1. AP PSYCHOLOGY
Mods 31-33
Memory and Cognition
AP Psych

2. Memory
Memory
persistence of learning over time via the storage and retrieval of information
Information learned long ago is stored in long-term memory.
Other information, that we’re working on right now is stored in working memory.
Flashbulb Memory (Eidetic Memory)
a very clear or vivid memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

3. Memory Three kinds of memory
1. When we search our memories for a particular fact or a specific event, we draw it from episodic memory.
When we recall events in great detail it is called flashbulb memory.
Generic memory is our mental dictionary, our commonsense knowledge. Millions of facts: George Washington was our 1st president.
Procedural memory consists of the skills and procedures you have learned. Throwing a ball, riding a bike, typing, playing an instrument etc.
Simon

4. Memory Sensory Memory Working Memory
the immediate, initial recording of sensory information – iconic/visual or echoic/sound in the memory system (lasts about 1 second)
Working Memory
focuses more on the processing of briefly stored information
George Miller – 7 pieces of info
7 +/ (5-9)

5. Memory Memory as Information Processing 1. Encoding
similar to a computer
Use keyboard to write or get info in computer
Save to jump or hard drive
Read or print back info
3 Steps – Encoding, Storage and Retrieval
1. Encoding
the processing of information into the memory system
i.e., extracting meaning

6. Memory 2. Storage 3. Retrieval
the retention of encoded information over time
3. Retrieval
process of getting information out of memory

7. Encoding Effortful Processing requires attention and effort
can become automatic through practice/rehearsal.
After you hear a phone number, it will disappear unless you work to maintain it in consciousness.

8. Encoding Automatic Processing
Walking to class today was done automatically – you just sort of got yourself here.
unconscious encoding of incidental information
well-learned information
word meanings (after practicing vocab, you just use them in a sentence.)
Athletic moves or techniques
Dancing
Lines from a play, words from a song.

9. Encoding Rehearsal conscious repetition of information
to maintain it in consciousness
to encode it for storage
Experiments also confirm the benefit of a spacing effect. For long term retention, cramming does not work as well as distributed study.
The benefits of rehearsal are further demonstrated by the serial position effect.
You will remember the last and first items better than the middle items. Also called the primacy and recency effect.

10. Encoding Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables Spacing Effect
TUV ZOF GEK WAV
Why did he use nonsense syllables?
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

11. How 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
So as you read this sentence, are you encoding the image of the words (visual), the sound of the words (acoustic) or are you encoding the meaning of the words (semantic)?

12. Encoding

13. Encoding Imagery Mnemonics mental pictures
a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding.
Which of the following words then, will you most likely recall when asked later? typewriter, void, cigarette, inherent, fire, process, buttocks, sequence?
Imagery is at the heart of many memory aids.
Mnemonics
Memory aids
What are some mnemonics that you know?
especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

14. Mnemonics cont’d Mnemonic is Greek for memory.
The Method of Loci -- imagine walking through a familiar series of locations -- associate each place with a visual representation of the to be remembered topic.
Try to use it to remember these words: lumberjack, dart, skate, hedge, colony, duck, furniture, stocking, pillow, mistress.
Use imagery to put a story to the words.
The Peg Word Method

15. Encoding Chunking organizing items into familiar, manageable units.
Can you remember these numbers?
How about now?
How about now?
use of acronyms
HOMES--Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
Roy G. Biv
Organized information is more easily recalled.

16. 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

17. Storage: Long-Term Memory
How does storage work?
Synaptic changes
Long-term Potentiation
increase in synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation
Strong emotions make for stronger memories
some stress hormones boost learning and retention
60 minutes propranalol

18. Storage: Long term Memory
Amnesia: severe memory loss caused by brain injury, shock, fatigue, illness or repression.
Infantile amnesia: the forgetting of events before the age of three. Freud’s reasons?
Others believe that the hippocampus is not fully developed, therefore we’re incapable.
Antegrade amnesia: memory loss from trauma that prevents a person from forming new memories. Can remember stuff prior.
Retrograde amnesia: Forget the period leading up to the event that caused damage.
Source Amnesia: Can’t remember where you learned info and may lead to changes in story

19. Storage: Long-Term Memory
Explicit Memory
memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare
also called declarative memory
hippocampus--neural center in limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage
Implicit Memory
retention independent of conscious recollection
also called procedural memory

20. Storage: Long-Term Memory
MRI scan of hippocampus (in red)
Hippocampus

21. Retrieval: Getting Information Out
What do you think is easier, recall or recognition?
Recall
measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier
as on a fill-in-the blank test.
Recognition
Measure of memory in which the person has only to identify items previously learned
as on a multiple-choice test.
Can you recall the names of the 7 Dwarves?
How about recognize them?
Sneezy, Dopey, Sleezy, Happy, Cranky, Bashful, Grumpy, Sleepy, Dumby, Crazy, Doc, Dorky

22. Retrieval Relearning Priming
memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material a second time
Priming
activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory (subliminal ads)

23. Retrieval Cues Deja Vu (French)--already seen Mood-congruent Memory
cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier similar experience
"I've experienced this before.“
Context Effects: returning to where you once lived or a school you once attended may have flooded your brain with retrieval cues.
Taking an exam in the same room you were taught may help.
Mood-congruent Memory
tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current mood
memory, emotions, or moods serve as retrieval cues
State-dependent Memory
what is learned in one state (while one is high, drunk, or depressed) can more easily be remembered when in same state

24. Moods and memories cont’d
We associate good or bad events with their accompanying emotions. When put in a good mood (someone gives you a nice compliment) you look at the world as a much better place.
Happy people are more receptive to positive feedback, depressed people to negative feedback.
So, your mood depends on the world around you, but how you perceive the world depends on your mood. Moods persist.
When happy, you recall happy events which prolongs your good mood. When down, you recall depressing events, which prolongs that mood.

25. Forgetting Forgetting as encoding failure
Which penny is the real thing?

26. Forgetting as Interference
Learning some items may disrupt retrieval of other information
2 types of interference:
Proactive (new is effected) Interference
disruptive effect of prior learning on recall of new information
Retroactive (old is effected) Interference
disruptive effect of new learning on recall of old information

27. Forgetting as Interference

28. Forgetting- Interference
Motivated Forgetting
people unknowingly revise memories
Repression
defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.
If you remembered everything, you wouldn’t be very well off. Some things are better off forgotten. Old parking spots, old phone numbers, old restaurant orders, bad memories.

29. Demo: Rumor chain Leveling: simplifying material
Sharpening: highlighting or overemphasizing some details
Assimilation: changing details to better fit the subject’s own background or knowledge.

30. Memory Construction We filter information and fill in missing pieces
Misinformation Effect
incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event
Source Amnesia
attributing to the wrong source an event that we experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined (misattribution)

31. Memory Construction Elizabeth Loftus Studies
Depiction of actual accident
Leading question:
“About how fast were the cars
going when they smashed into
each other?”
Memory
construction
Eyewitnesses reconstruct memories when questioned

32. Memory Construction Memories of Abuse False Memory Syndrome
Repressed or Constructed?
Child sexual abuse does occur
Some adults do actually forget such episodes
False Memory Syndrome
condition in which a person’s identity and relationships center around a false but strongly believed memory of traumatic experience
sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists

33. Review: Improve Your Memory
Study repeatedly to boost 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 story
chunk--acronyms

34. Improve Your Memory Rehearse
Activate retrieval cues--mentally recreate situation and mood
Recall events while they are fresh-- before you encounter misinformation
Minimize interference
Test your own knowledge
Rehearse