Memory

1. Memory Psychology A Mrs. Beyke

2. Notes Attention – a person’s alert focus on materials that need to be learned Learning curve – a gradual increase in retention of material as a result of learning

3. Notes • Transfer of Training occurs when learning is moved from one task to another based on the similarity of the task • Positive transfer – learning because the two tasks are similar Ex: learning to shoot at a range and using knowledge for real • Negative transfer – differences between two tasks cause interference in learning Ex: learning to drive in an automatic and trying to drive a stick shift

4. Notes • Information Processing – method we use to take in, analyze, store and retrieve information • Our brain acts much like the processor on a computer as it takes in new information.

5. Memory • Process by which we recollect prior experiences as well as information and skills learned in the past.

6. Three kinds of Memory Episodic – memory of a specific event Flashbulb memory – episodic memory so surprising or significant that it is as if a flashbulb went off and we photographed many details of what happened Generic – general knowledge that people remember Procedural – consists of skills, or procedures, that you have learned

7. Memory Processes • Encoding – translation of information into a form in which it can be stored (brain compacts info into memory bank) • Storage – maintenance of encoded information over a period of time

8. Memory Processes (cont) • Maintenance rehearsal – saying something over and over again to keep from forgetting it (repeating a phone number) • Elaborative rehearsal – relating new information to information you already know to make easier to remember (make it personal)

9. Retrieval – locating stored information and returning to conscious thought context-dependent memories – are dependent on the place where they were encoded and stored (memory tied to grandma’s house) state-dependent memories – are dependent because the mood in which they were originally encoded is recreated (memory tied to loss of friend) tip of the tongue phenomenon – when you come so close to retrieving information that it seems it is on the tip of the tongue Memory Processes (cont)

10. Sensory memory – immediate, initial recording of information that enters through our senses iconic – very brief visual memories that can be sent to short term memory eidetic imagery – known as photographic memory (says a person can look at a picture of a chain and when the picture is taken away they can still “see” it to count the # of links in the chain) Echoic/Acoustic memory – mental traces of sound that are easier to remember than visual codes (sound memories) Sensory Memories

11. Short Term Memory • Also called working memory, holds information briefly before it is stored or forgotten • Can hold about seven sensory inputs for about twenty seconds

12. The storage of unlimited information for an indefinite amount of time. Names, dates, places, experiences, reactions Whose picture is on a $10 bill? What letters do not appear on older phone dials? Is Lincoln facing the right or left on the penny? How many sides do most pencils have? In what hand does the Statue of Liberty carry the torch? Long Term Memory

13. Emotional Information • Researchers believe that emotional information is easier to remember because of the feelings connected with the information.

14. Special Learning Devices • Elaboration – attaching personal associations to a basic concept in order to retrieve it later with greater ease • Mnemonic devices – use of unusual associations in order to call attention to the memory when trying to recall it (ROY G. BIV, Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally, etc…) • Chunking – putting things into smaller groupings to remember them rather than trying to recall the whole at once (phone #, social security #)

15. Retaining Information • Forgetting – an increase in errors when trying to remember • Overlearning – the only way to permanently store something of average interest – like a friend’s phone number. You have to rehearse it over and over and over to store in long term memory • Recall – ability to bring back and apply many items and relate to each other (completing short answer or essay questions) • Recognition – ability to pick the correct choice out of many possibilities (multiple choice)

16. Primacy v. Recency Effect • Primacy Effect – the tendency to recall the first item or items in a series. • Recency Effect – the tendency to recall the last item or items in a series.

17. Feature Extraction • Focusing on the significant characteristics of the information selected for attention. • Use feature extraction to identify the letters of the alphabet. • What letter has one vertical line, one horizontal line and one right angle?

18. Did you identify “L” • What letter has one vertical, one horizontal, two right angles? • What letter has two vertical, one horizontal and four right angles? • What letter has one vertical line, two horizontal lines, and three right angles? • What letter has one vertical line, three horizontal lines, and four right angles?

19. How did you do? • What letter has one vertical, one horizontal, two right angles? T • What letter has two vertical, one horizontal and four right angles? H • What letter has one vertical line, two horizontal lines, and three right angles? F • What letter has one vertical line, three horizontal lines, and four right angles? E

20. Forgetting Information • Decay – fading away of a memory • Repression – forgetting things on purpose without realizing it • Amnesia – severe memory loss • infantile – forgetting events during early years (before 3) • anterograde – prevents from forming new memories • retrograde – people forget the period leading up to traumatic events