Chapter 6: Memory

1. Chapter 6: Memory • Models of Memory • A Historical Perspective: The Three-Stage Model of Memory • Contemporary Models of Memory Memory is our brain’s system for filing away new knowledge and retrieving previously learned information While memory is an essential human attribute, it is not always accurate Learning and memory go together; in order to learn, you have to be able to remember

2. A Historical Perspective: The Three-Stage Model of Memory Atkinson and Shiffrin’s three-stage model of memory. • The structure of memory could be divided into three types of memory (i.e., sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory) • The processes of memory involve how information is moved from one store to another

3. Structures of Memory Source: Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968

4. Figure 6.2a Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Three Stage Model of Memory: Sensory Memory

5. Figure 6.2b Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Three Stage Model of Memory: The Role of Attention

6. Sensory Memory LO 6.3 Recognize the types and characteristics of sensory memory. • Sensory memory, or the brief retention of sensory stimulation, is an extension of perception • The fleeting, visual aspect of sensory memory is referred to as iconic memory andtypically lasts for a few tenths to one half of a second • Echoic memory is part of sensory memory that involves the ability to briefly and accurately remember sounds for about three to four seconds • When a sensation grabs our attention we are likely to give it attention to transfer it to our short-term memory

7. The Three Structures of Memory • Sensory memory • Brief storage of perceptual information before it is passed to short-term memory • Each sense has its own form of sensory memory. • Iconic (visual) lasts less than 1 second; echoic (auditory) can a few seconds.

8. Short-Term Memory and Working Memory • Short-term memory isthe structural component of memory responsible for storing small amounts of information for a short time (15-30 seconds) • Maintenance rehearsal involves rehearsing the information over and over again in order to maintain it • Short-term memory holds about 3–9 pieces of information at one time, but can expand via chunking • Semantically encoded information is likely to be retained longer than information processed through visual or auditory encoding

9. STM capacity and chunking . • G. Miller: The span of STM in adults is 7 + 2 pieces of information: the Magic Number 7. • Can extend our STM span by chunking—organizing information into meaningful groups • K A C F J N A B I S B C F U Ivs. • C I A U S A F B I N B C J F K

10. Encoding Strategies: How to Make Learning Stick • Encoding refers to the process used to consolidate information from working memory to long-term memory • Effortful processing is the use of time and energy to process information deeply to aid in understanding and memory • Elaborative rehearsal worksby understanding the meaning of the information and elaborating on the material by making it meaningful to you • Information that is processed deeply is more likely to make it to long-term memory than information processed in a shallow way

11. Elaborative rehearsal: moving info into LTM • Elaborative rehearsal is usually more effective, consistent with levels-of-processing model. • Three levels: visual, phonological (sound-related), and semantic (meaning-related) • Visual is the most shallow; phonological somewhat less shallow; and semantic the deepest.

12. Figure 6.7 The Components of Working Memory

13. Figure 6.9 The Serial Position Effect Primacy effect: remembering first items (LTM) Recency effect: remembering last items (STM)

14. Long-Term Memory • Long-term memory is the largest memory structure; its capacity is unlimited

15. Retrieval • Retrieval gets information out of long-term memory when you need it • Free recall involves pulling information directly from long-term memory without retrieval cues • Cued recall involves the use of retrieval cues • In recognition the correct answer is provided among a group of possible answers • When it comes to acquiring and retrieving memories, both internal (i.e., mood) and external (i.e., location) context is important

16. Figure 6.10 Result of Dry Land vs. Underwater Memory Experiment Context effects External cues

17. State effects: internal cues

18. Emotional Memories LO 6.8 Identify how flashbulb memories differ from other memories. • Flashbulb memories are the vivid, long-lasting memories about the circumstances surrounding the discovery of an extremely emotional event • There is rapid forgetting of the event and the flashbulb memory within the first year, but forgetting tends to level off after that • The confidence people have in flashbulb memories is extraordinarily high

19. How Accurate Are Our Memories? LO 6.9 Describe situations that can lead to inaccuracies in memory. • Memories are influenced by the source of the information, our general knowledge, and/or the suggestions by others • A source monitoring error occurs when we recall a memory but attribute it to the wrong source • Pragmatic inference refers to the effects real-world knowledge has on the accuracy of memories • An event occurring after the initial memory that modifies that memory is referred to as the misinformation effect • False memories refer to new memories that are “implanted” or produced through the power of suggestion

20. Figure 6.11 Results from Loftus and Palmer’s (1974) Classic Study on the Misinformation Effect

21. Figure 6.13 A Full Model of Memory

22. Why We Forget? LO 6.10 Identify reasons for forgetting related to encoding and retrieval failures. • One cause of forgetting is ineffective or interrupted encoding of information (encoding failure) • You may think you’re encoding information, but something may have interfered with your attention • The storage decay theory states that memories fade over time, however this theory does not account for the memories that we do remember • Retrieval failure may occur because of interference • Sometimes forgetting is the goal, as in motivated forgetting

23. Figure 6.14 Proactive vs. Retroactive Interference

24. Amnesia • Retrograde amnesia is characterized by the loss of past memories • Anterograde amnesia, in contrast, affects future memories • In the well known case of “H. M.”, after doctors removed his temporal lobes, he developed anterograde amnesia • Mirror tracing task demonstrated importance of hippocampus in processing explicit, not implicit, memories.

25. Neuroscience of memory • When we learn something new, neurons “talk” to one another through the release of neurotransmitters • When we review that information, those neural connections are strengthened, and it becomes easier for neurotransmitters to travel across those synapses • Scientists refer to this strengthening of neural connections as long-term potentiation (LTP) • Neurons that ‘fire’ together, ‘wire’ together!

26. Brain Structures Involved in Memory LO 6.12 Recognize that memories are located in various places in the brain. • There is no specific brain area for all memories, but certain types of memories seem to be grouped together in specific areas of the brain • Short-term memory/working memory has been localized to the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex • The hippocampus and frontal lobes are pivotal to the recognition and recall of explicit long-term memories • The hippocampus, cerebellum, and the basal ganglia are used in the formation and storage of implicit memories • Emotional memories, including flashbulb memories, involve the amygdala

27. Figure 6.15 Neuroanatomy and Memories