Memory

The Memory ProcessThree step process….

1. Encoding: The processing of information into the memory system.

2. Storage: The retention of encoded material over time.

3. Retrieval: The process of getting the information out of memory storage.

Three Box Model of Memory

Haptic memory – tactile sensations(1.3 secs)

Info-Processing• Brain processes many things at

different levels at the same time

• Automatic (not conscious)

– Remembering space, time, frequency, well-learned info

– i.e. driving slowly down a street (automatic) while looking for an address (conscious)

• Effortful (conscious)

– Rehearsal/repetition

– Must consciously attend to/

– think about

Ebbinghaus Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables

TUV ZOF GEK WAV the more times practiced on Day 1, the

fewer repetitions to relearn on Day 2 = RELEARNING EFFECT

Spacing Effect• DO NOT CRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!• Distributed practice is better than

massed practice for enhanced memory • Overlearning = continuing to rehearse

even after learned does enhance later memory

Encoding Information• Primacy Effect

– Items @ beginning of list

• Recency Effect– Items @ end of list

= Serial Positioning Effect (more likely to remember items at the beginning & end of list (less likely to remember items in middle of list)

The ways we can encode…

• Visual Encoding: the encoding of picture images.

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

• Semantic Encoding: the encoding of meaning (such as the meaning of words).

Encoding – Techniques for

Memory Imagery (technique for visual

encoding) mental pictures a powerful aid to effortful processing,

especially when combined with semantic encoding

Mnemonics memory aids especially those techniques that use

vivid imagery and organizational devices

Encoding Chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units like horizontal organization--

1776149218121941

often occurs automatically use of acronyms

HOMES--Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior

ARITHMETIC--A Rat In Tom’s House Might Eat Tom’s Ice Cream

Encoding: Chunking Organized information is more easily recalled

in groups

Peg-Word System• One is a bun• Two is a shoe• Three is a tree• Four is a door• Five is a hive

• Six is sticks• Seven is heaven• Eight is a gate• Nine is swine• Ten is a hen

Method of Loci – Uses your cognitive map!!

Method of Loci – Uses your cognitive map!!

• Honey• Dog food• Sugar• Oranges• Ice cream

• Peanut butter• Bread• Pork chops• Milk• Potato chips

Three Box Model of Memory

Haptic memory – tactile sensations(1.3 secs)

Storage: Sensory Memory

• Iconic memory– Brief sensory

memory of images (tenths of a second)

• Echoic memory– Brief sensory memory

of sounds (2-4 secs)

• Haptic memory– Memory for touch/tactile sensations

Storage: Short-Term (STM)/Working Memory

• Limited duration & capacity

• Magical number (7+/-2 items)

• Events are encoded visually, acoustically or semantically.

• We recall digits better than letters.

How does storage work? Engrams (physical traces of

memory) Karl Lashley (1950)

Memories must be stored throughout the brain (no single place)

Synaptic changes Long-term Potentiation

Biological evidence of memory increase in synapse’s firing potential

after brief, rapid stimulation

Storage: Long-Term Memory (LTM)

Retrospective Memory

Memory of the past

(i.e. remembering your first day of school, remembering the Homecoming dance, etc.)

Prospective Memory

Memory for things that will happen in the future

(i.e. I have a dentist appt. tomorrow at 3, next week is my sister’s birthday, etc.)

Storage: Long-Term Memory Subsystems

Types oflong-termmemories

Explicit(declarative)

With consciousrecall

Implicit(nondeclarative)

Without conscious recall

Facts-generalknowledge(“semanticmemory”)

Personally experienced

events(“episodic memory”)

Skills-motorand cognitive

Dispositions-classical and

operant conditioning

effects

Strong emotions make for stronger memories = FLASHBULB MEMORIES

• Mood-dependent memory we remember info in same mood as when it was encoded/learned

• State-dependent memory remember when in same conscious state as learned/

rehearsed

Storage: Long-Term Memory (LTM)

Retrieval: Context Effects/Context-Dependent Memory• Godden and Baddeley (1975)

0

10

20

30

40

Water/land

Land/water

Water/water

Different contexts for hearing and recall

Same contexts for hearing and recall

Land/land

Percentage ofwords recalled

Retrieval• Recall v. Recognition

tasks

• Priming - activation of unconscious associations in memory (déjà vu)

• Mood-dependent memory we remember info in same mood as when it was encoded/learned

• State-dependent memory remember when in same conscious state as learned/rehearsed

Retrieval: Context Effects• Godden and Baddeley (1975)

0

10

20

30

40

Water/land

Land/water

Water/water

Different contexts for hearing and recall

Same contexts for hearing and recall

Land/land

Percentage ofwords recalled

Why Do We Forget?Why Do We Forget?• The White House is pictured on the back

of a $20 bill. What is the on the back of a $10 bill? $5 bill? $1 bill?

• Whose faces are on Mt. Rushmore? • What letters accompany the number 4 on

a phone?• What is the Statue of Liberty holding in

her left hand?• How many sides are there on a #2 pencil?

Forgetting: Encoding Failure

Ebbinghaus Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables

TUV ZOF GEK WAV the more times practiced on Day 1, the

fewer repetitions to relearn on Day 2

If not rehearsed, forgetting occurs rapidly, but then levels off

Forgetting: Encoding Failure• Info never gets to LTM

Externalevents

Sensorymemory

Short-term

memory

Long-term

memory

Attention

Encoding

Encoding

Encodingfailure leadsto forgetting

Forgetting: Storage Decay

Ebbinghaus forgetting curve over 30 days-- initially rapid, then levels off with time

12345 10 15 20 25 30

10

20

30

40

50

60

0

Time in days since learning list

Percentage oflist retainedwhen relearning

Forgetting: Storage Decay The forgetting curve for Spanish learned in school

Retentiondrops,

then levels off

1 3 5 9½ 14½ 25 35½ 49½Time in years after completion of Spanish course

100%

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Percentage oforiginal

vocabularyretained

Forgetting: Retrieval Failure

Forgetting can result from failure to retrieve information from long-term memory

Externalevents

Attention

Encoding

Encoding

Retrieval failureleads to forgetting

Retrieval

Sensorymemory

Short-termmemory

Long-termmemory

Forgetting: Interference• Proactive (forward-

acting) interference old info disrupts memory of new info

• Retroactive (backward-acting) interference new info disrupts memory of old info

Forgetting- Interference

Motivated Forgetting (retrieval failure) people unknowingly revise memories

Repression defense mechanism that banishes from

consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Amnesia:Disruption of explicit memories

• Infantile amnesia: difficult to remember vivid memories from before ages 2-3

• Dissociative amnesia: inability to remember info due to psychological trauma

Memory Construction

Elizabeth Loftus We filter information and fill in

missing pieces Misinformation Effect

incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

Memory Construction

Eyewitnesses reconstruct memories when questioned

Depiction of actual accident

Leading question:“About how fast were the carsgoing when they smashed intoeach other?”

Memoryconstruction

ReferencesKaplan, H. Memory (PPT file). Retrieved from

AP Psychology Commune Web Site:

http://www.appsychology.com

Myers, D.G. (2011). Myers’ psychology for AP. Holland, MI: Worth Publishers.