1. Memory
Chapter 8

2. Memory
Memory: the process by which we encode, store, and retrieve information
Encoding: initial recording of information
Storage: information saved for future use
Retrieval: recovery of stored information

3. Three-System Memory Theory
Proposes the existence of 3 different memory stores
Sensory Memory: the initial, momentary storage of information, lasting only an instant (sight, sound, etc)
Short Term Memory: Memory that holds information for 15 to 25 seconds
Long Term Memory: Memory that stores information on a relatively permanent basis, although it may be difficult to retrieve

4. Sensory Memory
A momentary flash of lighting, the snapping of a twig—they all give us information which is forgotten right away
Iconic memory: memory from the visual system
Echoic memory: stores auditory information
Sensory memory is stored for a VERY short time. If it does not pass to short term memory it is lost forever

5. Sperling
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6. Sperling
When exposed to just the letters for 1/20th of a second, people could only remember 4 or 5 letters accurately
He did the experiment again, but sounded a low, high, or medium tone after exposing the people to the letters
If the tone was high, they were told to look at the first line, if the tone was medium they looked at the middle, and if the tone was low they were told to look at the last line
People were able to accurately write the letters. Therefore, they had been storing them all along. He determined that recalling the letters was possible as long as they were shown the letters for over one second.

7. Short Term Memory
To retain information it must be stored in short tem memory
Short term memory is the first form of memory in which information has meaning. However, it is only stored for a short period of time.
It is not clear how things are transformed into short term memory

8. Short Term Memory Most that you can store is seven items
Chunks: a meaningful grouping of stimuli that can be stored as a unit in short term memory

9. Short Term Memory
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10. Short Term Memory
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11. Rehearsal
The repetition of information that has entered short term memory
As long as information is repeated you can store it in your short term memory
Type of rehearsal influences whether information is stored in long term or short term
Elaborative rehearsal
Mnemonic device

12. Working Memory
A set of temporary memory stores that actively manipulate and rehearse information
Contains a central executive processing that is involved in reasoning and decision making.
The central executive coordinates the following:
The visual store, verbal store, and episodic buffer

13. Working Memory
Permits us to keep information in an active state briefly so that we can do something with the information.
Example: when we are totaling a bill

14. Long Term Memory
Material that enters from short term to long term memory enters a storage house of almost unlimited capacity.
What does this mean? We have an immense storage capacity
Certain kinds of brain damageno long term memory

15. Long Term Memory Modules
Declarative Memory: Memory for factual information: names, faces, dates, and the like.
Procedural Memory: Memory for skills and habits, such as riding a bike or hitting a baseball, sometimes referred to as nondeclarative memory.
Semantic Memory: Memory for general knowledge and facts about the world, as well as memory for the rules of logic that are used to deduce other facts
Episodic Memory: Memory for events that occur in a particular time, place, or context

16. Semantic Networks
Semantic Networks: mental representations of clusters of interconnected information
Example: think of everything you can think of that is red…or think of fruits…If you think of an apple on the first task, you are more likely to think of an apple on the second task.

17. Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon
The inability to recall information that one realizes one knows-a result of the difficulty of retrieving information from long-term memory

18. Retrieval Cues Who can name the seven dwarfs from Snow White?
This is a difficult task because it involves recall
Recall: Memory task in which specific information must be retrieved
Retrieval cue: a stimulus that allows us to recall more easily information that is in long term memory

19. Retrieval Cues
Examples:
Words
Emotions
Sounds

20. Retrieval Cues
When the retrieval cue is present the memory will come to mind
For example: the smell of roasting turkey may evoke memories of thanksgiving

21. Levels of Processing
Levels of Processing: the theory of memory that emphasizes the degree in which new material is mentally analyzed
The more we process information the more likely we are to remember it

22. Explicit Memory Intentional or conscious recollection of information
Example: when we try to remember a date

23. Implicit Memory
Memories of which most people are not consciously aware, but which can affect subsequent performance and behavior
Example: skills that operate unconsciously such as jumping out of the way of a car

24. Priming
A phenomenon in which exposure to a word or concept later makes it easier to recall related information, even when there is no conscious memory of the word or concept
You forget something, but then you see something that triggers it

25. Flash Bulb Memories
Memories centered on a specific, important, or surprising event that are so vivid it is as if they represented a snapshot of the event
Example: a car accident (something specific you remember vividly), the world trade center attack

26. Constructive Processes In Memory: Rebuilding the Past
Constructive Processes: processes in which memories are influenced by the meaning we give to events
Schemas: organized bodies of information stored in memory that bias the way new information is interpreted, stored, and recalled

27. Memory in the Court Room
Eye witnesses are prone to memory related errors
When children are witnesses there may be increased errors
Children’s memory may be highly susceptible to error when emotional content or stress is involved

28. Repressed and False Memories
Controversy as to whether there is such a thing as a “repressed memory”
Repressed Memory: recollections of events that are initially so shocking that the mind responds by pushing them into the unconscious
Some supporters suggest that such memories may remain hidden possibly throughout a person’s life time

29. False Memory
Develop when people are unable to recall the source of a memory of a particular event about which they have only vague recollection
When the source of memory becomes unclear, people may become confused about whether they actually experienced the event or whether it was imagined. Ultimately, people come to believe that the event occurred.
Such memories can be so vivid that they produce emotional reaction even though they are false

30. Autobiographical Memory
Our recollections of circumstances and episodes from our own life
Encompass episodic memories about ourselves
Example: we tend to forget information about our past that is incompatible with the way in which we currently see ourselves (college students forget their bad grades but remember their good ones)

31. Forgetting Why do we forget?
We did not pay attention to the material in the first place (encoding failure)
Decay: the loss of information in memory due to it not being used
Interference: the phenomenon by which information in memory disrupts the recall of other information
Cue dependent forgetting: forgetting that occurs when there are insufficient retrieval cues to rekindle information that is in memory

32. Memory Dysfunctions
Alzheimer’s Disease: an illness characterized by severe memory problems