PsychSmart
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
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Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011
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CHAPTER SIX:
MEMORY
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The Foundations of Memory
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What is memory?

Are there different kinds of memory?

What are the biological bases of memory?
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Memory

Process by which one encodes, stores, and
retrieves information
Figure 1 of Chapter 6
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Three-System Memory Theory
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Sensory Memory

Short-term Memory
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
Working Memory
Long-term Memory
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Three-System Memory Theory
Three-System Approach to Memory
Figure 2 of Chapter 6
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Sensory Memory

Iconic Memory

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Reflects information from the visual system
Echoic Memory

Stores auditory information coming from the
ears
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Short-term Memory

The memory store in which information
first has meaning

Chunk
A meaningful grouping of stimuli that can be stored
as a unit in short-term memory
 Example:

PBSFOXCNNABCCBSMTVNBC
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Short-term Memory

The prior example in chunks:
PBS FOX CNN ABC CBS MTV NBC
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Short-term Memory

Rehearsal

Elaborative rehearsal

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Information is considered and organized in some
fashion
Working Memory

The set of temporary memory stores that
actively manipulate and rehearse information

Central executive processor



Visual store
Verbal store
Episodic buffer
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Short-term Memory
Model of Working Memory
Figure 3 of Chapter 6
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Long-term Memory
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Long-term Memory Modules
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Declarative memory
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Factual information
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Semantic memory
 General knowledge and facts
Episodic memory
 Events
Procedural memory

Skills and habits
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Long-term Memory
Subcategories of Long-term Memory
Figure 4 of Chapter 6
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Long-term Memory

Semantic Networks

Mental representations of clusters of
interconnected information

Spreading activation
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Long-term Memory
Semantic Memory Networks for Fire Engine
Figure 5 of Chapter 6
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Long-term Memory

The Neuroscience of Memory
Hippocampus
 Amygdala

Figure 6 of Chapter 6
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Recalling Long-Term
Memories

What causes difficulties and failures in
remembering?
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Retrieval Cues
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Recall

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A specific piece of information must be
retrieved
Recognition

Occurs when one is presented with a stimulus
and asked whether he has been exposed to it
previously or is asked to identify it from a list
of alternatives
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Levels of Processing

Levels-of-processing Theory

Suggests that the amount of information
processing that occurs when material is
initially encountered is central in determining
how much of the information is ultimately
remembered
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Explicit and Implicit Memory
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Explicit Memory

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Intentional or conscious recollection of
information
Implicit Memory

Memories of which people are not consciously
aware, but which can affect subsequent
performance and behavior

Priming
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Flashbulb Memories

Memories related to a specific, important,
or surprising event that are so vivid they
represent a virtual snapshot of the event

Example:

September 11th, 2001
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Flashbulb Memories
College Students’ Most Common Flashbulb
Memories
Figure 7 of Chapter 6
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Constructive Processes in
Memory: Rebuilding the Past
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Processes in which memories are
influenced by the meaning one gives to
events
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Schemas

Organized bodies of information stored in memory
that bias the way new information in interpreted,
stored, and recalled
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Memory in the Courtroom:
The Eyewitness on Trial
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Mistaken identity
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Impact of Weapons
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Specific wording of questions
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Children witnesses
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Memory in the Courtroom:
The Eyewitness on Trial
Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony
Affected by Questioner’s Word Choice
Figure 8 of Chapter 6
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Repressed and False Memories:
Separating Truth from Fiction

Repressed and False Memories
Recollections of events that are initially so
shocking that the mind responds by pushing
them into the unconscious
 Memories may be inaccurate or even wholly
false.
 Controversy regarding their legitimacy

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Autobiographical Memory:
Where Past Meets Present

Recollection of circumstances and
episodes from our own lives

One tends to forget information about one’s
past that is incompatible with the way in which
one currently sees oneself.
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Autobiographical Memory:
Where Past Meets Present
Autobiographical Memories of Grades
Recalled by College Students
Figure 9 of Chapter 6
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Forgetting: When Memory
Fails
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Why do we forget information?
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What are the major memory impairments?
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Why We Forget

Failure of Encoding

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Did not pay attention to material
Decay
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Loss of information through nonuse
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Memory traces
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Why We Forget
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Interference
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Information in memory disrupts the recall of
other information
Cue-dependent Forgetting
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Occurs when there are insufficient retrieval
cues to rekindle information that is in memory
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Improving Memory

Do not believe claims about drugs that
improve memory.

Effective strategies
Organization cues
 Keywords
 Elaborative rehearsal
 Effective note taking
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Proactive and Retroactive
Interference: The Before
and After of Forgetting
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Proactive Interference


Information learned earlier disrupts the recall
of newer material.
Retroactive Interference

Difficulty in the recall of information because
of later exposure to different material
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Proactive and Retroactive
Interference: The Before
and After of Forgetting
Proactive and Retroactive Interference
Figure 11 of Chapter 6
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Memory Dysfunctions:
Afflictions of Forgetting

Alzheimer’s Disease

Amnesia
Retrograde
 Anterograde
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