HowDoesMemoryWork?AnInforma4on-ProcessingModelHereisasimplifieddescrip.onofhowmemoryworks:
§ Encoding:theinforma.ongetsintoourbrainsinawaythatallowsittobestored
§ Storage:theinforma.onisheldinawaythatallowsittolaterberetrieved
§ Retrieval:reac.va.ngandrecallingtheinforma.on,producingitinaformsimilartowhatwasencoded
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
ModelsofMemoryForma4onTheAtkinson-ShiffrinModel(1968)1. S.muliarerecordedbyoursensesandheldbrieflyinsensorymemory.2. Someofthisinforma.onisprocessedintoshort-termmemoryandencodedthroughrehearsal.3. Informa.onthenmovesintolong-termmemorywhereitcanberetrievedlater.
ModifyingtheModel:§ Moregoesoninshort-termmemorybesidesrehearsal;thisisnowcalledworkingmemory.§ Someinforma.onseemstogostraightfromsensoryexperienceintolong-termmemory;thisisautoma4cprocessing.
WorkingMemory:Func4ons
Short-termmemoryintegratesinforma.onfromlong-termmemorywithnewinforma.oncominginfromsensorymemory.
Theshort-termmemoryis“working”inmanyways.§ Itholdsinforma.onnotjusttorehearseit,buttoprocessit(such
ashearingawordprobleminmathanddoingitinyourhead).
Auditoryrehearsal
repea.ngapasswordtomemorizeit
Execu4vefunc4ons
choosingwhattoaOendto,respondto
Visospa4al“sketchpad”
rearrangingroomfurniturein
yourmind
Dual-TrackProcessing:ExplicitandImplicitMemories
SomememoriesareformedwithoutgoingthroughalltheAtkinson-Shiffrinstages.Theseareimplicitmemories,theoneswearenotfullyawareofandthusdon’t“declare”/talkabout.
Ourmindsacquirethisinforma.onthroughefforRulprocessing.Explicitmemoriesareformedthroughstudying,rehearsing,thinking,processing,andthenstoringinforma.oninlong-termmemory.
Thesememoriesaretypicallyformedthroughautoma4cprocessing.Implicitmemoriesareformedwithoutourawarenessthatwearebuildingamemory,andwithoutrehearsalorotherprocessinginworkingmemory.
Sofar,wehavebeentalkingaboutexplicit/“declara4ve”memories.Thesearefactsandexperiencesthatwecanconsciouslyknowandrecall.
Automa4cProcessingSomeexperiencesgodirectlytolong-termimplicitmemory
§ proceduralmemory,suchasknowinghowtorideabike,andwell-prac.cedknowledgesuchaswordmeanings
§ condi4onedassocia4ons,suchasasmellthattriggersthoughtsofafavoriteplace
§ informa.onaboutspace,suchasbeingabletopicturewherethingsareaUerwalkingthrougharoom
§ informa.onabout4me,suchasretracingasequenceofeventsifyoulostsomething
§ informa.onaboutfrequency,suchasthinking,“Ijustno.cedthatthisisthethirdtex.ngdriverI’vepassedtoday.”
Someexperiencesareprocessedautoma.callyintoimplicitmemory,withoutanyefforVul/workingmemoryprocessing:
TheEncodingandProcessingofMemory:SensoryMemory
§ Weverybrieflycaptureasensorymemory,analogoustoanechooranimage,ofallthesensa:onswetakein.
§ Howbrief?Sensorymemoryconsistsofabouta3to4secondecho,ora1/20thofasecondimage.
§ Evidenceofauditorysensorymemory,called“echoic”memory,canoccuraUersomeonesays,“whatdidIjustsay?” Evenifyouweren’tpayinga=en:on,youcanretrieveaboutthelasteightwordsfromechoicmemory.
Sensorymemoryreferstotheimmediate,verybriefrecordingofsensoryinforma.onbeforeitisprocessedintoshort-term,working,orlong-termmemory.
EvidenceofVisualSensory(Iconic)Memory:GeorgeSperling’sExperiments
§ GeorgeSperling(b.1934)exposedpeopletoa1/20thof-a-secondviewofagridofleOers,followedbyatonewhichtoldthemwhichrowofleOerstopullfromiconicmemoryandrecall.
§ Withoutthetone,peoplerecalledabout50percentoftheleOers;withthetone,recallforanyoftherowswastypically100percent.
J Y Q P G S V F M
TosimulateSperling’sexperiment,no.cethethreerowsofleOersbelow.BasedonthecoloroftheleOers,youwillknowthatyoumustrecalloneofthefollowingrows:top, middle or bottom.
EncodingMemoryCapacityofShort-TermandWorkingMemory
§ Ifsomeinforma.onisselectedfromsensorymemorytobesenttoshort-termmemory,howmuchinforma.oncanweholdthere?
§ GeorgeMiller(b.1920)proposedthatwecanhold7+/-2informa.onbits(forexample,astringof5to9leOers).
§ Morerecentresearchsuggeststhattheaverageperson,freefromdistrac.on,canholdabout:
§ 7digits,6leXers,or5words.
WorkingMemory,whichusesrehearsal,focus,analysis,linking,andotherprocessing,hasgreatercapacitythanshort-termmemory.Thecapacityofworkingmemoryvaries;somepeoplehavebeOerconcentra.on.Test:seehowmanyoftheseleOersandnumbersyoucanrecallaUertheydisappear.NoneedforahyphenbeforetheV.
Test:
– VM3CAQ9LD
Dura4onofShort-TermMemory(STM)
LloydPetersonandMargaretPetersonwantedtoknowthedura4onofshorttermmemory?Theirexperiment(1959):1. Peopleweregiventripletsofconsonants(e.g.,“VMF”).2. Topreventrehearsing,thesubjectshadtodoadistrac.ngtask.3. Peoplewerethentestedatvarious.mesforrecall.Result:AUer12seconds,mostmemoryoftheconsonantshaddecayedandcouldnotberetrieved.
Encoding:EfforRulProcessingStrategiesIfwehaveshort-termrecallofonly7leOers,butcanremember5words,doesn’tthatmeanwecouldremembermorethan7leOersifwecouldgroupthemintowords?§ ThisisanexampleofanefforRulprocessingstrategy,awaytoencodeinforma:onintomemorytokeepitfromdecayingandmakeiteasiertoretrieve.§ EfforVulprocessingisalsoknownasstudying.
Examples:§ Chunking(grouping)§ Mnemonics:images,
maps,andpeg-words§ Hierarchies/categories§ Rehearsal,especially
distributedprac.ce§ Deepprocessing§ Seman.cprocessing§ Makinginforma.on
personallymeaningful!Canyouremember
thislist?
Effor?ulProcessingStrategiesChunking§ Whyarecreditcardnumbersbrokenintogroupsoffourdigits?Four“chunks”areeasiertoencode(memorize)andrecallthan16individualdigits.
àMemorize:ACPCVSSUVROFLNBAQXIDKKFCFBIANA§ Chunking:organizingdataintomanageableunitsXIDKKFCFBIANAACPCVSSUVROFNBAQ• ChunkingworksevenbeOerifwecanassembleinforma.onintomeaningfulgroups:
XIDKKFCFBIBANAACPCVSSUVROFLNBAQ XIDKKFCFBIBANAACPCVSSUVROFLNBAQ
Mnemonics§ Read:plane,cigar,due,
shall,candy,vague,pizza,seem,fire,pencil
§ Whichwordsmightbeeasiertoremember?
§ Writedownthewordsyoucanrecall.
§ Lesson:weencodebeOerwiththehelpofimages.
Effor?ulProcessingStrategies
Amnemonicisamemory“trick”thatconnectsinforma.ontoexis.ngmemorystrengthssuchasimageryorstructure.
Apegwordsystemreferstothetechniqueofvisuallyassocia.ngnewwordswithanexis.nglistthatisalreadymemorizedalongwithnumbers.Forexample,“due”canbepicturedwriOenonadoor,anddoor=4.
RehearsalandDistributedPrac4ce
§ ThespacingeffectwasfirstnotedbyHermannEbbinghausinthelate1800s.YouwilldevelopbeOerreten.onandrecall,especiallyinthelongrun,ifyouusethesameamountofstudy.mespreadoutovermanyshortersessions.
§ Thisdoesn’tmeanyouhavetostudyeveryday.MemoryresearcherHarryBahricknotedthatthelongerthe.mebetweenstudysessions,thebeOerthelong-termreten.on,andthefewersessionsyouneed!
Effor<ulProcessingStrategies
Thebestwaytoprac.ce?Considerthetes4ngeffect.HenryRoediger(b.1947)foundthatifyourdistributedprac:ceincludestes:ng(havingtoanswerques:onsaboutthematerial),youwilllearnmoreandretainmorethanifyoumerelyreread.
MassedPrac4cereferstocramminginforma.onallatonce.Itisnot.me-effec.ve.
Whenencodinginforma.on,wearemorelikelytoretainitifwedeeplyprocessevenasimplewordlistbyfocusingontheseman4cs(meaning)ofthewords.
“Shallow,”unsuccessfulprocessingreferstomemorizingtheappearanceorsoundofwords.
Deep/Seman4cProcessingEffor<ulProcessingStrategies
§ Wecanmemorizeasetofinstruc.onsmoreeasilyifwefigureoutwhattheymeanratherthanseeingthemassetofwords.
§ Memorizingmeaningfulmaterialtakesonetenththeeffortofmemorizingnonsensesyllables.
§ Actorsmemorizelines(andstudentsmemorizepoems)moreeasilybydecidingonthefeelingsandmeaningsbehindthewords,soonelineflowsnaturallytothenext.
§ Theself-referenceeffect,rela.ngmaterialtoourselves,aidsencodingandreten.on.
§ Nowtryagain,butthis.me,considerhoweachwordrelatestoyou.
MakingInforma4onPersonallyMeaningful
Effor<ulProcessingStrategies Memorizethefollowingwords:bold truck tempergreen run dramaglue chips knobhard vent rope
MemoryStorage:CapacityandLoca4on§ ThebrainisNOTlikeahard
drive.MemoriesareNOTinisolatedfiles,butareinoverlappingneuralnetworks.
§ Thebrain’slong-termmemorystoragedoesnotgetfull;itgetsmoreelaboratelyrewiredandinterconnected.
§ Partsofeachmemorycanbedistributedthroughoutthebrain.àMemoryofapar.cular‘kitchentable’maybealinkageamongnetworksfor‘kitchen,’ ‘meal,’ ‘wooden,’ ‘home,’ ‘legs,’and‘sit.’
KarlLashley(1890-1958)showedthatratswhohadlearnedamazeretainedpartsofthatmemory,evenwhenvarioussmallpartsoftheirbrainwereremoved.
MemoryProcessinginTheBrain
Ifmemoryisstoredthroughoutthebrain,howdoesitgetinthere,andhowdoweretrieveitanduseit?§ Therearedifferentstorageandretrieval/ac.va.onsystemsinthebrainforexplicit/declara.vememoryandforimplicit/proceduralmemory.§ Whenemo.onsbecomeinvolved,yetanotherpartofthebraincanmark/flagsomememoriesforquickerretrieval.§ Thestorageoccursbychanginghowneuronslinktoeachotherinordertomakesomewell-usedneuralnetworksofneuronseasiertoac.vatetogether.
ExplicitMemoryProcessing
§ Retrievalanduseofexplicitmemories,whichisinpartaworkingmemoryorexecu.vefunc.on,isdirectedbythefrontallobes.
§ Encodingandstorageofexplicitmemoriesisfacilitatedbythehippocampus.Eventsandfactsareheldthereforacoupleofdaysbeforeconsolida4ng,movingtootherpartsofthebrainforlong-termstorage.Muchofthisconsolida.onoccursduringsleep.
Explicit/declara.vememoriesincludefacts,stories,andmeaningsofwordssuchasthefirst.meridingabike,orfactsabouttypesofbicycles.
TheBrainStoresReac4onsandSkillsImplicitMemoryProcessingImplicitmemoriesincludeskills,procedures,andcondi.onedassocia.ons.
§ Thecerebellum(“liOlebrain”)formsandstoresourcondi.onedresponses.Wecanstoreaphobicresponseevenifwecan’trecallhowweacquiredthefear.
§ Thebasalganglia,nexttothethalamus,controlsmovement,andformsandstoresproceduralmemoryandmotorskills.Wecanlearntorideabicycleevenifwecan’trecallhavingthelesson.
Emo4onsandMemory
§ Strongemo.ons,especiallystress,canstrengthenmemoryforma.on.
§ Flashbulbmemoriesrefertoemo.onallyintenseeventsthatbecome“burnedin”asavivid-seemingmemory.
§ Notethatflashbulbmemoriesarenotasaccurateastheyfeel.
§ Vividlystoringinforma.onaboutdangersmayhavehelpedourancestorssurvive.
Emo4ons,StressHormones,theAmygdala,andMemory
Howdoesintenseemo.oncausethebraintoformintensememories?1. Emo.onscantriggerariseinstresshormones.2. Thesehormonestriggerac.vityintheamygdala,locatednexttothememory-forminghippocampus.3. Theamygdalaincreasesmemory-formingac.vityandengagesthefrontallobesandbasalgangliato“tag”thememoriesasimportant.
Asaresult,thememoriesarestoredwithmoresensoryandemo.onaldetails.§ Thesedetailscantriggerarapid,unintendedrecallofthememory.§ Trauma.zedpeoplecanhaveintrusiverecallthatissovividthatitfeelslikere-experiencingtheevent.
MessingwithLong-TermPoten4a4on§ Chemicalsandshocksthatpreventlong-termpoten.a.on(LTP)canpreventlearningandeveneraserecentlearning.
§ Preven.ngLTPkeepsnewmemoriesfromconsolida.ngintolong-termmemories.Forexample,miceforgethowtorunamaze.
§ DrugsthatboostLTPhelpmicelearnamazemorequicklyandwithfewermistakes.
Summary:TypesofMemoryProcessing
Lessonsfromeachofthesedemonstra.ons:1. ourstorageandrecallcapacityisvirtuallyunlimited2. ourcapacityforrecogni4onisgreaterthanourcapacityforrecall3. relearningcanhighlightthatmemoriesarethereevenifwecan’trecallformingthem
MemoryRetrieval§ Recall:somepeople,through
prac.ce,visualstrategies,orbiologicaldifferences,havetheabilitytostoreandrecallthousandsofwordsordigits,reproducingthemyearslater(“fill-in-the-blank”)
§ Recogni4on:theaveragepersoncanview2500newfacesandplaces,andlatercanno.cewith90percentaccuracywhichonesthey’veseenbefore(“mul.plechoice”)
§ Relearning:somepeopleareunabletoformnewmemories,especiallyofepisodes;althoughtheywouldnotrecallapuzzle-solvinglesson,theymights.llsolvethepuzzlefastereachlesson
RelearningTimeasaMeasureofReten4on
§ Inthelate1800s,HermannEbbinghausstudiedanothermeasureofmemoryfunc.oning:howmuch.medoesittaketorelearnandregainmasteryofmaterial?
§ Hestudiedthememoriza.onofnonsensesyllables(THBYOXKVUEHM)sothatdepthofprocessingorprelearningwouldnotbeafactor.
§ Themore.mesherehearsedoutloudonday1,theless.meheneededtorelearn/memorizethesameleOersonday2.
Priming:RetrievalisAffectedbyAc:va:ngourAssocia:ons§ Primingtriggersathreadofassocia.onsthatbringustoaconcept,justasaspiderfeelsmovementinawebandfollowsittofindthebug.
§ Ourmindsworkbyhavingoneideatriggeranother;thismaintainsaflowofthought.
PrimingExample:Definetheword“bark.”Nowwhatisthedefini.onof“bark”?
Study:peopleprimedwithamissingchildposterthenmisinterpretedambiguousadult-childinterac.onsaskidnapping.
ThePowerofPriming
§ Priminghasbeencalled“invisiblememory”becauseitaffectsusunconsciously.
§ Inthecaseoftree“bark”vs.dog“bark,”thepathwefollowinourthoughtscanbechanneledbypriming.
§ Wemayhavebiasesandassocia.onsstoredinmemorythatalsoinfluenceourchoices.
Study:Peopleprimedwithmoney-relatedwordswerelesslikelytothenhelpanotherperson.
Study:PrimingwithanimageofSantaClausledkidstosharemorecandy.
Context-DependentMemory
§ Partofthewebofassocia.onsofamemoryisthecontext.Whatelsewasgoingonatthe:meweformedthememory?
§ Weretrieveamemorymoreeasilywheninthesamecontextaswhenweformedthememory.àDidyouforgetapsychologyconcept?Justsirngdownandopeningyourbookmightbringthememoryback.
WordslearnedunderwaterarebeXerretrievedunderwater.
State-DependentMemory
§ Ourmemoriesarenotjustlinkedtotheexternalcontextinwhichwelearnedthem.
§ Memoriescanalsobe.edtotheemo4onalstatewewereinwhenweformedthememory.
§ Mood-congruentmemoryreferstothetendencytoselec:velyrecalldetailsthatareconsistentwithone’scurrentmood.àThisbiasedmemorythenreinforcesourcurrentmood!
Memoriescanevenbelinkedtophysiologicalstates:
“Iwonderifyou’dmindgivingmedirec4ons.I’veneverbeensoberinthispartoftownbefore.”
Inwhatsitua.onistherecencyeffectstrongest?
TheSerialPosi4onEffectPrimingandcontextcuesarenottheonlyfactorswhichmakememoryretrievalselec.ve.
Whichwordsofyourna.onalanthemareeasiesttorecall?
Theserialposi4oneffectreferstothetendency,whenlearninginforma.oninalonglist,tomorelikelyrecallthefirstitems(primacyeffect)andthelastitems(recencyeffect).
“ForgeRulnessisaformoffreedom.”
KhalilGibran
§ JillPrice(b.1965)hashyperthymesia;shenotonlyrecallseverything,butisunabletoforgetanything.
§ ForJill,boththeimportantandthemundanearealwaysaccessible,forminga“runningmovie”ofimagesandinforma.onthatrunsimultaneouslywithcurrents.muli.
§ Shehassaid,“I’llbetalkingtosomeoneand[also]seeingsomethingelse….”
JillPrice,pa4ent“A.J.”
Anotherpossibleproblemifwewereunabletoforget:wemightnotfocuswelloncurrents.mulibecauseofintrusivememories.
TheBrainandtheTwo-TrackMind:TheCaseofHenryMolaison(“H.M.”)§ In1953,theremovalof
H.M.’shippocampusatage27endedhisseizures,butalsoendedhisabilitytoformnewexplicitmemories.
§ H.M.couldlearnnewskills,procedures,loca.onsofobjects,andgames,buthadnomemoryofthelessonsortheinstructors.Why?
§ H.M.alsoretainedmemoriesfrombeforethesurgery.Whatishiscondi.oncalled?
H.M.,likeanothersuchpa4ent,“Jimmy,”couldnotunderstandwhyhisfacelookedolderthan27inthemirror.Whynot?
TheTwoTypesofAmnesia
§ Retrogradeamnesiacanbecausedbyheadinjuryoremo.onaltraumaandisoUentemporary.
§ Itcanalsobecausedbymoreseverebraindamage;inthatcase,itmayincludeanterogradeamnesia.
§ H.M.andJimmylivedwithnomemoriesoflifeaUersurgery.
§ SeealsothemovieMemento.Mostothermovieamnesiaisretrogradeamnesia.
Retrogradeamnesiareferstoaninabilitytoretrievememoryofthepast.
Anterogradeamnesiareferstoaninabilitytoformnewlong-termdeclara:ve/explicitmemories.
PennyMemoryTest
Retrievaltest:whatwordsandnumbers,inwhichloca.ons,areonthefrontofaU.S.onecentcoin?Thisshouldbeeasybecauseitwasinthebook.Recogni4ontest:choosethecorrectdesignfromamongthesepictures:
WhichofthesehasthedesignofanactualU.S.cent?
§ Ifwegotthepennyimagewrong,didwefailtoretrievetheinforma.on?
EncodingFailure
§ ItcouldbethatweneverpaidaOen.ontothepennydetailsanddidn’tselectthemfromsensorymemorytoholdinworkingmemory.
§ EvenifweoncelookedatthepennyandpaidaOen.ontoit,wes.lldidn’tbotherrehearsingitandencodingitintolongtermmemory.
StorageDecay§ Materialencodedintolongtermmemorywilldecayifthememoryisneverused,recalled,andre-stored.
§ DecayisLTPinreverse(orlikepruning).Unusedconnec.onsandnetworkswitherwhilewell-usedmemorytracesaremaintained.
§ Decaytendstoleveloff.MemoryforbothnonsensesyllablesandSpanishlessonsdecaysrapidly.
§ However,whathasn’tdecayedquicklytendstostayintactlong-term.
TipoftheTongue:RetrievalFailure§ Some.mes,thememoryitselfdoesnotdecay.Instead,whatdecaysaretheassocia.onsandlinksthathelpusfindourwaytothestoredmemory.
§ Asaresult,somestoredmemoriesseemjustbelowthesurface:“Iknowthename...itstartswithaBmaybe…”
§ Topreventretrievalfailurewhenstoringandrehearsingmemories,youcanbuildmul.pleassocia.ons,linkingimages,rhymes,categories,lists,andcues.
InterferenceandPosi4veTransfer§ Anotherdownsideofnotforgerngisthatoldandnewmemoriescaninterferewitheachother,makingitdifficulttostorenewmemoriesandretrieveoldones.
§ Occasionally,theoppositehappens.Inposi4vetransfer,oldinforma.on(likealgebra)makesiteasiertolearnrelatednewinforma.on(likecalculus).
§ Proac4veinterferenceoccurswhenpastinforma:oninterferes(inaforward-ac:ngway)withlearningnewinforma:on.§ Youhavemanystrongmemoriesofapreviousprincipal,andthismemorymakesitdifficulttolearnthenewprincipal’sname.
§ Youhadtochangeemailpasswords,butyoukeeptypingtheoldoneandcan’tseemtomemorizethenewone.
Retroac4veInterferenceandSleep
§ Inonestudy,studentswhostudiedrightbeforeeighthoursofsleephadbeOerrecallthanthosewhostudiedbeforeeighthoursofdailyac.vi.es.
§ Thedailyac.vi.esretroac4velyinterferedwiththemorning’slearning.
Retroac4veinterferenceoccurswhennews:muli/learninginterfereswiththestorageandretrievalofpreviouslyformedmemories.
Mo4vatedForgecng
§ Memoryisfallibleandchangeable,butcanweprac.cemo4vatedforgecng,thatis,choosingtoforgetortochangeourmemories?
§ SigmundFreudbelievedthatwesome.mesmakeanunconsciousdecisiontoburyouranxiety-provokingmemoriesandhidethemfromconsciousawareness.Hecalledthisrepression.
§ Newtechniquesofpsychotherapyandmedica.oninterven.onsmayallowusto“erase”(preventreconsolida.onof)recalledmemories.
Mo.vatedforgerngisnotcommon.MoreoUen:1. recallisfulloferrors.2. peopletrynottothinkaboutpainfulmemories.Iftheyfailtorehearsethosememories,thememoriescanfade.
Whyisourmemoryfulloferrors?§ MemorynotonlygetsforgoOen,
butitgetsconstructed(imagined,selected,changed,andrebuilt).
§ Memoriesarealteredevery.mewe“recall”(actually,reconstruct)them.Thentheyarealteredagainwhenwereconsolidatethememory(usingworkingmemorytosendthemintolongtermstorage).
§ Laterinforma.onaltersearliermemories.
§ NomaOerhowaccurateandvideo-likeourmemoryseems,itisfullofaltera.ons.
Waysinwhichourmemoryendsup
beinganinaccurateguidetothepast:themisinforma4on
effect
imagina4oninfla4on
sourceamnesia
déjàvu
implantedmemories
TheMisinforma4onEffect:TheMisinforma4onEffect:
In1974,ElizabethLoUusandJohnPalmeraskedpeopletowatchavideoofaminorcaraccident.Thepar.cipantswerethenasked,“Howfastwerecarsgoingwhentheyhiteachother?”
Incorpora:ngmisleadinginforma:onintoone’smemoryofanevent.
Thosewhowereasked,“...whenthecarssmashedintoeachother?”reportedhigherspeedsandrememberedbrokenglassthatwasn’tthere.
Actualaccident Misrememberedaccident
InastudybyElizabethLoius,peoplewereaskedtoprovidedetailsofaincidentinchildhoodwhentheyhadbeenlostinashoppingmall.Eventhoughthereactuallyhadbeennosuchincident,bytryingtopicturedetails,mostpeoplecametobelievethattheincidenthadactuallyhappened.
Inonestudy,studentsweretoldafalsestorythatspoiledeggsaladhadmadethemillinchildhood.Asaresult,manystudentsbecame[even]lesslikelytoeateggsaladsandwichesinthefuture.
ImplantedMemories Imagina4onInfla4on
§ Simplypicturinganeventcanmakeitseemlikearealmemory.§ Oncewehaveaninaccuratememory,wetendtoaddmoreimagineddetails,asperhapswedoforallmemories.§ Whydoesthishappen?Visualizingandactuallyseeinganeventac.vatesimilarbrainareas.
Lessons:1. Bytryingtohelpsomeonerecallamemory,youmayimplantamemory.2. Youcan’ttellhowrealamemoryisbyhowrealitfeels.
SourceAmnesia/MisaXribu4on
Haveyoueverdiscussedachildhoodmemorywithafamilymemberonlytofindthatthememorywas:§ fromamovieyousaw,orbookyouread?§ fromastorysomeonetoldyouaboutyourchildhood,buttheywerekidding?§ fromadreamyouusedtohave?§ fromasibling’sexperience?
Ifso,yourmemoryfortheeventmayhavebeenaccurate,butyouexperiencedsourceamnesia:forgeQngwherethestorycamefrom,anda?ribuAngthesourcetoyourownexperience.
Déjàvu(“Alreadyseen”)
§ Déjàvureferstothefeelingthatyou’reinasitua.onthatyou’veseenorhavebeeninbefore.
§ Inanexperimentinthetext,studentsgotthisfeeling,becausetheyactuallywereshownanimagepreviously.
§ However,wecanfeelverycertainthatwe’veseenasitua.onbeforeevenwhenwehavenot.Thiscanbeseenassourceamnesia:amemory(fromcurrentsensorymemory)thatwemisaOributeasbeingfromlongtermmemory.
§ Whydoesthishappen?Some.mesoursenseoffamiliarityandrecogni.onkicksintoosoon,andourbrainexplainsthisasbeingcausedbypriorexperience.
Applyingwhatwe’velearnedaboutmemoryImprovingMemorytoImproveGradesWaystosaveoverallstudying:me,andbuildmorereliablememory.
Learnthematerialinmorethanoneway,notjustbyrote,butbycrea.ngmanyretrievalcues.
Minimizeinterferencewithrelatedmaterialorfunac.vi.es;studyrightbeforesleeporothermindlessac.vity.Havemul4plestudysessions,spacedfurtherandfurtherapartaUerfirstlearningthematerial.
Spendyourstudysessionsac4va4ngyourretrievalcuesincludingcontext(recallingwhereyouwerewhenlearningthematerial).
Testyourselfinstudysessions:1)toprac.cedoingretrievalasiftakingatest,and2)toovercometheoverconfidenceerror:thematerialseemsfamiliar,butcanyouexplainitinyourownwords?
§ Thinkofexamplesandconnec.ons(meaningfuldepth).
§ Createmnemonics:songs,images,andlists.
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