Cognition7A – Memory

7B – Thinking, Problems Solving, Creativity, and Language

MemoryMemory - the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.

Examples:

The Memory ProcessThree step process….

1.Encoding: The processing of information into the memory system.– Getting the info into the brain– Example:

2.Storage: The retention of encoded material over time.– Retaining the info– Example:

3.Retrieval: The process of getting the information out of memory storage.– Getting the info back out– Example:

4 Memory Models1. Information Processing

Model2. Atkinson-Shiffrin 3

stage model3. Modified Atkinson-

Shiffrin4. Connectivism Model

Information Processing Model of Memory

• Information Processing Model –– Simplified Memory

Model• Encoding –

• Storage –

• Retrieval –

– Analogous to a computer

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s 3 Step Model of Memory

1. Sensory memory – brief recording of sensory information • Example:

2. Short-term memory – memory that holds few items briefly before info is forgotten• Example

3. Long –term memory – relatively permanent and limitless storage of memory.• Example

Sensory Memory• Sensory Memory -

A split second holding tank for ALL sensory information

• Examples:.– Iconic Memory –

– Echoic Memory –

Short Term Memory• Short –term memory –

memory that holds a few items briefly (7 digits +/-2) until it is forgotten or stored

•

Short Term Memory Activity

Long Term Memory• Long-term memory -

Unlimited storehouse of knowledge, skills and experiences.

• Examples:

Modified Atkinson – Shiffrin (3 Stage) Model

• Working Memory –conscious, active processing of auditory and visual-spatial info. and info from long term memory

• Our memory sketchpad–

• Example –

Modified Three-stage Model of Memory

Connectionism Model of Memory

• Connectionism – theory that states that memory is stored throughout the brain in connections between neurons– Many neurons may work together to process a single memory–

•

How We Encode2 Types of Encoding1. Automatically Processing

– Automatic– Parallel

2. Effortful processing – Rehearsal

Encoding - Automatic Processing

Automatic Processing - unconscious encoding of incidental information– Examples: – Time –

– space –

– Frequency –

– well learned info –

Automatic Processing• Parallel Processing – processing of

many things simultaneously

– Example:

Encoding – Effortful Processing

1. Effortful Processing –encoding that requires conscious effort and attention– Example:

• Rehearsal – conscious repetition of info to encode it for storage– Example:

Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve

• Ebbinghaus Curve - The amount remembered depends on the time spent learning

• Overlearning –

Effortful Processing• Spacing effect – distributed study is better for long-term

recall than massed study (cramming)– DO NOT CRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!– Example:

• Testing effect – repeated quizzing or testing improves retention– Example:

Encoding Information• Serial Positioning Effect – we

tend to remember the first and last items on a list – Primacy Effect – remember items

at the beginning of a list • Example:

– Recency Effect – remembering items at the end of a list (most recent

• Example: – Rostorff effect – remembering unique

items on a list• Example:

What We Encode…1. Visual Encoding: the encoding of

picture/visual images.Example –

2. Acoustic Encoding: the encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words.Example:

3. Semantic Encoding: the encoding of meaning.Example:

Encoding Exercise

Visual Encoding– Imagery – visual images help us remember

concrete words (aided by semantic encoding)

Example:

– Rosy Retrospection – recalling high points, forgetting the worst• Example:

Encoding Exercise

Mneumonics– Mnemonic Devices – any memory aid that

uses visual images and organizational devices

• EXAMPLES:1. Peg word system – memorizing a

jingle and using imagery to associate items with the jingleExample:

2. Method of Loci – use visual information with familiar objects on a path to recall info on a list» Example:

Encoding Exercise

Mneumonics3. Hierarchies – broad

concepts divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts

• Example: 4. Chunking - Organizing

items into familiar, manageable units (acronyms)

• Example:

Encoding Exercise

Every Good Boy Does Fine1-800-IBM-HELP

Acoustic EncodingAcoustic Encoding: the encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words.

•Examples:

Semantic Encoding• Semantic Encoding: the encoding of meaning.

• Examples:

• Self Reference Effect – the tendency to remember information that is “relevant to me” compared to less personally relevant information

• Example:

StorageTypes of Memory1.Sensory Memory

– Iconic– Echoic

2.Working Memory/Short-term3.Long-Term Memory

– Implicit Memory/Procedural Memory• Conditioned Memories

– Explicit Memory• Episodic Memory• Semantic Memory• Flashbulb Memories• Prospective memory

Sensory Memory• Sperling’s memory experiment

– Momentary photographic memory• After flashing an image, participants had a

momentary mental image of all 9 letters• Iconic memory – photographic or picture image

memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second– – Examples:

Sensory Memory• Echoic memory – auditory memory

lasting no more than a 3-4 seconds (mind’s echo chamber)–

– Example:

Working/Short-Term Memory• Duration – Brief (30 sec or less) without

active processing– –

• Capacity - Limited

• The list of magic sevens

Long-Term Memory• Duration – • Capacity -

Types of Long Term Memory• Implicit Memory/Procedural Memory

– Conditioned Memories• Explicit Memory

– Episodic Memory– Semantic Memory– Flashbulb Memories

Types of Long-Term Memory

Implicit Memories• Implicit/Procedural Memories

– without conscious recall–

• Examples:

– Conditioned Memories – memories from conditioned learning

• Example:

Explicit Memories• Explicit Memories – memories of

facts and experiences, consciously recalled– Processed by the

•

• Example:

– Infantile amnesia – can’t remember events before age 3

•

Explicit MemoriesEpisodic Memories -

memories of autobiographical events, situations, and experiencesExample:

Semantic Memories – memory of words, meanings, and understandingsExample:

Explicit Memories• Flashbulb Memories – clear

moment of a emotionally significant event–

– – Example:

• Prospective Memory – remembering to perform a planned action– Example:

Storing MemoriesMemory trace – memory is distributed

across groups of neuronsLong Term-Potentiation – Increases

in synaptic firing potential of a neuron by increasing the number of receptors on the receiving neuron.– –

• Memory boosting drugs– CREB –

– Glutamate –

Amnesia• Amnesia – loss of memory

– Retrograde Amnesia – inability to remember past events

• Example– Anterograde Amnesia –

inability to create new memories

• • Examples:

Retrieval• Recall - you must

retrieve the information from your memory

• Example:

• Recognition - you must identify the target from possible targets

• Example:

Ways to help you retrieve info

• Relearning – learning material for the second time, saves time.– Example:

• Retrieval Cues – anchor points used to access target info for retrieval later – Example:

• Priming – unconscious activation of associations in memory– Example:

The Context Matters!!!• Mood Congruent Memory –

recalling memories consistent with current mood– Example:

• State Dependent Memory – learning that takes place in one physiological "state" is generally better remembered later in a similar physiological state – Example:

Context Matters• Context-dependent memory -

memory is more easily recalled if you are in the same setting that learning took place– Example:

• Déjà vu – eerie sense that you’ve experienced something before– Example:

Forgetting• Encoding

Failures

• Storage Decay

• Retrieval Failures

Forgetting• Schacter’s sevens sins of memory

– Sins of Forgetting

– Sins of distortion

– Sin of intrusion

Encoding Failure

Example –

What should you do to prevent an encoding failure?

Storage DecayEbbinghaus Curve

Apply the Ebbinghaus curve to Psych Class

Retrieval Failure

Retrieval Failures• Retroactive Interference: new information blocks out old information.

– Example: • Proactive Interference: old information blocks out new information.

– Example:• PORN

• Positive Transfer – old info helps you learn new info– Example:

• Tip of the tongue phenomenon -

Motivated Forgetting• Motivated Forgetting –

revising past memories

• Repression – (Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory)

• A defense mechanism that banishes painful memories from consciousness to minimize anxiety– Example:

Constructive Memory• Constructed memory (Loftus) -

a created memory, altered when encoded or retrieved.– Misinformation effect– Imagination effect– Source amnesia

Constructive Memory• Misinformation Effect – incorporating

misleading info into a memoryExample:

• Imagination Effect/Inflation – imagining nonexistent actions and events can create false memoriesExample:

• Source Amnesia – retaining the memory of an event, but not the sourceExample:

Discerning True and False Memories

• Memory studies – real vs. false

• Eye witness testimony

Children’s Eyewitness Recall

• Children’s memories of abuse–Suggestibility

Repressed or Constructed Memories of Abuse?

• Areas of agreement

Improving Memory Techniques