Memory

Memory
 What is memory?
 The persistence of learning over time through the
encoding, storage, and retrieval of information

 Why is it important?
Important Terms
 Recall
 Retrieving information that is not currently in
conscious awareness

 Recognition
 Identifying items previously learned

 Relearning
 Learning something more quickly when learned
again

 Forgetting
 How memories fade
Memory Models
 Encoding
 Process of getting information into the memory
system

 Storage
 Process of retaining encoded information over time

 Retrieval
 Process of getting information out of memory
storage
Three-stage Memory Model
Automatic processing

Working/
Sensory Register

 Iconic memory vs. Echoic memory

Short-term Memory
 Briefly activated memory of a few items
that is later stored or forgotten

 Capacity?
Miller’s Magic Number
 The capacity of short term memory is 7,
plus or minus 2, items of information

 Mnemonics
 Memory aids, especially those techniques that
use vivid imagery and organizational devices

 Requires conscious attention and resources

 Long-term memory can help create more

enriched, meaningful and larger chunks
Single Use Mnemonics
 Acronyms

 Rhymes

 Phrases

 Personal Meaning
Multiple Use Mnemonics

 Use sequences of locations that are already known

 Imagine to-be-remembered items in those locations
 To recall items, mentally wander through the
locations
 Involves the use of already associated pairs
 Incorporate an image of the to-be-remembered item
into this existing association
 Interactive mental imagery

 To recall items, mentally go through list of known

pairs and remember items
Rehearsal
 Maintenance rehearsal
 Repeating information over and over to maintain
it in short-term memory

 Rehearsal transfers information into long-

term memory for more permanent storage
Example of Chunking

IFYOUGROUPTOGETHERYOUREMEMBERBETTER
Demonstration

 Condition A
 Condition B
 CHJ MLK ODW
 FBI PHD IBM

 AFGHANISTAN  GREECE
 VENEZUELA  CUBA
 NICARAGUA  MALTA
Spacing Effect
 Tendency for distributed practice to yield
better long-term retention

 Massed practice

 Distributed practice
 Testing effect
Individual Differences

 Shown pieces on a chess

board for 5 seconds
 Reproduce the set-up

 Who has better memory

for pieces on a chess
board?
 Novices vs. Experts
What is in short-term
memory?
 Verbal
 Confuse auditory information

 Semantic
 Proactive interference (PI)

 Visual
 Mental rotation tasks
Baddeley’s Working
Memory
Long-term Memory
Accuracy
 Technical Accuracy
 Recalling or recognizing exactly what was
experienced

 Content Accuracy
 Recalling or recognizing the meaning or
content of what was experienced
Remember…
 bed  blanket
 rest  doze
 awake  slumber
 tired  snore
 dream  nap
 wake  peace
 snooze  yawn
Results?
 Memories are organized by forming relationships
with pre-existing knowledge

 Related information becomes activated in

memory even when it is not actually studied
 Spreading activation
Autobiographical Memory
 Structure
 Details
 Interpretations

 Organization

 Types
 Personal Memory
 Autobiographical Fact
 Generic Personal Memory
Memory is Constructive
 Reproductive Memory
 A highly accurate, verbatim recording of an event

 Reconstructive Memory
 Remembering by combining elements of
experience with existing knowledge
Encoding-specificity
Principle
 Retrieval of information is improved when
conditions of recovery are similar to the
conditions when information was encoded

 Context-dependent memory

 Mood-congruent memory

 State-dependent retrieval
Sequence Effects
 Serial-position Curve
 The first few items (primacy effect) and the last
few items (recency effect) in a list are
remembered the best

 Primacy effect

 Recency effect

 Development
How do we search memory?
 Consider the example of looking for lost
keys…
 Serial search
 Self-terminating search

 Do we search memory the same way?

Sternberg
 Shown a string of characters (1-6)

 Then a single character appears (probe)

 Measure speed of response depending upon

 number
 sequential position
 answer
Four Possibilities

1 2

3 4
Forgetting: Ebbinghaus
 The founder of scientific research on memory

 Studied nonsense syllables to investigate learning

and forgetting
 Relearning Task
 Savings Score
Forgetting

 Brown-Peterson Task
 3 letters to remember
 CHJ

 Count backwards by threes

 506

 Report the 3 letters

Theories of Forgetting
 Motivated forgetting
 Forget some information for a reason

 Encoding failure
 Do not fully encode information

 Retrieval failure
 Memories in LTM are temporarily inaccessible
Decay vs. Interference
 Reasons why we may forget things
 Decay
 Information fades from memory
 Not influenced by other information

 Interference
 Other information disrupts learning

 Proactive Interference
 Older learning interferes with the recall of new information

 Retroactive Interference
 Newer learning interferes with the recall of old information
Probe Digit Task
 Heard a list of 16 digits
 5214938164053276

 The last digit is a

repeat (probe)
 Probe is 6

 Have to remember the

number that followed the
probe the first time
 Answer is 4
Problems with Forgetting
 Source amnesia

 Sleeper effect
Misinformation Effect
 Watch video of a car accident

 Answer questions about accident

 Hit/Smashed/Collided/Bumped/Contacted?

 One week later

 Did you see broken glass?
False Memories: Lost in
Mall
 Given descriptions of 4 events that happened in his life
 3 real events; 1 false event

 Asked to write down as many facts and details as he could

remember about each event (or I don’t know)
 Wrote about the events each day for 5 days

 The memories of the events became more detailed over time

Repressed Memories

The Lab?
The “Real World”?
Flashbulb Memories
 Flashbulb memories are
 Vivid
 Detailed
 Long-lasting
 Memories we will “never forget”
 Personally meaningful

 Examples
Accuracy?

 Ask people to remember

what they were doing
when they first heard
about the Challenger
shuttle explosion

 Asked them again 2½

years later
January 1986
 “I was in my religion class and some people
walked in and started talking about the
[explosion]. I didn’t know any details except that it
had exploded and the school teacher’s students
had all been watching, which I thought was so sad.
Then after class I went to my room and watched
the TV program talking about it and I got all the
details from that.”
September 1988
 “When I first heard about the explosion I
was sitting in my freshman dorm room with
my roommate and we were watching TV. It
came on a news flash and were we both
totally shocked. I was really upset and went
upstairs to talk to a friend of mine and then
I called my parents.”
Problems
 Emotion

 Interest

 Rehearsal

 Overconfidence
Memory Loss
 Retrograde amnesia
 Inability to remember information from one’s
past

 Anterograde amnesia
 Inability to form new memories

 The case of H.M.