Model of Memory RETRIEVAL Turning now to Long-Term Memory ATTENTION Sensory Signals Sensory Memory Short-Term Memory Long-Term Memory REHEARSAL

Long-Term Memory Characteristics (intuitive with some introspection): Persists indefinitely (up to decades!) Requires no active process of rehearsal (at least that we are conscious of)

Long-Term Memory Characteristics (intuitive with some introspection): Persists indefinitely (up to decades!) Requires no active process of rehearsal (at least that we are conscious of) What are some examples of Long-Term Memories?

Some Distinctions in LTM Endel Tulving: There are two broad categories of information that are represented in LTM - Examples: What did you eat for breakfast? What is the capital of Canada Where were you when… Are maple trees deciduous? Riding a bike !?

Some Distinctions in LTM Endel Tulving: There are two broad categories of information that are represented in LTM - Episodic Memory: memory of an event in your life autobiographical has a temporal context - something about time is encoded along with the memory

Some Distinctions in LTM Endel Tulving: There are two broad categories of information that are represented in LTM - Semantic Memory: memory of facts, knowledge of the world unconnected to an autobiographical event no temporal context

Some Distinctions in LTM A third category may be distinguished: Example: riding a bike, playing an instrument

Some Distinctions in LTM Procedural Memory: memory for actions

Semantic Memory Capacity is huge (unlimited?)

Semantic Memory Structure of encoding is associative

Semantic Memory Structure of encoding is associative Evidence: Semantic Priming in a Lexical-Decision Task Priming: prior exposure to some stimulus modifies subsequent processing of a target

Semantic Memory Structure of encoding is associative Evidence: Semantic Priming in a Lexical-Decision Task Lexical Decision Task: Subject is shown a target word or pronounceable non-word (eg. gap or fap) and must respond “word” or “non-word”

Semantic Memory Structure of encoding is associative Evidence: Semantic Priming in a Lexical-Decision Task manipulation: prime can be either related or unrelated to the target word

Semantic Memory Structure of encoding is associative Evidence: Semantic Priming in a Lexical-Decision Task result: words are identified faster when preceded by a semantically related prime Prime Target Response “space” “gap” fast “truck” “gap” slow

Semantic Memory Structure of encoding is associative Evidence: Semantic Priming in a Lexical-Decision Task Interpretation: the representation of information in semantic memory is associative: each fact or piece of knowledge is stored along with its relationship to other stored information related items can activate each other which facilitates recall

Semantic Memory Structure of encoding is associative Example: Accessing a memory that is “on the tip of your tongue” you’re trying to rent a movie but you can’t recall the title of the one you have in mind, you scan through the associated facts: the actors, the plot, the setting, etc. until the title surfaces each recalled piece of knowledge “activates” related knowledge until the title is sufficiently activated

Semantic Memory Structure of encoding is associative This idea is formalized in so-called “connectionist” networks skiing highschool mockingbird Mr. Lacey To Kill A Mockingbird canary bird English racism chicken Martin Luther King

Episodic Memory Memory for an episode or event in your own life

Episodic Memory Memory for an episode or event in your own life Has temporal context (entails a sense of duration and date)

Episodic Memory Memory for an episode or event in your own life Has temporal context (entails a sense of duration and date) examples: recall breakfast what happened this weekend

Recalling Episodic Memory Recall is highly sensitive to context - Similarities in context (especially smell) can trigger vivid recollections

Recalling Episodic Memory Memory is affected by the nature of your engagement with the information Levels-of-Processing Theory

Recalling Episodic Memory Memory is affected by the nature of your engagement with the information Levels-of-Processing Theory Consider this experiment: List CAT pie PILLOW TREE Method of Learning stating capitals or lower-case repeating words putting words into a sentence Recall is tested some time later.

Recalling Episodic Memory Memory is affected by the nature of your engagement with the information Levels-of-Processing Theory Consider this experiment: List CAT pie PILLOW TREE Result: Best recall with “deep” processing Worst recall with “surface” processing

Recalling Episodic Memory Memory is affected by the nature of your engagement with the information Interpretation: the successful use of memory depends on the number of connections that are made between related items and the degree to which these are initially activated

Recalling Episodic Memory context is critical! location, physiological state, etc. affect ability to recall e.g. lists of words are recalled better when recalled where they were first learned

When You Don’t Remember Two reasons why you don’t remember:

When You Don’t Remember Two reasons why you don’t remember: Unavailable It wasn’t successfully encoded - something went wrong while you were studying

When You Don’t Remember Two reasons why you don’t remember: Unavailable It wasn’t successfully encoded - something went wrong while you were studying Inaccessible memory is stored but cannot be retrieved, perhaps because appropriate connections aren’t being made

Recalling Episodic Memory Recall is a generative processes rather than simply calling up stored data

Recalling Episodic Memory Recall is a generative processes rather than simply calling up stored data Evidenced by the fact that episodic memories can be distorted or completely false under certain circumstances