AP Psych Myers – Ch. 9 MEMORY: ORGANIZATION

 The persistence of learning over time through storage and retrieval of information  3 step process:  Encoding – processing info into memory system  Storage – retention of encoded info  Retrieval – process of getting info out of storage  Memory is like a computer’s information processing system. MEMORY EncodingStorageRetrieval

 3 basic stages of memories:  Sensory memory – immediate, brief recording of sensory info  Short term memory (STM)/ working memory – activated memory that holds a few items briefly before it is encoded and stored or discarded  Long term memory (LTM) - the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse MEMORY

 Atkinson-Shiffrin and Baddley Models combined MODIFIED 3 STAGE MODEL Sensory Memory LTM STM or Working Memory Sensory Input Attention Encoding Retrieval Forgetting

O T T F F S S E N T 15 SEC TO REMEMBER THIS IN ORDER…

 Automatic processing– effortless, unconscious encoding of info  Reading signs while driving  Effortful processing – requires attention and conscious effort  Reading the psych text book for comprehension and understanding  Rehearsal – conscious repetition  Spacing effect – memories are retained through distributed practice  Why cramming for tests is BAD  Serial positioning effect – remembering the first and last items in a list ENCODING

 Write the letters I asked you to memorize a few minutes ago. OTTFFSSENT

 Visual encoding – encoding of picture images (ex: visualization of info on page)  Imagery – mental pictures  Mnemonic devices – memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices (ex: peg- method/memory palace)peg- method/memory palace  Acoustic encoding – encoding of sounds (ex: rhymes with, repetition of info out loud)  Semantic encoding – encoding of meaning (ex: assigning/creating meaning) ENCODING

 Chunking – organizing items into familiar manageable units; often occurs automatically   How can you chunk this?  How could you have chunked OTTFFSSENT? ORGANIZING INFO FOR PROCESSING

 Sensory Memory  Iconic memory – a momentary sensory memory of visual info (brief photographic memory)  You can briefly look a word’s spelling to copy the word, but cannot recall the spelling minutes later.  Echoic memory – a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli, 3-4 seconds  Teacher asks you “what did I just say?” and you can recall the last few words STORAGE

 8 volunteers - think of your favorite food.  Now say your favorite food, plus everyone else’s favorite food before you.  STM/Working memory  7 +/- 2  Importance of chunking STORAGE

 LTM – Unlimited  Implicit memory – procedures/skills (processed in part in the cerebellum)  Explicit memory – retention of facts and experiences that you can consciously declare (primarily processed/stored in hippocampus)  Semantic memory – general knowledge  Episodic memory – events  Prospective memory – remembering to do something in the future STORAGE

 Flashbulb memories – clear, vivid memory of an emotionally significant event  Episodic memory STORAGE

 Biological look at memory storage.  Long-term potentiation (LTP) – an increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory  As experience strengthens the pathways between neurons, synapses transmit signals more efficiently LONG-TERM POTENTIATION

 Getting memories out of storage  Recall – retrieving info not in conscious awareness  Short answer questions, fill-in-the-blank questions  Recognition – identifying items previously learned  Multiple choice questions  Relearning – learning information a second time, faster than the first time  Test corrections RETRIEVAL

 Déjà vu – the eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.”  Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.  Context-dependent memories – memories are more easily recalled in the same context as when they were encoded  State-dependent memories - memories are more easily recalled in the same state as when they were encoded  Crash Course – Making Memories Crash Course – Making Memories CONTEXT EFFECTS ON MEMORY

AP Psych Myers, Ch. 9 MEMORY: FORGETTING AND IMPROVEMENT

 Just as important as remembering  avoid clutter  Amnesia – the loss of memory  Biological – head injuries FORGETTING

 Absent-mindedness  Inattention to details; we cannot remember something we have not encoded. THREE SINS OF FORGETTING A

 Transience – storage decay  Even if we encode, we can still forget it later  Often unused info or info that no longer holds meaning. THREE SINS OF FORGETTING

 Blocking – inaccessibility of stored info (“it’s on the tip of my tongue…”)  Proactive interference – the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new info.  Retroactive interference – the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old info.  Motivated forgetting  Repression – in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety- arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.  Most psychologists today would agree that repressed memories do not exist. THREE SINS OF FORGETTING

 Source amnesia – attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, hear about, read about, or imagined.  Misinformation effect – incorporating misleading info into one’s memory of an event.  Loftus’ study on recollections of car accidents using leading questions.  Bias – belief-colored recollections  Memories are perceptions of the past and as such are subject to expectations and bias. THREE SINS OF DISTORTION

 Persistence – haunting memories of the past  1990s – “Memory wars” concerning real/fake repressed memories of abuse. ONE SIN OF INTRUSION Injustice happens.Memories recovered under hypnosis or the influence of drugs are especially unreliable. Incest and other sexual abuse happen. Memories before the age of 3 are unreliable. Forgetting happens.Memories, real or false, can be emotionally upsetting. Recovered memories are commonplace.

 Eye witness recall is subject to false memory reconstruction.  Misinformation effect  Presupposing and leading questions  Children are more suggestible than adults can be lead to produce false memories through suggestive questions.  Young children can recall events as they occurred if…  neutral adult asks non-leading questions  uses words they understand. EYE WITNESS RECALL

 Study repeatedly to boost long term recall.  Make material personally meaningful.  Use mnemonic devices.  Minimize interference.  Test your own knowledge, both to rehearse the info and determine what you do not know yet. IMPROVING MEMORY

BiologicalPsychologicalSocial-cultural LTP Automatic processing Electric current or head injury Storage decay Rehearsal Context effects Priming Mood Stress Encoding and organizing strategies Retrieval interference Memory construction Misinformation effect Flashbulb memories for important events Level of implied importance Source amnesia MEMORY AS BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL (PG. 390)

 60 Minutes – Endless Memory (Pt. 1)Endless Memory (Pt. 1)  Zimbardo – Remembering and ForgettingRemembering and Forgetting  Brain Games – Remember This!Remember This!  Crash Course – Remembering and Forgetting Crash Course – Remembering and Forgetting VIDEOS