Module 12

Remembering & Forgetting

INTRODUCTION

• recall– retrieving previously learned information without the

aid of or with very few external cues

• recognition– identifying previously learned information with the

help of more external cues

ORGANIZATION OF MEMORIES

• Network theory of memory organization– theory says that we store related ideas in separate

categories, or files, called nodes• Associations

– linking of nodes or categories of ideas together by making associations or mental roads between new information and old information that was previously stored

• Network– thousands of interconnected nodes, which form an

enormous cognitive network for arranging and storing files

ORGANIZATION OF MEMORIES (CONT.)

ORGANIZATION OF MEMORIES (CONT.)

• Organization of network hierarchy– nodes

• memory files that contain related information organized around a specific topic or category

– refers to the arrangement of nodes or memory files in a certain order or hierarchy

– bottom of the hierarchy are nodes with very concrete information, which are connected to nodes with somewhat more specific information, which in turn are connected to nodes with general or abstract information

FORGETTING CURVES

• Unfamiliar and uninteresting– forgetting curve measures the amount of previously

learned information that subjects can recall or recognize

• Familiar and interesting– remembering is partly related to how familiar or

interesting the information is

REASONS FOR FORGETTING

• Overview: forgetting– refers to the inability to retrieve, recall, or recognize

information that was stored or is still stored in long-term memory

• Repression– according to Freud, repression is a mental process

that automatically hides emotionally threatening or anxiety-producing information in the unconscious, from which repressed memories cannot be recalled voluntarily, but something may cause them to enter consciousness at a later time

REASONS FOR FORGETTING (CONT.)

– Poor retrieval cues/poor encoding– Retrieval cues– mental reminders that we create by forming vivid

mental images or creating associations between new information and information we already know

• Interference– common reason for forgetting– recall of some particular memory is blocked or

prevented by other related memories

REASONS FOR FORGETTING (CONT.)

– Amnesia• may be temporary or permanent, is loss of memory

that may occur after a blow or damage to the brain or after disease

– Distortion• we misremember something due to memory

distortions caused by bias or suggestibility

REASONS FOR FORGETTING (CONT.)– Interference

• may forget information not because it is no longer in storage or memory but rather because old or newer related information produces confusion and thus blocks retrieval from memory

– Proactive interference• occurs when old information (learned earlier)

blocks or disrupts the remembering of related new information (learned later)

– Retroactive interference• occurs when new information (learned later) blocks

or disrupts the retrieval of related old information (learned earlier

REASONS FOR FORGETTING (CONT.)

• Retrieval cues– mental reminders that you create by forming vivid

mental images of information, or associating new information with information that you already know

• Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon– refers to having a strong feeling that a particular word

can be recalled, but despite making a great effort, we are temporarily unable to recall this particular information

REASONS FOR FORGETTING (CONT.)

• State-dependent learning– Easier to recall information when you are in the same

physiological or emotional state or setting as when you originally encoded the information

BIOLOGICAL BASES OF MEMORY

• Location of memories in the brain– Cortex

• Short term memories– ability to hold words, facts, and events in short-term

memory depends on activity in the cortex• Long term memory

– ability to remember or recall songs, words, facts, and events for days, months, or years depends on areas widely spread throughout the cortex

BIOLOGICAL BASES OF MEMORY (CONT.)

BIOLOGICAL BASES OF MEMORY (CONT.)

• Location of memories in the brain– Amygdala: emotional memories

• the amygdala, located in the tip of the temporal lobe receives input from all the senses and is associated with emotional memory

– Hippocampus: transferring memories• transfers words, facts, and personal events from

short-term memory into permanent long-term memory

BIOLOGICAL BASES OF MEMORY (CONT.)

• Making a short-term memory– Neural assemblies

• groups of interconnected neurons whose activation allows information or stimuli to be recognized and held briefly and temporarily in short-term memory

BIOLOGICAL BASES OF MEMORY (CONT.)

BIOLOGICAL BASES OF MEMORY (CONT.)

• Making a long-term memory– Long-term potentiation (LTP)

• refers to change in the structure and function of neurons after they have been repeatedly stimulated

• neuroscientists believe that the LTP process, which changes the structure and function of neurons, is the most likely basis for learning and memory in animals and humans

MNEMONICS: MEMORIZATION METHODS

• Improving your memory– Mnemonic methods

• ways to improve encoding and create better retrieval cues by forming vivid associations or images, which improve recall

– Method of loci• encoding technique that creates visual

associations between already memorized places and new items to be memorized

– Peg method• encoding technique that creates associations

between number-word rhymes and items to be memorized