1. Memory Short-Term Memory Long-Term Memory
activated memory that holds a few items briefly
look up a phone number, then quickly dial before the information is forgotten
Long-Term Memory
the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system
Memory Championships, pi, test your memory

2. Memory Sensory Memory Working Memory
the immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system
Working Memory
focuses more on the processing of briefly stored information

3. A Simplified Memory Model
External
events
Sensory
memory
Short-term
Long-term
Sensory input
Attention to important
or novel information
Encoding
Retrieving

4. Encoding Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables Spacing Effect
TUV ZOF GEK WAV
the more times practiced on Day 1, the fewer repetitions to relearn on Day 2
Spacing Effect
distributed practice yields better long- term retention than massed practice

5. Encoding 20 15 10 5 8 16 24 32 42 53 64 Time in minutes8 16 24 32 42 53 64
Time in minutes
taken to relearn
list on day 2
Number of repetitions of list on day 1

6. Encoding: Serial Position Effect12
Percentage of
words recalled 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
Position of word in list 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11
Serial Position Effect--tendency to recall best the last items in a list

7. What Do We Encode? Semantic Encoding Acoustic Encoding Visual Encoding
encoding of meaning
including meaning of words
Acoustic Encoding
encoding of sound
especially sound of words
Visual Encoding
encoding of picture images

8. Encoding

9. Encoding
Hierarchies
complex information broken down into broad concepts and further subdivided into categories and subcategories
Encoding
(automatic
or effortful)
Imagery
(visual
Encoding)
Meaning
(semantic
Organization
Chunks
Hierarchies

10. Chunking…
                 

11. Storage: Sensory Memory
Iconic Memory
a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli
a photographic or picture image memory lasting no more that a few tenths of a second
Tests of George Sperling
Echoic Memory
momentary (3-4 sec) sensory memory of auditory stimuli

12. Storage: Short-Term Memory10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 3 6 9 12 15 18
Time in seconds between presentation
of contestants and recall request
(no rehearsal allowed)
Percentage
who recalled
consonants
Short-Term Memory
limited in duration and capacity
“magical” number 7+/-2
(Miller, 1956)

13. Storage: Long-Term Memory
How does storage work?
Karl Lashley (1950) – Searching for “engrams”
rats learn maze
lesion cortex
test memory
Synaptic changes – “The Brain” Clip
Long-term Potentiation (LTP)
increase in synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation
Strong emotions make for stronger memories

14. Stress Hormones and Memory
Stress hormones aide memory
Hormone surge alert brain that something important has happened.
Physical or psychological pain, trauma create surge
Rat study – shot of hormones with a leg shock
Creates a very strong memory
Biological evidence for why emotional memories are stronger.

15. Stress Hormones and Memory
Stress hormones block and destroy memory
Prolonged stress corrodes neural connections
Memories can be blocked by stress hormones
Rats trying to find a hidden target
Public speaking

16. Storage: Long-Term Memory
Amnesia--the loss of memory
Retrograde Amnesia – mass forgetting of old information
Antrograde Amnesia – inability to form new memories
Oliver Sacks – “Jimmie” (earth from the moon example), H.M., Clive Wearing
Childhood Amnesia – Why? (3 min)
Amnesiacs demonstrate 2 forms of memory…

17. Storage: Long-Term Memory
Amnesiacs
Deny having seen an article and then read it faster
Deny abilities to solve puzzle then complete it easily
Childhood Amnesia – must have implicit memory in tact
Explicit Memory (Declarative Memory)
memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare”
Episodic Memory – personally experienced events
Semantic Memory – facts, general knowledge
Implicit Memory (Non-declarative Memory)
retention independent of conscious recollection
Skills (procedural memory), classical-conditioned responses

18. Storage: Long-Term Memory Subsystems
Types of
long-term
memories
Explicit
(declarative)
With conscious
recall
Implicit
(nondeclarative)
Without conscious
Facts-general
knowledge
(“semantic
memory”)
Personally
experienced
events
(“episodic
Skills-motor
and cognitive
Dispositions-
classical and
operant
conditioning
effects

19. Storage: Long-Term Memory
hippocampus--neural center in limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage
Processes explicit memories – then sent to multiple different regions.
Hippocampus

20. Storage: Long-Term Memory
Cerebellum
Process implicit
memories
Ex: classical-
conditioned eye-
blink disappears
when you remove
cerebellum