BHS Memory and Amnesia Methods and Principles

Experiments Memory is studied two ways: Experimentally – most research Observationally – Neisser’s Challenger study

Two Kinds of Studies Incidental vs. intentional Incidental The person is unaware that memory will be tested later An “orienting task” directs attention to stimuli. Intentional The person is aware of an upcoming memory test May lead to more elaborate processing.

Levels of Processing Craik & Lockhart (1972 The more deeply information is processed, the more likely it is to be remembered Memory retrieval can be predicted based on the depth of processing Rote rehearsal leads to shallow processing Elaborative rehearsal leads to deep processing

Ways of Assessing Memory Recall Free vs forced (number of items is specified) Cued recall Self-cueing is part of meta-memory Recognition Inference and reconstruction are important to recognition

Common Learning Effects Generation effect – material that is self- generated (created by the subject) tends to be better remembered. “aha” effect – a self-generated explanation is better remembered Enactment effect – performing a related action tends to enhance memory (as opposed to watching someone do it) Automaticity of encoding – some learning is automatic, some takes effort.

Stimulus Characteristics Nominal stimulus (what is presented) vs functional stimulus (what is in person’s mind) Picture superiority and concreteness effects – words associated with images are better remembered than abstracts. Pollyanna principle – positive words more readily learned than negative ones.

Frequency Effects Frequency has a different impact on recall tasks than on recognition tasks. For recall, an item that is more frequently encountered is better remembered because there are more associations. For recongition, an item that is less frequently encountered is better remembered because it is novel. Novelty means fewer competitor memory traces.

Concerns with Recognition Recognition is a matching process – the nominal stimulus is compared with the content of memory. A “match” can be made based on familiarity. Old/new recognition: A familiar item is “old” An unfamiliar item is “new” Forced choice – an answer is required.

Correction for Guessing Discrimination – telling old items from new ones. Hit – a correct judgment Miss – calling an old item new False Alarm – calling a new item old Bias – willingness to guess old vs new. Strictness (unwillingness) to guess old is a conservative bias. Signal detection theory – a method for measuring and adjusting for a person’s guessing bias.

Social Influences Collaborative inhibition – people working in a group remember less on recall tasks than if they were working alone. Social loafing? Different ways of organizing info disrupt recall. Fewer errors when people work in groups. Collaborative facilitation – when the task is a recognition task, people do better in groups than working alone.

Assessing Memory Structure Memory structure is the way items are organized, connected (associated) in memory. Response times are faster for associated items, so RT’s can reveal links in memory. Priming – the name for the speeded response that occurs for items that are associated. Cluster analysis – items that are linked are recalled together (inter-item delays).

Metamemory Measures Metamemory – awareness of one’s own memory processes. Verbal reports drawing on introspection. “Remember” vs “know” judgments. You remember an item when you can recall when and where you first learned it. Hindsight bias – a tendency to distort memory to conform to current knowledge

Implicit Memory Measures Implicit memory is not conscious, so tasks used do not mention memory. Later people may be asked to remember without any reference to the previous task. Implicit and explicit memory are difficult to dissociate because there are no true “process pure” tasks. Inclusion condition – use words seen before Exclusion condition – do not use words seen before