1. Memory Accelerated Psychology Council Rock High School South Wade and Tavris © 2005 Prentice Hall 8-1

2.  Entry points for raw information => senses 1. Visual Register:  Information fades from visual register in about a ¼ of a second  “New” info. constantly replacing “old” info in the register 2. Auditory Register:  Info fades more slowly than visual register  The “echo” lasts for several seconds

3. “PAY ATTENTION!”  Attention:  Selection of some incoming information for further processing.  Information is tagged as “meaningful” (Selective Attention)  Cocktail Party Phenomenon => filtering effect => Filter unless something “meaningful” is said

4. Memory Formation: 1. Sensory Memory: First Impressions Sensory Memory: A memory system that momentarily preserves extremely accurate images of sensory information. Pattern Recognition: The identification of a stimulus on the basis of information already contained in long-term memory. 2. Short-term Memory: Working Memory: Short-Term Memory (STM): A limited capacity memory system involved in the retention of information for brief periods; it is also used to hold information retrieved from long-term memory for temporary use. Chunking: A meaningful unit of information; it may be composed of smaller units.

5. Long Term Memory: 3. Long-term Memory: Final Destination: A. Procedural memories: Memories for performance of actions or skills. “Knowing how” B. Declarative memories: Memories of facts, rules, concepts, and events; includes semantic and episodic memory. “Knowing that” C. Semantic memories: General knowledge, including facts, rules, concepts, and propositions. D. Episodic memories: Personally experienced events and the contexts in which they occurred.

7. Capacity: Definite limitations : Need for concentration to transfer into long term memory. Grouping info into meaningful units for easier handling by STM; ability to process greater amounts of info in STM. As size of Chunk # of chunks in STM Mnemonic Device: A tool to help remember facts or a large amount of information. It can be a song, rhyme, acronym, image, or a phrase to help remember a list of facts in a certain order. Order of Planets: My Very Excited Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies: (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) Without Pluto: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles Example:

9. Definition => clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event Personal example =>Mike Rappo winning the PIAA State Title; My brothers wedding in Outer Banks Characteristics of FB memories: 1. “NOW PRINT” photograph theory, entire event is registered 2. are accurate – this is not always the case 3. created at the time of the event, revised over time

10. Research indicates: In general our earliest personal memories tend to date back b/w 3 – 4 years of age. Earliest memories are those for events that significantly change one’s life story or are particularly frightening (i.e. birth of a sibling, hospitalization). Extremely rare for individuals to recall events that occurred before the age of 2 = Infantile Amnesia People over the age of 50 = tendency to reminiscence – more likely than younger people to recall events from early in life ACE = Autobiographical consequential experiences – 80% of ACE’s occurred b/w the ages of 18-35, very few occurred during childhood or after 50. WHY? Most important choices in our lives (marriage, college, job, $$$) are typically made in late adolescence and young adulthood Outcomes of these choices shape the rest of your life Natural to focus on this time period.

11. The reconstructive nature of memory makes memory vulnerable to suggestion Eyewitness testimony is especially vulnerable to error when: – The suspects ethnicity differs from that of the witness; – When leading questions are put to witnesses; – When the witnesses are given misleading information. Misleading information from other sources can alter what witnesses report. Students were shown a picture of a man with straight hair, but heard a description that mentioned curly hair. When the students were asked to reconstruct the face, 1/3 identified the hair as curly

13. 13 Memory Effects: 1.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. 2.Spacing Effect: We retain information better when we rehearse over time. 3.Serial Position Effect: When your recall is better for first and last items on a list, but poor for middle items.