Memory is the process by which we recollect prior experiences, information and skills learned in the past Chapter 7 Memory

Types of memory

Episodic Memory Memory of a specific event

Semantic Memory General knowledge memory

Implicit Memory Skills or procedure memory

Take out a piece of paper Name the Seven Dwarves

Difficulty of Task Was the exercise easy or difficult. It depends on what factors? Whether you like Disney movies how long ago you watched the movie how loud the people are around you when you are trying to remember

Now pick pick out the seven dwarves. Turn your paper over. Now pick pick out the seven dwarves. Grouchy Gabby Fearful Sleepy Smiley Jumpy Hopeful Shy Droopy Dopey Sniffy Wishful Puffy Dumpy Sneezy Pop Grumpy Bashful Cheerful Teach Snorty Nifty Happy Doc Wheezy Stubby Poopy

Seven Dwarves Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy, Sneezy, Happy, Doc and Bashful

The Memory process Encoding Storage Retrieval

Encoding The processing of information into the memory system. Typing info into a computer Getting a girls name at a party

Types of Encoding Encoding exercise Semantic Encoding: the encoding of meaning, like the meaning of words Acoustic Encoding: the encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words. Visual Encoding: the encoding of picture images.

Which type works best?

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

Tip-of-tongue phenomenon A belief that information is stored in memory however we can not retrieve it Example: The name of the actor who played the villain in the last Dark Knight movie who I think is really good looking

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

Context Dependent memory It helps to put yourself back in the same context you experienced (encoded) something. If you study on your favorite chair at home, you will probably score higher if you also took the test on the chair.

State dependent memory Memory retrieval is better of we are in the same state or mood We usually recall experiences that are consistent with our current mood. Emotions, or moods, serve as retrieval cues.

Stress and Memory Stress can lead to the release of hormones that have been shown to assist in LTM. Similar to the idea of Flashbulb Memory.

Flashbulb Memory A unique and highly emotional moment may give rise to a clear, strong, and persistent memory called flashbulb memory. However, this memory is not free from errors. Ruters/ Corbis President Bush being told of 9/11 attack.

Types of Memory Sensory Memory: Short-Term Memory Long-Term Memory

Sensory Memory The immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system. Stored just for an instant, and most gets unprocessed.

The duration of sensory memory varies for the different senses. Sensory Memories The duration of sensory memory varies for the different senses. Iconic 0.5 sec. long Echoic 3-4 sec. long Hepatic < 1 sec. long

Short-Term Memory Memory that holds a few items briefly. Seven digits (plus of minus two). The info will be stored into long-term or forgotten. How do you store things from short-term to long-term? You must repeat things over and over to put them into your long-term memory. Rehearsal

Memory Effects Spacing Effect: We retain information better when we rehearse over time. Serial Position Effect: When your recall is better for first and last items on a list, but poor for middle items.

Spacing Effect DO NOT CRAM!!!!! We encode better when we study or practice over time. DO NOT CRAM!!!!!

Serial Positioning Effect Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list. Presidents Recalled If we graph an average person remembers presidential list- it would probably look something like this.

Take out a piece of paper and…. List the U.S. Presidents

The Presidents Washington Taylor Harrison Eisenhower J.Adams Fillmore Cleveland Kennedy Jefferson Pierce McKinley L.Johnson Madison Buchanan T.Roosevelt Nixon Monroe Lincoln Taft Ford JQ Adams A.Johnson Wilson Carter Jackson Grant Harding Reagan Van Buren Hayes Coolidge Bush Garfield Hoover Clinton Tyler Arthur FD.Roosevelt Bush Jr. Polk Truman Obama

Chunking Organizing items into familiar, manageable units. Often it will occur automatically. 1-4-9-2-1-7-7-6-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1 Chunk- from Goonies Do these numbers mean anything to you? 1492, 1776, 1812, 1941 how about now?

Interference Learning some new information may disrupt retrieval of other information. OBJECTIVE 21| Contrast proactive and retroactive interference, and explain how they can cause retrieval failure.

Types of Retrieval Failure Proactive Interference The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information. If you call your new girlfriend your old girlfriend’s name.

Types of Retrieval Failure Retroactive Interference The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information. When you finally remember this years locker combination, you forget last years.

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

The Hippocampus Damage to the hippocampus disrupts our memory. Left = Verbal Right = Visual and Locations The hippocampus is the like the librarian for the library which is our brain.

Storage Decay Even if we encode something well, we can forget it. Without rehearsal, we forget thing over time. Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve.

Déja Vu Déja Vu means “I've experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier similar experience. © The New Yorker Collection, 1990. Leo Cullum from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved

Déjà Vu That eerie sense that you have experienced something before. What is occurring is that the current situation cues past experiences that are very similar to the present one- your mind gets confused. Is déjà vu really a glitch in the Matrix?

Forgetting

Encoding Failure We fail to encode the information. It never has a chance to enter our LTM.

Which penny is real?

Did you do better on the first or second dwarf memory exercise? Recall v. Recognition With recall- you must retrieve the information from your memory (fill-in-the blank tests). With recognition- you must identify the target from possible targets (multiple-choice tests). Which is easier?

Effortful learning usually requires rehearsal or conscious repetition. Ebbinghaus studied rehearsal by using nonsense syllables: TUV YOF GEK XOZ http://www.isbn3-540-21358-9.de Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)

Rehearsal The more times the nonsense syllables were practiced on Day 1, the fewer repetitions were required to remember them on Day 2.

Motivated Forgetting Motivated Forgetting: People unknowingly revise their memories. Repression: A defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness. OBJECTIVE 22| Summarize Freud's concept of repression, and state whether this view is reflected in current memory research. Culver Pictures Sigmund Freud

Motivated Forgetting One explanation is REPRESSION: Why does is exist? One explanation is REPRESSION: in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories from consciousness.

Anterograde Amnesia After losing his hippocampus in surgery, patient Henry M. (HM) remembered everything before the operation but cannot make new memories. We call this anterograde amnesia. Anterograde Amnesia (HM) Memory Intact No New Memories Surgery

Tricks to improve your memory Use imagery: mental pictures Mnemonic Devices use imagery. Like my “peg word” system or…. "Mary Very Easily Makes Jam Saturday Unless No Plums." Mars, Venus, Earth, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. Give me some more examples…. Links to examples of mnemonic devices.

Self-Reference Effect An example of how we encode meaning very well. The idea that we remember things (like adjectives) when they are used to describe ourselves. Peg-word system

Mnemonics Imagery is at the heart of many memory aids. Mnemonic techniques use vivid imagery in aiding memory.

Method of Loci List of Items Imagined Locations Charcoal Backyard Pens Bed Sheets Hammer . Rug Imagined Locations Backyard Study Bedroom Garage . Living Room

Acronyms are another way of chunking information to remember it. HOMES = Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior PEMDAS = Parentheses, Exponent, Multiply, Divide, Add, Subtract ROY G. BIV = Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

Improving Memory Study repeatedly to boost long-term recall. Spend more time rehearsing or actively thinking about the material. Make material personally meaningful. Use mnemonic devices: associate with peg words — something already stored make up a story chunk — acronyms OBJECTIVE 28| Explain how an understanding of memory can contribute to effective study techniques.

Improving Memory Activate retrieval cues — mentally recreate the situation and mood. Recall events while they are fresh — before you encounter misinformation. Minimize interference: Test your own knowledge. Rehearse and then determine what you do not yet know. © LWA-Dann Tardiff/ Corbis