Facts about MemoryFacts about Memory

• Learning a musical instrument can improve your memory

• Sleep improves memory

• A good diet and exercise can help your memory

• Dieting can affect your memory

• Stress can make you forgetful

• Caffeine can improve your memory

• We tend to keep good memories and filter out bad ones

What is Memory? What is Memory?

• It is an active information – processing system that - receives - stores - organises - alters - recovers information

• It is a cognitive process which refers to

- thinking, knowing or manipulating information

It involves 3 processes:

• Encoding Encoding • StorageStorage• RetrievalRetrieval

encoding - converting information into a usable form (i.e. meaningfully) for storage in memory

storage - retention of information over time

retrieval - locating & recovering stored information

Remember E,S,RRemember E,S,R

ENCODINGENCODING

- Our senses take in information from the external environment

-Encoding refers to the active process of converting incoming sensory information into a form that can be stored and represented in the memory system

-there are 3 different types of encoding:

Acoustic Visual Semantic

AcousticAcousticRepresenting a stimulus according to the sound of its name Eg see a dog – encode this information by verbally or silently

saying dog

VisualVisualRepresenting a stimulus as an imageEg see a dog – encode the broad features of the image it casts on your retinas

SemanticSemantic Representing a stimulus according to its meaning Eg see a dog – associate it with information such as animal, bulldog, friendly(previously stored in your long – term memory

Types of encoding………….

STORAGESTORAGE

- in human working memory – storage is limited can be compared to RAM (random access memory) of a computer.

-humans can store large amounts of information in long – term memory.

RETRIEVALRETRIEVAL- locating and recovering information from memory- humans retrieve information via prompts or cues- computers perform retrieval in a similar way

MEASURES OF RETENTIONMEASURES OF RETENTIONAre methods of testing or assessing the amount of information retained (stored) in memory

There are 3 main types :

RECALLRECOGNITION RELEARNING

RECALL

Is a measure of retention that requires the person to recover stored Information using a minimal amount of cues to assist retrieval.

-Recall is the least sensitive measure of retention. Recall may be of various types: FREE SERIAL CUED

WheelbarrowHorse

WindowGolf

Keys NotebookDiamond

SpoonCandle Pillow

Lightning PocketShoes Shelf

Monkey

• FREE

Recall the list of words in any order Wheelbarrow

Horse

Window

Golf

Keys

Notebook

Diamond

Spoon

Candle

Pillow

Lightning

Pocket

Shoes

Shelf

Monkey

TruckCup ToothPhotoMothGlueFolderFather Cake Tablet BusRiver FlagMountain

• SERIAL

•Recall the information in the order it was presented Truck

Cup

Tooth

Photo

Moth

Glue

Folder

Father

Cake

Tablet

Bus

River

Flag

Mountain

Path RaisinYellowRaspberryEncyclopeadiaSmile RosemaryBoilContainer Ring Power Corner Roast RealBurnt Radish

• CUED

• recall the names of the items that begin with R

Raisin

Raspberry

Rosemary

Ring

Roast

Real

Radish

MEASURES OF RETENTION…………..MEASURES OF RETENTION…………..RECALLRECALL

FREE RECALL:

-Participants are required to retrieve as much information as they can in any order e.g. a list of grocery items.

SERIAL RECALL:

-Participants recall information in the order in which it was presented e.g. the names of cities on an itinerary for an overseas journey.

CUED RECALL:

-Participants recall information in any order – but with the cues (prompts) to assist the retrieval process.e.g. the surname is short and begins with “D”.

RECOGNITION

-Is the identification of the correct information among a list of incorrect pieces of information e.g. Which Australian Prime Minister drowned at Portsea? 1. Chifley 2. Deakin 3. Holt 4. Menzies

Answer: Holt

-we can generally remember more accurately when using arecognition then when using recall because recognition provides more cues to assist retrieval.

Eg. If you were asked to name students in your English class last year, what % of the class do you think you could recall?

If you were given a list of 50 names & asked to identify (recognise) those who were in your English class last year–the no.of those who you recognised from your English class would be much higher

RECOGNITION

RETRIEVAL CUES: Is any stimulus or word that is associated with a specificMemory that helps or enhances the retrieval of information.

•It is easier to retrieve the correct information because it is shown among the incorrect information.

• Recognition is superior and is a more sensitive measure than recall.

RELEARNING-refers to learning something over again which has been previously committed to memory.

If the time taken to learn the material originally can be measured & comparedWith the time taken to relearn the same material, then a savings score can be calculated.

Savings score = time for original learning - time for relearning time for original learning X 100

e.g. If 10 trials are required originally to fully learn material but only 6 trials are needed to fully relearn the material later on, the savings scores (amount of information retained) is 40%

Savings score = 10 – 6 10

x 100 = 4 10

X 100 = 0.4 x 100 = 40%

RELEARNING

-relearning is the most sensitive measure of retention of the 3 types described Because: it demonstrates that there is some information in memory, even if we think there is none or very little

Complete – Activity 1 p 122 (worksheet)

CYU – 7.1 page 199

CYU - 7.2 page 202

3 TYPES OF MEMORY

SENSORY ( SM )

SHORT TERM ( STM) or Working Memory LONG – TERM MEMORY (LTM)

-These 3 levels of memory: function simultaneously interact with each other are separate yet related systems

InformationSENSORYMEMORY

( SM )

Lost if not attended to

3 TYPES OF MEMORY

If we pay attention toIt & rehearse it, it passes to….

SHORT TERMMEMORY

(STM)

Forgotten if notencoded or rehearsed

LONG – TERMMEMORY

(LTM)

Forgotten if:• interference

•Retrieval failure•Motivated forgetting

•Decay

Encoding & Storage

Retrieval

• New information passes from SM to STM if we pay attention to it• information may pass from STM to LTM if we rehearse it in a way that gives meaning & allows it to hook into existing information in LTM. •Information passes back from LTM to STM when we need it to think, plan or solve problems.

SENSORY MEMORY ( SM )

• is very brief storage of raw or unencoded information at receptor sites• relates directly to our sensory system• we have a sensory registerregister for each sense, which holds information from a fraction of a second and several seconds.• the duration varies from one sense to another• this information in SM has not yet entered our awareness & may never do so

TYPES OF SENSORY MEMORY registersregisters:

• ICONIC MEMORY ( visual) • ECHOIC MEMORY (auditory)

TYPES OF SENSORY MEMORY

ICONIC MEMORY ( visual) - “ICON” greek work meaning image- lasts for 0.2 – 0.4 sec - stores visual images in their original sensory form - storage capacity: potentially unlimited, retains the last visual image

ECHOIC MEMORY (auditory) - stores sounds in their original sensory form - lasts for 3 – 4 sec-storage capacity: potentially unlimited, retains the last few sounds -this longer time(3 – 4 sec) helps to explain why people who appear not to hear a question sometimes answer it just as the person is abandoning hope of ever getting a reply! This happens when the “listener” is doing another task e.g. reading a book or watching a TV show

- the sensory registers hold information long enough to decide whether or not to attend to it (ie process it further). - if we choose to attend to it then it is transferred to SHORT TERM ( STM) or Working Memory

Learning tip:Learning tip:There are as many sensory registers for sensory memory as there are senses (5) though you will only need toknow about the iconic & echoic sensory registers.

Read : top of page 206 & do TIY 7.1Focus on research page 207CYU 7.3 p208

SHORT TERM (STM) or Working Memory

-is also called working memory (like the RAM in a computer)

-may be using information coming in from sensory memory (SM) or information being retrieved from the long – term memory (LTM) - quite often combines the two

Information coming into STM may experience any of the 3 outcomes

discarded

Retained

Encoded& transferred

Into LTM

(1) Storage Capacity: is extremely limited compared to that of long – term memory.

normally adults are able to store & process approximately 7 single bits (chunks/ pieces) of information in STM at one time.

information in excess of this is disregarded or transferred to LTM.

Storage Duration: retains information for up to about 20 sec if unattended; information is held indefinitely if continually attended to ( i.e. rehearsed).

Read – p 210 Nelson

SHORT TERM ( STM) or Working Memory

(2) Rehearsal : there are two types of rehearsal used by short term memory. Maintenance Elaborative

Maintenance rehearsal: p 212Repetition of a sound or image over & over, in a rote,mechanical way without adding new meaning to it.

Keeps ( maintains) the information in STM for a longer periodof time than it would otherwise remain.

As long as we are not interrupted whilst rehearsing, we can keepInformation in STM almost indefinitely. This rarely occurs because we are almost always distracted OR interrupted to turn our attention to something else. Maintenance rehearsal does little to encode or add meaning to the information.

Elaborative rehearsal: p212

The way we manipulate new information to make it more

meaningful & integrate it with existing information in LTM.

In other words we reorganise new & existing information in a

meaningful way to aid storage & retrieval.

(e.g. associating verbal information with visual images)

Self referencing is a way we can elaborate information. This

Involves mentally involving yourself in an example or

Situation connected with the material being learned.

SHORT TERM ( STM) or Working Memory

Elaborative rehearsal:

Advantage of elaboration- provides so much additional meaning, that the learner’s understanding is enhanced. CYU 7.4 & 7.5TIY 7.2

Learning TipLearning TipRemember that elaborative rehearsal relates to LTM (we add

meaning or significance to memories to be stored permanently)&

maintenance rehearsal relates to STM (it helps us to maintainthe material here for longer than the normal 18 – 20 sec).

SHORT TERM ( STM) or Working Memory

(3) ChunkingIs the process of grouping or combining smaller bits of information that can be remembered as larger moremeaningful units, i.e. “chunks”.

This increases the amount of information (i.e. capacity) that can be held in STM at one time.

Example:We have very little difficulty memorising numbers with more than 7 digits if we chunk some of the digits together.

We tend to do this with area codes. We may know a number of people in the 02 area code. We think of 02 as a chunk & wemay then group the rest of the number into 2 or three chunks of numbers.

Chunking cont’

•E.g: combining the digits 3,7,8 into a single number 378

• reorganising and combining the letters H C E V I E L into the single word VEHICLE

• reorganising & combining the words CAT, MAT, SAT, FAT, THE, BROWN, ON into a sentence THE FAT CAT SAT ON THE BROWN MAT

Complete TIY 7.3

Read a closer look p 217

TIY 7.4 & CYU 7.6

SHORT TERM (STM) or Working Memory

•Psychologists suggest that STM is a very active memoryarea composed of a variety of specialised multiple memory systems that have evolved for different tasks.

• The term “working memory” is used because it indicates that we are actively doing something with the information.

Working Memory -The subsystem of STM that is involved in processing information we need for dealing with the immediate moment.

-It holds & processes current information with past -Information held in LTM.

-It is a limited capacity workspace

-Working memory is seen as an area that holds all the information needed for cognitive activities like ThinkingPlanningAnalysis

•When we perform mental arithmetic e.g. (56 + 48) we are using working memory

• When we dial a telephone number we are using working memory

• When we engage in verbal reasoning or read we are using working memory

Alan Baddeley (1986) developed the most complete description of working memory.

He suggests that the working memory is a three - partsystem that temporarily holds & manipulates informationas we perform cognitive tasks.

Baddeley’s 3 component (“sub – systems”) structure of WM

PHONOLOGICAL LOOP VISUOSPATIAL SKETCHPAD CENTRAL EXECUTIVE

PHONOLOGICAL LOOP

Otherwise known as (verbal Working Memory) OR Articulatory Loop is an area

of working memory that stores a limited number of sounds received from

The echoic memory register and / or the LTM for up to 2 seconds

Unless the material is further rehearsed.

•See diagram page 219 – Nelson

The PHONOLOGICAL LOOP is composed of 2 subsystems:

1. Articulatory Control System This is a sub vocal rehearsal mechanism (the inner voice) with a time based capacity of up to 2 sec. It holds sounds that originate from the external environment by subvocalising (silently repeating) material we want to maintain or are preparing to say.

2. Phonological Store (the inner ear) with a time based capacity of approximately 1.5 – 2 sec. It holds representations of sounds which fade unless they are rehearsed through silent repetition.

VISUO – SPATIAL SKETCHPAD- Otherwise known as (visual Working Memory) that stores visual (images) and spatial information (objects location in space) for a limited period of time.

-this allows us to rehearse incoming & outgoing information & to manipulate

and process visual images.

-EXAMPLE:

Close your eyes and try to remember what objects are presently in the

Room.

You are using your visuo – sketchpad which uses a visual code

That inputs & represents information in the form of visual features such as

SIZE, SHAPE & COLOUR.

• VISUO – SPATIAL SKETCHPAD CON’T ……

-it has a limited capacity but can use information from any of the senses

-It can store information for approx 18 – 20 sec without rehearsal.

-If too much information is supplied to the visuo – spatial sketchpad

and it becomes overloaded, we cannot represent items accurately

enough for them to be recovered later.•CENTRAL EXECUTIVE

-most important aspect of working memory

-It monitors, coordinates, integrates information from the phonological loop & visual spatial sketchpad and long – term memory.

-it decides which information needs attention & what needs to be ignored.

Read evidence in support of WM……………..page 220

•LONG – TERM MEMORY (LTM)

Meaningful information that has been attended to & that has undergone further processing in STM is transferred to a thirdmemory system - LTM.

Capacity: Virtually unlimitedDuration: Up to a lifetime – relatively permanentProcessing: Information is organised according to meaning & is associatively linked

Forming a LTM is called consolidation

Consolidation theory

•Appears to be a period of time in the transfer of informationfrom short – term memory into long – term memory whensome consolidation of the information is necessary for a permanent memory to be retained.

•Suggests that information can be altered or completely lost during this consolidation phase.

• the theory suggests that there is a physical change to brain cells during the period of consolidation, and that the information is not completely consolidated until the change to the brain cells is complete.

• it takes approx 30 minutes for a new memory to be transferred from STM to permanent storage in LTM.

•

Consolidation theory…..

-Explains why people may lose a recent part of their memory following a head injury, or after ECT (electroconvulsive therapy). That is the lost information had not yet been consolidated.

-Read top of page 222 (rat & electric shock experiment).-FOR page 223 – 224.-TIY 7.5 p225

• LONG – TERM MEMORY (LTM)

- stores all the information which we do not need right now. This information is not immediately active, and needs to be retrieved back into our short – term memory when we need to use it.

- as new LTMs are formed, older memories are often changed, lost or revised.

-LTM can be categorised into 4 types of memories

Procedural memory Declarative memoryEpisodic Memory Semantic Memory Remember …PEDS

Procedural memory

-is learned actions & skills about how to perform a task. e.g. walk, talk or juggle. -includes conditioned responses & actions like those involved in typing or solving a puzzle.

- they tend to occur after practice.

-procedural memories are quite resistant to forgetting Ie: we don’t forget how to swim or ride a bike.

-they are also quite resistant to brain damage that might wipe out other forms of memory.

-REMEMBER: procedures involve the way to do things- actionsREMEMBER: procedures involve the way to do things- actions

Declarative memory

-refers to the memories of events & facts which can be brought consciously to mind & usually be communicated to others.

e.g. that the Eiffel Tower is in Paris etc… -it can be divided into TWO TYPES

Episodic Memory Semantic Memory

•Episodic Memory (time & place)

•are memories or events or episodes. Examples of these may include:-your first day at school-Most embarrassing moment

- they are of a personal nature (i.e. they are part of your life experience).- very vivid episodic memories are called flashbulb memories read FOR p 228

•Semantic Memory ( meaning)

-are memories of facts (or knowledge). Examples of semantic memories might include knowing that Wellington is the capital of New ZealandOr 12 X 9 = 108 FOR p 229

Complete all learning activities for Memory chapter Complete chapter notes for forgetting