12/2/13
Let’s talk about memory
 What do you already know?
 What is memory?
 What is long-term memory?
 What is short-term memory?
 What helps you remember?
 Demos
Memory
 The persistence of learning over time through the
storage and retrieval of information.
 Memory is often seen as steps in an informationprocessing model (like a computer)
 Encoding – Processing information into memory
system, extracting meaning(The process of putting
information into digital format.)
 Storage – retention of encoded information (Hard
Drive)
 Retrieval – getting information out of
storage(Accessing the Hard Drive)
Information Processing
 Sensory Memory: the immediate, very brief
recording of sensory information in the memory
system
 Short-term Memory: activated memory that holds a
few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone
number while dialing before the information is stored
or forgotten
 Long-term Memory: the relatively permanent and
limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes
knowledge, skills, and experiences
Information Processing
Model
1. Encoding
gone
2. Storage
Long Term Memory
3. Retrieval
All the rest
External
Stimuli
Retrieval
Sensory Registers
Attention
Short Term Memory
Information Processing Revised
 Working memory: a newer understanding of short-
term memory that focuses on conscious, active
processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial
information, and of information retrieved from longterm memory
Encoding
 Automatic vs. Effortful Processing
 Automatic: Unconscious encoding of incidental
information, ivolves parallel processing and includes
space, time, frequency and well-learned information
 Effortful: requires attention and conscious effort
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Rehearsal: conscious repetition of information, to maintain it
consciousness or to encode it for storage
As rehearsal increases relearning time decreases (Forgetting
curve, Ebinghaus)
Encoding Continued
 Spacing Effect: the tendency for distributed study or
practice to yield better long-term retention than is
achieved through massed study (cramming) or
practice.
 “Spaced study and self-assessment beat cramming”
 Serial Position Effect: our tendency to recall best the
last and first items in a list
 Recency effect-remember last items briefly
 Primary effect- remember first items best
 Demo
Encoding
 We encode information with by associating it to what
we already know.
 Visual Encoding: appearance
 Acoustic Encoding: sound
 Semantic Encoding: meaning- produces best
recognition of words
Visual Encoding
 Imagery: Mental pictures; powerful aid to effortful
processing, especially when combined with semantic
encoding
 We remember words we can visualize better (remember
the demo?)
 Rosy retrospection: we tend to remember positive events
as more positive than they actually were
 Mnemonics: memory aids, techniques that use vivid
imagery and organizational devices
Organizing Information
 Demo
 Chunking: Organizing items into, familiar,
manageable units; often happens automatically
 Hierarchies: organizing information into groups and
subgroups
Sensory Memory
 Very brief and immediate storage of sensory
information
 Iconic memory: momentary sensory memory of visual
stimuli. Photographic or picture-image memory
lasting for a few tenths of a second (images clear
quickly to make room for new ones)
 Echoic memory: momentary sensory memory of
auditory stimuli. If attention is elsewhere, sounds and
words cans still be recalled within 3-4 seconds (What
did I just say?)
Working/short-term memory
 Conscious active processing of information
 Incoming sensory information illuminated by our
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“attentional flashlight”
Information recalled from long term (hard drive) and
put in our conscious attention (view screen/edit)
Lloyd and Margaret Peterson-consonant experiment
Magic number 7 +/- 2
Information not rehearsed is essentially forgotten
Long-Term memory
 “limitless” space, new memories do not overwrite old
ones.
Warm-up
 What is the information processing model? What
three parts does it consist of?
 What are the three “types” of memory we have
discussed?
 What are the differences between these types?
 What is rehearsal? How important is it to memory
storage?
Schemata
 A schema is a set of beliefs or expectations about
something based on past experience
 Incoming information is fit with existing schemata
 (concept maps)
 Schemata can also influence the amount of attention
paid to a given event
Memory Storage
 There is no specific place for specific memories,
memories are dispersed through out the cortex. (rats
with parts of brain removed still were able to complete
the maze)
 Where experiences are processed, memories are stored
 Experience changes neural passageways, as
passageways are used, connections are strengthened
 Long-Term Potentiation (LTP): A long-lasting change in
the structure or function of a synapse that increase the
efficiency of neural transmission.
Stress Hormones and Memory
Heightened emotions (stress-related or otherwise)
make for stronger memories. (more glucose and
proteins available)
Memory serves to predict the future and possible
dangers
Hormones such as Epinephrine act on brain centers in
the brain
Flashbulb memory: a clear memory of an
emotionally significant moment or event
Extreme stress undermines learning and later recall
How does this apply to an exam?
Explicit and Implicit Memory
 Explicit memory
 Memory for information we can readily express and are
aware of having
 This information can be intentionally recalled
 Implicit memory
 Memory for information that we cannot readily express
and may not be aware of having
 Cannot be intentionally retrieved
 Amnesia: loss of memory
Types of Long-Term Memory
Explicit memory
 Episodic memories
 Memories for personal
events in a specific time
and place
 Semantic memories
 Memory for general
facts and concepts not
linked to a specific time
Implicit memory
 Procedural memories
 Motor skills and habits
 Emotional memories
 Learned emotional
responses to various
stimuli
The Hippocampus and Memory
 The hippocampus helps process Explicit Memories for
storage.
 Lateralization of the Hippocampus: specialized
functions of the left and right hippocampus as well as
different areas of each.
 If Hippocampus is damaged, it becomes difficult to
form new Explicit memories, but implicit memories
are still possible via the Cerebellum.
 Clive Wearing Video
Cerebellum and Implicit memories
 Plays a key role in formation and storage of implicit
memories. (procedural)
 If Clive’s cerebellum was still intact what could he still
do?
Retrieval
 Recall: a measure of memory in which the person must
retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-theblank test.
 Recognition: a measure of memory in which the
person need only identify items previously learned, as
on a multiple-choice test.
 Relearning: a measure of memory that assesses the
amount of time saved when learning material for a
second time.
 We remember more than we recall
Retrieval Cues
 Anchor points you can use to access the target
information. (surroundings,mood,seating position)
 The more retrieval cues the better the chances are you
will arrive at the target memory
 Best retrieval cues are recorded at the time of the
memory (sights, smells, tastes, sounds)
 Priming: the activation, often unconsciously, of
particular associations in memory. (meeting someone
who reminds us of someone we know)
Context Effects
 “I need to pack my bag for basketball.” (sitting on the
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couch)
“Why did I come up here?” (in my room)
“I need to pack my bag.” (sitting on the couch)
We remember things in the context we experienced
the thought
Déjà vu: That eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this
before.” Cues from the current situation may
subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier
experience.
Moods and Memories
 Events that cause specific emotions are often
remembered when the emotions come out again.
 State-Dependent Theory: what we learn in one state is
more easily recalled when we are again in that state.
(drunken recall)
 Mood-congruent memory: the tendency to recall
experiences that are consistent with one’s current good
or bad mood. (if you fail a test and your girlfriend
dumps you, you remember other bad things that have
happened) prolongs moods (good or bad)
Forgetting (7 sins of memory)
 3 sins of forgetting
 Absent-mindedness: inattention to details leads to
encoding failure
 Transience: storage decay over time (use it or lose it)
 Blocking: Inaccessibility of stored information (on the
tip of my tongue)
 Three sins of distortion
 Misattribution: confusing the source of information
 Suggestibility: the lingering effects of misinformation
 Bias: belief-colored recollections
 One sin of intrusion
 Persistence: unwanted memories
Some “forgetting” isn’t
a retrieval problem at all.
Encoding Failure
We cannot remember what we do not
encode.
Which penny is real?
Storage Decay
Poor durability of stored memories leads to
their decay. Ebbinghaus showed this with
his forgetting curve.
Retaining Spanish
Bahrick (1984) showed a similar pattern of
forgetting and retaining over 50 years.
Andrew Holbrooke/ Corbis
Retrieval Failure
Although the information is retained in the
memory store, it cannot be accessed.
Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) is a retrieval failure phenomenon. Given a cue
(What makes blood cells red?) the subject says the word begins with an
H (hemoglobin).
Experiences can affect Memory:
Interference
 Retroactive interference: Occurs when new
information interferes with information already in
memory. (The ‘retro’ old info is interfered with by the
new)
 Proactive interference: Occurs when information
already in memory interferes with new information
 Because of proactive interference, new learning is
disrupted by old habits.
I need a volunteer that knows their
colors.
 Don’t read the words, just say the colors they’re
printed in and as fast as you can
Red
Yellow
Green
Blue
Red
Blue
Yellow
Green
Blue
Red
Interference
 When you look at the words you see both its color
and meaning.
 When they are in conflict you must make a choice
 Experience has taught you that word meaning is
more important than color so you retrieve that
information.
 You are not always in complete control of what
you pay attention to.
Motivated Forgetting
Motivated Forgetting:
People unknowingly
revise their memories.
Culver Pictures
Repression: A defense
mechanism that banishes
anxiety-arousing
thoughts, feelings, and
memories from
consciousness.
Sigmund Freud
Why do we forget?
Forgetting can occur at
any memory stage. We
filter, alter, or lose
much information
during these stages.
Memory Construction
 Misinformation effect: incorporating misleading
information into one’s memory of an event.
 Source Amnesia: Attributing an event to the wrong
source, something we heard, read o reimagined.
 These 2 concepts are the heart of many false
memories.