Memory
 Memory:
the persistence of learning over
time through the storage and retrieval of
information
 Flashbulb
memory: memory of an
emotionally significant moment or event
How does memory work?
 The
Seven Dwarves
 Grouchy,
Gabby, Fearful, Sleepy, Smiley,
Jumpy, Hopeful, Shy, Droopy, Dopey,
Sniffy, Wishful, Puffy, Dumpy, Sneezy, Lazy,
Pop, Grumpy, Bashful, Cheerful, Teach,
Shorty, Nifty, Happy, Doc, Wheezy, and
Stubby
 Sleepy
 Dopey
 Grumpy
 Sneezy,
 Happy
 Doc
 Bashful.
 Encoding
– memory in
 Storage – retain memory
 Retrieval – getting it back out
 If you had trouble remembering the
dwarves, at what point did your memory
fail you?
 Turn
to a partner. Tell them what time you
got up. What did you have (or not have)
for breakfast? Who have you talked to
today? What classes have you had so
far? How did you get here? Do you
remember the path you took?

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Automatic processing – unconscious
encoding of incidental information
Space – you know where you’ve been (more
or less); words on a page
Time – sequence of events
Frequency – how many times things have
happened
We can learn to process things automatically
 ereh
tsomla si kaerb retniw
Effortful processing
 Effortful
processing requires attention and
conscious attention
 It requires Rehearsal, the constant
repetition of information
 12 Days of Christmas

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12 drummers drumming
11 pipers piping
10 lords a leapin’
9 ladies dancing
8 maids a milking
7 swans a singing
6 geece a laying
5 golden rings
4 calling birds
3 french hens
2 turtle doves
1 partridge, and also, 1 peartree
 The
amount remembered depends on
time spent learning. Even if you forget,
relearning is easier if you spent a lot of
time remembering in the first place
 How much psychology will you remember
in 2 years?
 Serial
position effect
 Presidents
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1. Washington 12. Taylor
2. J. Adams
13. Fillmore
3. Jefferson
14. Pierce
4. Madison
15. Buchanan
5. Monroe
16. Lincoln
6. J. Q. Adams 17. A. Johnson
7. Jackson
18. Grant
8. Van Buren 19. Hayes
9. Harrison
20. Garfield
10. Tyler
21. Arthur
11. Polk
22. Cleveland
23. Harrison
34. Eisenhower
24. Cleveland
35. Kennedy
25. McKinley
36. L. Johnson
26. T. Roosevelt
37. Nixon
27. Taft
38. Ford
28. Wilson
39. Carter
29. Harding
40. Reagan
30. Coolidge
41. H. W. Bush
31. Hoover
42. Clinton
32. F. D. Roosevelt 43. W. Bush
33. Truman
44. Obama
Encoding- Serial Position Effect
Percentage
of
words
recalled
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Position of word in list
10
11 12
Forgetting
Percentage of
list retained
when
relearning
• Ebbinghausforgetting
curve over 30
days
– initially
rapid, then
levels off
with time
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
12345
10
15
20
25
Time in days since learning list
30
 Ebbinghaus
 Studied

nonsense syllables
TUV YOF GEK XOZ
 Spacing
Effect – distributed practice
yields better long-term retention than
massed practice (studying a little every
night is better than cramming)

Study, wait, study, wait a little longer, study,
wait a little longer etc.
How memory is encoded
 Visual
encoding – images
 Acoustic encoding – sounds
 Semantic encoding – meaning
context
A newspaper is better than a magazine. A seashore is a
better place than the street. At first it is better to run than
to walk. You may have to try several times. It takes some
skill but is easy to learn. Even young children can enjoy
it. Once successful, complications are minimal. Birds
seldom get too close. Rain, however, soaks in very fast. Too
many people doing the same thing can also cause
problems. One needs lots of room. If there are no
complications, it can be very peaceful. A rock will serve as
an anchor. If things break loose from it, however, you will
not get a second chance.
Encoding Meaning
“Whale”
Q: Did the word begin
with a capital letter?
Structural
Encoding
Shallow
Q: Did the word rhyme
with the word
“weight”?
Phonemic
Encoding
Intermediate
Q: Would the word fit
in the sentence?
He met a __________
in the street.
Semantic
Encoding
Craik and Lockhart (1972)
Deep
 Things
that are represented visually in the
mind are more easily remembered (as
opposed to abstract things)
 Rosy

Retrospection
We tend to recall events more positively
than we experienced them at the time
 Mnemonics


Acronyms (Kings Prefer Coke Over Flavored
Grape Soda)
Peg word system
 Chunking
– organizing into meaningful
units
 Pledge of Allegiance
 1-7-7-6-1-4-9-2-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1
 4-7-6-1-4-5-3-1-9-4-7-1-7-8-9
Storage
 Sensory
 Working/short-term
 Long-term
Sensory Memory
 Iconic
memory: momentary photographic
memory (a few tenths of a sec.)

Flashlight
 Echoic
memory: Like iconic memory.
Sounds can be remembered for about 34 seconds.
Iconic
0.5 sec. long
Echoic
3-4 sec. long
Hepatic
< 1 sec. long
Working/Short-term memory
 Working/short-term
 Magical
memory
7 (+-2)
 Only about 4 chunks without rehearsal
It is possible to memorize these
numbers in short period of
time? Can you do it?
 71014172124283135
Long-Term Memory
 Essentially
limitless “total memory capacity
of all the computers in the world is less
than a single brain”
 Where
are our memories?
 Not in one spot
 Hippocampus and cerebellum are both
involved
 Synaptic changes- the more a memory is
rehearsed, the easier the synapses
release serotonin, and the more receptor
sites there are
 Knockouts
 Stress
and memory – strong emotions
contribute to memory; weak emotions
mean weak memories
 Extreme stress can impair memories
Explicit and Implicit memories
 Amnesia
 Implicit
– learning how to do something
 Explicit – declaring that you know
Retrieval
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Recognition and recall (recognition tests
provide more retrieval cues)
We remember more than we recall
We re-learn things easier
Context Effects – have you ever walked into a
room to do something, and then forgotten
what you came to do? What often helps you
remember?
déjà vu
Mood congruence – affects how we recall
events and how see current events
Forgetting
 A.J.
 Forgetting
curve
 Retrieval failure
 Interference
 Motivated forgetting
 Repression?
“Seven Sins” of Forgetting
 Transience
 Absent-mindedness
 Blocking
 Misattribution
 Suggestibility
 Bias
 Persistence
1) transience

Transience: the impermanence of long-term
memories-based on the idea that memories
gradually fade in strength over time-also known
as “decay theory.”

Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve
For most memories, there is a sharp decline in memory,
followed by declining rate of loss
2) Absent-mindedness
 Absent-mindedness:
lapses in attention.
 Ex.
forgetting caused by
Forgetting where you parked; losing your keys
3) blocking
 Blocking:
forgetting when a memory cannot
be retrieved because of interference.

Proactive Interference: When an old memory
disrupts the learning and remembering of a
new memory.


Ex. Trying to put the dishes away at a new house
Retroactive Memory: When a new memory
blocks the retrieval of an old memory.

Ex. Driving an automatic after driving a manual
4) misattribution
 Misattribution:
Memory faults that occur
when memories are retrieved, but are
associated with the wrong time, place or
person.

Ex. Psychologist Donald Thompson accused of rape.
Alibi was airtight as he was giving a TV interview the
victim had been watching just prior to the assault.
5) suggestibility
 Suggestibility:
The process of memory
distortion as the result of deliberate or
inadvertent suggestion.


Eyewitness accounts are one a large part of our
legal system. Unfortunately they can be incredibly
faulty.
With the misinformation effect, memories can be
embellished or even created by cues and
suggestions.
6) bias
 Bias:
The influence of personal beliefs,
attitudes and experiences on memory.

Expectancy Bias: A memory tendency to
distort recalled events to fit one’s expectations.

Self-consistency Bias: A commonly held idea
that we are more consistent in our attitudes
and beliefs, over time, than we actually are.
7) persistence
 Persistence:
A memory problem where
unwanted memories cannot be put out of
our mind.
 Depressed
people cannot stop thinking about
how bad their life is and how unhappy they are. It
can create a self-fulfilling problem.

Psychologists think that emotions strengthen
the physical changes in the synapses that hold
our memories, thus highly emotional memories
can be harder to put out of mind.
Memory Construction
 Misinformation
 Imagination
Effects
 Source amnesia/source misattribution
Loftus and Palmer:
Methodology



Students watched a film of two cars colliding
Collision was moderate with no broken glass
Different students asked different questions: hit,
smashed, collided, bumped, contacted
Loftus and Palmer: Results


VERB
MEAN ESTIMATE OF SPEED (MPH)
Smashed
40.8
Collided
39.3
Bumped
38.1
Hit
34.0
Contacted
31.8
People reported the fastest speeds if the researchers
had used the word “smashed” in the question
From fastest to slowest reported speeds: smashed,
collided, bumped, hit, and contacted groups
Loftus and Palmer: Results


One week later, subjects were asked if they had seen
broken glass
32% of subjects asked the “smashed” question said
yes; 14% of subjects asked the “hit” question said yes
Improving Memory
Study repeatedly to boost long-term
recall.
Spend more time rehearsing or actively
thinking about the material.
Make material personally meaningful.
Use mnemonic devices:
1.
2.
3.
4.



associate with peg words — something already
stored
make up a story
chunk — acronyms
Improving Memory
5.
6.
7.
Activate retrieval cues — mentally
recreate the situation and mood.
Recall events while they are fresh —
before you encounter misinformation.
Minimize interference:
1.
2.
Test your own knowledge.
Rehearse and then determine what you do not
yet know.
© LWA-Dann Tardiff/ Corbis
CHRISTMAS CAROLS FOR THE PSYCHIATRICALLY CHALLENGED
Schizophrenia: Do You Hear What I Hear?
Multiple Personality Disorder: We Three Queens
Disoriented Are
Amnesia: I Don't Know if I'll be Home for Christmas
Narcissistic: Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me
Manic: Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and
Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and
Buses and Trucks and Trees and Fire Hydrants and ...
Paranoid: Santa Claus is Coming to Get Me
Borderline Personality Disorder: Thoughts of Roasting
on an Open Fire
Personality Disorder: You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna
Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll tell You Why
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Jingle Bells, Jingle
Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
...
Agoraphobia: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day But
Wouldn't Leave My House
Autistic: Jingle Bell Rock and Rock and Rock and Rock
...
Senile Dementia: Walking in a Winter Wonderland Miles
From My House in My Slippers and Robe
Oppositional Defiant Disorder: I Saw Mommy Kissing
Santa Claus So I Burned Down the House
Social Anxiety Disorder: Have Yourself a Merry Little
Christmas While I Sit Here and Hyperventilate
Tombstone
Snowman Funeral