1. MEMORY Any indication that learning has persisted over time through our ability to store and retrieve information

2. Memory Memory is the basis for knowing your friends, your neighbors, the English language, the national anthem, and yourself. If memory was nonexistent, everyone would be a stranger to you; every language foreign; every task new; and even you yourself would be a stranger.

3. Human Memory: Basic Questions Memory is much more than taking in information and putting it in some mental compartment…we have to get it back out, too. Many psychologists study factors that help or hinder memory storage and retrieval, thus attempting to answer 3 basic questions: How does information get into memory? How is information maintained in memory? How is information pulled back out of memory?

4. INFORMATION PROCESSING 3 BASIC STEPS 1. Encoding: Getting information into memory 2. Storage: Retaining information over time 3. Retrieval: Getting information out of storage Similar to a computer

5. Encoding The processing of information into the memory system. Typing info into a computer Getting a girl’s name at a party

6. Storage The retention of encoded material over time. Pressing Ctrl S and saving the info. Trying to remember her name when you leave the party.

7. Retrieval The process of getting the information out of memory storage. Finding your document and opening it up. Seeing her the next day and calling her the wrong name (retrieval failure).

8. Figure 7.2: Three key processes in memory. Memory depends on three sequential processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval. Some theorists have drawn an analogy between these processes and elements of information processing by computers, as depicted here. The analogies for encoding and retrieval work pretty well, but the storage analogy is somewhat misleading. When information is stored on a hard drive, it remains unchanged indefinitely and you can retrieve an exact copy. As you will learn in this chapter, memory storage is a much more dynamic process. People’s memories change over time and are rough reconstructions rather than exact copies of past events.

9. Studying Memory: Information Processing Models Keyboard (Encoding) Disk (Storage) Monitor (Retrieval) Sequential Process

10. The Stages of Memory Key Terms

11. Sensory Memory The immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system. Stored just for an instant, and most gets unprocessed. Examples: You lose concentration in class during a lecture. Suddenly you hear a significant word and return your focus to the lecture. You should be able to remember what was said just before the key word since it is in your sensory register. Your ability to see motion can be attributed to sensory memory. An image previously seen must be stored long enough to compare to the new image. Visual processing in the brain works like watching a cartoon -- you see one frame at a time. Any time you keep information in mind just long enough to perform some action, like dialing a telephone. If someone is reading to you, you must be able to remember the words at the beginning of a sentence in order to understand the sentence as a whole. These words are held in a relatively unprocessed sensory memory. Fix your gaze somewhere in the classroom. Now close your eyes as quickly as possible. If you notice a visual image lingering after you close your eyes, that is your sensory memory at work. It will also fade away very quickly, which shows you how fleeting sensory memory is.

12. Short-Term Memory The active stage of memory in which information is stored and processed for usually no more than 45 seconds or so. In the presence of distractions, items in STM may begin to decay anytime after 3-18 seconds. STM holds a few items briefly  Seven digits (plus or minus two) The info will be stored into long-term or forgotten. How do you store things from short-term to long-term? Rehearsal You must repeat things over and over to put them into your long-term memory.

13. Working Memory (Modern day STM) Another way of describing the use of short-term memory is called working memory. Working memory is a newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory. Working memory has three parts: 1. Audio 2. Visual 3. Integration of audio and visual (controls where your attention lies)

14. Long-Term Memory The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.

15. Information Processing The Atkinson-Schiffrin (1968) three-stage model of memory includes a) sensory memory, b) short-term memory, and c) long-term memory. Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works

16. Modifications to the Three-Stage Information Processing Model 1. Some information skips the first two stages and enters long-term memory automatically. 2. Since we cannot focus on all the sensory information received, we select information that is important to us and actively process it into our working memory.

17. Traditional Information Processing Model – Atkinson & Shiffrin Repetition Rehearsal and coding External Stimulus Long-term memory Short-term memory/ Working Memory RETRIEVALRETRIEVAL Forgetting Through Decay Forgetting Through Interference or Decay The sequence of information processing in explicit memory. Raw information flows form the senses into the sensory registers, where it is either further processed or lost. Information chosen for further processing enters short-term memory, from which it is either forgotten or transferred into long-term memory. Initial Processing Sensory Memory (Sensory Register)

18. Other Key Terms in Memory Attention – (alert focusing on material) is the crucial factor in determining the amount and kind of information that is retained.  Usually, attention is likened to a filter in an information-processing model of memory. The filter screens out most stimuli, while allowing a select few to get by.  Much research has been done to determine whether this filtering process occurs early in the information processing sequence or later.  It appears that both may be at play – sometimes you are paying attention to someone talking with you at a party, and you suddenly hear your name from across the room. Models of selective attention. Early-selection models propose that input is filtered before meaning is processed. Late-selection models hold that filtering occurs after the processing of meaning. There is evidence to support early, late, and intermediate selection, suggesting that the location of the attentional filter may not be fixed.

19. Other Key Terms in Memory (cont.) Encoding – The transference of memory into permanent storage (occurs in STM) Schema – A type of mental “script” or sketch for a situation, event, or problem

20. Example of Memory Formation with the Information-Processing Model When you see a visual image (let’s say an image of your favorite baseball player walking off the field), the whole scene registers briefly in sensory memory. You are focused on the right-fielder (because it’s Ichiro Suzuki and, let’s face it, he’s a cutie), although you also detected the entire field, the other players, and the fans in the stands. You only really paid attention to the right-fielder, so this is the information transferred to STM. The other details of the scene will be forgotten, although if someone asks you about them, you will be able to reconstruct them using your schema for a “baseball game.” If you thought about the end of the game and talked about it with other people, some version of the image will make it into long-term memory. You will have encoded it. To continue to retain the memory of this event, you will need to retrieve it periodically. Basically:  Sensory memory comes in  If we pay attention to it, it is transferred to STM (or working memory)  If it is rehearsed in STM, it is eventually encoded into LTM  Information in LTM can be retrieved and accessed in STM

21. Three Types of Long-Term Memories There are at least three basic types of memory, each of which is named for the type of information it handles.  Nondeclarative Memory (actions, skills, operations and conditioned responses) Procedural Memory (skill memory) – Our knowledge about how to do things, i.e. how to perform physical tasks  For example: How to ride a bike  Declarative Memory (factual information) Episodic Memory (a.k.a. Autobiographical Memory) – Memories composed of particular events that happen to someone personally.  For example: Your 16th birthday party Semantic Memory – General knowledge of the world  For example: Columbus discovered America

22. Figure 7.26: Theories of independent memory systems. Theorists have distinguished between declarative memory, which handles facts and information, and nondeclarative memory, which handles motor skills, conditioned responses, and emotional memories. Declarative memory is further subdivided into semantic memory (general knowledge) and episodic memory (dated recollections of personal experiences). The extent to which nondeclarative memory can be usefully subdivided remains the subject of debate, although many theorists view procedural memory, which handles actions and perceptualmotor skills, as an independent subsystem.

23. Retrospective versus Prospective Memory Most memory research has explored the dynamics of retrospective memory, which focuses on recollections from the past. However, prospective memory, which requires people to remember to perform actions in the future, also plays an important role in everyday life.