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2  Memory encoding: taking in information  Memory storage: retaining information in memory  Memory retrieval: accessing stored information Encoding specificity principle says that retrieval of specific memories will be more successful when cues that were present in encoding are present when retrieving Context-dependent memory – the tendency for information to be better recalled in the context in which it was first learned State-dependent memory – Idea that people have an easier time recalling information when in the same physical and psychological state as when they learned it

3 External Events Stage 1 Sensory Memory 3-4 Seconds Iconic Memory Echoic Memory see smell hear feel taste Stage 2 Short- term/working Memory 30 seconds Stage 3 Long Term Memory Unlimited space Consolidation Encoding We pay attention to important or interesting information Rehearsal Phonological Loop Elaborate Rehearsal Mnemonic Devices -Acrostics -Acronyms -Visualspatial Sketch -Chunking Encoding Retrieving

Declarative Memory (Explicit) Memory of facts and experiences Key phrase “knowing that” Memory of facts = Semantic Memory Memory of experiences = Episodic Memory Deeply emotionally charged memories = Flashbulb Memories Where were you when the Twin Towers fell, when JFK died, Michael Jackson died Procedural Memory (Implicit) Memory of skills and procedures Tasks that we perform without thinking: how to tie our shoes, how to drive a car, how to ride a bike Often learned through shaping (step by step learning) 4

Hierarchies: systems in which concepts are arranged from general to more specific Concepts: mental representations of related things; could be physical objects, events, organisms, or abstract ideas Prototypes: common examples of the concept. For example, if the concept was “bird” a prototype could be “robin” Concepts broken into 3 levels Superordinate (broadest category) = Building Basic (more specific level) = Business Subordinate (examples of basic) = Dentist Office Hierarchies & Schemas 5

Semantic Networks: More irregular and less strict hierarchies; link multiple concepts together. For example, in a semantic network, the concept of “bird” can be linked to “fly, feathers, wings, animals, vertebrate, penguin, robin, sky” all of which could be connected to several concepts. Schemas are preexisting frameworks that exist that allow us to organize and interpret new information. Script: the specific things we associate with an event, person, or item For Example: A script for “elementary school” may include Teachers Young students Principal Classrooms with desks and chairs Hierarchies & Schemas 6

HierarchiesSchemas Superordinate Concept Basic Concept Subordinate Concept Automobile Car Ford Taurus Car Wheel Breaks Dome light DriveEngine Road 164-door 7

Interference Theory: Believes that memories held in STM or LTM may be pushed aside by other memories Proactive Interference: when something we learned earlier disrupts new information we are trying to learn Trying to remember your grandparent’s new phone number, but you keep messing it up with their old one. Retroactive Interference: when something we have recently learned disrupts the recall of old information Someone asks for your old address and it is blocked because our new address interferes with our recall of it. Proactive Interference Retroactive Interference Misinformation Effect Decay Theory 8

Misinformation Effect: when we incorporate misleading information into our memory of an event. We forget what actually happened so we fill in the blanks with what we think did, leading to inaccuracies Decay Theory: The idea that over time our brains physically decay leading to memory loss Serial Position Effect: we are more likely to forget the middle items in a list than those at the beginning for the end Primacy effect: the tendency to recall items learned first Recency effect: the tendency to recall the last items learned Proactive Interference Retroactive Interference Misinformation Effect Decay Theory Interference Theory 9

 Motivated Forgetting: Memories Hidden from Awareness  Sigmund Freud Theorized that the psychological defense mechanism of repression, or motivated forgetting, banished threatening material from the consciousness  Amnesia: Memories Lost or Never Gained  Retrograde Amnesia – the loss of memory of past events  Anterograde amnesia – the loss of the ability to form or store new memories Repression Retrograde Amnesia Anterograde Amnesia 10

Mnemonic Devices: memory tricks used when encoding memory information that aid in retrieval of information Acronyms: A word formed from the first letters of each one of the words in a phrase or list of terms “CART” could be used to remember items to get at the store: Carrots, Apples, Radishes, and Turnips Acrostics: A sentence formed with the first letter of each word referencing the first letter of a list of terms “My very educated mother just sent us nine pizzas” referred to the order of the planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto Phonological Loop: the use of verbal repetition of information to deepen memory retention. Chunking: grouping items together to allow for more material to be learned Visualspatial Sketchpad: the creation of a visual image to improve memory Mental map of your house is an example Context-Dependent Memory: The idea that we retrieve information better when in the same location it was obtained State-Dependent Memory: The idea that things are more easily recalled when we are in the same physical and mental state when the information was encoded. So if you were really tired when you hid a gift, you would be more likely to recall where you put it if you were really tired. 11