve information
• Implicit Memory
• Involuntary
• Priming Effect: The increased sensitivity to
particular stimuli/schema due to recent experience
Memory Construction
• When retrieving memories, we filter or fill in missing
pieces of information to make our memory make sense
• We can use schemas to make this happen
• When this happens, we are prone to
misinformation effect
• Misinformation Effect: Incorporating misleading
information into our memory of an event
• Information that happens after an event can alter our
recollection of that event
• Occurs when people’s recollections of events are
distorted by information given to them after the event
occurred
• Recall of episodic memories become less accurate,
because of post-event information
Misinformation and
Constructive Memory
• Studied by Elizabeth Loftus
• Subjects were shown a video of a car accident
• Subjects were then questioned about the video
Depiction of the actual accident.
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?
Misinformation and
Constructive Memory
•
A week later, both groups were asked: Was there
any broken glass?
• Group B (smashed) reported more broken glass
than Group A (hit).
Misinformation and
Constructive Memory
• Studied by Elizabeth Loftus
• Bugs Bunny at Disney
• Lost at the mall/drowned in a lake
• Research shows that if false
memories are implanted,
individuals will construct memories
Déjà vu
• Déjà vu is French for
“already seen”
• Cues from the current
situation may
unconsciously trigger
retrieval of an earlier
similar experience
Forgetting
Forgetting
• An inability to retrieve information
• May be caused by poor encoding, storage, or retrieval
• Encoding failure
• Storage failure
• Retrieval failure
• Interference theory
• Decay theory
• Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon
• Amnesia
• Motivated forgetting
• Stress
Forgetting Curve
• Studied by Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885)
• First to study forgetting
• Memorized 13 nonsense syllables
• Showed relationship between forgetting and time
Spacing Effect
• We learn and remember items more easily when
repeatedly studied over a long span of time rather
than repeatedly studied in a short span of time
• We retain information better when we rehearse
over time
• DO NOT CRAM!!!
Interference Theory
•
Other information gets in the way of what you
want to remember (retrieve)
• Proactive interference:
Old information blocks out new information
• Retroactive interference:
New information blocks out old information
• Sleep prevents retroactive interference;
therefore, it leads to better memory
Learning a new
chapter and
forgetting the
previous chapter.
Calling your
new girlfriend
by old
girlfriend’s
name.
Decay Theory
• When we learn something new, a neurochemical
memory trace forms, but over time this memory
trace begins to fade and disappear (decay)
• Without rehearsal, memories decay rapidly
• If information is not retrieved and rehearsed,
it will be lost over time
• Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve
• Problem: sometimes we can recover “forgotten”
memories
• research has demonstrated that sometimes
memories which have not been rehearsed are
remarkably stable in long-term memory
Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT)
• Occurs when we are
confident that we
know something but
cannot quite pull it
out of memory
• Effortful retrieval
• Demonstrates that
we do not store all
information about a
memory in one way
• “It’s on the tip of
my tongue”
Types of Memory
• Prospective memory: Remembering what you have
to do in the future
• “I have to study for my QUEST”
• Retrospective memory: Remembering what
occurred in the past
• “I remember the 3 step process to memory”
Amnesia
• Memory loss
• Brain damage and illness can result in amnesia
• Retrograde amnesia: memory loss for a
segment of the past, but not for new events
• Anterograde amnesia: memory loss that affects
the retention of new information and events,
but not for past events
• Finding Nemo (Dory)
• 50 First Dates (10-Second Tom)
Source Amnesia
• Attributing a memory to the wrong source
• Did I Experience, Hear, Read, or Imagine it?
• Also called misattribution or source monitoring error
• Studied by Marcia Johnson
• Source Monitoring: making attributions about the
origins of memories
• Source Monitoring Error: when a memory derived
from one source is misattributed to another source
• Reality Monitoring: process of deciding whether
memories are based on external sources (one’s
perception of actual events) or internal sources (one’s
thoughts and imaginations)
• Reality Monitoring Error: An inability to discriminate
between internal and external sources
Motivated Forgetting
•
Forgetting something that is so painful or anxietyladen that remembering is intolerable
• Banishes thoughts, feelings, and memories from
consciousness that cause too much stress or anxiety
• Repression: unconsciously forcing unwanted
information out of our awareness
• Suppression: consciously forcing unwanted
information out of our awareness
• Both are defense mechanisms
• Proposed by Sigmund Freud
• Serves to protect