2011 ch 7

Chapter 7: Memory

What is Memory?
The outcome of learning
Active system that receives, stores, organizes, alters, and recovers (retrieves) information
2 basic categories of learning:
1. Non-associative
Results from an experience with a single type of event
2. Associative
Caused by the conjunction of 2 or more events

Stages of Memory
Memory systems act like a computer with:
Encoding
Converting information into a useable form
Typing data into a computer
Storage
Holding this information in memory for later use
Retrieval: Taking memories out of storage

Information Processing Approach Sensory Storage Short-Term Memory Long-Term Memory

Stages of Memory
Sensory Memory
The first stage of memory
Stores an exact copy of incoming information
Iconic memories
Fleeting visual or mental images
Lasts about ½ second
Echoic memories
Brief continuation of the sound in the auditory system
Lasts about 2 seconds

Stages of Memory
Short-Term Memory (STM)
Receives portion of information from sensory memory through the selective attention filter
Holds small amounts of information briefly
Information:
Can be coded as images or phonetically (based on sound)
Is lost unless it is rehearsed
Is very sensitive to interruption or interference

Stages of Memory
Short-Term Memory (STM)
Working Memory
Another name for STM
like a mental “scratchpad”
especially used for thinking and problem solving

Short-Term Memory
Digit Span
Test of attention and short-term memory
String of numbers is recalled forward or backward
Typically part of intelligence tests
Magic Number 7+/-2:
STM is limited to holding seven (plus or minus two) information bits at once

Short-Term Memory
Chunking
Process of grouping bits of information into larger units
Based on meaningfulness of the bits
Short-Term Memory capacity is then
7 ± 2 chunks

Short-Term Memory
Rehearsal Styles:
Maintenance Rehearsal
Repeating information silently to prolong its presence in STM
a.k.a. rote learning; not effective for long-term learning
Elaborative Rehearsal
Links new information with existing memories and knowledge in LTM
Good way to transfer STM information into LTM

Stages of Memory
Long-Term Memory (LTM)
Storing information relatively permanently
Stored on basis of meaning and importance
Considered limitless
The more you know, the easier it is to add new information

Long-Term Memory
Permanence
Some studies suggest memories are permanent
Wilder Penfield stimulated brain areas with an electrode during brain surgery
Patients reported vivid memories of long-forgotten events when stimulated

LTM: Constructing Memories
As new LTM memories are formed, old memories are updated, changed, lost, or revised.
Constructive Processing
Process of reorganizing or updating long-term memories
Gaps “filled in” using logic, reasoning, or adding new information

Memory and the Brain
Long-Term Memory
Learning alters the activity, structure, and chemistry of the brain
Many parts of brain become active when we form long-term memories
Specific regions may encode specific LT memories
Procedural (skill) memories stored in cerebellum

LTM: Organizing Memories
Network Model:
Memory model that views it as an organizational system of linked information
If ideas are “farther” apart, it takes longer chains of associations to connect them
Redintegrative Memory:
Memories that are reconstructed or expanded by starting with one memory and then following chains of association to related memories
One memory triggers another

Types of Long-Term Memory Long-Term Memory Explicit (Declarative) Memory Implicit (Non-Declarative) Memory Episodic Memory Semantic Memory Motor Skills Habits Simple Classically Conditioned Responses Procedural Memory

Summary of Forgetfulness
Concept Description Example

Decay Theory Gradual fading of memory as a Facts you learned in school gradually
function of time fade out of memory over time.
Interference Theory Disruption of memory caused by After sifting through your psychology
interference of previously learned lecture, you forget what you learned in
material or newly learned material chemistry class the hour before.
Retrieval Theory Failure to access material stored in You have difficulty remembering
memory because of encoding failure something you know is stored in
or lack of retrieval cues memory.
Motivated Forgetting Repression of anxiety-provoking You cannot remember a traumatic
material childhood experience.
Retrograde Amnesia Loss of memory of past events After suffering a blow to the head in a
car accident, you are unable to remem-
ber details of the accident itself.
Anterograde Amnesia Loss of impairment of the ability to Due to a brain disorder, you find it
form or store new memories difficult to retain new information

Forgetting
Amnesia
Retrograde Amnesia
Loss of memory for events preceding an accident, injury, or disease without loss of earlier memories.
Anterograde Amnesia
Loss of memory for events after an accident, injury, or disease but not necessarily for subsequent memories.
Diseases of Memory
Alzheimer’s Disease
Parkinson’s Disease
Korsakoff’s Syndrome

The Interference Theory of Forgetting
Retroactive Interference
New memories block the retrieval of old memories ; new learning interferes or inhibits your ability to remember something you had learned.
Proactive Interference
Old memories block the retrieval of newer memories : old learning interferes or inhibits your ability to learn something now.

The Fallibility of Memory
Improper storage cues
The memories weren’t given the appropriate cues to encode them properly
Memory changes over time
Neuronal and biochemical changes reconstruct & deconstruct memories
Memory’s Fallacies
1. Transience : The forgetting that occurs with the passing of time.
2. Absent-mindedness : Often attributed to 4 things, 1) divided attention, 2) insufficient attention at the time of encoding, 3) “operating on automatic,” and 4) encoding at an extremely shallow level.
3. Blocking : Retrieval cues are unavailable even though a word or name has been encoded and stored.
4. Misattribution : Recalling events that never happened or recalling them incorrectly or at the wrong time or place. This occurs in the absence of suggestion.
5. Suggestibility : The tendency to use misleading information from external cues into personal recollections.
6. Bias : Memories of the past are rescripted to fit your present views and needs (past events are filtered by current knowledge, memories are shaped to your present interpretation of the world, the past is constructed as similar or different than the present).
7. Persistence : Remembering things you wish to forget (failures, traumas, sadness, disappointments, etc.).

Situational Factors in Memory
State Dependent Memory
Recall is best when you are in the same state of mind that you learned something in.
Context Dependent Memory
It’s easier to remember something when you’re in the same context in which you learned it.

Why Do We Forget?
The lower brain checks out emotional possibilities & alerts the cortex
Translation from STM to LTM involves processing the meaning of the stimulus & categorizes it.
SIS is clear but each new impression destroys the one before.
The primacy & recency effects

Retrieving Information
Styles of Retrieval
1. Sequential Search
Going through each piece of information until the appropriate information is found.
2. Using Retrieval Cues
Retrieval is through a semantic network of associations.
Improving Memory
Attention
Rehearsal & Repetition
Organization
Imagery
Method of Loci
Mnemonics
Overlearning
Meaningfulness

2011 ch 7

by Alex Holub

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2011 ch 7 Presentation Transcript

2011 ch 7

by Alex Holub

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2011 ch 7 Presentation Transcript

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