MEMORY
AP Psychology—Chapter 6
What is Memory?

The persistence of learning over time
The Three Processes of Memory
Encoding
 Encoding: the information gets into
our brains in a way that allows it to
be stored
Storage
 Storage: the information is held in a
way that allows it to later be
retrieved
Retrieval
 Retrieval: reactivating and recalling
the information, producing it in a
form similar to what was encoded
Encoding Memory

Automatic processing –
unconscious processing
of incidental
information and welllearned information;
does not require
effort.
 For
example,
remembering what
well-learned words
mean or remembering
who you saw on your
way to class.
Encoding: Automatic Processing

Space

 Where
information is
in a textbook (page,
side, paragraph)

Frequency
 How
many times something
happens, ex: “That’s the
third time this song has
played today!”
Time
 Sequence
of events: If
you lose something,
you can retrace your
steps to find it.

Well-learned Information
 Registering
meaning of
words in your native
language
Subliminal Advertising
Encoding Memory

Effortful (Controlled)
processing – encoding
that requires effort and
conscious attention.
For example, learning
material for a class.
 Often produces durable
and accessible
memories

Improving Memory—Effortful
Processing

Effortful processing
strategy, a way to encode
information into memory to
keep it from decaying and
make it easier to retrieve.
 Requires
Rehearsal
(Conscious repetition)
 Amount remembered
depends on amount of time
spent learning.

Effortful processing is also
known as studying.
Examples:
 Chunking (grouping)
 Mnemonics: images,
maps, and peg-words
 Hierarchies/categories
 Rehearsal, especially
distributed practice
 Deep processing
 Semantic processing
 Making information
personally meaningful
 Can you remember
this list?
Effortful Processing Strategies
Rehearsal
Rehearse....Rehearse.....Rehearse!!
2 Types of Rehearsal:
• Maintenance Rehearsal: repetitive review of
information
• Ex: Repeating a phone #
• Elaborative Rehearsal: repetition plus
analysis....information is made meaningful
• Ex: remembering that the attack on Pearl Harbor
was December 7th, because your favorite
numbers are 7 and 12.
Effortful Processing Strategies
Massed and Distributed Practice

Massed Practice refers to cramming information
all at once.
 It

is not time-effective.
The spacing effect: You will develop better retention
and recall, especially in the long run, if you use the same
amount of study time spread out over many shorter sessions.
(Distributed Practice)
 This

doesn’t mean you have to study every day.
The longer the time between study sessions, the better the long-term
retention, and the fewer sessions you need!
Effortful Processing Strategies
Chunking
Why are credit card numbers broken into groups of four
digits? Four “chunks” are easier to encode (memorize)
and recall than 16 individual digits.
 Memorize: ACPCVSSUVROFLNBAQ XIDKKFCFBIANA
 Chunking: organizing data into manageable units
XID KKF CFB IAN AAC PCV S SU VRO FNB AQ
 Chunking works even better if we can assemble
information into meaningful groups:
X IDK KFC FBI BA NAACP CVS SUV ROFL NBA Q

X IDK KFC FBI BA NAACP CVS SUV ROFL NBA Q
Improving Short-Term Memory

Chunks: Manageable
and meaningful units,
easily encoded,
stored, retrieved
 Ex:
Social Security
Number (three chunks),
Phone Number (2- 3
Chunks)

What are some other
things we chunk?
Why is encoding important?
What we encode and how well we
encode it determines what we remember.
Levels of Processing Activity

Activity One
 Decide
 Ex:
 If
whether each word has double letters
CUDDLE has a double D and NEED has a double E
the word does have a double letter, put a check
in the yes column, if not, put a check in the no
column
Levels of Processing Activity

Activity Two
 Decide
whether each word fits into a broader
category
 Ex:
RABBIT fits into the animal category, and SPIDER fits
into the insect category
 If
the word does fit into a broader category, put a
check in the yes column, if not, put a check in the no
column
Levels of Processing Activity

Activity Three
 Decide
whether you have had a personal experience
with the object or event the word represents
 Ex:
for the word SPIDER you would check yes if you have
ever been bitten by a spider. If you have never been bitten
by a spider, you would check no.
 If
you have had a personal experience with the word,
put a check in the
yes column, if not, put a check in the no column
And now….

Write Down as many words as you
can remember from each list!
The Answers
Why is Encoding Important?
Craik and Lockhart:
 Levels of Processing Approach: brain encodes info in
different ways, extents, and levels


art, words, and meaning
When you encode info one way, you do not encode it in
other ways
Ex: How many words do you recall from the memory
experiments?
 Info was not encoded for meaning, but only to quickly
repeat/recall them

Encoding



Semantic Encoding— thinking about the meaning
of the word helps in retention.
Acoustic Encoding (thinking about the sound of a
word) and Visual Encoding (thinking about the
appearance of a word are less helpful
Self-Reference Effect— We are more likely to
remember things that we feel relate to us
 You
will remember your psychology better if you relate
it to your own personal experiences (Application!)
Effortful Processing Strategies
Deep/Semantic Processing
We are more likely to retain it if we deeply process even a
simple word list by focusing on the semantics (meaning) of the
words.
“Shallow,”
unsuccessful
processing
refers to
memorizing the
appearance or
sound of words.
Encoding Specificity Principle

Encoding Specificity
Principle:
 Effectiveness
of retrieval cue
depends on how well it matches
up with originally encoded info
 Ex:
Learning to type on a Mac
and then having to write a paper
on a PC
Encoding Specificity Principle

Meeting someone at
your dentist's office
and then seeing them
at Meijer—
 you
will be more likely
to recognize them if
their surroundings
match how you
originally met them
 (i.e.
toothbrush aisle)
Encoding: Confirmation Bias

Confirmation Bias: The
tendency to notice and
encode info that
confirms beliefs that
are already held.
 Ex:
Political Candidates
and television ads
Storage

Processes of maintaining or keeping information
readily available
Where information is held, or the memory stores

3 Stage Storage System:

 SENSORY
 SHORT-TERM
WORKING MEMORY
 LONG-TERM MEMORY
Sensory Memory


Storage mechanism that performs
initial encoding and provides
brief storage
Very brief, 1-3 seconds
 think
lightning--a quick flash, brief
image, then gone

Example: hearing a song, or
touching a piece of silk
Sensory Memory--Iconic


Iconic Memory is a
momentary sensory
memory of visual
stimuli
Our dominant sense is
vision, called visual
capture.

There is much more to see,
which is why iconic memory
has to be very brief, about
a few tenths of a second
Sensory Memory--Echoic
Echoic memory is a
momentary sensory
memory of auditory
memory
 Echoic memories last
about 3-4 seconds,

 which
is why when you
repeat terms you are able to
retain the terms longer- lasts
longer than just looking at a
term.
Short Term Memory


Active, readily available information you
retain temporarily (no longer than one
minute)
Also known as:
 Short
term storage
 Temporary memory
 Primary memory
 Working memory
Short Term Memory—What does it do?

Short-term memory has two primary tasks:
 1-To
store new information briefly
 2-To work on that (and other) information


Short-term memory is thought to only hold 7 +/- 2
pieces of information
Memory Span: Information only lasts about 20-30
seconds
Let’s Test our Short-term Memory!
sunshine
mirror
wheel
orange
tea
calm
fountain
library
mostly
pyramid
jeans
airplane
tired
dog
pencil
soccer
Finished!
How many did you
remember?
Testing Short-Term Memory

Statistics for this same test:
 *The


average 20-year-old remembers 7 of the 15 words
*The average 80-year-old remembers 4 of them
How many of you remembered…
 Sunshine?
 Airplane?
 Soccer?
Why?

Serial Position Effect: People recall more words either
at the beginning or the end of a list than they do
words in the middle
 Two types:
 1-Primacy Effect
 People
remember early items better
 2-Recency
 People
Effect
remember the last one or two words too
Long Term Memory


Storage Mechanism
that keeps a relatively
permanent record of
information.
Brains seem to have an
unlimited capacity for
long-term memory
Types of Long-Term Memory

Implicit (Non-Declarative)
 involve
procedural information containing motor skills
and procedures that do not require active thinking in
order perform these memories are stored in the cerebellum

Implicit memories are “implied” memories, which
means “you just know” how to do, like walk or ride a
bike.
Implicit Memory

Procedural: Memory
for the perceptual,
motor, and cognitive
skills required to
complete tasks.
 Ex:
Driving a car, inline skating, etc.
Types of Long-Term Memory

Explicit/Declarative: Memory
for specific tasks/events
 Have
to be consciously
recalled
 Ex: The last year the Tigers
won the World Series (1984),
9/11, etc.
Explicit/Declarative Long-Term
Memories
Episodic

Memory of specific
events and situations
that are personally
relevant: it includes
memory of when, where,
and
how.
Ex: embarrassing
moment, your first day of
school, your surprise
birthday party
 “Episodes”

Semantic

Memory of ideas, rules,
and general concepts
about the world; not
time specific.

Ex: Social Rules (don’t
steal, flush the toilet),
colors on a stop light,
number of tires on a car
Long-Term Potentiation

Memory is stored in synapses
 Synapses
increase and grow stronger so that less
stimulation is required to release the same about of
neurotransmitters

This is called Long-term potentiation
 An
increase in a neuron’s firing, which involves the
neurotransmitter serotonin, (linked to learning and memory)
 Each time that memory is activated, the memory trace is
activated, resembling a path.
Long-Term Potentiation

Example:
If you had a shed in the backyard and a
snowstorm made it difficult to get to the
shed, the more you walked back and forth
from your house to the shed the easier it
would be to get to the shed.
 You would have created a path, which you
will now each time use you have to go to
the shed.
 This is similar to the process of learning
(walking back and forth to the shed) and
forming a memory (the path in the snow)

Flashbulb Memories

Flashbulb memories
are vivid, clear
memories of an
emotionally significant
moments or events that
are processed in the
amygdala, which often
ties emotions to this
information
The Atkinson-Shiffrin Model (1968)
Stimuli are recorded by our senses and held
briefly in sensory memory.
1.
Some of this information is processed into
short-term memory and encoded through
rehearsal .
2.
Information then moves into long-term
memory where it can be retrieved later.
3.
The Atkinson-Shiffrin Model (1968)
Mnemonic--Interference

Proactive

Old interferes

Retroactive

New interferes


It took me forever to remember to just add “interferes” after old and new. I could remember the mnemonic, but not which way to use it!


Proactive – old info interferes with remembering new info

Retroactive – new info interferes with remembering old info


Proactive is when old blocks new information - forward acting.

Retroactive is when new blocks old - backwards acting.


We use the example for proactive interference:

It is not proactive to your relationship to call your new girlfriend by your old girlfriend's name.


For retroactive interference we use the example:

You can't remember your old phone number once you get a new cell phone number.