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Memory How do we retain information? How do we recall information?

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Presentation on theme: "Memory How do we retain information? How do we recall information?"— Presentation transcript:

1 Memory How do we retain information? How do we recall information?
What is short term and long term memory? Why do we forget? How can we learn and remember better? How reliable is eyewitness testimony?

2 3 Steps Encode Store Retrieve

3 Information Processing Model
Compares our mind to a computer Information is encoded when sensory receptors send impulses to neurons in the brain We store (retain) information for a period of time How long do we store information and what kind of information is stored? Retrieve information on demand

4 Levels of Information Processing
How long and how well do we remember information? Shallow processing: no associations are made, we remember physical characteristics such as lines and curves Traffic passes by. Do you remember the specific cars? Semantic encoding: emphasizes meaning of verbal input (words, speech) Deep processing: attach meaning to information Create associations between new memories and existing memories (elaboration) Example of deep processing – I drive by in a black Chevy Camaro (your favorite car) with bright blue LED lights (your favorite color) which was just advertised on TV (which you watch all the time) & I have a Gators license plate (your favorite college)

5 3 Stage Model – 3 Different Memory Systems
Sensory memory: events from our senses are held just long enough for perception to occur Short-term memory (STM): holds a limited amount of information for about 30 seconds Capacity of STM is about 7 (plus or minus 2) items Long-term memory (LTM): permanent and unlimited capacity Explicit memory: facts and experiences Semantic memory – general knowledge Episodic memory – personally relevant events Implicit memory: skills and procedures (procedural memory) “You never forget how to ride a bike”

6 How Can We Get Around STM Limitations?
Well, we could put information into LTM instead, but do we really need to remember everything forever? Rehearsal – consciously repeating the information More rehearsal increases retention Chunking – grouping info into meaningful units (e.g. a word rather than letters, date rather than #s)

7 Selective Attention & Processing
Selective attention: focusing of awareness on a specific stimulus in sensory memory (e.g. watching your favorite TV show while someone is talking to you) Automatic processing: unconscious encoding Effortful processing: encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

8 LTM Organization Hierarchies: concepts arranged from general to specific Concepts: mental representations of related things Prototypes – most typical examples of the concept (What does a bird look like?) Semantic networks: systems of concepts with links to each other (e.g. concept map) Schemas: mental frameworks Scripts – schemas for specific events When you walk into a classroom and the bell rings, what do you do?

9 Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
Learning involves the strengthening of neural connections at the synapses Increase in efficiency & speed with which signals are sent across synapses Flashbulb memory: vivid memory of an emotionally arousing event Where were you when the Twin Towers went down on 9/11?

10 Amnesia Anterograde Amnesia Retrograde Amnesia Inability to form new semantic (general knowledge) & explicit memories Inability to recall past memories

11 What helps us remember? Retrieval cues – reminders associated with information we are trying to recall (e.g. words or phrases) Priming – activating specific associations Retrieval cues PRIME our memory Distributed practice vs. cramming Mnemonic devices Method of loci – visualization of places to help remember words on a list Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

12 Proactive Interference Retroactive Interference
Memory Interference Proactive Interference Retroactive Interference When something we learned EARLIER disrupts recall of something we learn LATER New learning disrupts OLD recall

13 Freudian Theory & Source Amnesia
Repression: unconscious forgetting of painful memories as a defense mechanism to minimize anxiety Misattribution error (source amnesia) How reliable is eye-witness testimony?


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