Memorysuper memorist: 20

The persistence of learning over time through the storage and

retrieval of information.

Was it easy or hard?

• It depends on several things….

• If you like Disney movies?

• When was the last time you have seen the movie?

• Are people around you being loud so you cannot concentrate?

Take out a piece of paper…..

• Name the seven dwarves…..

Now name them…..

Recall vs. Recognition

Recall• you must retrieve the

information from your memory

• fill-in-the blank or essay tests

Recognition• you must identify the

target from possible targets

• multiple-choice tests

The Memory Processcrash course

Three step process….

1. Encoding: The processing of information into the memory system.

2. Storage: The retention of encoded material over time.

3. Retrieval: The process of getting the information out of memory storage.

Three Stage Theory of Memory

Sensory Memoryreplication of Sperling's experiment

• A split second holding tank for ALL sensory information.– Iconic (Visual)– Echoic (Auditory)

Short Term Memory

• The stuff we encode from the sensory goes to STM.

• Events are encoded visually (images), acoustically (sounds) or semantically (meanings).

• Holds about 7 (plus or minus 2) items for about 20 seconds.

• We recall digits better than letters.

Transferring from STM to LTM

• Chunking - organizing items into familiar, manageable units

• Mnemonic Devices

• Rehearsal – repetition, repetition, repetition

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

"Mary Very Easily Makes Jam Saturday Unless No Plums."

Long Term Memory

• unlimited storehouse of information

• Explicit Memories (Declarative)– Facts Memorized (Semantic)– Events / Experiences (Episodic)

• Implicit Memories (Non-declarative or Procedural)– Skills– Example: how to ride a bike,

shoot a basketball

Storing Memories - Encoding

Effortful Processing• done actively, “with

effort”, on purpose• Studying for a test• Completing AP Psych

reading assignment• Drilling with AP Psych

flashcards

Automatic Processing• done passively,

“without effort”, by “accident”

• Remembering what you ate for breakfast this morning

• Remembering the score of sporting event

• Remembering who you first spoke to today

Storing Memories - Encoding

• Amnesia - generally, the loss of memory

• The Physical Basis of Memory– No one area houses memories– Ongoing Electrical Activity– Synaptic Changes• Long-term Potentiation

(LTP) – increase in a synapse’s firing potential after stimulation (engram)

• program 17• modern example

Encoding Processes

• Visual Encoding: the encoding of imagesexample

• Acoustic Encoding: the encoding of sound

• Semantic Encoding: the encoding of meaning

the most effectiveencoding with multiple process

types is even more effective

Memory Strategiesstart @ 7:04

• Mnemonic devices are strategies to improve memory by organizing information– Method of Loci: ideas are associated with a

place or part of a building example– Peg-Word system: peg words are associated

with ideas (e.g. “one is a bun”)– Word Associations: verbal associations are

created for items to be learned

ChunkingChunking & other methods

#

• Organizing items into familiar, manageable units.

• Often it will occur automatically.

Chunk- from Goonies

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

Do these numbers mean anything to you?

1492, 1776, 1812, 1941 how about now?

ChunkingWrite down as many of the states of the US as

you can remember!

Take out a piece of paper and name all the Presidents

Encoding Information• Serial Positioning

Effects – the tendency for recall to be affected by the order of encoding– Primacy Effect –more

likely to recall items at the beginning of a list

– Recency Effect – likely to recall items at the end of a list

– What else influenced your ability to recall?

Serial Positioning Effect

• Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

If we graph an average person remembers presidential list- it would probably look something like this.

PresidentsRecalled

Encoding – The Spacing Effect

• distributed study or practice yields better long term retention

• cramming is minimally effective

What, then, would be good strategies for preparing for AP Psych tests?

For the AP Exam in the spring?

The Context Matters!!!crash course

• Flashbulb Memories– a clear memory of an

emotionally significant moment or event

• Mood Congruent Memory– the tendency to recall

experiences that are consistent with your current mood

• State Dependent Memory– memory that is

recalled under the consciousness conditions it was formed

Memory Construction• Memories are not always

what they seem.• Misinformation Effect –

incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event

• Elizabeth Loftus

Misinformation Effect

Depiction of Accident

Leading Question: About how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?

Misinformation EffectLeading Question: About how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?

Forgetting – Encoding Failure

Which is the Right Penny?AUTOMATIC ENCODING(From Nickerson & Adams, 1979)

Forgetting – Retrieval Failure

• Retroactive Interference: recent information blocks out old information.

• Proactive Interference: previous information blocks out new information.

Calling your new girlfriend by old girlfriend’s name.

Getting a new bus number and forgetting old bus number.

Clive Wearing

• Repression – Freud’s concept of the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Forgetting - Storage Decay

• Even after encoding something well, we sometimes forget it.

• Herman Ebbinghaus’ experiments with non-sense syllables–Showed the memory fades quickly,

but then the speed at which it fades levels out.

Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve

Types of AmnesiaClive Wearing

• Causes: Brain Damage, Shock, Repression, Stress and Illness

• Amnesia is forgetting produced by brain injury or trauma– Retrograde amnesia refers to

problems with recall of information prior to a trauma

– Anterograde amnesia refers to problems with recall of information after a trauma

– 50 1st dates trailer

– Infantile Amnesia: Before 3 years old

– Source amnesia-where did I hear or read that??

Significant People - MemoryGeorge Miller– Research on Short-term Memory Capacity– “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or

Minus Two” (1956, Harvard)• established 7, + or – 2 as the limit of storable

information• also first developed the concept of

“chunking” to aid in memory retention