Memory

Pair-Share:

Have you ever wished you could improve your memory? What are some strategies you could

try in order to improve your memory?

Memory:The process by which we encode, store, and retrieve information.

Encoding:The initial recording of information.

Storage:How information is saved for future use.

Retrieval:The recovery of stored information.

Short-Term Memories

Long-Term Memories

Information

Sensory Memories Forgotten after 1 second.

Forgotten after 25 seconds.

Permanent storage, although hard to retrieve.

Sensory MemoryThe initial, momentary storage of information, lasting only an instant. The fleeting impressions of all sensory

input we experience: every sight, sound, smell, etc.

(See front screen)

Short-Term MemoryMemory that holds information for about 15-25

seconds. Sensory memories might convert into short-term memories if we assign meaning to them.

We can store about 7 “chunks” of information in short-term memory at any given time. (A

“chunk” is a meaningful piece of information, like a

letter, number, word, simple image, etc.)

Memorize this list of numbers.

(See front screen)

Memorize this list of numbers.

(See front screen)

Read this list of words once, and try to recall them.

(See front screen)

Read this list of words once in your head, close your eyes, and try to recall them.

(See front screen)

Memorize the location of chess pieces on this board:

(See front screen)

RehearsalInformation is able to remain longer in short-term memory if rehearsal is practiced. Rehearsal is the repetition or organization of information that has

entered the short-term memory.

Rehearsal also allows us to transfer

information from short-term memories

into long-term memories!

Read this list of letters multiple times, repeating the pattern, and try to recall them.

(See front screen)

RehearsalThe type of rehearsal that is carried out greatly impacts the mind’s ability to transfer information

from short-term to long-term memory…

Repetition Repeating things over and over again keeps them stored in short-term memory.

Elaborative Rehearsal

This is when information is organized in some way: for example, when you link it to another memory.

MnemonicsThese are formal techniques for organizing

information in a way that makes it more likely to be remembered.

Elaborative RehearsalOrganizing information allows it to pass from short-

term memory into long-term memory.

Technique #1: Connect new information to information that is already stored in your memory.

Your goal: Envision a location that you know very well. Imagine that

the items I show you are located in specific areas within

that location.

Memorize the 10 items shown here.

(See front screen)

“While standing in a field of purple flowers, the cow ate a chocolate

cupcake.”

Elaborative RehearsalOrganizing information allows it to pass from short-

term memory into long-term memory.

Technique #2: Organize information in a more meaningful or logical

way.

Your goal: Use the words I give you to create a story. Connect the

words together into a coherent whole instead of

separate pieces.

Memorize the 10 words shown here.

(See front screen)

Living Things: Cow, Flower

+

Things I Eat: Cow, Cupcake

Elaborative RehearsalOrganizing information allows it to pass from short-

term memory into long-term memory.

Technique #3: Organize information in a more meaningful or logical

way.

Your goal: This time, group the words

according to similar characteristics, and give each

group a label.

Group the 12 words into categories, and label the categories.

(See front screen)

MnemonicsFormal techniques for organizing information…

Put the information is a song

Use the first letter of each item to form a word

Put the information in a rhyme

Associate the information with an image

“Working” Memory

Modern-day memory theorists like to call short-term memory the “working memory” because it is like an information processing system that manages both new material gathered from sensory memory and older material that has been pulled from long-term memory storage. It is the memory that activelyworks to build connections and create meaning.

Long-Term MemoryMemory that stores information on a relatively

permanent basis, although it may be difficult to retrieve.

The reason we are able to store long-term information is

because our brains create semantic networks: clusters of interconnected information.

The more connections our brain makes between a piece

of information and other pieces of information, the

more likely we are to remember it.

Long-Term MemoryLong-term memory capacity is practically unlimited. Memories are not located in a particular part of the

brain; rather, they are stored in many areas.

The amygdala is the emotional center of the brain. (Recall that scientists believe psychopaths often have a malfunctioning

amygdala). Thus, this area of the brain is involved in memory

storage when your memories are connected to an emotion.

Long-Term MemoryThere are separate systems in the brain related to

long-term memory…

Declarative Memory Memory for factual information: names, faces, dates, etc.

Procedural Memory Memory for skills and habits, such as riding a bike, writing, or kicking a ball.

Semantic MemoryMemory for general knowledge and facts about the world, as well as memory for the rules and

logic that are used to deduce other facts.

Episodic Memory Memory for events that occur in a particular time, place, and context.

Memory Consolidation The process of gradually converting short-term

memories into long-term memories.

1. The more connections we make within the brain, the stronger our stored memories become.

2. The more often we recall information (think about it) the stronger our memories become.

Pathways of neurons in the brain fire when you think about something. The more often you think about it, the smoother and faster those patterns of

neurons will fire in your brain.

Memory Reconsolidation Each time you recall a memory, the memory changes.

Recall that memories are made through semantic networks in the brain: clusters of interconnected

information. Each time you think of a memory, you are adding new information to the network of information

already in place.

Your memories are not stored like files in a cabinet. They are a web of connections that is always

being modified.

Video 1