Unit 2 – Memory

Section 1: Memory Processing

What is Memory?

• The ability to remember things we have experienced, imagined, or learned

• Memory is often seen as steps in an information-processing system (FACTORY)– Encoding – (The process of putting information into

digital format.) – Storage – Hard Drive– Retrieval – Accessing the Hard Drive

Three Processes of Memory

• These are different than types of memory (sensory, short-term, and long-term)

Sequence of Information Processing

Attention

All the rest

External Stimuli

Sensory Registers

gone

Short Term Memory

Long Term Memory

Retrieval

1. Encoding

3. Retrieval

2. Storage

Information Processing Model

Encoding

• Entering information in the memory bank

• Example: Entering books into the library database

• Without encoding, there can be no storage or retrieval!

Attention

• Selects certain information for further processing

• We normally pay attention to only a small portion of incoming information– Divided (More than 1)– Sustained (Vigilant)

Levels of Processing• Increasing “depth” of processing: depth of processing

information enhances retention

Forms:• Visual how does it look ? (Detection)• Phonological how does it sound ? (recognition)• Semantic what does it mean ? (Associations)

• (Shallowest Deepest)

• Criticized as not falsifiable

Encoding in Short-Term Memory

• Much information is stored in STM phonologically (according to how it sounds)

• Some information is stored visually• Research has shown that memory for visually

encoded information is better than phonologically encoded information

Elaboration and Imagery

• Elaboration – Forming connections around a stimulus – Occurs at every level– Spider Web of Information

• Imagery – Useful to make distinctive memories – Case of S.

• Most people can do 5 to 9 recall terms• S. could do over 70 (accurately in reverse, for 15 years after

exposure)

– Represented each word as a visual image

UNIT 2 - MEMORYSection 2 - Storage and Long Term Memory

Attention

All the rest

External Stimuli

Sensory Registers

gone

Short Term Memory

Long Term Memory

Retrieval

1. Encoding

3. Retrieval

2. Storage

Information Processing Model

Important Details about Storage

• Span: how much info the system can hold

• Duration: how long it holds it for

Three Types of Memory Systems

• Sensory – Fraction of a second to several seconds• Short Term – Up to 30 seconds• Long Term – Up to a lifetime

• This is called the Atkinson-Shiffrin Theory

Sensory Memory

• 1st Stop brief storage of perceptual information before it is passed to short-term memory

• The sensory registers are very large, but information stays for only a very short time

Two types: • iconic (visual) about 1 sec

– implicated in photographic memory

• echoic (auditory) 5 – 10 sec

Visual and Auditory Registers

• Visual register holds images, or icons, that represent all aspects of a visual image– Icons normally last about ¼ second in the visual register

• Auditory register holds echoes of sound– Echoes can last up to several seconds in the auditory

register• Current research has demonstrated that STM can

hold whatever is rehearsed in 1.5 to 2 seconds• Larger amounts of information can be held by using

the process of chunking

Short Term Memory• Closely related to “Working Memory”• Processes conscious information for long term

storage • Duration: no longer than 30 seconds

• Limited capacity: Magic Number = 7 ± 2 bits of information (Memory Span)

Baddeley’s Working Memory

• Explains what Atkinson-Shiffrin cannot.• Working Memory

– Problem solving, where do things go – Performing Tasks while holding information

– 3 Parts• Phonological Loop – Speech based info• Visuospatial Working Memory – Storing visual and

spatial information• Central Executive – attention, planning, organization

Long Term Memory• Relatively enduring (from minutes

to years) retention of information stored about facts, skills, experiences– larger capacity– longer duration– biggest drop within 2 years,

then levels off– Permastore: appears to be

permanent after initial drop-off– How you initially learn is more

important that how long ago you studies it.

Types of Long Term Memory

EXPLICIT: information that we can recall intentionally- AKA declarative memory- Requires effort and awareness

• Episodic: memory for an event where one was present• Example: Your 16th birthday

• Semantic: memory of generalized knowledge• Example: 16th President of the U.S.

Types of Long Term MemoryIMPLICIT: recalling information without doing it deliberately (not

conscious effort; unintentional)

• Procedural: memory of how something is done; motor skills and habits– e.g. how to tie your shoes– Example: Classical Conditioning

• Priming: ability to identify a stimulus more easily or quickly when similar stimuli were previously encountered– AQUARIUM– SWIM– F___

Long Term Memory

• Can you think of an activity that might necessitate three types of memory: episodic, semantic, & procedural?

• Sports – Episodic – what happened in the last game?– Semantic – knowing the rules of the game– Procedural – skills required (e.g., dribbling ball,

skating, shooting)

How Memory is Organized - Schemata

• A schema is a set of beliefs or expectations about something based on past experience

• Incoming information is fit with existing schemata – concept maps

• Schemata can also influence the amount of attention paid to a given event– Schematic Script

Schemas

•Script: type of schema specifying set order of expected events

•Reduces cognitive effort by simplifying world•Oversimplifying•memory illusions

Remove clothes

Turn on faucet

Check water temperature

Step into shower

Soap

UNIT 2 SECTION 3- MEMORYRETRIEVAL

Retrieval

• Reactivation or reconstruction of experiences from memory storage

• Example: retrieving the correct book from shelf in the library

Serial Position Effect (RECALL)

• People tend to recall the first items (primacy effect) and last items (recency effect) in a list

• Demonstrates how short- and long-term memory work together

• Primacy effect reflects long-term memory• Recency effect reflects short-term memory

Long Term Memory

Primacy effect - remember early words better- more reps?

Recency effect - remember late words

better- still in STM

Von Restorff effect - remember unique / distinctive words better

Serial Position Curve

Retrieval Cues

Retrieval cues – hints to make it easier

• Driving past restaurant took girlfriend last year

Measuring Memory

•Recall : generating previously remembered information•Essay questions, Jeopardy

•Recognition: selecting previously remembered information from an array of options•Multiple choice tests, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

Recall

• Please write down the names of the twelve signs of the zodiac.

Recall

• By a show of hands, how many of you were able to recall ALL TWELVE of the Zodiac names?

Recognition

AriesHydraLeoLibraZeusMinervaPiscesAsteria

TaurusGeminiCeresScorpioSagittariusPromethusCapricornAthena

HestiaCancerVirgoApolloThemisAtlasChronosAquarius

Recognition

AriesHydraLeoLibraZeusMinervaPiscesAsteria

TaurusGeminiCeresScorpioSagittariusPromethusCapricornAthena

HestiaCancerVirgoApolloThemisAtlasChronosAquarius

Retrieval

• Why is it easier to recognize than to recall?

• Recall requires two steps: • generating an answer • evaluating whether the answer is correct

• Recognition only requires evaluation of (picking) the correct answer

Encoding Specificity• Remember something better

when conditions of retrieval are similar to conditions of encoding

• Context-dependent learning• Doesn’t always replicate

• State-dependent learning• Similar internal state• Doesn’t always replicate• Mood-dependent learning

Special Cases of Retrieval• Extraordinary memory

– Includes eidetic imagery– Likely due to well developed memory

techniques• Flashbulb Memory – Imagery and intense

nature of event heightens accuracy of information and engrains it– Allows for interpretation and recreation– Stress hormones in personal trauma

(amygdala)• Autobiographical Memories: Special form

Episodic Memory – (2nd and 3rd Decades of life – Novel

Experiences/Identity)

Special Topics in Retrieval

• Eyewitness testimony– Shown to be unreliable– People’s recall for events may be influenced by what they heard or

constructed after the incident– Memory is reconstructed– Memories are not stored like snapshots, but are instead like sketches

that are altered and added to every time they are called up – At least 255 convictions on eyewitness testimony overturned on non-

matching DNA evidence– Witnesses overconfident in their accuracy– Stressful situation/weapon focus– Sequential vs. simultaneous lineups– Blind presentation of the lineup

Special Topics in Retrieval• Eyewitness testimony cont’d

– Elizabeth Loftus has shown subjects who are given false information about an event or scene tend to incorporate it into their memories, and "recall" the false information as a part of their original memory even two weeks later.

– Loftus gives the example of the sniper attacks in the fall of 2002. "Everybody was looking for a white van even though the bad guys ended up having a dark Chevy Caprice." That's because some people reported seeing a white van at the scene of the crime. "Witnesses overhear each other," says Loftus, and police may also unintentionally influence people's memories when they talk about a crime.

UNIT 2 – SECTION 4 - FORGETTING

Forgetting

An inability to retrieve information due to poor

encoding, storage, or retrieval.

Why do we forget?

• Biological Reasons• Experience Factors

Forgetting can occur at any memory stage.

We filter, alter, or lose much

information during these stages.

Stress Hormones & MemoryHeightened emotions (stress-related or otherwise) make for stronger memories. Hormones such as Epinephrine act on brain centers in the brainExtreme stress undermines learning and later recallHow does this apply to an exam?

Biological Factors• Nervous System• Damage to the Hippocampus

– Difficulty forming new memories– Diminished in Alzheimer’s patients

• Neurotransmitters play a role– Acetylcholine – Alzheimer’s patients show low levels of this

• Decay theory (Ebbinhaus)– Memories deteriorate because of the passage of time– Distractor Studies – information fades from STM

Bahrick (1984)

showed a similar

pattern of forgetting

and retaining over 50 years.

Retrieval Aspect: Motivated Forgetting

Repressed Memory: A defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.* Forgets the act of forgetting

Motivated Forgetting: People unknowingly revise their memories.

* Where does suggestion fit in?

Sigmund Freud

Some “forgetting” isn’t a retrieval problem at all.

Encoding Failure

We cannot remember what we do not encode.

Retrieval Failure

Although the information is retained in the memory store, it cannot be

accessed.

• Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) is a retrieval failure phenomenon.

• Interference

Experiences can affect Memory

• Interference • Retroactive interference

– Occurs when new information interferes with information already in memory

– The ‘retro’ old info is interfered with by the new

Forgetting: Decay vs. Interference

• decay: information fades• interference: memories compete

with each other

Retroactive interference new info blocks old

– longtime Spanish-speaker having difficulty with Spanish after learning Italian

Proactive interference old info blocks new

– difficulty learning how to play the drums in Rock Band if you are a longtime drummer

Interference

• Proactive interference– Because of proactive interference, new learning is disrupted by

old habits. – Psychologists have found that recall of later items can be

improved by making them distinctive from early items. For example, people being fed groups of numbers to remember did much better when they were suddenly fed a group of words instead. This is called release from proactive interference

RedYellowGreen BlueRedBlue

YellowGreenBlueRed

Interference• When you look at the words you see both

its color and meaning.• When they are in conflict you must make a

choice• Experience has taught you that word

meaning is more important than color so you retrieve that information.

• You are not always in complete control of what you pay attention to.

Interference

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

• Retrieval failure; we know answer but can’t access it

State CapitalCaliforniaAlaskaLouisianaWyomingNorth DakotaVermontNew York

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

• Retrieval failure; we know answer but can’t access it

State CapitalCalifornia SAlaska JLouisiana BWyoming CNorth Dakota BVermont MNew York A

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

• Retrieval failure; we know answer but can’t access it

State CapitalCalifornia SacramentoAlaska JuneauLouisiana Baton RougeWyoming CheyenneNorth Dakota BismarckVermont MontpelierNew York Albany

Prospective Memory

• Retrospect – Past Memories• Prospective Memory – Remembering about

doing something – Time Based vs Event Based– Absentmindedness (Preoccupation)– Prospective memory presents itself when

situations can lead to goal achievement

How to Reduce Forgetting

• Develop motivation• Practice memory skills• Be confident in your

ability to remember• Minimize distractions• Stay focused

• Make meaningful connections to what is in long-term memory

• Use mental imagery• Use retrieval cues• Rely on more than

memory alone• Be aware of possible

distortion due to schemata

UNIT 2 SECTION 5 – MEMORYOTHER (BIOLOGICAL) APPLICATIONS OF MEMORY

The Biology of Memory:Two Questions For Today

• Where are memories stored?– There is no one place – Different parts of the brain are specialized for

different types of information• How are memories formed?

– Changes in synaptic connections among neural cells

– Called long-term potentiation

Long-Term Potentiation– Strengthening of connections between

neurons over time from repetitive stimulation• Neurons that “fire together, wire together”

– Thin slices of hippocampus• See how cells respond at baseline• Apply strong stimulus• Cells’ response is enhanced

– LTP occurrence where sending neuron releases glutamate• This may enhance learning• The Brain Module 17

Storing Memories in the Brain

1. Using rats, Lashley (1950) suggested that even after removing parts of the brain, the animals retain partial memory of the maze.

Concluded that there was no memory localization(The Brain Module 16)

Through electrical stimulation of the brain, (Wilder Penfield 1967)

Concluded that old memories were etched into the brain’s temporal lobe

1. Loftus and Loftus (1980) reviewed Penfield's data and showed that only a handful of brain stimulated patients reported flashbacks.

Memories are stored where they are processed!

Where Are Memories Stored?

Biology Continued - Amnesia

• Memory loss caused by accidents, surgery, poor diet, or disease

• Retrograde amnesia– Loss of memory from prior to an accident or injury– Like a computer crashing without saving your

essay.

Biology Continued - Amnesia• Anterograde – loss of events that

occurred AFTER the accident

• Retrograde – loss of events that occurred BEFORE the accident

Accident

Retrograde Anterograde

• Childhood Amnesia (Infantile Amnesia)– Generally poor memory for events prior to age 2-3– May occur because brain is not fully developed at birth

• Hippocampus not fully formed until age 2– May be due to a lack of a clear sense-of-self in young

children– May be the absence of language

Biology Continued - Amnesia

False Memories

False Memories•Memories are fallible•People are more confident in memories than they should be

•Source Monitoring: Lack of clarity about origin of a memoryoWho said that?oDream vs. Memory?

•Cryptomnesia: “Hidden memory”•Failure to recognize that our ideas originated from somewhere else

Implanting False Memories

•Suggestive memory techniques: procedures that strongly encourage people to recall memories

•Misinformation Effect: •Creation of fictitious memories by providing misleading info about an event after it takes place

o Lost in the mall example

Implanting False Memories

Review

• How memory operates– Sensory, short term, long term

• 3 processes of memory– Encoding, storage, retrieval

• Biology of memory– Long term potentiation

• False memories– Flashbulb memories– Implanting false memories– Eyewitness testimony

UNIT 2 – TIPS TO IMPROVE MEMORY

Study Tips

• Don’t underline words in your textbook

• Don’t study by reciting material to yourself

• Don’t cram for the test

• Do take notes while reading the textbook

• Do organize the info

along the way

• Do study the same

material multiple times

Creating a Concept Map?• Dual coding – images are encoded both visually and

phonologically• Chunking - Organizing information so that it fits into

meaningful units. This gets it into STM. • Listen to music but not the lyrics! Domain specific

working memory systems!• LTM storage is by meaning• Overcomes serial positioning effect• Forces elaborative rehearsal• Creates Psychology schemata (categories =>

hierarchies)

Rehearsal

Effortful learning usually requires

rehearsal or conscious

repetition.

Ebbinghaus studied rehearsal by using nonsense syllables: TUV YOF GEK XOZ Hermann Ebbinghaus

(1850-1909)

Rehearsal

The more times the nonsense syllables were practiced on

Day 1,the fewer repetitions

were required to remember them on

Day 2.

Maintaining Memory

• Rehearsal: repeating information mentallyMaintenance (rote) rehearsal : repeating original form

- phone number- This technique is not very effective in creating long term memories - Creates no meaning

Elaborative rehearsal : link them in some meaningful way (visualize, understand relationship)

Improving Short Term Memory

Maintenance Rehearsal

• Repeating an item over and over– “The shoe is brown, plain, and has no laces.”

• Good for memory over a short period of time

Maintenance Rehearsal Example

MaintenanceRehearsal

“The shoe is brown, plain, and has no laces.”

Minutes

Elaborative Rehearsal• Linking new info to what’s already in memory

– “This shoe has no laces and is so plain, it reminds me of my crazy friend George who went insane.”

• Goal is to understand, not memorize

Elaborative Rehearsal Example

ElaborativeRehearsal

“The shoe has no laces and is soplain, it reminds me of my crazy friend George who went insane.”

Hours, Months, Years

ChunkingOrganizing items into a familiar,

manageable unit. Try to remember the numbers below.

1-7-7-6-1-4-9-2-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1

If you are well versed with American history, chunk the numbers together

and see if you can recall them better. 1776 1492 1812 1941.

HOMES = Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior

PEMDAS = Parentheses, Exponent, Multiply, Divide, Add, Subtract

ROY G. BIV = Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

FBICIANBCFOXFBICIANBCFOX

Spacing Effect

Distributing rehearsal (spacing effect) is better than practicing all at once.

Mnemonics

A trigger to aid memory, involving prompts such as visual imagery or sounds. Since iimagery is at the heart of memory. Mnemonic techniques use vivid imagery in aiding memory.

1. Method of Loci

2. Link Method

Method of Loci• Thing of a familiar building, such as your house. • Take a moment to conduct a mental walk through the rooms in your

house.• Make sure you can move easily from one room to another.• Along your route create a list of "loci" :i.e. well defined parts of the

room that you can use later to memorize things. A locus can be a door, a bed, a oven, etc.

• Be sure that you can easily go from locus to locus as you visit the house.

• Now, when you are faced with a list of words or ideas to be memorized, you must form visual images for each of the words and place them, in order, on the loci in your route. To recall the words or ideas now you take a mental walk throughout your house, asking yourself , "What is on the living-room door? What's on the sleeping room bed. What's in the oven?" And so on.

Link Method

Involves forming a mental image of items to be remembered in a way that links them

together.

List of Items

NewspaperShaving creamPenUmbrella...Lamp

Hierarchy

Complex information broken down into broad concepts and further subdivided

into categories and subcategories.

Retrieval Cues

Memories are held in storage by a web of associations. These associations are like

anchors that help retrieve memory.

Fire Truck

truck

red

fire

heatsmoke

smellwater

hose

Priming

To retrieve a specific memory from the web of associations, you must first

activate one of the strands that leads to it. This process is called priming.