“It isn’t so astonishing the number of things I can remember, as the number of things I can remember that aren’t so.” Mark Twain “Memory…is the diary that we all carry about with us.” Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

External Events Sensory Memory Short-term Memory Long-term Memory Sensory Input Encoding Retrieval

Encoding -Putting information in Storage -where information is kept in the brain Retrieval -getting information back out

Memory Encoding Storage Retrieval Computer Installing software or creating files Hardware File Search

Automatic- occurs without thinking Effortful- occurs when one purposely tries to think about something

Rehearsal- conscious repetition Next-in-line effect- when you are next in line, your memory is poorest for the information preceding you Spacing effect- studying over time produces the best memory results Serial position effect- in a list, one tends to remember the first and last items best

Meaning- we need to know the context Imagery- mental pictures Mnemonic devices- memory aids Organization

Method of loci > Associate a memory with a place Keyword method > Associate a word with something that needs to be remembered Peg-word method > One is a bun, two is a shoe, three is a tree… Acronyms > ROY G. BIV Hierarchies > Split items into topics Chunking > Put into smaller units becomes (801)

External Events Sensory Memory Short-term Memory Long-term Memory Sensory Input Encoding Retrieval

Sensory Memory Short-term Memory Long-term Memory Almost nothing, unless it catches your attention 7 items, plus or minus 2 Almost everything, but only if you can get it out

Sensory Memory Short-term Memory Long-term Memory Images- tenths of a second Sounds- 3-4 seconds As long as you are consciously thinking about it Virtually forever

Nucleus Cell Body Dendrites Terminal Branches Myelin Sheath Axon

Experience  neurons fire. If they fire enough, new dendrites or terminal branches form making the connection even stronger

Increase in a neuron’s firing potential More firing= stronger pathway= better memory

Implicit (Procedural) Memories stored without conscious knowledge (i.e. classical conditioning) Explicit (Declarative) Memories stored with conscious knowledge (i.e. what you remember from class)

Implicit – processed in the cerebellum Explicit- processed in the hippocampus

Could be anywhere in the cerebral cortex or even several places.

Recall- information is recovered from the brain >Fill-in-the blank Recognition- identifying information when choices are given >Multiple choice Relearning- how easily information can be stored again >Studying for a comprehensive exam

Priming- activating prior knowledge or associations >picture of a rabbit primes the response “hare” Context effect >scuba divers remembered better in the context they learned the information Mood-congruent memory >if you are happy now, your memories seem happier

Absent-mindedness- failure to encode Transience- storage decay over time Blocking- failure to retrieve Misattribution- confusing the source of information Suggestibility- false memories can be created Bias- belief-colored memories Persistence- unwanted memories

Proactive Past memories get in the way of new memories Ex. You remember an old locker combination instead of the new one Retroactive New memories affect the recall of old memories Ex. You move to a new neighborhood. When you go back to the old one to visit your friends, you have forgotten some of the streets.

Repression- the Freudian concept that painful memories are kept out of consciousness Misinformation effect- putting misleading information into one’s memory of an event Source amnesia- attributing information to the wrong source