Memory

Memory is the basis for knowing your friends, your neighbors, the English language, the

national anthem, and yourself.

If memory was nonexistent, everyone would be a stranger to you; every language foreign; every task new; and even you yourself would be a

stranger.

The Phenomenon of Memory

Memory is any indication that learning has persisted over time. It is our ability to store and

retrieve information.

Flashbulb Memory

A unique and highly emotional moment may give rise to a clear, strong, and persistent memory

called flashbulb memory. However, this memory is not free from errors.

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Information Processing

The Atkinson-Schiffrin (1968) three-stage model of memory includes a) sensory memory, b) short-

term memory, and c) long-term memory.B

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Memory

Sensory Memorythe immediate, initial recording of

sensory information in the memory system

Memory Short-Term Memory

activated memory that holds a few items brieflylook up a phone number, then quickly dial before the information is forgotten

Long-Term Memorythe relatively permanent and limitless

storehouse of the memory system

Working Memory (Short-term Memory)

Working memory, the new name for short-term memory, has a limited capacity (7±2) and a short

duration (20 seconds).

Sir George Hamilton observed that he could accurately remember upto 7 beans thrown on the floor. If there were more beans, he guessed.

Short-Term Memory Function—conscious processing of information

• where information is actively worked on

Capacity—limited (holds 7+/-2 items) Duration—brief storage (about 30 seconds)

Working orShort-term

Memory

Sensory

Input

Sensory Memory

Attention

Long-Term Memory

Function—organizes and stores information

• more passive form of storage than working memory Unlimited capacity Duration—thought by some to be permanent

Long-term memory

Working orShort-term

Memory

Sensory

Input

Sensory Memory

AttentionEncoding

Retrieval

Maintenance Rehearsal

A Simplified Memory Model

Externalevents

Sensorymemory

Short-termmemory

Long-termmemory

Sensory inputAttention to importantor novel information

Encoding

Encoding

Retrieving

Stages of Memory

Keyboard(Encoding)

Disk(Storage)

Monitor(Retrieval)

Sequential Process

Encoding

Encoding—process that controls movement from working to long-term memory store; input of memory

Automatic Processing unconscious encoding of incidental information

space

time

frequency

well-learned informationword meanings

we can learn automatic processing reading backwards

Automatic vs. Effortful Encoding

Automatic processing• Examples:

• What did you eat for lunch today?

• Was the last time you studied during the day or night?

• You know the meanings of these very words you are reading. Are you actively trying to process the definition of the words?

Sensory Memory

Divided into two types:• iconic memory– visual

information

• echoic memory– auditory information

Sensory

InputSensoryMemory

Sensory Memory Duration—very brief

retention of images• .3 sec for visual info

• 2 sec for auditory info

• Hearing is remembered betterSensory

InputSensoryMemory

Sensory Memories

Function—holds information long enough to be processed for basic physical characteristics

Capacity—large• can hold many items at

once

Sensory

InputSensoryMemory

Sensory Memories

Iconic0.5 sec. long

Echoic3-4 sec. long

Hepatic< 1 sec. long

The duration of sensory memory varies for the different senses.

Encoding

Effortful Processingrequires attention and conscious

effort

Effortful Processing

Committing novel information to memory requires effort just like

learning a concept from a textbook. Such

processing leads to durable and accessible

memories.

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Rehearsal

Effortful learning usually requires

rehearsal or conscious repetition.

Ebbinghaus studied rehearsal by using

nonsense syllables: TUV YOF GEK XOZ

Hermann Ebbinghaus(1850-1909)

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Encoding

Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables TUV ZOF GEK WAV

the more times practiced on Day 1, the fewer repetitions to relearn on Day 2

Spacing Effectdistributed practice yields better long-

term retention than massed practice

Rehearsal

The more times the nonsense syllables were practiced on

Day 1,the fewer repetitions

were required to remember them on

Day 2.

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.

Spacing Effect

Distributing rehearsal (spacing effect) is better than practicing all at once. Robert Frost’s poem could be

memorized with fair ease if spread over time.

ACQUAINTED WITH THE NIGHTRobert Frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.I have walked out in rain — and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light. … …

Serial Position Effect

1. TUV2. ZOF3. GEK4. WAV5. XOZ6. TIK7. FUT8. WIB9. SAR10. POZ11. REY12. GIJ

Better recall

Better recall

Poor recall

Encoding Mnemonics

memory aids

especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Encoding Method of Loci

As an aid to memorizing lengthy speeches, ancient Greek orators would visualize themselves moving through familiar locations

Peg Word SystemMemorize a jingle: “one is a bun, two is a

shoe…”

Method of Loci

List of Items

CharcoalPensBed SheetsHammer...Rug

Imagined Locations

BackyardStudyBedroomGarage...Living Room

Link Method

Involves forming a mental image of items to be remembered in a way that links them together.

List of Items

NewspaperShaving creamPenUmbrella...Lamp

Fig. 7-29a, p. 292

Break down complex information into broad concepts and further subdivide them into

categories and subcategories.

Organizing Information for Encoding

1. Chunking2. Hierarchy

Encoding

Chunking organizing items into familiar, manageable units

like horizontal organization--1776149218121941

often occurs automatically

Chunking

Acronyms are another way of chunking information to remember it.

HOMES = Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior

PEMDAS = Parentheses, Exponent, Multiply, Divide, Add, Subtract

ROY G. BIV = Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

Chunking

Organizing items into a familiar, manageable unit. Try to remember the numbers below.

1-7-7-6-1-4-9-2-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1

If you are well versed with American history, chunk the numbers together and see if you

can recall them better. 1776 1492 1812 1941.

Chunking

F-B-I-T-W-A-C-I-A-I-B-M

The capacity of the working memory may be increased by “Chunking.”

FBI TWA CIA IBM

4 chunks

A friend gave you this list of ingredients for muffins. How might you rearrange the ingredients so you can remember them better?

salt, eggs, raisins, wheat flour, honey, milk, margarine, nuts, white flour, baking powder, baking soda

Chunking

Try dividing (chunking) the ingredients into dry ingredients and liquid (or wet) ingredients.

Dry Ingredients

saltnutsraisinswhite flourwheat flourbaking sodabaking powder

Wet or Liquid Ingredients

eggsmilkhoneymargarine

Hierarchy

Complex information broken down into broad concepts and further subdivided into categories

and subcategories.

Storing Memories in the Brain

1. Storage-retain in the brain; file system of memories; hard drive of the mind

Storage:Long-Term Memory

How does storage work?Karl Lashley (1950)

rats learn maze

lesion cortex

test memory

Synaptic changes Long-term Potentiation

increase in synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation

Synaptic Changes

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) refers to synaptic

enhancement after learning (Lynch, 2002).

An increase in neurotransmitter release

or receptors on the receiving neuron indicates

strengthening of synapses.

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Biological Basis of Memory

Karl Lashley searched for a localized memory trace or engram

Found that maze-learning in rats was distributed throughout the brain

Synaptic Changes

In Aplysia, Kandel and Schwartz (1982) showed that serotonin release from neurons increased

after conditioning.

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Fig. 7-26, p. 288

Storing Implicit & Explicit Memories

Explicit Memory refers to facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare (conscious recall).

Implicit memory involves our memories of how to do things; procedures (without conscious recall).

Hippocampus

Hippocampus – a neural center in the limbicsystem that processes explicit memories.

Weidenfield &

Nicolson archives

Fig. 7-23, p. 286

Cerebellum

Cerebellum – a neural center in the hindbrain that processes implicit memories.

Biological Basis of Memory

Amnesia— severe memory loss Retrograde amnesia— inability to

remember past episodic information; common after head injury; need for consolidation

Anterograde amnesia— inability to form new memories; related to hippocampus damage

No New Memories

Anterograde Amnesia

AnterogradeAmnesia

(HM)

Surgery

After losing his hippocampus in surgery, patient Henry M. (HM) remembered everything before the operation but cannot make new memories. We call

this anterograde amnesia.

Memory Intact

Implicit Memory

HM learned the Tower of Hanoi (game) after his surgery. Each time he plays it, he is unable to remember the fact that he has already

played the game.

HM is unable to make new memories that aredeclarative (explicit), but he can form new

memories that are procedural (implicit).

CBA

Retrieval: Getting Information Out

Retrieval refers to getting information out of the memory store.

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Measures of Memory

In recognition, the person must identify an item amongst other choices. (A multiple-choice test

requires recognition.)

1. Name the capital of France.

a. Brusselsb. Romec. Londond. Paris

Measures of Memory

In recall, the person must retrieve information using effort. (A fill-in-the blank test requires

recall.)

1. The capital of France is ______.

Measures of Memory

In relearning, the individual shows how much time (or effort) is saved when learning material

for the second time.

ListJetDaggerTreeKite…SilkFrogRing

It took 10 trialsto learn this list

ListJetDaggerTreeKite…SilkFrogRing

It took 5 trialsto learn the list

1 day laterSaving

OriginalTrials

RelearningTrials

RelearningTrials

10 510

50%

X 100

X 100

Retrieval Cues

Memories are held in storage by a web of associations. These associations are like

anchors that help retrieve memory.

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Priming (William James)

To retrieve a specific memory from the web of associations, you must first activate one of the strands that leads to it. This process is called

priming.

Context Effects

Scuba divers recall more words underwater if they learned the list underwater, while they recall more

words on land if they learned that list on land (Godden & Baddeley, 1975).

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Context Effects

After learning to move a mobile by kicking, infants most strongly respond when retested in the same context rather than in a different context (Butler &

Rovee-Collier, 1989).

Déja Vu

Déja Vu means “I've experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an

earlier similar experience.

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Context Effects Deja Vu (French)--already seen

cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier similar experience

"I've experienced this before." Mood-congruent Memory

tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current mood

memory, emotions, or moods serve as retrieval cues State-dependent Memory

what is learned in one state (while one is high, drunk, or depressed) can more easily be remembered when in same state

Forgetting

An inability to retrieve information due to poor encoding, storage, or retrieval.

Encoding Failure

We cannot remember what we do not encode.

Which penny is real?

Retrieval Failure

Although the information is retained in the memory store, it cannot be accessed.

Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) is a retrieval failure phenomenon. Given a cue (What makes blood cells red?) the subject

says the word begins with an H (hemoglobin).

Interference

Learning some new information may disrupt retrieval of other information.

Forgetting as Interference Learning some items may disrupt

retrieval of other informationProactive (forward acting) Interference

disruptive effect of prior learning on recall of new information

Retroactive (backwards acting) Interferencedisruptive effect of new learning on recall of old

information

Motivated Forgetting

Motivated Forgetting: People unknowingly revise their memories.

Repression: A defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.

Sigmund Freud

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Forgetting

Forgetting can occur at any memory stage

As we process information, we filter, alter, or lose much of it

Memory Construction

While tapping our memories, we filter or fill in missing pieces of information to make our

recall more coherent.

Misinformation Effect: Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event.

Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer: Memory Experiment and Hypothesis

Hypothesis: People will remember a car accident differently if given different language cues (words) about the accident

Loftus and Palmer: Methodology

Students watched a film of two cars colliding Collision was moderate with no broken glass Different students asked different questions: hit, smashed,

collided, bumped, contacted

Loftus and Palmer: Results

People reported the fastest speeds if the researchers had used the word “smashed” in the question

From fastest to slowest reported speeds: smashed, collided, bumped, hit, and contacted groups

VERB MEAN ESTIMATE OF SPEED (MPH)

Smashed 40.8

Collided 39.3

Bumped 38.1

Hit 34.0

Contacted 31.8

Loftus and Palmer: Results

One week later, subjects were asked if they had seen broken glass

32% of subjects asked the “smashed” question said yes; 14% of subjects asked the “hit” question said yes

Loftus and Palmer: Results and Implications

People remember things differently depending on the language used to describe an event (e.g., “smashed” versus “hit”)

Misinformation effect

Eyewitnesses reconstruct their memories when questioned about the event.

Misinformation and Imagination Effects

Depiction of the actual accident.

Misinformation

Group A: How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?

Group B: How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?

Memory Construction

A week later they were asked: Was there any broken glass? Group B (smashed into) reported

more broken glass than Group A (hit).

Loftus Results

Word Usedin Question

AverageSpeed Estimate

smashedcollidedbumpedhitcontacted

41 m.p.h.39 m.p.h.38 m.p.h.34 m.p.h.32 m.p.h.

Constructed Memories

Loftus’ research shows that if false memories (lost at the mall or drowned in a lake) are implanted in

individuals, they construct (fabricate) their memories.

Memory Construction We filter information and fill in missing

pieces Source Amnesia

attributing to the wrong source an event that we experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined (misattribution)

Discerning True & False Memories

Just like true perception and illusion, real memories and memories that seem real are

difficult to discern.

When students formed a happy or angry memory ofmorphed (computer blended) faces, they made

the (computer assisted) faces (a), either happier or (b) angrier.

© S

imon N

iedsenthal

Repressed or Constructed?Some adults actually do forget childhood episodes of abuse.

False Memory SyndromeA condition in which a person’s identity and relationships center around a false but strongly believed memory of a traumatic experience, which is sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists.

False Memories

Children’s eyewitness recall can be unreliable if leading questions are posed. However, if

cognitive interviews are neutrally worded, the accuracy of their recall increases. In cases of sexual abuse, this usually suggests a lower

percentage of abuse.

Children’s Eyewitness Recall

Are memories of abuse repressed or constructed?

Many psychotherapists believe that early childhood sexual abuse results in repressed

memories.

However, other psychologists question such beliefs and think that such memories may be

constructed.

Memories of Abuse

Improving Memory

1. Study repeatedly to boost long-term recall.

2. Spend more time rehearsing or actively thinking about the material.

3. Make material personally meaningful.

4. Use mnemonic devices: associate with peg words — something already

stored

make up a story

chunk — acronyms

Improving Memory

5. Activate retrieval cues — mentally recreate the situation and mood.

6. Recall events while they are fresh — before you encounter misinformation.

7. Minimize interference:1. Test your own knowledge.2. Rehearse and then determine what you do not yet

know.

© LW

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