Memory

Information Processing

Information Processing Enables memory

3 basic steps

1. Encoding – getting info into the memory system

2. Storage – Retaining the info over time 3. Retrieval – getting info out of storage

Encoding Process by which you move the stuff you are

going to remember into your memory

Automatic Processing Unconscious process of capturing information Time and frequency as well as place

Effortful Processing What doesn’t happen naturally In order to master something, you need to work on it

Rehearsal

Encoding Overlearning

Practicing over and over even after you have committed something to memory

Going over something even after you have learned it

Encoding Serial Positioning

Tendency to remember the first and last things you see in a list

Primacy effect Remembering things at the beginning of a list

Recency effect Remembering things at the end, most recent

Encoding Spacing

Distributed rehearsal– spread out over time Works much better

Massed rehearsal – Cramming

Even if you put in the same amount of hours studying, it is better to space it out over time

Encoding Meaning Make the material meaningful

Semantic Coding

Participants asked to remember words flashed on a screen Asked if the word rhymed with another

(acoustic coding) Asked if the word fit into a sentence (semantic

coding) When the word is given meaning, it was much easier

to recall

Encoding Self reference effect

Relate the material to your own life somehow

To remember something better, connect it to your life somehow

Encoding images Mental pictures tend to stick in your brain

Both positive and negative events can be stuck in our minds

Positive events are often more easy to recall Negative events tend to fade away

Mnemonic Devices Memory tricks

Iroquois Nation MOSCO

Method of loci “In the first place” “Second place, lets shift our attention” You can use your imagination to remember

things by associating them with places

Organizing Information Chunking

Organize into meaningful groups

Hierarchy Relationships between pieces of information Outlines in your notes Periodic table

Each row and column has meaning

Storage Retention of memory

Three distinct systems

Sensory Short term Long term

Sensory Storing information just long enough that

we can determine what is important

Iconic memory Holding an image in our memory until another

replaces it

Echoic memory Storing audio

Short Term More permanent than sensory

Also called working memory

Most people can handle 5 – 9 pieces of information in working memory

Long Term Memory No one knows how long for sure that you

can hold something in long term memory No time limit?

Flashbulb memory Holding emotional memories very vividly in

your brain 9/11 Stress levels

Medication can have impact on memory

Long term potentiation

When you learn something, neurons release chemicals (serotonin) making it easier to fire again in the future Memory trace Glutamate boosters

How would we differentiate?

Concussions, damage to the brain Long term memories ok, short term may be

lost

Explicit vs Implicit memories Explicit memory

What we normally think of when we think of memory Recalling facts and events Hippocampus – Henry Molaison Declarative Memory

Implicit Memory No conscious effort Skills like walking, riding a bike, piano (procedural) Cerebellum – Infantile Amnesia Nondeclarative Memory

Retrieval Recall

Searching for information previously learned Fill in the blanks, short answer

Recognition Easier than recall Just identifying information Multiple Choice

Context Context effect

Enhanced ability to remember something when you are in the same environment

Same classroom, same seat, music on/off déjà vu

Creating a global match? Neural hiccup? Delaying the signal of the two track mind

State Dependency Retrieval happens best when you are in the same state

as encoding Influence of caffeine or alcohol Mood Congruent –

Emotions and encoding/retrieval

Forgetting Daniel Schacter’s 7 ways memory fails us

3 Sins of Forgetting Absent Mindedness – inattention to detail

Encoding Failure Transience – storage decay over time

Unused information goes away Blocking – inaccessibility of stored information

Having something on the tip of your tongue and not being able to it out

Without effort, memories never form

3 Sins of Distortion Misattribution – confusing the source of info

Putting words in someone else’s mouth Mistaking a dream for reality

Suggestibility – Misleading questions that can lead to false memories

Bias – belief colored recollections

1 Sin of Intrusion Persistence – Unwanted memories

The Forgetting Curve Ebbinghaus 1885

The course of forgetting is initially rapid, then it levels off

High school Spanish Forget the most 3 years after HS Then it levels off

Retrieval Failure Not enough information stored to look up

and retrieve the information

Given retrieval clues (starts with…) memory is much better

Common in adults

Not forgotten information, but unretrieved

Memory Interference Proactive – Forward acting

Something learned earlier disrupts something you learn later

Retroactive – backward acting Something new makes it harder to recall

something old

When is it better to study; when you wake up or before you go to sleep?

Motivated Forgetting Repression of memories

Freud We tend to repress painful memories

Protects our self concept and reduces anxiety Memory will linger, may not be retrieved until

therapy Big part of Freud’s research

Many psychologists down play it today Hard to do when it is very emotional subject

Memory Construction Misinformation and Imagination

Power of suggestion when asking questions Car Accident video experiment

Misinformation effect Photoshopped memories

Hot air balloon ride

Imagining false events can lead to false memories as well Imagination Inflation – being more likely than others to

misremember when told to imagine Visualization and Imagination occur in the same area of the

brain The more we imagine, the more real the memories seem

Source Amnesia Recognizing someone, but not knowing

where from or why

Attributing the wrong source to a memory as well

Misattribution Retaining the memory, but not knowing where

we acquired it

True and False Memories We remember the gist of things better

than we can remember all the details with imagined memories – but they can last

We associate memories with where we are now versus how we may have felt at the time

Very suggestible Relationships

Love at first sight vs not clicking

Memory psychologist interrogated for rape

Children’s recall A magicians rabbit has gotten loose in the

school overheard by students 78% reported actually seeing the rabbit

Very important to use neutral words when asking children questions, because they will construct false memories and entire stories of events

Repressed Memories of Abuse Innocents accused and disbelief when

telling the truth

Many times, therapy can create these false memories and destroy lives and families

To protect children and the wrongly accused Sexual abuse happens Injustice happens Forgetting happens Recovered memories are common place Memories before 3 yrs old are unreliable

Infantile Amnesia Memories recovered under hypnosis or

drugs are unreliable Memories, real or false, can be emotionally

upsetting

Improve your memory Study repeatedly – Rehearsal Make the Material meaningful Activate rehearsal cues

Recreate the situation Use mnemonic devices Minimize interference Sleep more Test yourself