Memory

Objectives:

• 1. Compare and contrast the memory models/theories.

• 2. Identify different kinds and types of memory.
• 3. Utilize the memory strategies/ mnemonics.
Three Common operations

1. Encoding - refers to how you transform a physical, sensory input

into a kind of representation that can be placed into memory.
2. Storage – refers to how you retain encoded information in
memory.
3. Retrieval - refers to how you gain access to information stored in
memory.
 B CF
MN P
S T V X
ENCODING: Forms

1. Short-Term Storage
– encoding in short-term memory appears to be primarily acoustic, but there
may be some secondary semantic encoding as well.

2. Long-Term Storage
– Most information stored in long-term memory is primarily semantically
encoded.
Short-Term Memory to Long-Term Memory

Transfer of Information
1. Consolidation - integrating new information into stored information
2. Metamemory strategies - reflecting on our own memory processes with a
view to improving our memory.
3. Rehearsal – repeated recitation of an item.
4. Organization of Information
Rehearsal
• effects of such rehearsal are termed practice effects.

A. Elaborative and Maintenance Rehearsal

– Elaborative - individual somehow elaborates the items to be remembered,
used to move information into long-term memory
– Maintenance – individual simply repetitiously rehearses the items to be
repeated. Such rehearsal temporarily maintains information in short-term
memory without transferring the information to long-term memory.
Rehearsal
B. The Spacing Effect
– To maximize the effect on long-term recall, the spacing should ideally be
distributed over months, rather than days or weeks.

Distributed practice vs Massed Practice

– Memories tend to be good when distributed practice is used, learning in which various
sessions are spaced over time.
– Their memories for information are not as good when the information is acquired through
massed practice, learning in which sessions are crammed together in a very short
space of time.
Rehearsal

C. Sleep Memory Consolidation

– disruptions in REM sleep patterns the
night after learning reduced the amount
of improvement on a visual
discrimination task that occurred relative
to normal sleep.
– a good night’s sleep, which includes
plenty of REM-stage sleep, aids in
memory consolidation.
Organization of Information

• Mnemonic devices
– specific techniques to help you memorize lists of words

Technique Description
Categorical clustering Organize a list of items into a set of categories
Interactive images Create interactive images that link the isolated words
in a list.
Pegword system Associate each new word with a word on a previously
memorized list and form an interactive image
between the two words.
Method of loci Visualize walking around an area with distinctive
landmarks that you know well, and then link the
various landmarks to specific items to be
remembered
Technique Descirption

Acronym Devise a word or expression in which each of its letters

stands for a certain other word or concept

Acrostic Form a sentence rather than a single word to help you

remember the new words

Keyword system Form an interactive image that links the sound and
meaning of a foreign word with the sound and meaning
of a familiar word.
Retrieval (Short Term Memory)
• Parallel or Serial Processing?
– Parallel processing refers to the simultaneous handling of multiple operations. As applied to
short-term memory, the items stored in short-term memory would be retrieved all at once, not one
at a time.
– Serial processing refers to operations being done one after another. In other words, on the
digit-recall task, the digits would be retrieved in succession.
• Exhaustive or Self-Terminating Processing? (serial)
– Exhaustive serial processing implies that the participant always checks the test digit against all
digits in thepositive set, even if a match were found partway through the list.
– Self-terminating serial processing implies that the participant would check the test digit against
only those digits needed to make a response.
Retrieval (Long Term Memory)
• Availability is the presence of information stored in long-term memory.
• Accessibility is the degree to which we can gain access to the available
information.
Processes of Forgetting and
Memory Distortion
Two key problems
1. Interference occurs when competing information causes us to forget
something;
2. Decay occurs when simply the passage of time causes us to forget;
information is forgotten because of the gradual disappearance, rather than
displacement, of the memory trace.
Interference
• Proactive interference - occurs when material that was earned in the past
impedes the learning of new material. In this case, the interfering material
occurs before, rather than after, learning of the to-be-remembered material.
• Serial-position curve represents the probability of recall of a given word,
given its serial position (order of presentation) in a list.
– recency effect refers to superior recall of words at and near the end of a list.
– primacy effect refers to superior recall of words at and near the beginning of a list.
Interference vs Decay
1. Decay only had a relatively small effect on forgetting in short-term memory.
2. Interference accounted for most of the forgetting.
3. So even if both decay and interference contribute to forgetting, it can be
argued that interference has the strongest effect
The Constructive Nature of Memory
• prior experience affects how we recall things and what we actually
recall from memory
Autobiographical memory
• refers to memory of an individual’s history. Autobiographical memory is constructive. One
remembers one’s construction or reconstruction of what happened.
Memory Distortions (Seven sins of memory)
1. Transience - memory fades quickly
2. Absent-mindedness - forgotten what they were seeking.
3. Blocking - information is on the tip of the tongue
4. Misattribution - think saw things; did not see or heard things they did not hear or see
5. Suggestability - suggested to saw something, they may think they remember seeing it.
6. Bias - biased in their recall
7. Persistence - remember things as consequential that, in a broad context, are
inconsequential.
Mental Representation of Knowledge
• Declarative knowledge refers to facts that can be stated, such as the date
of your birth, the name of your best friend, or the way a rabbit looks. (knowing
that)
• Procedural knowledge refers to knowledge of procedures that can be
implemented. (knowing how)
Declarative Knowledge
• Concept - an idea about something that provides a means of understanding
the world
– ad hoc concept - content varies, depending on the context
• Category - a group of items into which different objects or concepts can be
placed that belong together because they share some common features, or
because they are all similar to a certain prototype.
– Natural categories are groupings that occur naturally in the world.
– Artifact categories are groupings that are designed or invented by humans to serve
particular purposes or functions.
– Classical concepts are categories that can be readily defined through defining features
– Fuzzy concepts are categories that cannot be so easily defined
Communicating Knowledge:
Pictures versus Words

• Pictures aptly capture concrete and spatial information in a manner

analogous to whatever they represent. They convey all features
simultaneously.
• Words handily capture abstract and categorical information in a manner that
is symbolic of whatever the words represent. Representations in words
usually convey information sequentially.
• Mental Imagery is the mental representation of things that are not
currently seen or sensed by the sense organs.
• Dual-Code Theory use both pictorial and verbal codes for
representing information in our minds.
– Analog codes resemble the objects they are representing. (mental
images)
– symbolic code is a form of knowledge representation that has been
chosen arbitrarily to stand for something that does not perceptually
resemble what is being represented (words,verbal)
Read Pages: 177-215