CHAPTER 7 & 8: MEMORY,
THINKING, LANGUAGE,
INTELLIGENCE
AP Psychology
The Nature of Memory

Memory
 Internal
record or representation of
some prior event or experience
 Memories are NOT exact
recordings of events

Constructive Process
 Organizing
and shaping of
information during processing,
storage, and retrieval of memories
Models of Memory

Information-Processing Model
 Information
that we encounter goes
through 3 basic operations
 Encoding: Processing information into
the memory system
 Storage: Retaining information over
time
 Retrieval: Recovering information
from memory storage
Models of Memory

Parallel Distributed Processing Model
 Memory
results from weblike connections
among interacting processing units
operating simultaneously, rather than
sequentially
 What does this mean??
 When
you encounter information, you don’t
analyze it one piece at a time, you take in
several features at the same time!
 Ex: Seeing a shark in the ocean
Models of Memory

Traditional Three-Stage Memory Model
 Memory
requires three difference stages to hold and process
information for various lengths of time
 Sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory
Three-Stage Memory Model

Sensory Memory
 First
memory stage that holds sensory
information; relatively large capacity, but
duration is only a few seconds (just long
enough to locate relevant bits of data to
transfer to longer memory)
 Iconic Memory: visual information
 Lasts
 Echoic
 Lasts
about half a second
Memory: auditory information
up to 4 seconds
Three-Stage Memory Model

Short-Term Memory (STM)
 Second
memory stage that temporarily stores
sensory information and decides whether to send
it on to Long-Term Memory (LTM)
 Capacity is limited to 5 to 9 items, and duration
is about 30 seconds
 How
to make it last longer? Hold more?
 Maintenance Rehearsal: Repeating information over
and over to maintain it in STM
 Chunking: Grouping separate pieces of information
into a single unit (or chunk)
Three-Stage Memory Model

Long-Term Memory
 Third
stage of memory that stores information for long periods
of time
 Its capacity is virtually limitless and its duration is relatively
permanent
 2 Types of Long-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory

Explicit (Declarative) Memory
 Type
of long-term memory that
consciously stores facts, information,
and personal life experiences
 Ex: Social security number, state
capitals, etc.
 Semantic
Memory: Stores general
knowledge
 Episodic Memory: Stores memories of
personally experienced events
What do we encode?

Semantic
Encoding
 Meaning
of
words

Acoustic Encoding
 Sound

of words
Visual Encoding
 How
words look
Long-Term Memory

Implicit (Nondeclarative)
Memory
 Type
of long-term memory
consisting of unconscious
procedural skills and simple
classically conditioned
responses
 Memory without awareness!
 Ex: Tying shoes, riding a bike,
brushing teeth, fear reaction to
snakes
How to Improve Memory Encoding

Levels of Processing: Degree or depth
of mental processing occurring when
material is initially encountered
 Deeper
levels of processing = more
remembering!

Elaborative Rehearsal: Linking new
information to previously stored
material
 Not
just repeating, but trying to make
sense of it all
Retrieval

Serial Position Effect
 Information
at the beginning and end of a list is remembered
better than material in the middle
 Primacy Effect: Info at beginning remembered
 Recency Effect: Info at end remembered
Retrieval

Retrieval Cue
 Clue
or prompt that helps stimulate retrieval
of a stored piece of information from LTM

Recall
 Retrieving
a memory using a general cue
(vague, not giving much information)
 Ex: Fill-in-the-blank quiz

Recognition
 Retrieving
a memory using a specific cue
 Ex: Multiple-choice quiz
Retrieval

Priming
 Activation,
often unconsciously, of particular
associations in memory
 Ex:
Smell the cologne of an ex-boyfriend, start thinking
about a movie you saw with him
 Ex: Deja-Vu?

Encoding Specificity Principle
 Retrieval
of info is improved when current
conditions are similar to conditions when it was
encoded
 Context-dependent, mood congruence, statedependent
Forgetting

Hermann Ebbinghaus – 1885
 Memorized
nonsense 3 letter words (SIB, RAL…)
 Knew it perfectly, then measured how many were remembered
an hour later, a day later, and a week later
 Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve
 Forgetting is rapid

at first! Then slows
down over time.
Relearning takes less
time than initial
learning
Forgetting Curve for Spanish
Why do we forget?


Decay Theory: connections between
neurons deteriorate over time if not
used
Interference Theory: two memories are
competing
 Retroactive
Interference: New information
interferes with remembering old
 Proactive Interference: Old information
interferes with remembering new
Why do we forget?
 Motivated
Forgetting Theory: according
to Freud, we forget unpleasant or
anxiety producing info either
consciously or unconsciously
 Encoding Failure Theory: info gets to
STM, but is not encoded for storage in
LTM (not important enough, not
rehearsed)
 Retrieval Failure Theory: memories are
momentarily inaccessible (tip-of-thetongue phenomenon)
Key Factors in Forgetting

Misinformation Effect
 Distortion
of a memory by
misleading post-event information
 False
memories based on cues (“How
fast was the car going when it
smashed into the other?”)

Source Amnesia
 Forgetting
the true source of a
memory
 “I
saw it on CNN” when really heard
it from a friend
Key Factors in Forgetting

Sleeper Effect
 Info
from an unreliable source, which was
initially discounted, later gains credibility
because the source is forgotten

Information Overload
 Massed
Practice: time spent learning is
grouped into long, unbroken intervals
(CRAMMING)
 Distributed Practice: practice/study sessions are
interspersed with rest periods
Biological Basis of Memory


Learning and remembering modifies the brain’s neural
networks
Long-Term Potentiation
 Prolonged
strengthening of neural firing
 Repeated stimulation causes dendrites to grow, ability of
neurons to accept or release NTs can be changed
Biological Basis of Memory

Flashbulb Memories
 Vivid
images of circumstances associated with surprising or
strongly emotional events
 Ex: 9/11, moonwalk, assassinations
 Strong hormones emitted, repeated images in mind
 STILL might not be 100% accurate!
Biological Causes of Memory Loss

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
 Skull
has a collision with another object
 Ex: Car accidents, falls, gunshots, etc.

Amnesia
 Loss
of memory as a result of brain
injury/trauma
 Retrograde Amnesia: Loss of memory for
events that occurred before the injury
 Anterograde Amnesia: Inability to form new
memories after a brain injury
Biological Causes of Memory Loss

Alzheimer’s Disease
 Progressive
mental deterioration characterized by severe
memory loss
 Occurs most commonly later in life
Biological Causes of Memory Loss

Karl Lashley – 1950
 Wanted
to know where
memories are located
 Studied rats who had learned a
maze
 Lesioned a part of the brain,
watched in maze
 What

he found?
No localized memories! Rats could
still go through the maze even with
parts of the brain removed