1. Chapter 7 - Memory Psychology McGonigle- College Prep/ Honors

2. What is memory – anyway?  Memory – Process by which we recollect prior experiences and information and skills learned in the past  Name all 44 Presidents – fast !!!

3. 3 Kinds of Memory  Episodic Memory  Semantic Memory  Implicit Memory

4. Episodic Memory  Memory of a specific event, event took place in the person’s presence, or the person experienced the event.  Flashbulb memory: Event that is so important it seems like we photograph it in every detail.

5. Semantic Memory  We remember general knowledge such as who is the first president of the United States. (George Washington)  Unlike flashbulb, we don’t remember when we first learned that Washington was the first President.  Episodic & Semantic are both known as Explicit memories. This means that are clearly stated & defined.

6. Implicit Memory  Opposite of Explicit memory  Implied or not clearly stated memories are implicit.  Swimming, skipping rope, riding a bike, playing an instrument, driving a car.

7. Encoding  Translation of information into a form in which it can be stored.  When one places information into their memory, they like computers, encode it.  Encoding- for the computer & the human brain, it is the first stage of processing information.

8. Visual Codes  Try to memorize a set of letters by seeing them in your mind as a picture.  Try to form a mental picture of OTTFFSSENT in your head to memorize the first ten numbers.

9. Semantic Codes Method of Remembering  Semantic- Attempt to make sense of the letters- figure out what they might mean.  Semantic Codes: “ Mary’s violet eyes make John stay up nights.”  Remember : Roy G Biv, Musical scales “Every good boy deserve fudge”

10. Storage of memory  Storage – Maintenance of encoded information over a period of time.  Human storage – of information is not all that different from a computer’s storage of information.  To save information- one must use a variety of strategies.

11. Maintenance Rehearsal  Repeating information over and over again to keep from forgetting.  Actors + actresses: repeat their lines again.  MR: Does not make info meaningful, it is poor for permanent storage.

12. Elaborative Rehearsal  New and effective way to remember new information is to make it meaningful by relating it to info that you already know.  Language arts and foreign language- use new words in sentences instead of just repeating words by themselves.

13. Organizational Systems  As memory develops, it organizes info into files, and then files within files.  Memory organizes into certain groups or classes according to common features. ( Presidents – 20s, 30s, 40s)

14. Filing Errors for Memory  Ability to remember info is subject to error.  Memory errors occur, because we file information incorrectly.  Place piece of info in the wrong folder, like a science paper in a math folder.

15. Retrieval  Consists of locating stored information and returning it to conscious thought.  Retrieving information stored in our memory is like retrieving information stored in a computer.  For fun: How can you remember how to spell retrieval? Quick – name all 8 planets !!!!!

16. Context Dependent Memory  Have you ever visited your old house, school or baseball/softball diamond?  Memories that came back to you were CDMs, the situation in which the person first had this experience.  Students – perform better on a test when they study in the room where the test will be given. (scene of the crime memories)

17. State Dependent Memories  It is easier to retrieve memories when we are in the same emotional state we were in when first stored.  Feelings of happiness- tend to bring back memories of times when we were happy, vice versa with sad memories.

18. Tip of the Tongue Phenomena  You are sure you know something, you just can’t verbalize it.  “Feeling of Knowing” experience.  We use acoustic or semantic cues to help us remember. ( similar in sound or meaning)

19. Sensory Memory  1 st stage of memory- immediate recording of info that enters through our senses/  Visual stimuli- decays within seconds.  Want to remember- do something with it (stimuli) quickly.

20. Iconic Memory  Icons- mental pictures we form of visual stimuli.  Icons- held in a sensory register called iconic memory.  Iconic memories- Are like snapshots, however they are extremely brief- just a fraction of a second. (subliminal)

21. Eidetic Memory  Ability to remember visual stimuli over a long period of time.  This is what is known as photographic memory.  5 % of children have photographic memory.

22. Echoic Memory  Echoes- mental traces of sounds.  Echoes- are held in a sensory register called echoic memory.  Acoustic codes are easier to remember than visual codes. (example)

23. Short Term Memory  Also called- working Memory  Meeting new people  Math problems  Due dates for HW + papers  Remembering phone numbers  Info- fades rapidly. Need to take steps to prevent from fading. 7 digit phone #s.

24. Primacy Effect  Tendency to recall the initial items in a series of items.  We remember the 1 st few items of a series better because of their placement earlier in the list.

25. Recency Effect  The tendency to recall the last items in a list = recency effect.  Last items- rehearsed and perceived most recently.  Are still fresh in your mind & rehearsed most recently.

26. Chunking  The organization of items into familiar or manageable units.  “Other Flowers Sent”, “Mary’s Violet Eyes”,  1-800 – Mattres ( leave the last S for saving)