MemoryPart II

Storage and Retrieval

Memory – Information Processing

• “Three-Stage Processing” Model

• Memories are stored in a three-step process of sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory

Memory – Information Processing

• Sensory Memory – the immediate, initial recording of sensory information; fleeting, to-be-remembered information

Memory – Information Processing

• Short-Term Memory – activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven-digits of a phone number while you are dialing, and then the information is either stored, or forgotten

Memory – Information Processing

• Long-term Memory – the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of memories

Sensory Memory

• Sensory memory retention is only fleeting and momentary

• Sensory memory retention allows us to remember small, quick bits of information for a very short period of time

Sensory Memory

G Z E P

R K O D

B T X F

Sensory Memory

• How many letters can you recall?

• Most people can recall four or five letters in that short of a time span, but know that there were more.

Sensory Memory

• Sensory memory retention is what is used when you see a face in the crowd for a split second….you recognize features quickly, determine she/he was cute, but then you can’t remember any details of their face

Sensory Memory• Was he/she cute?

• What was he/she wearing? What color was it?

• What color was his/her hair? How long was it?

• What color was her lipstick?

• What was his/her facial expression?

• What color were his/her eyes?

Short-Term Memory or Working Memory

• The ability to hold and manipulate information over a brief period of time. Forgetting can occur rapidly, especially if distracted

Short-Term Memory or Working Memory

• Short-term memory has two important characteristics. – First, short-term memory can contain at

any one time seven, plus or minus two, "chunks" of information.

– Second, items remain in short-term memory around twenty to thirty seconds.

Short-Term Memory• This type of

memory increases as children get

older…

…but decreases in old age

• Activity• Pens and pencils DOWN

• Look at the picture • You will have15 seconds

Short-Term Memory

• Write down the words of all the pictures you can remember.

• How many objects did you remember?

Short-Term Memory

• We can only consciously process a very limited amount of information in our short-term memory.

Short-Term Memory• We can only consciously process a very limited amount of information in

our short-term memory.

• Overload your short-term memory? You might forget what you read, ask

yourself where you put your briefcase, and ask your phone partner the same thing twice.

Long-Term Memory• A system in the brain that can

store vast amounts of information on a relatively enduring basis

• The information can be facts you learned a few minutes ago, personal memories that are decades old, or skills learned with practice.

Long-Term Memory

• The average adult has more than a billion bits of information in

memory

• Storage capacity of long-term memories has been estimated at million times that (1,000,000 X

1,000,000,000)

Retrieval

• Retrieval is the process of getting information out of memory storage

• You may need to remember exact facts and figures, or you may only need to remember general terms and identifications.

Retrieval• Recall – memory is the ability to

retrieve exact information learned at an earlier time– IE. Fill in the blank test.

– IE. Columbus sailed in the year ________. 6 x 6 = _____. Define retrieval ______. My Social Security number is _______.

Retrieval• Recognition – a measure of memory

in which a person only needs to identify items previously learned– IE. A multiple-choice test.

– IE. Of the following choices, which is the correct answer to 6 x 6 ____. You can’t remember the names of all 400 kids you graduated high school with, but if I show you pictures of them you can remember who you went to school with and who you didn’t.

Retrieval• Relearning – the principle that if

you’ve learned something and forgot it, you probably will learn the material more easily the second time – therefore, retrieval is easier and quicker as well– IE. Learned to play the guitar and played

for five years. Haven’t played in 10 years, but you pick up a guitar and play a few tunes, and with a few lessons you play as well as you did before.

Retrieval

• Retrieval Cues – clues that provide reminders of information that otherwise would be more difficult to remember; clues that can guide us the where to look for the right answers.

Retrieval

• Priming – the activation of particular associations in memory; this may be done consciously or unconsciously, purposefully or incidentally

Retrieval

– IE. Mnemonic clues (Roy G Biv) are primers that allow you to remember information many types of factual information

– IE. A “Missing Child” poster makes you think about your own abduction as a child

– IE. The color red prompts memories of days on your grandfathers farm, with its big red barn

– IE. The first letter of each vocabulary word is provided on your test.

Retrieval Cues• Context Effects – the tendency to

remember information better and more accurately when you are in a physical setting that is similar to the one that you learned the information in the first place

Retrieval Cues• Mood-Congruent – along with the state-

dependent theory, our moods bias our memories also (we remember things better when we are in the same mood as when the memory was formed)– IE. You had a fantastic 5th birthday party, with lots

of friends, gifts, clowns, etc. BUT, you had a cold that day and were sad. Your memory of your 5th birthday party may be that it was long, dreary, and sad.

Retrieval Cues

• State-Dependent Theory – what we learn in one physical state – such as drunk or sober – is sometimes more easily recalled when we are again in that same state

Retrieval Cues• déjà vu – “Already Seen”

(French)– The eerie sense that “I’ve been in

this exact situation before”– Paranormal Explanation –

Precognition or Reincarnation?– Memory Explanation – If a

situation is loaded with clues that are similar to ones already in memory, your brain makes similar associations between them

MemoryForgetting, Memory Construction,

and Improving Memory

Retrieval Failures

• Repression - a basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

• People can knowingly, or unknowingly, revise their own histories

Retrieval Failures

• Tip-Of-The-Tongue Experience – the inability to get a bit of information that you’re absolutely certain is stored in your memory – the information is very close, but just out of reach

Medical Memory Loss• Amnesia – severe memory loss

– Retrograde – forget things from the past– Anterograde – inability to form new

memories but remember the past

• Alzheimers – as plaques build in the brain and interfere with neural transmissions, memories cannot be formed or retrieved

False Memories• Source Confusion – arises when the true

source of a memory is forgotten, so you create details to fill in the gaps– You actually saw that on tv…

• Misinformation Effect – a person’s existing memories can be altered if the person is exposed to misleading information– Eyewitness Testimony…How

reliable is it?

Elizabeth Loftus

How To Make Memories Last?A Few Suggestions

• Focus your attention

• Commit the necessary time

• Space your study sessions

• Organize the information

• Elaborate on the material

How To Make Memories Last?A Few Suggestions

• Use visual imagery and other mnemonics

• Explain it to a friend

• Reduce Interferences

• Since we usually remember the early part and the last part, spend extra time on the middle

• Use contextual clues to jog memory