2. IT IS EASY TO LEARN WHAT PSYCHOLOGISTS KNOW ABOUT MEMORY. JUST REMEMBER: “THE THREE THREES”: 1. THE THREE KINDS OF MEMORY 2. THE THREE PROCESSES OF MEMORY 3. THE THREE STAGES OF MEMORY

3. I. THE THREE KINDS OF MEMORY: 1. EPISODIC MEMORY : Our memory of a specific event that you experienced. We often remember when we had the experience. “Flashbulb memories” of special or important events are so distinct it is almost as if we had a photograph

4. (3 kinds of Memory, cont’d.) 2. SEMANTIC MEMORY: Our general knowledge, such as, “Who was the first President?” Often, we don’t know WHEN we learned the info in semantic memory. Our EPISODIC and SEMANTIC memories together are examples of EXPLICIT memory of specific information that we can actively recall

5. (3 kinds of Memory, cont’d.) 3. IMPLICIT MEMORY: Skills or procedures that you have learned, such as how to sit in a desk, ride a bicycle, brush your teeth or drive a car.  We don’t have to consciously recall these memories.

7.  What methods do you most often use to memorize information?  Which method do you think is most effective? Why?  Do you use different methods for memorizing complex information and simple information? Or do you tend to use the same system all the time?

8.  How many sides do most pencils have?  In what hand does the Statue of Liberty hold her torch?

9. THE THREE PROCESSSES INVOLVED IN OUR MEMORY ARE VERY LOGICAL: WE ENCODE INFORMATION, STORE IT, & RETRIEVE IT. 1. ENCODING: Translating information into a form in which it can be stored in our brain. Encoding is the first stage of processing information.  We receive information through our senses in a physical form, then we encode it, converting the physical stimulation into psychological formats that can be mentally represented.

10. Encoding continued… 3 types of codes: 1. VISUAL CODES : FORM A MENTAL PICTURE 2. ACOUSTIC CODES : WE HEAR INFORMATION AND IT IS RECORDED IN OUR MEMORY AS A SEQUENCE OF SOUNDS 3. SEMANTIC CODES : WE MAKE SENSE OR MEANING OF THE INFORMATION USING WORDS › Help you remember things more easily and for a longer period of time › Example: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally Parenthesis Exponents Multiply Divide Add Subtract

11. (3 processes of memory cont’d.) 2. STORAGE: Maintaining the information in your brain for a period of time. After information is encoded, it must be stored.

12. Storage continued… STRATEGIES FOR STORING INFORMATION: 1. MAINTENANCE REHEARSAL —Repeating information over and over again to remember it—doesn’t work too well for putting information in permanent storage 2. ELABORATIVE REHEARSAL —Relate information to something you already know (used in education) EX: Vocabulary Words 3. ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS – Placing information into our “storehouse” of files and file cabinets; We place information in categories and subcategories. EX: Remembering U.S. Presidents

13. Think of a time when you remembered something incorrectly. Did you “label” the information incorrectly, or was there another problem? Why do these “filing errors” occur?

14. (3 processes of memory cont’d.) 3. RETRIEVAL: Locating stored information in the brain and returning it to conscious thought › Your method of retrieval might depend on how you encoded the information

15.  On a piece of paper, write the 12 months of the year as quickly as possible.

16. Retrieval continued…  CONTEXT-DEPENDENT MEMORY : You can retrieve memories better when you are in the place or situation where you originally stored them  A study found that students do better on a test if they study of the test in the same room that they take the test  This is why police/lawyers ask witnesses to describe scene

17. Retrieval continued…  STATE-DEPENDENT MEMORY : People retrieve memories better when they are in the same emotional state and same state of consciousness as they were in when the memory was created  TIP OF THE TONGUE : When we almost but cannot quite retrieve information, we say it’s on the tip of our tongue  Sometimes information is hard to retrieve because it is not well organized, or it is incomplete

18. In the following clip from an episode of Criminal Minds, Agents Morgan and Reid use the principles of context-dependent memory and state-dependent memory to help a young man remember the details surrounding when/how his younger cousin went missing at the mall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVmJwcckQNshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVmJwcckQNs Directions: Watch the clip, then write one paragraph on a sheet of loose leaf that addresses the following questions. Turn it in when you are finished.  How did the agents use context-dependent memory to help the young man remember? Give specific examples from the clip.  How did the agents use state-dependent memory to help the young man remember? Give specific examples from the clip.  Do you think that law enforcement officers use similar techniques in real life? Under what circumstances might they use these techniques?

19.  Main Menu – drive designations, folders, documents  How is computer organization similar to human memory?

20. THREE STAGES OF OUR MEMORY : 1. SENSORY MEMORY:  The 1 st stage of our memory—lasts a fraction of a second; if we want to remember the info, we must do something with it very quickly  The immediate, initial recording of information that enters through our senses  Iconic memory : visual stimuli; accurate, photographic memories, like snapshots; extremely brief  Eidetic memory: The ability to remember visual stimuli over a long time (photographic memory); about 5% of children have this  Echoic memory : brief mental traces of sounds (echoes); can last several seconds, so longer than eidetic memory

21.  Sensory Memory as Filter: Think of all the things you saw, smelled, heard on your way to school today? What if ALL that sensory information stayed in your long term memory?

22. THREE STAGES OF OUR MEMORY : 2. SHORT-TERM (WORKING MEMORY): Whatever information you are thinking about at any given moment. Fades away in seconds to minutes unless you take steps to retain it.  Primacy and Recency Effects: We tend to recall the first items (primacy) and last items (recency) in a series of items  Chunking : The organization of items into familiar or manageable units (example: why businesses choose phone #s with repeating #s; what about area codes?).  Interference: Occurs when new information appears in short-term memory and takes the place of what is already there; like a shelf that only holds so much  Example

23. THREE STAGES OF OUR MEMORY : 3. LONG-TERM MEMORY: The info we remember for a long time.  Large capacity for information in our brain  *Interesting Note: Psychologists have yet to discover a limit to how much can be stored in a person’s long term memory  Our Memory is RECONSTRUCTIVE : We unconsciously shape our memories of events according to how we see the world – in bits and pieces of experiences, not like movies; put our own personal stamp on memories  SCHEMAS are our mental representations of the world. For example, if I think “Teen-agers are bad drivers” (my schema), I would be more likely to “recall” that a teen-ager was at fault in a traffic accident.

25.  JOURNAL ACTIVITY: Write a brief description of your earliest memory. Include as much detail as possible.

26. FORGETTING  Forgetting can happen at any of the 3 stages of memory: *Sensory Memory = we forget in less than 1 second *Short Term Memory = we forget in 10-12 seconds *Long Term Memory = old learning interferes with new learning; information gets mixed together; we forget or recall incorrectly

27. BASIC MEMORY TASKS: 1. RECOGNITION : Identifying words, objects or events that have been encountered before. EX: Multiple choice test & Remembering Faces 2. RECALL : To bring something back into your mind. › A person continues to forget as time goes on, but the rate of forgetting slows down considerably. 3. RELEARNING : We can relearn information more quickly the 2 nd time › Ex. Algebraic equations › Recognition and Recall Activity

28. DIFFERENT KINDS OF FORGETTING : 1. Decay: Over time, some memories simply fade away. This is the most common way we forget information. 2. Repression : Freud said we forget some things on purpose with out even knowing we are doing so. We block out memories that cause anger, fear, or shame to protect ourselves. This concept is controversial in contemporary psychology. 3. Amnesia : Severe memory loss caused by brain injury, shock, fatigue, illness, or repression.

29. TYPES OF AMNESIA:  DISSOCIATIVE AMNESIA: Caused by psychological trauma, an extremely upsetting experience  INFANTILE AMNESIA : We don’t remember the early events in our life (before age 3) › Part of the brain that stores memory is not mature until age 2 & brain pathways are not fully formed › Infants do not weave events together or use language to encode

30. TYPES OF AMNESIA:  ANTEROGRADE AMNESIA: Memory loss caused by trauma (blow to the head, electric shock, brain surgery) that prevents a person from forming new memories  RETROGRADE AMNESIA: People forget the period leading up to a traumatic event (Ex. Car wreck or sports injury) › In extreme cases, the person cannot remember several years leading up to the accident

31. Let’s Talk About H.M. (Case Study, p. 171)  How might occupational therapists help H.M. use his remaining skills productively?  What skills could he effectively learn and remember?  What kinds of occupations might he be able to undertake?  What strategies could he use in his daily life to help accommodate for his memory failings?

32. IMPROVING OUR MEMORY: 1. Drill and Practice : Repetition, going over information over and over again (maintenance rehearsal) › somewhat effective: how you learned the alphabet and counting, vocab words, math formulas › methods: index cards; using a person’s name as soon as you meet them 2. Relate To Things You Already Know – (elaborative rehearsal) › not as tedious as drill and practice, but requires you to think more deeply about new information

33. IMPROVING OUR MEMORY: 3. Make Unusual Associations and Links Between Items › Ex. Sn = chemical symbol for tin 4. Use MNEMONIC DEVICES : Systems to remember information— usually jingles or acronyms. What mnemonic devices do you use?