Memory

Main question of memory research: What causes us to remember what we remember and forget what we forget?

Memory: persistence of learning over time through storage and retrieval of information. Secondary Questions of Memory Research: –What are the processes that determine which events stick in our memories? –Why and how do we lose information from our memories? –How accurate are our memories?

Information Processing Model of Memory Nickname - 3 Box Model

3 Box Model – 3 steps/processes (not locations in the brain)

Sensory Memory Split second holding tank for incoming Highly accurate but highly fragile George Sperling –Iconic (vision) and echoic (auditory) memory Computer analogy: data entry

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Short term Memory – “working memory” Memories we are currently working on and are aware of in our consciousness STM capacity: –Time seconds –7 +/- 2 (5-9 items) Ways to overcome limitations: these tricks can keep info in STM longer or possibly transfer to LTM 1.) chunking 2.) rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal 3.) mnemonic devices Computer analogy – STM = computer screen

Long Term Memory Permanent Memory Storage (decay but not forgetting) Unlimited storage Types of LTM –Episodic – stories of our lives - ex: I remember my 1 st day of kindergarten –Semantic – general knowledge, trivia, facts – ex: when and where did the Civil War start? –Procedural – how to ex: I remember how to change a tire

LTM can be implicit or explicit. –Explicit (declarative) = conscious memories of facts or events we actively try to remember (episodic and semantic) - scans show explicit mem is laid down in the hippocampus... We don’t remember explicit mems before age 3 b/c hippocampus is one of the last brain structures to develop –Anterograde Amnesia – inability to create new memories (often caused by damage to hippocampus) –Implicit (non declarative) = unintentional memories that we might not even realize we have Often procedural

Eidetic / photographic memory: true photographic memory occurs VERY rarely. Alexander Luria worked with a patient who could repeat a list of 70 digits –He could repeat it forward, backward and 15 years later.

Levels of processing Model: Explains why we remember what we do by examining how deeply the memory was thought about or processed. Memories are neither short nor long term... they are deeply or shallowly processed. We remember things we spend more cognitive time and energy processing... Studying/Rehearsing Like the layers of an onion!!

Additional Memory Terms and Concepts

Encoding Getting information in. Once sensory info is registered, how do we get it into the memory system? REHEARSAL, REHEARSAL, REHEARSAL The more time we spend with material and the more actively we engage with it (reading, writing, applying, creating examples, etc.) the more likely it will be encoded into STM for longer than seconds or transferred to LTM

Ebbinghaus Curve w/out active rehearsal we lose most of our recall ability; for some reason we may permanently remember a small part of it, but a significant amount will be lost if not rehearsed

Retrieval Last step in any memory model is retrieval = getting info out of memory; two kinds: –Recognition: with a prompt - (ex. multiple choice, word bank) –Recall: without a prompt (ex. short answer) Hint – Recognition is easier than recall, SO always study to recall level. If you study to recall level, you will do well on any type of test question

Important factors in retrieval: 1.) Serial Positioning Effect Primacy effect: we’re more likely to recall items presented at the beginning of a list Recency effect: more likely to recall items at the end of a list Items in the middle are often forgotten

Important Factors in Retrieval 2.) Context –Semantic network theory: Brains forms new memories by connecting their meaning and context with meaning already in memory Web of interconnected memories i.e. make new info meaningful to YOU if you truly want to remember it

Important Factors in Retrieval (2. Context – cont’d.) –Flashbulb memories: Where were you when you heard about 9/11? We encode context surrounding a meaningful event... Can be inaccurate.

Important Factors in Retrieval 3.) Mood Congruent Memory greater likelihood of recalling an item when we are in the same mood we were in when we created the memory in the first place (i.e. we recall happy events when we’re happy; sad events when we’re sad...dangerous cycle for depression?

Important Factors in Retrieval 4.) State Dependent Memory recalling events encoded while in a particular state of consciousness –If something happens when sleepy or drunk, you’ll recall it again when sleepy or drunk

Forgetting

1.) Decay – info in LTM will lose some accuracy if we don’t use the info regularly. Decayed memories do not disappear completely and relearning happens much more quickly 2.) Repression – FREUD – we push harmful/threatening memories into our unconscious so we don’t have to deal with them 3.) Dementia – old age – Alzheimer’s 4.) Amnesia – usually result of brain injury

Forgetting 5.) Interference –Retroactive: new info interferes with recall of old –Proactive: old info interferes with recall of new

Constructive Memory Elizabeth Loftus

Individuals claim to suddenly remember events they had repressed – may be false memory A.CM can report false details of a real event or may be a recollections of an event that never occurred B. Leading and insistent questions can influence –Ex: sniper in white van... How fast were the cars going when they hit/crashed?.... Oprah Show C. CM feel accurate to the person recalling them – they are not lying

Constructive memories cont... D. Elizabeth Loftus: when there is missing info in a story, people fill in those gaps with what they think fits... They may really believe it –Misinformation Effect – if we are exposed to new and misleading info we work it into our memory. Good police work – immediately separate eye witnesses –Imagination Inflation - when we repeatedly, vividly imagine an event, we may come to believe it actually happened –We are bad eye witnesses – especially with people not of our same race –Vulnerable subjects are especially at risk for falsely constructed memories – kids, emotionally unstable, etc.

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V. Physical Storage of memories How are memories physically stored in the brain? We know some brain structures involved (hippocampus and cerebellum), but there are still others unknown.

B. Long-term pontentiation: –An increase in synapse’s firing potential after stimulation – believed to be a neural bases for learning and memories.

Study Tips from the Memory Unit 1.) Spacing Effect – cramming doesn’t work 2.) Rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal – re-write your notes, make flash cards, explain it to someone else, do practice questions, create your own examples, etc. etc. 3.) Study to recall, not recognition – can you flat out recall the term, concept, definition, example, etc. all on your own 4.) Put the content in your own words, take notes in your own words, and make it personally meaningful to you (semantic network) 5.) Use mnemonic devices, imagery, etc. 6.) Chunk – organize your info into meaningful units 7.) Minimize retroactive interference – review relevant material immediately prior to a test