1. Chapter 7
Memory

2. Objectives 7.1 Overview: What Is Memory?
Explain how human memory differs from an objective video recording of events.
7.2 Constructing Memory
Identify the ways that effortful processing can help to encode information into memory.
7.3 The Three Stages of Memory
Discuss how the three memory stages are involved in encoding new information into memory.
7.4 Organizing Information in Memory
Describe the main ways that information is organized in long-term memory.

3. Objectives 7.5 Retrieval from Memory
Examine the successful retrieval of information from long-term memory.
7.6 Reconstructing Memories
Explain how information from long-term memory may include misinformation.
7.7 Forgetting
Analyze how forgetting improves memory.
7.8 How to Improve your Memory
Identify principles that can improve memory.

4. What is Memory?
Memory: The enduring consequence in the mind of our experiences with the world
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.1 Overview: What is Memory?
LO: Explain how human memory differs from an objective video recording of events.
Memory is an active, constructive, and dynamic process. When we examine the psychology of memory, we discover that vivid memories can be true and untrue, accurate and distorted, all at the same time. With every new experience, memory effortlessly brings our past to mind. In many ways, the person you are is entirely determined by what you remember about your past. Consciousness involves thinking about experiences in memory, and perception requires recognizing when an object is familiar. Learning requires remembering that a behavior was previously rewarded.

5. Constructing Memory
Encoding: The process of taking new information and storing it in short- and long-term memory
Automatic processing: Information made available without conscious effort
Incidental memory: Explicit knowledge you did not intentionally encode
Priming: The activation of information in memory from a related cue
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.2 Constructing Memory
LO: Identify the ways that effortful processing can help to encode information into memory.
A question to consider is how information enters memory, a process called encoding. We can encode large amounts of information without conscious effort, called automatic processing. Incidental memory includes information you process and remember without any specific effort. Priming refers to the activation of information in memory from a related cue. We are often unaware of the memory associations acquired from our environment, but they constantly bring memories to mind. Automatic associations predict what will happen next, and that can influence our behavior.
The fundamental requirement for encoding information into memory is paying attention to it. Constructing memories involves attending to, selecting from, and encoding specific information about your experiences. In this sense, memory is highly selective: It depends on you to construct the information, and it requires effort.

6. Effortful Processing Learn Psychology by Carter and Seifert
Chapter 7: Memory
7.2 Constructing Memory
LO: Identify the ways that effortful processing can help to encode information into memory.
In contrast to automatic processing, memory construction requires a great deal of effortful processing in order to ensure that information is encoded into memory. Simple repetition is not sufficient to guarantee that the target information will be encoded. One fundamental finding is that we tend to remember the meaning of an experience rather than the incidental details surrounding it. Though we process many types of information, we are most likely to recall the meaning of the information we comprehend. Memory is always subjective, relying on the meaning we take from the events we experience. The memory we construct is not necessarily the same as the events that actually happened.
Data from Craik, F. I. M, & Tulving, E. (1975). Depth of processing and the retention of words in episodic memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 104, 268–294.

7. Levels of Processing
Elaboration: Tying new information to that already stored in memory
Self-reference effect: Associating information with oneself to aid in retrieval
Generation effect: Memory is better for information that we create ourselves.
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.2 Constructing Memory
LO: Identify the ways that effortful processing can help to encode information into memory.
A study of levels of processing demonstrated that the deepest, most meaningful level for encoding information results in the best recall. Processing a word by encoding its meaning (semantic encoding) results in better recognition at test time than more shallow processing of its visual appearance or sound. Elaboration, involves drawing connections to information already in memory. This helps encoding because establishing multiple, meaningful links to information provides more ways to access it again in the future. There are many ways to elaborate on meaning, such as thinking of examples, implications, or comparisons. You can spend less time studying if you are careful to elaborate on new information rather than attempting to memorize it in isolation.
A helpful method of encoding is to tie new information to personally relevant information. This is called the self-reference effect. Tying information into our personal memories helps in constructing memories. In fact, our memory is better for information that we have to construct ourselves instead of having it simply given to us. This is called the generation effect. In one study the simple act of generating an associated word improved memory by 28%. Active construction works to get information encoded into memory.

8. Mnemonics
Method of loci: Mnemonic for remembering items by placing them on a familiar path
Link method: Forming links between concepts to make them more memorable
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.2 Constructing Memory
LO: Identify the ways that effortful processing can help to encode information into memory.
Constructing memories sometimes calls for the use of strategies to make information more memorable. These mnemonics or “tricks” make use of our ability to construct and organize information to help us encode it into memory. One reason mnemonics work is that you can create associations between items in a way that is unusual and therefore memorable. One mnemonic, called the method of loci, uses imagery to construct a memory including specific items. Another nmemonic, the link method, can help you construct organization in memory.

9. The Three Stages of Memory
Figure 07.07: The Atkinson-Shiffrin stage model proposes three separate memory storage areas. Information moves between them, within short-term memory, and out of long-term memory.
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.3 The Three Stages of Memory
LO: Discuss how the three memory stages are involved in encoding new information into memory
How is new information processed and stored in memory? One proposed model is the stage model of memory, in which three separate stages are involved in consciously forming a lasting memory. The three stages include:
1. We experience a flash of input information through our senses, called sensory memory.
2. Some information from this first stage is encoded into a short-term memory buffer, where we hold it in our current thoughts.
3. Some information from the first stage is encoded into a long-term memory store, where it remains indefinitely for future access.
A wealth of research has taken place since the model was first proposed, and many aspects have been updated. For example, short-term memory is now called working memory to reflect the “work” it performs in our thinking processes. This middle stage is the “hot seat” of action, where new information is constantly flowing in through sensory memory, and past information is brought in from long-term memory. A great deal of information is presented in sensory memory, but a limited piece is attended to in short-term memory, and then finally, a different piece is stored in long-term memory.

10. Sensory Memory
Iconic memory: Sensory memory for visual information taken in
Echoic memory: Sensory memory for the sound reaching your ears
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.3 The Three Stages of Memory
LO: Discuss how the three memory stages are involved in encoding new information into memory
The sensory memory stage is capable of taking in a large amount of information, but it retains it only very briefly. In order to perceive it, we have to select which information we want by attending to it. We can select out a small amount of information from the sensory register before the information disappears. This iconic memory registers what the eye sees in vivid detail, but very briefly. These properties hold true for other senses like audition. Echoic memory holds the last few sounds that arrived at your ears for a fleeting moment before it, too, is wiped clean. While sensory memory is short, it allows us to select the information we want—to perceive its meaning—if we attend to it while it is there. Thus, attention is the key to what gets encoded from sensory memory into short-term memory.

11. Short-Term Memory or Working Memory
Maintenance rehearsal: Reactivating information in short-term memory to keep it in mind
Chunking: Grouping separate elements into a related unit in memory
Working memory span: The amount of different pieces of information that can be held in conscious memory for a short time and reported back correctly
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.3 The Three Stages of Memory
LO: Discuss how the three memory stages are involved in encoding new information into memory
The second stage of memory is called short-term memory, more recently also referred to as “working memory.” Short-term memory (STM) consists of the conscious thoughts you can keep in mind at any given moment. It has multiple components, including a phonological buffer that holds the sounds of speech and a visuospatial sketchpad that stores information like a mental map. Maintenance rehearsal is the practice of repeating information over and over to yourself to refresh its activation and keep it available to your conscious mind. Short-term memory decays within 15 to 30 seconds unless you actively rehearse the information.
As new information comes in, it displaces the earlier information from memory and is now remembered while the old information is lost. Our short-term memory appears to be limited to approximately seven items at any one time. By grouping items into larger sets of information, through a process known as “chunking,” more information can be maintained in short-term memory. A chunk is a meaningful memory unit consisting of related elements. Your working memory span, or the number of items you can keep in mind at once, will have a direct impact on the thinking you can do. Individual differences in the size of memory span have been shown to relate to measures of thinking ability. Reading is correlated with memory span because it’s easier to process complex sentences when you can keep more information in mind.

12. Long-Term Memory Learn Psychology by Carter and Seifert
Chapter 7: Memory
7.3 The Three Stages of Memory
LO: Discuss how the three memory stages are involved in encoding new information into memory
The processing that takes place in short-term memory also determines whether the information gets encoded into the next stage, called long-term memory. Long-term memory (LTM) refers to what most people mean when they talk about “memory”: an essentially limitless store of information that appears to persist indefinitely. While short-term memory feeds information into long-term memory, encoding it into long-term memory takes effort. A summary of each of the three memory stages and their characteristic features is shown in the table.

13. Storing Memories in the Brain
Figure 07.15: The hippocampus, part of the limbic system, plays a vital role in the formation of new memories.
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.3 The Three Stages of Memory
LO: Discuss how the three memory stages are involved in encoding new information into memory
To understand how information is written into your long-term memory, we will have to investigate the biology of human memory. Experiments conducted by Lashley led to the conclusion that memories are not localized but widely distributed across the cortex. In studies, synapses between neurons show changes as a result of experience. The neural circuit becomes more sensitive and more responsive to the specific patterns of neural activities that have been experienced. This change in neurons is called long-term potentiation, reflecting greater potential for transmitting neural signals in the future. So synapses are responsible for consolidation, the process that converts information into structural changes in the brain to form long-term memories.
While synapses change all over the cortex to reflect the specifics of learning, there is an anatomical structure that is critical in the formation of all new memories: the Hippocampus. This structure is highly interconnected with every area of the cortex. Through these connections, the hippocampus plays an essential role in consolidating or forming long-term memories. This consolidation process takes more time, but once it is accomplished, the hippocampus is no longer needed to access the learned information.

14. Organizing Information in Memory
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.4 Organizing Information in Memory
LO: Describe the main ways that information is organized in long-term memory
Within long-term memory there are different kinds of information stores, and their organization is accomplished in different ways. This has consequences for how the information is encoded and recalled. Organization is the key to finding things in memory again. Different types of memory organizations hold different forms of memory. The major division in long-term memory is between memories that are declarative and those that are procedural. Declarative memory is information that can be explicitly stated (this is also called explicit memory). Non-declarative memory includes information that can’t be stated. This includes procedural memory, which contains information about how to do specific tasks.

15. Semantic Memory Concept: A “building block” or basic unit of knowledge
Category: A cluster of similar concepts
Conceptual hierarchy: Organization of related concepts into levels of categories
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.4 Organizing Information in Memory
LO: Describe the main ways that information is organized in long-term memory
Several different types of knowledge are encoded in the declarative memory system, which captures explicit knowledge of which we are consciously aware. One is called semantic memory because it refers to the meaning, or semantics, we associate with concepts. Semantic memory is broken down into distinct types. One of the basic “building blocks” of declarative memory is the concept, or a grouping of similar objects and events. One of the most powerful aspects of concepts is that they allow us to know things about new instances, and we can therefore make inferences about them. Concepts can also be organized into categories based on their common properties. A category is a hierarchical cluster of similar concepts. Categories provide information at a general level for the entire group of concepts within them and efficiently store information at the group level. By grouping concepts into categories or conceptual hierarchies, information can be shared across concepts. This memory organization is more efficient because the shared information only has to be stored in one place rather than with each concept.

16. Semantic Network Model
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.4 Organizing Information in Memory
LO: Describe the main ways that information is organized in long-term memory
In a semantic network, related concepts are clustered together in ways that reflect their meaningful associations. In this example the concept “bird” is closely associated with “flies, wings, and feathers.” It is more distantly connected to “blood” (stored with “animals”) or “farm” (stored with “chicken”). The result is that related concepts are clustered together in ways that reflect their meaningful associations. Another consequence of organization in long-term memory is that concepts that are frequently accessed together are more tightly linked, so that accessing one makes it easier to access the other.
Source: Reproduced from Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading activation theory of semantic processing. Psychological Review, 82, 407–428.

17. Schemas
Figure 07.21: Schemas in memory organize information and guide our behavior.
Courtesy of Helene C. Stikkel/U.S. Department of Defense
© Donald Miralle/Lifesize/Thinkstock
© Stockbyte/Thinkstock
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.4 Organizing Information in Memory
LO: Describe the main ways that information is organized in long-term memory
Long-term memory keeps track of the associations between concepts simply by tracking the frequency of their occurrence together. The strength of the links between concepts aids in accessing one given the other, in the form of priming. This process, also called spreading activation, is very important in bringing the right concepts to mind to help us process what is happening around us. Theories of memory that embody these interconnections are called connectionist models, or parallel distributed processing (PDP) models. These approaches focus on representing every level of information in memory as interconnected elements, so that the activation of a concept creates an active network of smaller pieces of knowledge.
The schema is a pattern of knowledge that occurs across experiences. Schemas provide a scaffold for events so that you can track the action as it occurs and make assumptions to fill in any gaps. Schemas play an important role in reconstructing memories, filling in the usual events when we can’t recall the specifics. While schemas aid memory by facilitating the recall of related items, they can also result in the intrusion of items that were not present in the scene, leading to distortions or inaccuracies in memory. The power of the schema is that it organizes information very efficiently.

18. Episodic Memory
Figure 07.24: The attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 was a surprising event that many people experienced as a "flashbulb memory" that they will never forget.
Episodic memory: Recall of your own personal, autobiographical experiences
Flashbulb memory: An emotional or vivid event that appears to be well remembered
© Gulnara Samoilova/PA Photos/Landov
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.4 Organizing Information in Memory
LO: Describe the main ways that information is organized in long-term memory
Episodic memory refers to the recall of your own personal experiences, also called autobiographical memory. While declarative memory structures focus on grouping similar information together for greater efficiency, in episodic memory, the focus is on the distinctive differences between experiences. The more your experience is novel, unusual, and unlike any other, the more likely you will recall it well.
One type of episodic memory stands out from all others due to its vividness. This is called a flashbulb memory because the notion is that this moment is indelibly recorded in your memory, just like a flashbulb went off to capture a photograph of that specific moment. The place where memory consolidation takes place, the hippocampus, is adjacent to the amygdala, the area of the brain that processes primitive emotions such as fear. Our emotions appear to highlight special memories.

19. Procedural Memory
Procedural memory captures actions: how we move, perform, and manipulate objects.
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.4 Organizing Information in Memory
LO: Describe the main ways that information is organized in long-term memory
Episodic and semantic memories involve explicit knowledge. We can state the content of the memories and describe exactly what they involve. Another type of memory, procedural memory, captures actions: how we move, perform, and manipulate objects. For procedural knowledge, we learn through practicing sequences of actions over time. As a result, we are left unable to describe the content of procedural memories even though we can demonstrate the knowledge. For this reason, it is called implicit memory, evident in our actions even if we can’t describe its content. Procedural memories are also very durable, so that skills you learned as a child are still “in there” waiting to be used again.

20. Retrieval from Memory Learn Psychology by Carter and Seifert
Chapter 7: Memory
7.5 Retrieval from Memory
LO: Describe the main ways that information is organized in long-term memory
Retrieval refers to the process of bringing information from long-term memory back into consciousness. Sometimes, retrieval of memories occurs spontaneously and without effort; other times, retrieving information from long-term memory, just like encoding into it, requires a lot of work. When you have entered a state in which you feel you know an answer but cannot recall it from long-term memory, you are having a tip-of-the-tongue experience. Studies suggest that these (1) are a nearly universal experience, across languages, (2) happen to most people about once a week, (3) increase with age, (4) frequently occur when one is trying to think of a person's name, and (5) are resolved during the experience about half of the time.

21. Retrieval Cues
Cued recall: Retrieving information from related pieces of information
Encoding specificity: The principle that cues present at encoding will be the best cues for retrieval
Mood congruence: Matching emotional mood as a cue at encoding and retrieval to improve memory
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.5 Retrieval from Memory
LO: Examine the successful retrieval of information from long-term memory.
When trying to remember something, you may use cued recall to retrieve information from related pieces of information. Retrieval cues can help in recall by providing activation of related concepts, boosting the activation of the target concept through spreading activation. These principles work the same no matter how complex the target information in memory. Retrieval cues work by filling out the network of concepts related to the target you are trying to recall. the more you can tie the retrieval cues to the ones you used during encoding, the more likely you are to retrieve the information. This principle, called encoding specificity, says that the cues present at encoding will be the best cues at retrieval.
There is also a role for mood in memory. In studies, the subjects’ mood affected their free associations, imaginative fantasies, social perceptions, and snap judgments about others’ personalities. When the feeling-tone of a narrative agreed with the reader’s emotion, the salience and memorability of events in that narrative were increased. So the mood congruence of information at encoding and retrieval can serve as a memory cue.

22. Adding Context
Encoding specificity suggests the context of an event, or the circumstances surrounding it, is very important for retrieval.
The need to reinstate context in order to recall experiences in memory may be the cause of an amnesia we all suffer from: childhood amnesia.
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.5 Retrieval from Memory
LO: Examine the successful retrieval of information from long-term memory.
Just like specific cues, encoding specificity suggests that the context of an event, or the circumstances surrounding it, is very important for retrieval. Reinstating the context of an event, even if only in your mind, can help with retrieval. The idea is that long-term memories are still “in there,” but they may require cues from their original encoding to bring them to mind again. The key to retrieval is to have ways to label memories so that you can bring them back up again by thinking about those labels.

23. Retrieval Practice
Testing can be a means of improving learning, not just of assessing its results.
Taking a memory test enhances later retention, a phenomenon known as the testing effect.
The overlearning principle shows that performance can still be improved even when accuracy is at 100%.
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.5 Retrieval from Memory
LO: Examine the successful retrieval of information from long-term memory.
Recent studies have shown that testing can be a means of improving learning, not just of assessing its results. Taking a memory test enhances later retention, a phenomenon known as the testing effect. The simple act of practicing recall for a memory test can boost your ability to retrieve the information later. But testing facilitates learning beyond just restudying the material. In fact, testing helps even if you don’t know the answers. Studies of pretesting, in which you attempt to answer questions about material you haven’t read yet, find substantial benefits simply from considering the questions. Unsuccessfully attempting to answer questions about new topics proved more beneficial than having extended time to study the text. Once information appears to be solidly in memory, it is tempting to stop studying. However, the overlearning principle shows that performance can still be improved even when accuracy is at 100%. When you keep practicing retrieval past the point of perfect recall, you are still strengthening connections between concepts.

24. Reconstructing Memories
Source Monitoring: Memory for the circumstances of acquiring information
The misinformation effect: Adding new, incorrect information to a memory after the event
False memories: Inaccurate information incorporated into memory
Implicit memory
Imagination inflation
Continued influence effect
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.6 Reconstructing Memories
Explain how information from long-term memory may include misinformation.
Our experience of an event is not wholly encoded into memory, but may be “filled in” using schemas. This process is called reconstruction. Reconstruction is a guess at what happened based on the frequency of occurrence. A common error is remembering some information but being unable to recall its source, known as source monitoring. We should be suspicious of our memories and seek to validate them externally rather than believing whatever we recall. Studies also show that information seen after an event, whether consistent or misleading, is integrated into the witness’s memory. This misinformation effect leads to the inclusion of incorrect information along with the original memory in a way that the person can’t distinguish so that memories include information encoded at the original time of the event and information that is added to that memory when it is discussed or thought about at a later time. This is strong evidence that memory is dynamic/changeable.
False memory is when we incorporate inaccurate information into memory. An innocuous example is provided by studies in which words are presented and other words are recalled as presented a phenomenon called implicit memory. Adults are also capable of generating false memories for episodic events, called imagination inflation. Even when we know information in memory is wrong, it can still affect our thinking. In the continued influence effect, people rely on information they know is not true when making later decisions. This use of asserted information can have serious consequences for our reasoning.

25. Measures of Forgetting
Figure 07.34: Ebbinghaus' forgetting curve.
Data from Ebbinghaus, H. (1885; reprinted in 1913). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. (Translation by H. Roger & C. Bussenius). New York: Teacher's College Press.
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.7 Forgetting
Analyze how forgetting improves memory.
The ability to forget may be a key feature of human memory that aids, rather than inhibits, our intelligence. In the early days of psychology, Herman Ebbinghaus attempted to look at memory performance. He created the nonsense syllable, three-letter strings that did not form recognizable words (e.g., puh, ret, and miw). He then tested his own memory for them after varied amounts of time and measured what information was lost or forgotten. The result was a forgetting curve. Initially, there is a steep loss in the amount of information retained, and then this levels out to a baseline maintained over time.

26. The Speed of Forgetting
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.7 Forgetting
Analyze how forgetting improves memory.
The speed of forgetting depends on the difficulty of the learned material (i.e., how easy it is to encode deeply), its organization, and physiological factors such as stress and sleep. This basal forgetting rate differs little among individuals. However, improvement in retention rates occurs through the repetition of learning. With each study session, the starting point of full recall falls off, but not as far with the second repetition and even less with the third. Each repetition in studying increases the optimum interval before the next repetition is needed. For near-perfect retention, initially repetitions may need to be made within days, but later they can be made after years. The best strategy is to study repeatedly, picking up after the initial forgetting has occurred, and adding to the baseline.

27. Relearning
Relearning: A measure of forgetting and learning that is based on how easy it is to learn information again at a later time
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.7 Forgetting
Analyze how forgetting improves memory.
Another measure of forgetting is relearning, in which information seems to be forgotten but is evident in memory because learning it a second time is faster. The speed of relearning information is another way to demonstrate that we have information in memory that we appear to have forgotten.

28. Theories of Forgetting
Decay theory: The notion that information fades from memory on its own
Interference theory: New knowledge can disrupt recently learned memories
Spacing effect: Learning is improved if study effort is distributed over time
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.7 Forgetting
Analyze how forgetting improves memory.
If information is encoded into long-term memory, it appears to endure there. Based on decay theory, we would expect all memories to fade over time; howeve there is no evidence that memories decay, and there are some old memories that we still vividly recall. No physiological evidence has been discovered that suggests well-encoded memories fade.
Another important factor in forgetting is interference from other information over time. If the two sets of information are very similar, learning one may cause interference with memory for the other. As long as the materials are distinctive, interference between study sessions is not a major problem.
Spacing effect posits that we retain information better if the learning effort is distributed over time.
Data from Cepada, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380.

29. Types of Forgetting
Repression: Mentally pushing away explicit recall of unpleasant memories
Alzheimer’s disease: A progressive memory disorder in which people lose access to explicit memory
Dementia: Clinical diagnosis of major memory loss with age or disease
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.7 Forgetting
Analyze how forgetting improves memory.
Motivated forgetting is a concept introduced by Freud to refer to a defense mechanism against unpleasant memories. Through repression, or submerging painful memories, we may choose to avoid traumatic memories. Studies suggests that traumatic events can be “missing” from memory and later accessed as a result of available cues or therapeutic intervention. While some cases of recovered memories have been documented, they are extremely rare.
Some of the most eloquent descriptions of forgetting come from those who suffer from a neurological impairment, demonstrating both the loss of memory and its importance in defining us as individuals. Amnesia occurs after damage to the medial temporal lobe, often caused by Encephalitis and, in rare cases, by trauma. Patients with alzheimer’s disease, a progressive memory disorder, show an ability to perform visual tasks in the occipital cortex involving implicit knowledge while showing no signs of explicit recall in the tasks. As a result, patients can continue to perform a routine task like bathing by following implicit cues while forgetting many of their explicit memories. Studies of malfunctions of memory, in particular forms of dementia or memory loss, have helped researchers understand how we encode, store, and retrieve memories.

30. How to Improve Your Memory
Actively construct memory
Schedule study sessions
Test to learn
Cue retrieval
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Chapter 7: Memory
7.8 How to Improve Your Memory
Identify principles that can improve memory.
The following guidelines group the principles of memory into active steps you can take to improve your recall.
Actively Construct Memory - Several principles help with constructing memory, including elaboration, generation, depth of processing, self-reference, self-explanation, and mnemonic devices. For all of these principles, you will want to ensure that you are actively processing the information you want to remember
Schedule Study Sessions - The spacing effect says that studying 2 different times for an hour each time is twice as effective as studying once for 2 hours. Rehearsing material a day later greatly promotes memory for the material. In general, shorter practice sessions spaced widely apart produce the best effects for long-term memory.
Test to learn - Asking questions, even ones you can’t answer correctly, works to make associations to the material you’re learning. Repeated attempts to retrieve the information help you build up intermediate cues that aid recall. Testing, even without feedback, promotes the connections among ideas you will need for mastery of the material.
Cue retrieval - The principles of retrieval cuing can help when you’re drawing a blank. In the moment, think about related information and any mnemonic cues you used during studying to help you come up with the information through an alternate route. Try reinstating the context of the time of initial learning. This includes your state of mind, mood, the physical setting, and related concepts in mind at the time of learning. Context is very important in guiding you toward the knowledge in memory. In addition, state-dependent and mood-dependent memory effects suggest you should also maintain a rested, calm mind while studying and testing.

31. Techniques for Improving Memory
Learn Psychology by Carter and Seifert
Chapter 7: Memory
7.8 How to Improve Your Memory
Identify principles that can improve memory.
Suggestions for how to improve your memory are summarized in the table.