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Memory Chapter 9 I am going to read you a list of words. You will need to remember them. Do not write them down- just remember them. List 1: read, pages, letters, school, study, reading, stories, sheets, cover, pen, pencil, magazine, paper, words
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Memory Memory is the basis for knowing your friends, your neighbors, the English language, the national anthem, and yourself. If memory was nonexistent, everyone would be a stranger to you; every language foreign; every task new; and even you yourself would be a stranger. An event is such a little piece of time and space, leaving only a mindglow behind like the tail of a shooting star. Far a lack of a better word, we call that scintillation memory. Diane Ackerman, An Alchemy of Mind, 2004 Be thankful we have memory. We take it for granted, except when it malfunctions. But it is our memory that allows us to recognize friends, neighbors, and acquaintances and call them by their names to knit, type, drive, and play the piano. It is our memory that accounts for time and defines our life. It is our memory that enables us to remember the national anthem, find out way home, and locate the food and water we need for survival. It is our shared memories that bind us together and it is our memories that occasionally pit us against those whose offenses we cannot forget. In large part, you are what you remember. Without memory there would be no savoring joyful moments past, no guilt or anger over painful recollections. You would instead live in an enduring present. Each moment would be fresh. But each person would be a stranger, every language foreign, every task-dressing cooking, biking, all would be a novel challenge. You would even be a stranger to yourself, lacking the continuous sense of self that extends from your distant past to your momentary present. To a psychologist, memory is an indication that learning has persisted over time. It is our ability to store and retrieve information.
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The Phenomenon of Memory
Memory is any indication that learning has persisted over time. It is our ability to store and retrieve information. OBJECTIVE 1| Define memory, and explain how flashbulb memories differ from other memories. Memory is any indication that learning has persisted over time. It is our ability to store and retrieve information.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFPOstgw3rk (1:42)
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. (1:42) A flashbulb memory is a detailed and vivid memory that is stored on one occasion and retained for a lifetime. Usually, such memories are associated with important historical or autobiographical events. PLAY VIDEO After the second plane hit the World Trade Center on 9/11, U.S President George W. Bush’s chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered the news to him in a Florida classroom. But what about the first attack? Three months later, when asked how he heard about the first attack, the president recalled “sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hot the tower- the TV was obviously on, and I used to fly myself, and I said- there’s a terrible pilot. And I said- it must have been a horrible accident.” But no one saw it on live TV, nor was there at that time any available footage of the first plane crashing. Hearing Bush’s story, some people perceived a blatant lie or even a conspiracy. Ruters/ Corbis President Bush being told of 9/11 attack.
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At your tables discuss: In what way did false memories play into Bush’s recall?
False memory- an apparent recollection of an event that did not actually occur. Read “Remember that? No You Don’t” article. False Memory: an apparent recollection of an event that did not actually occur, In what way did False memories play into Bush’s recall? Psychologist Daniel Greenberg noted after the 9/11 conspiracy ideas about Bush’s alleged knowledge of the event that we need only consider the frailty of human memory… President bush seems to be experiencing a near-textbook case of false recall. Sometimes your brain makes up its own memories. Try to "implant" a memory by asking people to remember the words on list 1. Wait about five minutes, then probe their memory by asking them which words on list 2 they remember. List 1: read, pages, letters, school, study, reading, stories, sheets, cover, pen, pencil, magazine, paper, words Which of the following words did I ask you to remember? List 2: house, pencil, apple, shoe, book, flag, rock, train, ocean, hill, music, water, glass, school Did they say that "book" was on list 1? Only pencil and school were on list 1. Try these words: List 1: sheets, pillow, mattress, blanket, comfortable, room, dream, lay, chair, rest, tired, night, dark, time List 2: door, tree, eye, song, pillow, juice, orange, radio, rain, car, sleep, cat, dream, eat Did they say that "sleep" was on list 1? Only pillow and dream were on list 1. Make up your own lists and see if you can create a false memory.
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Stages of Memory Sequential Process Keyboard (Encoding) Disk (Storage)
Memory has been compared to a computer and defined by an information-processing model in which information goes through three discrete stages; encoding, storage, and retrieval. Keyboard (Encoding) Disk (Storage) Monitor (Retrieval) Sequential Process
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Information Processing
The Atkinson-Schiffrin (1968) three-stage model of memory includes a) sensory memory, b) short-term memory, and c) long-term memory. OBJECTIVE 2| Describe Atkinson-Schiffrin’s classic three-stage model of memory and explain how contemporary model of working memory differs. Memory is the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information. In some ways, our memory is like a computer’s information-processing system. Information must be encoded, stored, and retrieved. Psychologists have offered several information-processing models of memory. One is connectionism, which views memories as emerging from interconnected neural networks. The Atkinson-Shiffrin three-stage processing model states that we first record to-be-remembered information as a fleeting sensory memory, from which it is processed into short-term memory, where we encode it through rehearsal for long-term memory and later retrieval. This model is limited and fallible because we sometimes bypass the first two stages and process some information automatically and directly into long-term memory without conscious awareness. Also,working memory is a newer and better understanding of short-term memory because it emphasizes a more active role in the second processing stage in which information is rehearsed, new stimuli are associated with existing memories, and problems are solved. The working-memory model includes the processing of incoming visual-spatial and auditory information. Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works Frank Wartenberg/ Picture Press/ Corbis Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works
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Problems with the Model
Some information skips the first two stages and enters long-term memory automatically. Since we cannot focus all the sensory information in the environment, we select information (through attention) that is important to us. The nature of short-term memory is more complex.
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Working Memory Alan Baddeley (2002) proposes that working memory contains auditory and visual processing controlled by the central executive through an episodic buffer. Alan Baddelers model of working memory, simplified here, contains auditory and visual-spatial processors which are managed by a central executive. Information enters working memory from long term storage or from immediate experience. The episodic buffer helps the central executive integrate input in a way we can comprehend.
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Encoding: Getting Information In
How We Encode Some information (route to your school) is automatically processed. However, new or unusual information (friend’s new cell-phone number) requires attention and effort.
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Automatic Processing We process an enormous amount of information effortlessly, such as the following: Space: While reading a textbook, you automatically encode the place of a picture on a page. Time: We unintentionally note the events that take place in a day. Frequency: You effortlessly keep track of things that happen to you. OBJECTIVE 3| Describe the types of information we encode automatically. Unlike most computers, which do step-by-step serial processing, our brain engages inparallel processing. As a result, some encoding occurs automatically. With little or no effort, we process an enormous amount of information about space, time, frequency, and well-learned information. For example, we can recreate a sequence of the day’s events in order to guess where we might have left a coat. Automatic processing occurs without our awareness and without interfering with our thinking about other things. Some forms of processing, such as learning to read or drive, require attention and effort when we first perform them but with practice become automatic.
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Effortful Processing Committing novel information to memory requires effort just like learning a concept from a textbook. Such processing leads to durable and accessible memories. OBJECTIVE 4| Contrast effortful processing with automatic processing, and discuss the next-in-line effect, the spacing effect and the serial position effect. Automatic processing occurs unconsciously; effortful processing requires attention and effort. For example, our memory of names will disappear unless we rehearse them. Thespacing effect is our tendency to retain information more easily if we distribute our rehearsal than if we practice in one long session. The serial position effect is our tendency to remember the last and first items in a long list (for example, a grocery list) better than the middle items. Immediately after learning, we remember the last items best (the recencyeffect); after a delay, we remember the first items best (the primacy effect). Spencer Grant/ Photo Edit © Bananastock/ Alamy
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Effortful learning usually requires rehearsal or conscious repetition.
Ebbinghaus studied rehearsal by using nonsense syllables: TUV YOF GEK XOZ The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve Psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus was one of the first to scientifically study forgetting. In experiments where he used himself as the subject, Ebbinghaus tested his memory using three-letter nonsense syllables. He relied on such nonsense words because using previously known words would have involved drawing on his existing knowledge and associations in his memory. In order to test for new information, Ebbinghaus tested his memory for periods of time ranging from 20 minutes to 31 days. He then published his findings in 1885 in Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology. His results, plotted in what is known as the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve, revealed a relationship between forgetting and time. Initially, information is often lost very quickly after it is learned. Factors such as how the information was learned and how frequently it was rehearsed play a role in how quickly these memories are lost. The forgetting curve also showed that forgetting does not continue to decline until all of the information is lost. At a certain point, the amount of forgetting levels off. What exactly does this mean? It indicates that information stored in long-term memory is surprisingly stable. How to Measure Forgetting So how do we know when something has been forgotten? There are a few different ways to measure this: Recall: People who have been asked to memorize something, such as a list of terms, might be asked to recall the list from memory. By seeing how many items are remembered, researchers are able to identify how much information has been forgotten. This method might involve the use of free recall (recalling items without hints) or prompted recall (utilizing hints to trigger memories). Recognition: This method involves identifying information that was previously learned. On a test, for example, students might have to recognize which terms they learned about in a chapter of their assigned reading. Hermann Ebbinghaus ( )
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Rehearsal The more times the nonsense syllables were practiced on Day 1, the fewer repetitions were required to remember them on Day 2. Ebbinhause found that the more times he practiced a list of nonsense syllables on day 1, the fewer repetitions he required to relearn it on day 2. Said simply, the more time we spend learning novel information, the more we retain.
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Memory Effects Next-in-line-Effect: When you are so anxious about being next that you cannot remember what the person just before you in line says, but you can recall what other people around you say. 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.
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ACQUAINTED WITH THE NIGHT
Spacing Effect Distributing rehearsal (spacing effect) is better than practicing all at once. Robert Frost’s poem could be memorized with fair ease if spread over time. ACQUAINTED WITH THE NIGHT Robert Frost I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain — and back in rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light. … … In the field of psychology, the spacing effect is the phenomenon whereby animals (including humans) more easily remember or learn items when they are studied a few times spaced over a long time span ("spaced presentation") rather than repeatedly studied in a short span of time ("massed presentation").
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Serial Position Effect
TUV ZOF GEK WAV XOZ TIK FUT WIB SAR POZ REY GIJ Better recall Poor recall Some of the strongest evidence for the multi-store model (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968) comes from serial position effect studies and studies of brain damaged patients. Experiments show that when participants are presented with a list of words, they tend to remember the first few and last few words and are more likely to forget those in the middle of the list. This is known as the serial position effect. The tendency to recall earlier words is called the primary effect; the tendency to recall the later words is called the recency effect.
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What We Encode Encoding by meaning Encoding by images
Encoding by organization Visual Visual encoding is the process of encoding images and visual sensory information. The creation of mental pictures is one way people use visual encoding. This type of information is temporarily stored in iconic memory, and then is moved to long-term memory for storage. The amygdala plays a large role in the use of visual encoding of memories. Acoustic Acoustic encoding is the use of auditory stimuli or hearing to implant memories. This is aided by what is known as the phonological loop. The phonological loop is a process by which sounds enter the echoic memory and are sub-vocally rehearsed in order to be remembered. The phonological similarity effect is modified by word concreteness, and it indicates that it is not just phonological or acoustic representation at work, but linguistic representation as well. Semantic Semantic encoding involves the use of sensory input that has a specific meaning or can be applied to a context. Chunking and mnemonics aid in semantic encoding; sometimes, deep processing and optimal retrieval occurs. For example, you might remember a particular phone number based on a person's name or a particular food by its color.
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Results When processing verbal information for storage, we usually encode its meaning. For example, we associate it with what we already know or imagine. Research indicates that semantic encoding (of meaning) yields better memory of verbal information than acoustic encoding (of sound) or visual encoding (of an image). We are particularly likely to remember words we can meaningfully relate to ourselves, called the self-reference effect. This research also highlights the futility of trying to remember words we do not understand and the benefits of rephrasing what we read and hear into meaningful terms. In a variety of experiments, researchers have documented the benefits of mental imagery. For example, we remember concrete words that lend themselves to picture images better than we remember abstract, low-imagery words. We remember concrete nouns better than abstract nouns because, for example, we can associate both an image and a meaning with fire but only a meaning with process. Imagery is at the heart of many memory aids, or mnemonics. For example, in the peg-word system, people remember new items by using a visual as well as an acoustic code. When we organize information into meaningful units, we recall it more easily. In chunking, we cluster information into familiar, manageable units, such as words into sentences. Chunking occurs so naturally that we often take it for granted. When people develop expertise in an area, they often process information in hierarchies composed of a few broad concepts divided and sub-divided into lesser concepts and facts. In this way, experts can retrieve information efficiently.
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Visual Encoding Mental pictures (imagery) are a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding. OBJECTIVE 6| Explain how encoding imagery aids effortful processing, and describes some memory-enhancing strategies that use visual encoding. Why is it that we struggle to remember formulas, definitions and dates, yet we can easily remember where we were yesterday, who was with us, where we sat and what we wore? One difference relates to the greater ease of remembering mental pictures. Our earliest memories- probably of something that happened around 3 or 4 years of age involve visual imagery. Researchers have also documented that we remember concrete words that lend themselves to visual mental images better than we remember concrete words that lend themselves to visual mental images better than we remember abstract, low imagery words. For example, you are more likely to remember the statement “rock throwing rioter” than the words rock throw riot because a rock throwing rioter is something you can imagine, and subsequently you are more likely to remember it. Both photos: Ho/AP Photo Showing adverse effects of tanning and smoking in a picture may be more powerful than simply talking about it.
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Mnemonics Imagery is at the heart of many memory aids. Mnemonic techniques use vivid imagery in aiding memory. Method of Loci Link Method Mnemonics is one way to encode simple material into the memory. Finding some sense of organization within items helps a person to remember these items. A peg-word system can be used in which the person 'pegs' or associates the items to be remembered with other easy-to-remember items. Acronyms, in which a person creates new words with each of the letters of the word they are trying to remember, can also be helpful in the encoding of memories. The Method of Loci The oldest known mnemonic strategy is called the method of loci ("loci" is the plural of locus, which means location, or place). It's based on the assumption that you can best remember places that you are familiar with, so if you can link something you need to remember with a place that you know very well, the location will serve as a clue that will help you to remember. The Link Method The Link Method is one of the easiest mnemonic techniques available. You use it by making simple associations between items in a list, linking them with a vivid image containing the items. Taking the first image, create a connection between it and the next item (perhaps in your mind smashing them together, putting one on top of the other, or suchlike.) Then move on through the list linking each item with the next.
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Method of Loci List of Items Imagined Locations Hammer Garage Rug
Charcoal Bed Sheets Pens Imagined Locations Garage Living Room Backyard Bedroom Study Suppose you need to remember the list of items on the screen. You can imagine locations that you would use them to help yourself remember. For example: When I get home from shopping for the items on my list, I will park in the garage, walk through my living room, look out the window at the backyard, walk to my bedroom so I can study. The visual cues of these locations should help you to be able to remember what it is you need to get at the store.
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Link Method List of Items Onions Pizza Sandals Watch Butter
This method is based solely on your visualization and imagination skills. Let’s see an example of the method in order to understand better what you have to do. Let’s suppose that you want to remember the following list: o Onions o Pizza o Sandals o Watch o Butter o Onions,Pizza : Imagine that whole huge onions are in the center of giant pizza. Notice the colors, the smells, the tastes. This pizza must be delicious. –> o Pizza,Sandals: As you observing it one huge onion jumps out to your feet onto you new sandals and explodes.–> o Watch,Butter: From the explosion, the red with green dots big wall watch falls down and breaks. You observe that from the broken front glass melted butter come out and forms a fish. It’s so unreal! –> 0 Butter, Onions: The melted butter causes the onions to slip and fall. Aware of the dangers of the world they climb back onto the pizza. Involves forming a mental image of items to be remembered in a way that links them together.
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Organizing Information for Encoding
Break down complex information into broad concepts and further subdivide them into categories and subcategories. Chunking Hierarchy OBJECTIVE 7| Discuss the use of chunking and hierarchies in effortful processing. Chunking is the process of organizing parts of objects into meaningful wholes. The whole is then remembered as a unit instead of individual parts. Examples of chunking include remembering American phone numbers (a series of individual numbers separated by dashes) or words (a series of individual letters)
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Chunking Organizing items into a familiar, manageable unit. Try to remember the numbers below. If you are well versed with American history, chunk the numbers together and see if you can recall them better Chunking occurs so naturally we often take it for granted. Chunking aids in our recall of unfamiliar material. With chunking you can increase your recall of digits too. Typically people can remember about 7 digits, but with chunking, people can recall more than 80.
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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
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Hierarchy Complex information broken down into broad concepts and further subdivided into categories and subcategories. Hierarchies are when a person takes a series of otherwise unconnected information, and clusters it together. When people develop expertise in the area of chunking, they process information not only in chunks, but also hierarchies composed of a few broad concepts divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts.
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Memory Ted Talk (20:09)
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Storage: Retaining Information
Storage is at the heart of memory. Three stores of memory are shown below: Sensory Memory Working Memory Long-term Memory Encoding Events Encoding Retrieval Retrieval
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Sensory Memory Sensory Memory Working Memory Long-term Memory Events
Encoding Events Encoding Retrieval OBJECTIVE 8| Contrast two types of sensory memory. Information first enters the memory system through the senses. Iconic memory is a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli, a photographic or picture-image memory lasting for a few tenths of a second. Echoic memory is a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli. Even if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds. Retrieval
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The longer the delay, the greater the memory loss.
Sensory Memory The longer the delay, the greater the memory loss. 20 40 60 80 Percent Recognized 0.15 0.30 0.50 1.00 Time (Seconds) Researcher
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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
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Working Memory Sensory Memory Working Memory Long-term Memory Events
Encoding Events Encoding Retrieval OBJECTIVE 9| Describe the duration and working capacity of short-term memory. Retrieval
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Working Memory Working memory, the new name for short-term memory, has a limited capacity (7±2) and a short duration (20 seconds). Our working/short-term memory span for information just presented is very limited—a seconds long retention of up to about seven items, depending on the information and how it is presented. Short-term recall is slightly better for random digits than for random letters, and slightly better for what we hear than what we see. Without rehearsal, most of us retain in short-term memory only about four information chunks. Sir George Hamilton observed that he could accurately remember up to 7 beans thrown on the floor. If there were more beans, he guessed.
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Capacity M U T G I K T L R S Y P
The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information (1956). Ready? M U T G I K T L R S Y P You should be able to recall 7±2 letters. George Miller
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Chunking F-B-I-T-W-A-C-I-A-I-B-M FBI TWA CIA IBM 4 chunks
The capacity of the working memory may be increased by “Chunking.” F-B-I-T-W-A-C-I-A-I-B-M FBI TWA CIA IBM 4 chunks
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The duration of the working memory is about 20 sec.
Brown/Peterson and Peterson (1958/1959) measured the duration of working memory by manipulating rehearsal. CHJ MKT HIJ 547 547 544 541 … CH?? Procedure: A lab experiment was conducted in which 24 participants (psychology students) had to recall trigrams (meaningless three-consonant syllables, e.g. TGH). To prevent rehearsal participants were asked to count backwards in threes or fours from a specified random number until they saw a red light appear. This is known as the brown peterson technique. Participants were asked to recall trigrams after intervals of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 or 18 seconds. The duration of the working memory is about 20 sec.
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Working Memory Duration
Findings: The longer the interval delay the less trigrams were recalled. Participants were able to recall 80% of trigrams after a 3 seconds delay. However, after 18 seconds less than 10% of trigrams were recalled correctly. Conclusion: Short-term memory has a limited duration when rehearsal is prevented. It is thought that this information is lost from short-term memory from trace decay. The results of the study also show the short-term memory is different from long-term memory in terms of duration. Thus supporting the multi-store model of memory.
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Long-Term Memory Sensory Memory Working Memory Long-term Memory Events
Encoding Events Encoding Retrieval OBJECTIVE 10| Describe the capacity and duration of long-term memory. Long-term memory (LTM) is the final stage of the dual memory model proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin, in which data can be stored for long periods of time. While short-term and working memory persists for only about 20 to 30 seconds, information can remain in long term memory indefinitely. Retrieval
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Long-Term Memory Unlimited capacity store. Estimates on capacity range from 1000 billion to 1,000,000 billion bits of information (Landauer, 1986). R.J. Erwin/ Photo Researchers The Clark’s nutcracker can locate 6,000 caches of buried pine seeds during winter and spring.
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Memory Feats https://www. youtube. com/watch
Memory Feats The woman who cant forget
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Storing Memories in the Brain
Through electrical stimulation of the brain, Wilder Penfield (1967) concluded that old memories were etched into the brain. Loftus and Loftus (1980) reviewed Penfield's data and showed that only a handful of brain stimulated patients reported flashbacks. Using rats, Lashley (1950) suggested that even after removing parts of the brain, the animals retain partial memory of the maze.
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Synaptic Changes In Aplysia, Kandel and Schwartz (1982) showed that serotonin release from neurons increased after conditioning. OBJECTIVE 11| Discuss the synaptic changes that accompany memory formation and storage. Although we know that our capacity for storing information permanently is essentially unlimited, we are not sure how and where we store it. Research has shown that memories do not reside in a single place, and the so-calledmemory trace is difficult to find. The search for the physical basis of memory has been conducted in many ways, including research on Aplysiam (if you remember, we learned that they could be classically with electric shock to recoil when splashed with water). While researching the snails, scientists also observed synaptic changes in the snail during the conditioning, and found that serotonin release from neurons increased after conditioning. Photo: Scientific American
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Synaptic Changes Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) refers to synaptic enhancement after learning (Lynch, 2002). An increase in neurotransmitter release or receptors on the receiving neuron indicates strengthening of synapses. Both Photos: From N. Toni et al., Nature, 402, Nov Courtesy of Dominique Muller The search for memory formation and storage is now focused on the synapses and their neurotransmitters and on the long-term potentiation (LTP) of brain circuits. In response to increased activity in neural pathways, neural interconnections form or strengthen. Studies of the sea slug indicate that when learning occurs, the slug releases more of the neurotransmitterserotonin at certain synapses, and these synapses become more efficient at transmitting signals. In experiments, rapidly stimulating certain memory-circuit connections has increased their sensitivity for weeks to come. This LTP appears to be a neural basis for learning and remembering associations. Drugs that block LTP interfere with learning. Scientists are developing and testing drugs that enhance long-term memory. One approach is to develop drugs that enhance the production of the protein CREB. Another is to develop drugs that boost glutamate. The naturally stimulating hormones that we produce when excited or stressed make more glucose energy available to fuel brain activity, signaling the brain that something important has happened. The amygdala, two emotion-processing clusters in the brain’s limbic system, arouses brain areas that process emotion. These emotion-triggered hormonal changes help explain our flashbulb memories of surprising, significant events. Emotionless events mean weaker memories.
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Stress Hormones & Memory
Heightened emotions (stress-related or otherwise) make for stronger memories. Continued stress may disrupt memory. OBJECTIVE 12| Discuss some ways stress hormones can affect memory. When we encode information, we usually have many methods that we use to ensure that this information will start to be consolidated. Most of the time however, we simply repeat the information in our head in order to memorize it. If I give you the phone number and asks you to go and dial it on the pay phone at the end of the corridor, there is a good chance that on your way to the payphone, you will repeat this number over and over again until you can dial it. By doing this, you are ensuring that the memory trace of the phone number stays active in your short-term memory. REMEMBER You cannot forget what you never encoded in the first place! However, information can be in your long-term memory store, but this does not mean that it is safe! Stress can also interfere with your capacity to retrieve this information from your long-term memory store. Although this system works quite well most of the time, the caveat is that this system is very sensitive to interference. For example, if, while walking toward the payphone to dial the number, you meet your friend Sarah in the corridor who starts talking to you, then there is a very high probability that you will forget in an instant the phone number that you were repeating over and over again! Stress is like Sarah showing up before you can encode the number; it is a form of inteference. When you are stressed by something (e.g. work, a colleague etc.) this stress takes a lot of resources from your brain and interferes with your capacity to encode any new information. This is when you will ‘forget’ the management’ meeting, or to bring your child to the dentist. Did you really forget these events? OR did these events even make their way into your memory in the first place i.e. were they encoded? There is a fair chance that you never encoded this information in the first place. At the time that your colleague told you that ‘Next Thursday, there is the management meeting’, you did not pay full attention to what this person said because your brain was occupied with a stressor. Consequently, the management committee information never made it to your brain, was not consolidated and never entered your long-term memory store. Did you know? Stress hormones have the capacity to increase your memory for traumatic events because they exist in large part to help you survive (e.g. chase a mammoth). For example, the phone number that you had to dial on the payphone at the end of the corridor could now be in your long-term memory store, and you now know this phone number ‘by heart’. However, it is quite possible that the next day, just as you are about to dial it, Steve asks you a question. You then look at the phone and you draw a blank. Stress can act in the same way and prevent us from retrieving information from our memory. Memory processing involves many steps each of which is relatively easy to disrupt. Stress primarily acts as a source of interference and can prevent each of the stages of memory processing (encoding, consolidation, and retrieval) from occurring. Scott Barbour/ Getty Images
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Storing Implicit & Explicit Memories
Explicit Memory refers to facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare. Implicit memory involves learning an action while the individual does not know or declare what she knows. OBJECTIVE 13| Distinguish between implicit and explicit memory, and identify the main brain structure associated with each. As any student can tell you, sometimes it takes a lot of work and effort to commit information to memory. When you are studying for a big exam, it might take hours of rehearsal in order to remember what you studied. However, some other events, details, and experiences enter our memory with little or no effort. For example, on the way to class you might hear an annoying pop song on the radio. Days later, you find yourself still humming that same tune. Why does it seem like some things are so difficult to remember, and other things so easy? What's the difference? Information that you have to consciously work to remember is known as explicit memory, while information that you remember unconsciously and effortlessly is known asimplicit memory. While most of the information you find about memory tends to focus specifically on explicit memory, researchers are becoming increasingly interested in how implicit memory works and how it influences our knowledge and behavior. Explicit Memory- is processed in the hippocampus When you are trying to intentionally remember something (like a formula for your statistics class or a list of dates for your history class), this information is stored in your explicit memory. We use these memories every day, from remembering information for a test to recalling the date and time of a doctor's appointment. This type of memory is also known as declarative memory, since you can consciously recall and explain the information. Some tasks that require the use of explicit memory include remembering what you learned in your psychology class, recalling your phone number, identifying who the current President is, writing a research paper, and remembering what time you are meeting a friend to go to a movie. There are two major types of explicit memory: Episodic memory: These are your long-term memories of specific events, such as what you did yesterday or your high school graduation. Semantic memory: These are memories of facts, concepts, names, and other general knowledge information. Implicit Memory- Is processed in part by the cerebellum Things that we don't purposely try to remember are stored in implicit memory. This kind of memory is both unconscious and unintentional. This type of memory is also known as non- declarative memory, since you are not able to consciously bring it into awareness. Procedural memories, such as how to perform a specific task like swinging a baseball bat or making toast, are one type of implicit memory since you don't have to consciously recall how to perform these tasks. While implicit memories are not consciously recalled, they still have an influence on how you behave as well as your knowledge of different tasks. Some examples of implicit memory include singing a familiar song, typing on your computer keyboard, daily habits, and driving a car. Riding a bicycle is another great example. Even after going years without riding one, most people are able to hop on a bike and ride it effortlessly.
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Hippocampus Hippocampus – a neural center in the limbic
system that processes explicit memories. The hippocampus is a horse-shoe shaped area of the brain that plays an important role in consolidating information from short-term memory into long-term memory. It is part of the limbic system, a system associated with emotions and long-term memories. The hippocampus is involved in such complex processes as forming, organizing, and storing memories. Because both sides of the brain are symmetrical, the hippocampus can be found in both hemispheres. If one side of the hippocampus is damaged or destroyed, memory function will remain nearly normal as long as the other side is undamaged. Damage to both sides of the hippocampus can impede the ability to form new memories, known as anterograde amnesia. Functioning of the hippocampus can also decline with age. By the time people reach their 80s, they may have lost as much as 20 percent of the nerve connections in the hippocampus. While not all older adults exhibit this neuron loss, those who do show decreased performance on memory tests. Weidenfield & Nicolson archives
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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 Anterograde amnesia refers to loss of memory for events after an incident – often such cases are examples of what are known as pure amnesiacs. Therefore, a person can’t store new information in their short term memory. Patients with anterograde amnesia quite often show normal memory for events prior to the incident responsible for the memory deficit but have severely impaired ability to recall information about events occurring after the incident. Whereas with retrograde amnesia there is almost always a gradual restoration of most of the lost information, with anterograde amnesia there is quite often no such recovery and patients are left with a permanent and debilitating condition. The case which led to the discovery of the condition of anterograde amnesia is that of H.M. (Milner et al 1968). Anterograde amnesia can be caused by a number of potential factors, such as brain surgery, e.g. HM, or alcohol, e.g. Korsakoffs syndrome. Surgery
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Implicit Memory HM is unable to make new memories that are
declarative (explicit), but he can form new memories that are procedural (implicit). The man who cant remember C B A H.M. Case Study of Anterograde Amnesia H.M. had brain surgery in 1953 when he was 27 yrs. old. The surgery involved removal of part of the brain known as the hippocampus to alleviate the severe symptoms of epilepsy. Although the surgery controlled the epileptic seizures H.M. suffered serious and debilitating memory impairment as a side effect. His short-term memory was normal but he was completely unable to transfer any new information into his long-term memory. He showed almost no knowledge of current affairs because he forgot any news item as soon as he had read about it; he knew nothing of recent family events including moving house and the death of his father. Despite being able to remember people he had known long ago he was never able to store information about new people he encountered and they remained forever complete strangers to him. In many respects H.M. seemed cognitively 'normal' as he was able to learn and remember perceptual and motor skills although he needed reminding of what he was able to do. This case and others illustrate the highly selective nature of the problems of anterograde amnesia following brain damage. There is no general deterioration of memory function but specific deficits in which some abilities such as learning new information are severely impaired whilst others, including language and memory span are quite normal. HM learned the Tower of Hanoi (game) after his surgery. Each time he plays it, he is unable to remember the fact that he has already played the game.
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Cerebellum Cerebellum – a neural center in the hindbrain
that processes implicit memories. The cerebellum ("little brain") is a structure located at the rear of the brain, near the spinal cord. It looks like a miniature version of the cerebral cortex, in that it has a wavy, or convoluted surface.[3] Unlike the hippocampus which is involved in the encoding of complex memories, the cerebellum plays a role in the learning ofprocedural memory, and motor learning, such as skills requiring co-ordination and fine motor control.[4] An example of a skill requiring procedural memory would be playing a musical instrument, or driving a car or riding a bike. Individuals with transient global amnesia that have difficulty forming new memories and/or remembering old events may sometimes retain the ability to perform complex musical pieces, suggesting that procedural memory is completely dissociated from conscious memory, also known as explicit memory. This separation makes sense if the cerebellum, which is far removed from the hippocampus, is responsible for procedural learning. The cerebellum is more generally involved in motor learning, and damage to it can result in problems with movement, specifically it is considered to co-ordinate timing and accuracy of movements, and to make long-term changes (learning) to improve these skills.[1]
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Retrieval: Getting Information Out
Retrieval refers to getting information out of the memory store. OBJECTIVE 14| Contrast the recall, recognition, and relearning measures of memory. Retrieval of memories comes to us in a variety of ways: Recall- a measure of memory in which a person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill in the blank. Recognition- A measure of memory in which a person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple choice test. Relearning- a memory measure that assess the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time. Retrieval failure can occur if we have too few cues to summon information from long-term memory. It may also happen when old and new information compete for retrieval. In proactive interference, something we learned in the past interferes with our ability to recall something we have recently learned. In retroactive interference, something we have recently learned interferes with something we learned in the past. With his concept of repression, Sigmund Freud proposed that our memories are self-censoring. To protect our self-concepts and to minimize anxiety, we may block from consciousness painful memories. In Freud’s view, this motivated forgetting submerges memories but leaves them available for later retrieval under the right conditions. Increasing numbers of memory researchers think repression rarely, if ever, occurs. More typically, we have trouble forgetting traumatic experiences. Spanky’s Yearbook Archive Spanky’s Yearbook Archive
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Measures of Memory In recall, the person must retrieve information using effort. (A fill-in-the blank test requires recall.) The capital of France is ______.
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Measures of Memory In recognition, the person must identify an item amongst other choices. (A multiple-choice test requires recognition.) Name the capital of France. Brussels Rome London Paris
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Measures of Memory In relearning, the individual shows how much time (or effort) is saved when learning material for the second time. List Jet Dagger Tree Kite … Silk Frog Ring List Jet Dagger Tree Kite … Silk Frog Ring Original Trials Relearning Trials 1 day later Saving X 100 Relearning Trials 10 5 X 100 10 It took 10 trials to learn this list It took 5 trials to learn the list 50%
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Retrieval Cues Memories are held in storage by a web of associations. These associations are like anchors that help retrieve memory. water smell hose Fire Truck fire OBJECTIVE 15| Explain how retrieval cues help us access stored memories, and describe the process of priming. Memories are held in storage by a web of associations. These associations are like anchors that help retrieve memory. smoke truck heat red
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Priming To retrieve a specific memory from the web of associations, you must first activate one of the strands that leads to it. This process is called priming. Priming is a nonconscious form of human memory concerned with perceptual identification of words and objects. It refers to activating particular representations or associations in memory just before carrying out an action or task. For example, a person who sees the word "yellow" will be slightly faster to recognize the word "banana." Or, in the example depicted on the screen, hearing the word rabbit likely conjures an image of a rabbit in your mind. Consequently, when asked to spell the word hare, research demonstrated people were more likely to spell it as hare (h-a-r-e) as opposed to hair (h-a-i-r). This happens because yellow and banana are closely associated in memory. Additionally, priming can also refer to a technique in psychology used to train a person's memory in both positive and negative ways.
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Context Effects Scuba divers recall more words underwater if they learned the list underwater, while they recall more words on land if they learned that list on land (Godden & Baddeley, 1975). The Context Effect states that the context (environmental factors) that surrounds an event effects how an event is perceived and remembered. Putting yourself back in the context where you experiences something can prime your memory retrieval. Researchers had scuba divers listen to a list of different words in two different settings, either 10 feet underwater or sitting at the beach. As the chart shows divers recalled more words when they were retested in the same place. Fred McConnaughey/ Photo Researchers
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Déja Vu Déja Vu means “I've experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier similar experience. Sometimes being in a context similar to one we have been in before may trigger the experience of déjà vu (which is French for already seen). We have probably all experienced déjà vu before that eerie sense that we have been in this exact situation before. Research has shown that this experience more often happens to well-educated, imaginative young adults, especially when tired or stressed. The two-thirds of the people who report having experienced déjà vu before often wonder “how could I recognize a situation I’m experiencing for the first time”? Those who suppose a paranormal explanation may think of reincarnation or precognition. Posing the question differently, we can see how our memory system might produce déjà vu. If we have previously been in a similar situation, the current situation may be loaded with cues that unconsciously retrieve the earlier experience. We take in and retain vast amounts of information while hardly noticing and often forget where it came from). Thus, if in a similar context you see a stranger who looks and walks like one of your friends, the similarity may give rise to an eerier feeling of recognition. Having awakened a part of that earlier experience, you may feel like you have seen that person before. © The New Yorker Collection, Leo Cullum from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved
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Moods and Memories We usually recall experiences that are consistent with our current mood. Emotions, or moods, serve as retrieval cues. OBJECTIVE 17| Describe the effects of internal states on retrieval. Our moods may also bias our memories. We seem to associate good or bad events with their accompanying emotions, which become retrieval cues. Thus our memories are some-what mood congruent. Being depressed sours memories by priming negative associations, which we then use to explain our current mood. If put in a good mood, whether under hypnosis or just by the day’s events, people recall the world through rose colored glasses. In an interesting study, researchers found that people who were depressed remembered their parents as rejective, punitive, and guilt promoting, where as people who were formerly depressed described their parents much in the same way as people who have never suffered depression. Moods also determine how we interpret other peoples behavior, and consequently our interpretation of them, which will be formed into a memory. For example, if you are in a bad mood, you may see a person looking at you, and interpret their look as a glare. If you are in a good mood, you might see the same person looking at you, and interpret their look as a flirty glance. Being mindful of our moods may help to correct for mood bias. Jorgen Schytte/ Still Pictures
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Forgetting An inability to retrieve information due to poor encoding, storage, or retrieval. OBJECTIVE 18| Explain why we should value our ability to forget, and distinguish three general ways our memory fails us. Do we really forget? Forgetting (retention loss) refers to apparent loss or modification of information already encoded and stored in an individual's long term memory. It is a spontaneous or gradual process in which old memories are unable to be recalled from memory storage. Forgetting also helps to reconcile the storage of new information with old knowledge.[1] Problems with remembering, learning and retaining new information are a few of the most common complaints of older adults.[2] Memory performance is usually related to the active functioning of three stages. These three stages are encoding, storage and retrieval.[2] Many different factors influence the actual process of forgetting. An example of one of these factors could be the amount of time the new information is stored in the memory. Events involved with forgetting can happen either before or after the actual memory process. The amount of time the information is stored in the memory, depending on the minutes hours or even days, can increase or decrease depending on how well the information is encoded.[3] Studies show that retention improves with increased rehearsal. This improvement occurs because rehearsal helps to transfer information into long term memory.[4] - practice makes perfect.
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We cannot remember what we do not encode.
Encoding Failure We cannot remember what we do not encode. OBJECTIVE 19| Discuss the role of encoding failure in forgetting. Memory encoding is varied and affected by the senses. Visual encoding entails memory storage through visual sensory information gathered through sight, aiding in the storage of long-term memory. Semantic encoding is the main cause of long-term memories being stored. It occurs when a memory has a particular meaning or can be linked to an event the brain perceives as valuable to remember. If the memory is not part of semantic encoding, encoding failure may occur, and the memory may not be stored long term.
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Which penny is real. http://www. exploratorium
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Retrieval Failure Although the information is retained in the memory store, it cannot be accessed. Have you ever felt like a piece of information has just vanished from memory? Or maybe you know that it's there, you just can't seem to find it. The inability to retrieve a memory is one of the most common causes of forgetting. So why are we often unable to retrieve information from memory. One possible explanation retrieval failure is known as decay theory. According to this theory, a memory trace is created every time a new theory is formed. Decay theory suggests that over time, these memory traces begin to fade and disappear. If information is not retrieved and rehearsed, it will eventually be lost. One problem with this theory, however, is that research has demonstrated that even memories which have not been rehearsed or remembered are remarkably stable in long-term memory. Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon is the subjective feeling that people have of being confident that they know the target word for which they are searching, yet they cannot recall this word. They are somewhat able to recall words of similar sounds and meaning, but never the actual word they are seeking. TOT is an experience with memory recollection involving difficulty retrieving a well-known word or familiar name. Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon is one kind of metacognition. Metacognition is the knowledge and thoughts about one's own cognitive processess, as well as control of those cognitive processes. People know enough about their memory to know when this phenomenon is present. Another term related to this phenomenon is the feeling of knowing, which is the prediction about whether you could correctly recognize the correct answer to a question. This effect is more conscious meaning one thoughtfully assesses whether one could recognize the answer if one was given several options. The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon is usually an involuntary effect. Most people have experienced this phenomenon many times in their life. The most common reason for why this phenomenon occurs is a retrieval process gone awry. When one experiences this phenomenon it appears that one is having a breakdown in an intermediate stage of lexical retrieval. Lexical retrieval is a search for a desired word in a human's memory storage. Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) is a retrieval failure phenomenon. Given a cue (What makes blood cells red?) the subject says the word begins with an H (hemoglobin).
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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. In psychology, interference occurs when one memory interferes with another, impairing memory. Some psychologists believe interference causes forgetting. For example, if one learns tennis on Thursday and racquetball on Friday, one might confuse the rules of the two games because the memory of the latter impedes learning the former. This is an example of proactive interference, when old memories impair learning new information. Retroactive interference occurs when new information impedes recall of old information (as when learning to use a new phone makes it difficult to remember how to use an old one). Another significant theory of forgetting is the decay theory, according to which memories weaken as time passes.
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Retroactive Interference
Sleep prevents retroactive interference. Therefore, it leads to better recall. Suppose that you were an international business major intent on working in Italy and France. You spent the last two years learning how to speak French and managed to master the language. This semester you are taking Italian and find it easy to learn since the two languages are similar. During break you decide to meet up with some of your friends, all of whom are fluent in French. You try to speak French to them, but find that you have difficulty remembering the vocabulary. Throughout the conversation, you end up speaking Italian instead of French, confusing your friends in the process. This is an example of retroactive interference, which occurs when newly acquired information inhibits our ability to recall previously acquired information. Research demonstrates that people are less likely to experience retroactive interference with getting sleep.
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Motivated Forgetting Motivated Forgetting: People unknowingly revise their memories. Suppression - forgetting ones thoughts and memories consciously. 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. Who developed this theory? The motivated forgetting theory was invented by Sigmund Freud. The theory suggests that motivated forgetting arises from strong motive or desire to forget, usually because the experience is to disturbing or upsetting to remember. There are two types of motivated forgetting are repression (unconsciously) and suppression (consciously). In this theory Freud described what is called a mental self block. The mental self-defense blocks out painful or unpleasant memories. Some memories are so painful or upsetting that thinking about them would produce overwhelming anxiety. Instead, they are repressed (pushed below conscious awareness) and so becoming inaccessible. This is a form of self-defense. Suppression and repression are categorized under defense mechanisms which people use in order for them to cope with a stimulus that can harm them. Suppression - forgetting ones thoughts and memories consciously. For example 'A woman being raped by a stranger. After a few years, someone asks the women if she had had such an experience. She replied 'No' even though there was. She is suppressing her bad thought unconsciously. For example ' For example 'When you ask someone who failed their major exam, how they went, if they tell you they can't remember then they are consciously suppressing their upsetting memory. Repression - The concept of forgetting ones feeling unconsciously. For example - When asked at what age we talked and walked, we reply 'I don't know'. This is because we were still young. For example - When a young girl was physically abused, but during her later years of life she can not remember. However she has difficulty trusting and relating to others, therefore there is difficulty forming relationships. Suppression is consciously forgetting an idea, an incident, an experience while repression is unconsciously forgetting an idea, an incident or an experience. Are these memories lost forever? In what situations are they retrieved? How do the memories come back? The memories are not lost, just lost from retrieval until the anxiety they cause can be removed. Repressed memories may be retrieved back into an individuals normal waking consciousness (NWC) after counselling, in dreams or when relevant topics are raised which arouse emotions associated with the unpleasant experience. What limitation does this theory have? The limitation of this theory is that it only applies to very specific experiences. Culver Pictures Sigmund Freud
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Why do we forget? Forgetting can occur at any memory stage. We filter, alter, or lose much information during these stages.
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Memory Construction While tapping our memories, we filter or fill in missing pieces of information to make our recall more coherent. Misinformation Effect: Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event.
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Misinformation and Imagination Effects
Eyewitnesses reconstruct their memories when questioned about the event. OBJECTIVE 23|Explain how misinformation and imagination can distort our memory of an event. In a famous experiment by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, participants were shown video footage of a traffic accident. After watching the clip, the participants were then asked a number of questions about what they had observed, much in the same way police officers, accident investigators, and attorneys might question an eyewitness. One of the questions asked was "How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?" In some instances, however, a subtle change was made; participants were instead asked how fast the cars were going when they "smashed into" each other. What the researchers discovered was that simply using the word "smashed" instead of "hit" could change how the participants remembered the accident. A week later, the participants were once again asked a series of questions, including "Did you see broken glass?" Most of the participants correctly answered no, but those who had been asked the "smashed into" version of the question in the initial interview were more likely to incorrectly believe that they had indeed seen broken glass. How can such a minor change lead to such differing memories of the same video clip? Experts suggest that this is an example of the misinformation effect, a memory phenomenon that can introduce misleading or incorrect information into memory and even contribute to the formation of false memories. What Is the Misinformation Effect? The work of Loftus and her colleagues has demonstrated that the questions asked after a person witnesses an event can actually have an influence on the person's memory of that event. Sometimes when a question contains misleading information, it can actually distort the memory of the event, a phenomenon that is known as the misinformation effect. Loftus herself has explained, "The misinformation effect refers to the impairment in memory for the past that arises after exposure to misleading information." Understanding Why the Misinformation Effect Happens So why exactly does the misinformation effect happen? There are a few different theories: One explanation is that the original information and the misleading information presented after the fact get blended together in memory. Another possibility is that the misleading information actually overwrites the original memory of the event. Researchers have also suggested that since the misleading information is more recent in memory, it tends to be easier to retrieve. In other cases, the pertinent data from the original event may never have been encoded into memory in the first place, so that when misleading information is presented, it is incorporated into the mental narrative to fill in these "gaps" in memory. Factors That Influence the Misinformation Effect A number of factors contribute to the misinformation effect and make it more likely that false or misleading information distorts memories of events: Time: If misleading information is presented some time after the original memory, it is likely to be much more accessible in memory. This means that the misleading information is much easier to retrieve, effectively blocking the retrieval of the original, correct information. Discussing the Event with Other Witnesses: Talking to other witnesses following an event can distort the original memory of what really happened. The reports given by other witnesses might conflict with the original memory, and this new information might reshape or distort the witness's original memory of events as they occurred. News Reports: Reading news stories and watching television reports of an accident or event can also contribute to the misinformation effect. People often forget the original source of information, which means that they might mistakenly believe that a piece of information was something they observed personally when really it was something they heard in a post-event news report. Repeated Exposure to Misinformation: The more often people are exposed to misleading information, the more likely they are to incorrectly believe that the misinformation was part of the original event. Depiction of the actual accident.
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Misinformation Group A: How fast were the cars going when they hit each other? Group B: How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?
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Memory Construction A week later they were asked: Was there any broken glass? Group B (smashed into) reported more broken glass than Group A (hit).
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Source Amnesia Source Amnesia: Attributing an event to the wrong source that we experienced, heard, read, or imagined (misattribution). OBJECTIVE 24| Describe source amnesia’s contributions to false memories.
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False Memories Repressed or Constructed?
Some adults actually do forget childhood episodes of abuse. False Memory Syndrome A condition in which a person’s identity and relationships center around a false but strongly believed memory of a traumatic experience, which is sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists.
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Children’s Eyewitness Recall
Children’s eyewitness recall can be unreliable if leading questions are posed. However, if cognitive interviews are neutrally worded, the accuracy of their recall increases. In cases of sexual abuse, this usually suggests a lower percentage of abuse. OBJECTIVE 26| Give arguments supporting and rejecting the position that very young children's reports are reliable. What are two cognitive factors that have been shown to influence the accuracy of children's testimony in previous research? What is compliance in interview settings? What is suggestibility in interview settings? What are some things that can affect compliance and suggestibility? What kind of question is most effective to help a child recollect the truth? Can young children be considered reliable witnesses?
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Are memories of abuse repressed or constructed?
Many psychotherapists believe that early childhood sexual abuse results in repressed memories. However, other psychologists question such beliefs and think that such memories may be constructed. OBJECTIVE 27| Discuss the controversy over reports of repressed and recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse.
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http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_loftus_the_fiction_of_memory (
Constructed Memories Loftus’ research shows that if false memories (lost at the mall or drowned in a lake) are implanted in individuals, they construct (fabricate) their memories ( . Don Shrubshell
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Consensus on Childhood Abuse
Leading psychological associations of the world agree on the following concerning childhood sexual abuse: Injustice happens. Incest and other sexual abuse happens. People may forget. Recovered memories are commonplace. Recovered memories under hypnosis or drugs are unreliable. Memories of things happening before 3 years of age are unreliable. Memories, whether real or false, are emotionally upsetting.
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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.
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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
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Make a presentation to teach other students how to memorize the following passage:
Words have a magical power. They can bring either the greatest happiness or deepest despair; they can transfer knowledge from teacher to student; words enable the orator to sway his audience and dictate its decisions. Words are capable of arousing the strongest emotions and prompting all men’s actions.- Sigmond Freud (1938) In your presentation include the following information: What is the title of the memory technique? Why is this an effective memory tool? What are the steps to this tool? Why should I use this tool over any other tool? How can I use it to memorize the passage- describe the process. (For example; if you choose the Method of Loci, you might say to imagine your house. In the door stands the word Word. The word word is wearing a magicians hat, and is flexing, etc.) At least two pictures to illustrate the memory technique. *You will need to use your technique to remember the passage for the test in order to test it’s effectiveness.*
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