Memory

1. Memory Memory - the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information. Example – Flashbulb Memory of 9/11

2. The Memory Process Three step process…. • Encoding: The processing of information into the memory system. • Storage: The retention of encoded material over time. • Retrieval: The process of getting the information out of memory storage.

3. Information Processing Model of Memory • Simplified Memory Model • Encoding • Storage • Retrieval

4. Atkinson and Shiffin’s 3 Step Model of Memory Sensory memory – brief recording of sensory information Short-term memory – memory that holds few items briefly before info is forgotten Long –term memory – relatively permanent and limitless storage of memory.

5. Sensory Memory • A split second holding tank for ALL sensory information. • Sperling’s research on Iconic Memory • Echoic Memory

6. Short Term Memory • The stuff we encode from the sensory goes to STM. • Events are encoded visually, acoustically or semantically. • Holds about 7 (plus or minus 2) items for about 20 seconds. • We recall digits better than letters. Short Term Memory Activity

7. Long Term Memory • Unlimited storehouse of information. • Examples:

8. Modified Atkinson – Shiffrin (3 Stage) Model • Working Memory –conscious, active processing of auditory and visual-spatial info. and info from long term memory • Our memory sketchpad

9. Modified Three-stage Model of Memory

10. Connectionism Model of Memory • Memory from activation of networks of interrelated concepts • the memory is stored in the activation pattern • retrieval of the memory is a reconstruction based on each of the elements of the pattern

11. How We Encode 2 Ways to Encode • Automatically Processing • Automatic • Parallel • Effortful processing • Rehearsal

12. Encoding - Automatic Processing Automatic Processing - unconscious encoding of incidental information • Examples: Unintentionally encoding…and later remembering • Time – • Space – • Frequency – • well learned info – • Parallel Processing – processing of many things simultaneously

13. Encoding – Effortful Processing • Effortful Processing –encoding that requires conscious effort and attention • Rehearsal – conscious repetition of info to encode it for storage

14. Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve • Ebbinghaus Curve - The amount remembered depends on the time spent learning • Overlearning – additional rehearsal after we learn material increases retention

15. Effortful Processing • Spacing effect – distributed study is better long-term recall than massed study (cramming) • DO NOT CRAM!!!!!!!!!!!! • Testing effect – repeated quizzing or testing improves retention

16. Take out a piece of paper and name all the Presidents…

17. Encoding Information • Serial Positioning Effect – we tend to remember the first and last items on a list • Primacy Effect – remember items at the beginning of a list • Recency Effect – remembering items at the end of a list (most recent • Von Rostorff effect – remembering unique items on a list

18. Encoding Exercise What We Encode… • Visual Encoding: the encoding of picture images. • Acoustic Encoding: the encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words. • Semantic Encoding: the encoding of meaning.

19. Encoding Exercise Visual Encoding • Imagery – visual images help us remember concrete words (aided by semantic encoding • Rosy Retrospection – recalling high points, forgetting theworst • Mnemonic Devices – memory aids that use visual images and organizational devices • Peg word system – memorizing a jingle • Chunking - Organizing items into familiar, manageable units. • Hierarchies – broad concepts divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts

20. Acoustic and Semantic Encoding • Acoustic Encoding: the encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words. • Semantic Encoding: the encoding of meaning.

21. Storage Types of Memory • Sensory Memory • Working Memory • Long-Term Memory

22. Sensory Memory • Sperling’s memory experiment • Momentary photographic memory • Iconic memory – photographic or picture image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second • Example: • Echoic memory – auditory memory lasting no more than a 3-4 seconds (mind’s echo chamber) • Example:

23. Working/Short-Term Memory • Duration – Brief (30 sec or less) • Capacity – Limited • The list of magic sevens

24. Long-Term Memory • Duration – unlimited • Capacity - unlimited

25. Types of Long-Term Memory

26. Implicit Memories • Procedural Memories – without conscious recall • Processed by cerebellum and other brain areas • Conditioned Memories – memories from conditioned learning

27. Explicit Memories • Explicit Memories – memories of facts and experiences, consciously recalled • Episodic Memories- memories of specific events, situations, and experiences • Semantic Memories – memory of words, meanings, and understandings

28. Storing Memories Long Term-Potentiation • long-lasting enhancement in signal transmission between two neurons that results from stimulating them synchronously. • Neurons that fire together wire together…creating a memory. • Memory boosting drugs • CREB • Glutamate – enhances synaptic communication (LTP)

29. The Context Matters!!! • Flashbulb Memories – clear moment of a emotionally significant event • Mood Congruent Memory – recalling memories consistent with current mood • State Dependent Memory –learning that takes place in one situation or "state" is generally better remembered later in a similar situation or state

30. Amnesia • Amnesia – loss of memory • Retrograde Amnesia – inability to remember past events • Anterograde Amnesia – inability to create new memories • Loss of Explicit Memory but not Implicit memories

31. Retrieval Recall Recognition you must identify the target from possible targets • you must retrieve the information from your memory

32. Retrieval • Relearning – learning material for the second time, saves time. • Retrieval Cues – anchor points used to access target info for retrieval later • Priming – unconscious activation of associations in memory

33. Forgetting • Schacter’s sevens sins of memory • Sins of Forgetting • Absent-mindedness • Transience • Blocking • Sins of distortion • Misattribution • Suggestibility • Bias • Sin of intrusion • persistence

34. Encoding Failure

35. Storage Decay Ebbinghaus Curve

36. Retrieval Failure

37. Forgetting • Retroactive Interference: new information blocks out old information. • Proactive Interference: old information blocks out new information.

38. Retrieval Failure • Repression – (Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory) • A defense mechanism that banishes painful memories from consciousness to minimize anxiety

39. Constructive Memory • Constructed memory - a created memory, altered when encoded or retrieved. • Misinformation effect • Imagination effect • Source amnesia

40. Constructive Memory • Elizabeth Loftus • Misinformation Effect – incorporating misleading info into a memory • Imagination Effect – imagining nonexistent actions and events can create false memories • Source Amnesia – retaining the memory of an event, but not the source

41. Repressed or Constructed Memories of Abuse? • Areas of agreement • Sexual abuse happens • Injustice happens • Forgetting happens • Recovered memories are incomplete • Memories before 3 years are unreliable • Hypnotic memories are unreliable • Memories can be emotionally upsetting

42. Improving Memory Techniques • Study repeatedly • Make the material meaningful • Activate retrieval cues • Use mnemonic devices • Minimize interference • Sleep more • Test your own knowledge, both to rehearse it and to help determine what you do not yet know