2. Intro to Memory Memory is the process by which we recollect prior experiences and information and skills learned in the past Basically have 3 stages, encoding, storage and retrieval

3. Encoding Begin with two types of processing, automatic and effortful Automatic processing- encoding info without effort. Ever remember a song you wish you could forget? Effortful- must take time and effort to encode info. Need to rehearse it –The more you rehearse, the more effective your memory will be

4. Rehearsal Is the conscious repetition of information According to research, is the most important processing strategy Studies indicate, the more you rehearse the more you retain

5. Overlearning Continuing to rehearse info even after you think you have memorized it You need to keep rehearsing info even if you think you have studied enough

6. Serial Position Effect Primacy effect- remember best what you study first because you have time to rehearse it Recency effect- remember what you studied last because it is freshest in your head So to study, you should mix up the order of the stuff you study

7. Spacing of rehearsal Distributed practice works better than mass practice In other words, cramming is a bad strategy, especially if you actually want to remember any of it, say for a final OMG! Only 4 hours ‘ til daylight

8. Encoding meaning Can use acoustic encoding- encode using sound Visual encoding- obviously by sight. Where was the info on the page? Best? Semantic encoding- encode by finding meaning Why it works best to try to find a way to apply the info you are studying to your everyday life It was on the right side under the picture

9. Mnemonic Devices A way to apply meaning to what you have studied Can use acrostics and acronyms like ROYGBIV and Every Good Boy Does Fine Also use method of loci- assign info to a specific place. Like imagine your grocery list in each room of your house Also use peg-word system. Use a # rhyming list to remember items

10. Peg-word system One is bun Two is shoe three is tree Four is door Five is hive Six is sticks Seven is heaven Eight is gate Nine in lie Ten in hen

11. Organizing information Having information organized first, leads to better encoding Can organize in meaningful units, called chunks, and is known as chunking Can also organize in a hierarchy (I.e. notes)

12. Storage Maintenance of encoded information for a period of time First pass through sensory memory

13. Stage 1-Sensory memory The immediate, initial recording of info that passes through our senses Lasts only a fraction of a second Memory of sounds lasts longer than memory of sight- repeating things out loud helps you remember

14. Stage 2-Short-term memory Called working memory When you hear a phone number and want to remember it, you put it in short-term memory Info here fades after a few seconds, must rehearse or repeat it if you want it to stay

15. Rehearsal Can store thru maintenance rehearsal which is basically repeating it over and over Or… 555-7234

16. Elaborative rehearsal Make information more meaningful by relating it to other info In English class they make you use words in a sentence and not just write definition The ________ is fat and brown. Cat

17. Stage 3-Long-term memory Short-term memory acts as a bridge between sensory and long-term memory To make info stay in long term memory, you must take steps to store it there There is no limit to the amount of info stored in long-term memory Only limit is the attention we pay to things Sensory memory Long term memory

18. Videotape? No, your brain is not like a videotape You do not record in perfect detail every part of your life and then get to recall it in that perfect detail Remember, most times you have to pay attention to remember something However, you do have flashbulb memories, a vivid memory of an emotionally significant event

19. Your brain and memory Long-term potentiation- when you form an additional receptor site on a neuron Now you have two connections when you used to have one You now have an additional way to access the information stored there So in the future its easier for those neurons to fire again

20. Explicit memory memories of information and events –episodic memory or specific events in your life –It also includes generic memories like George Washington was the first president or the alphabet Stored in the hippocampus

21. Implicit memory procedural memories-how to do things – like how to ride a bike or how to hit a baseball Stored in the cerebellum (So the day you learned to ride a bike is an episodic memory but the actual muscle memory to ride one is procedural) Don ’ t let go Dad!

22. Retrieval Recall- remember without cues like an essay test Recognition- remember with help like a multiple choice test Context-dependent memory- remember better when in a similar environment to where you encoded the info the first time –So you should study in an environment similar to the one you will taking the test in State dependent memory- are able to retrieve information better when you are in the same physical or emotional sates as when you encoded the information (i.e. caffeine) Wow, too bad my teacher won ’ t let me test this way!

23. Forgetting Can forget for various reasons Can forget because of encoding, storage, or retrieval failure (coin example) Also interference can cause memories to leave short-term memory Either repression or amnesia can affect long-term memory

24. Encoding failure Don ’ t encode it because we weren ’ t paying attention Then you want to remember and find out it was never there because you never actually encoded it

25. Storage failure Studies show you forget a lot quickly but then levels off You do have some memories in permastore memory that are very resistant to forgetting even if sometimes you wish you could

26. Retrieval failure Most of where our forgetting happens It really is there but you can ’ t get to it Might be due to interference

27. Interference When 1 memory gets in the way of another Proactive interference- When old disrupts new. You remember your old TV channels when you change providers Retroactive- when new disrupts old. Can ’ t remember old phone number when you get a new phone Was it 555-9098 or 555-9890?

28. Motivated forgetting Forgetting can provided protection from anxiety or distress “ Forgetting ” things that are painful or traumatic Freud called this repression Repression isn ’ t actually forgetting, it is pushing these memories into the unconscious It is a defense mechanism to protect us from recalling anxiety causing memories Very controversial when you get into repressed memory about sexual abuse when young And most studies indicate this is just not true

29. Amnesia Infantile amnesia- cannot remember before age 3 Anterograde amnesia- cannot form new memories after brain trauma Retrograde amnesia- cannot remember what happened before the trauma Not as common and usually not as dramatic as on TV/movies

30. Misinformation effect Distortion of a memory by misleading post-event information If a memory is constructed, then info given after the event may shape the construction process Ex. Car accident test. “ How fast were they going when they (crashed, hit, bumped into) each other?