C H A P T E R 3

MEMORY & THOUGHT

OBJECTIVES

• Describe the concept of information processing

• Identify the different types of memory systems

• Explain the different theories that account for memory

• Describe the psychological perspective on thought

• Define problem-solving and outline the development of

problem-solving strategies

MEMORY AS A FILING SYSTEM

• Pledge of Allegiance• 5th grade classroom• Lines from your favorite movie• State capitals

• How do we solve problems?• How do we create ideas?

MEMORY

Memory – the ability to retain information through the processes of encoding, storing and retrieving

INFORMATION PROCESSING

• Psychologists refer to all cognitive and mental activities (from memorizing lists, writing poems, recalling learned information) as information processing

• Three steps of I.P.• 1. Encoding• 2. Storage• 3. Retrieval

MEMORY THEORIES

• Molecular Theory (James McConnell)• Memory stored in RNA molecules• Example: Flatworm experiment

McConnell made the astonishing discovery that memory has an identifiable chemical basis. He trained flatworms to run mazes, and noted how long it took to do so. (The mazes were extremely simple T shapes. The planarian goes in the bottom foot of the T. Food goes in one of the top arms, always the same one. Untrained planaria swim up the T and then turn one way or the other at random; trained planaria know to head toward the arm where the food always is. Pretty impressive, for a worm.)Then McConnell took the trained worms and ground them up and fed them to untrained worms. The untrained worms learned to run the maze a lot faster than the original worms had, apparently demonstrating that there was some sort of information in the trained worms that survived being ground up and ingested. The hypothesis was that the information was somehow encoded in RNA molecules, and could be physically transferred from one individual to another.

MEMORY THEORIES

• Holistic Theory (Karl Lashley)• Memories stored in “Whole brain”

Neural Circuitry TheoryMemories cause neurochemical and

structural changes in the brain

ENCODING

• Encoding – storing information in memory using a mental representation that the brain can register• 50 states in 1 minute

• Activity• List the 50 states on a separate piece of paper• You have only one minute, GO!

ENCODING

• 50 states – very simple demonstration that shows how people encode and store information in different, yet predictable ways

• Read list of states in original order• Familiar patterns• Alphabetical order• Region• Similarity of name (i.e. New Mexico, New York)

Familiar ways to individual (Systematic)Where one has lived, significant event, NFL teams

TYPES OF MEMORY

• Slippery Snakes activity• Directions handout

TYPES OF MEMORY

• 1. Declarative (Explicit) Memory

• Knowledge that can be called forth consciously as

needed

• Examples: what street you live on, your telephone

number

TYPES OF MEMORY

• Two subcategories of Declarative Memory:• A.) Semantic Memory – Memories of factual

knowledge that are independent of personal experience• Examples: types of food, capital cities, vocabulary,

spelling

TYPES OF MEMORY

• Two subcategories of Declarative Memory:• B.) Episodic Memory – Memories of one’s personal

experiences in life• Example: 1st date/kiss, vacations/trips with family

• Flashbulb Memory – Vivid, detailed and emotionally charged memories of personal/historic events• Example: 9/11, LBJ

TYPES OF MEMORY

• 2. Procedural Memory• Memories of actions, skills, operations that do not require

conscious recollection• THESE ACTIONS ARE AUTOMATIC• Examples: Throwing a ball, riding a bike, tying a tie, juggling,

driving, writing in cursive

TYING TIES/JUGGLING!

TYPES OF MEMORY

• 3. Eidetic Memory (Photographic Memory)• Recall entire image at a later date

• Who THINKS they have a photographic memory?? Anyone?

• Let's try!

STAGES OF MEMORY

• 1. Sensory Memory (SM)• Initial process that holds information for approximately 1

second• Example: gaps in film reel• Example: listen to first few seconds of a song & then decide

whether to listen further

• Iconic Memory – form of sensory memory that holds visual information for approximately 1 second• Example: flash memory

DID YOU SEE THIS?

STAGES OF MEMORY

• Echoic Memory• Holds auditory information for approximately 1 second• Example: Teacher asks OFF TASK student a question

Narrowing inputSelective Attention: “Party Phenomenon”Selective Attention/Awareness Test

Feature Extractionlocate significant characteristics of selectively attended stimulusExample: picture of soldier - pg. 56

FEATURE EXTRACTION

• SMILE BREAK

SHORT-TERM MEMORY

• Please read the words aloud as they appear

• After all words are complete, you will be instructed to do something.

SHORT-TERM MEMORY

• Peach• Book• Sword• Car• Enemy• Mirror• Shoe• Thermometer

• Brick• Bed• Salt• Flower• Calendar• Airplane• Clock

SHORT-TERM MEMORY

• Peach• Book• Sword• Car• Enemy• Mirror• Shoe• Thermometer

• Brick• Bed• Salt• Flower• Calendar• Airplane• Clock

SHORT-TERM MEMORY

• Short-term Memory (STM)• Working memory – continuous, active process• Capacity – (7 +-2) pieces of information

• STM test

• Chunking• Grouping information for easier processing• Examples: Social Security #, Phone #

CHUNKING• Look at this list of numbers for 20 seconds:

• 17761234201143212323

• List them

• Look at this list of numbers for 20 seconds:

• 1776 1234 2011 4321 2323

• List again – which was easier?

MNEMONIC DEVICES

• MD – any technique that aids memory

• Narrative chaining – creating a story

• Rhyming - '59 was the date,When Alaska and Hawaii became new states

• Non-Rhyming - PEMDAS

SIMON

INTERFERENCE

• Proactive Interference• Earlier memory blocks or prevents a new memory• Example: moving to a new home

• Retroactive Interference• Newer memory blocks or prevents a previous memory • Example: remembering name of the 10th person you’re

introduced to at a party

• Interference Activity

MEMORY

MEMORY STORAGE

• Levels of processing

• Maintenance Rehearsal (shallow processing)• Repetition

Elaborative Rehearsal (deep processing)Making associations between new & old information

LONG-TERM MEMORY

• Long-Term Memory

• Storing almost unlimited amounts of information over long periods of time

• LTM information organized by categories and features

RUMOR CHAIN

• Does long-term memory get distorted during encoding or retrieval?• Prior knowledge• Schemas about the world• Gender role expectations• General bias

• 5 people to the hall

• Do not laugh when errors are made

RUMOR CHAIN STORY• A Boeing 747 had just taken off from the Dallas-Fort Worth

Airport for Chicago when a passenger near the rear of the aircraft announced that the plane was being taken over by the People’s Revolution Army for the liberation of the oppressed. The hijacker then held a 22-caliber pistol to the head of James Buckner, a flight attendant, and forced him to open the door to the cockpit. There, the hijacker confronted the pilot, Melanie Adams, and ordered her to change course for Mexico. The pilot radioed the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport Air Traffic Control Center to report the situation, but then suddenly hurled the microphone a the hijacker, who fell backward through the open cockpit door and onto the floor, where angry passengers took over from there. The plane landed back at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport a few minutes later and the hijacker was arrested.

RUMOR CHAIN STORY

• Were there errors made in the re-telling of the story?

• Shorter?• Details left out? (Name of airport, terrorist group)• This is called leveling

Descriptions will reflect tellers’ schemasEx: Pilots are men, women are flight attendants

(This was backwards in the story)

LONG-TERM MEMORY

• Whose portrait is on the $10 bill?

• Is Lincoln facing to the right or left on the penny?

RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION

• The key to retrieval is organization

• Recognition• Identify previously learned information• Example: Photographs, multiple-choice tests, 7 dwarfs

• Name the 7 dwarfs

RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION

• Recall – active reconstruction of memory• Example: Essay tests

ConfabulationUnconsciously filling in memory gapsExample: Eye-witness testimony

SchemasLearned generalizations about objects, events,

peopleCreated based on expectations by past experiences

INDIVIDUAL FAMILY INTERVIEWS

• Ask family members to recall and describe their memories of a shared past event, such as a wedding or a holiday celebration.

• Write down two sets of responses and compare how different people construct the event and what kind of details are recalled.

• What are different people revealing about their personal interests, values and needs when they describe an experience?

• Homework – due next class

MAZE TIME

PRIMACY & RECENCY EFFECTS

• All-purpose memory demonstration

• Recall activity

• Recall scores should be..• Primacy Effect – remember words at beginning of a list

the best• Recency Effect – remember words at the end of the list

the best

PRIMACY AND RECENCY EFFECTS

• Retrieval of Information• Words in the middle of the list should have lowest recall rates

• How many recalled the world “sleep”? Constructive Memory!

• Except for artichoke which should be recalled better than its neighbors because of it distinctiveness (it has nothing to do with sleep)

• The word night should also have a particularly high score, not only because of the recency effect but because its higher frequency on the list allowed for better rehearsal

• Toss and turn, due to chunking, recalling one should evoke the other (who recalled both words?)

FORGETTING

• Forgetting• Inability to retrieve information in LTM

• Herman Ebbinghaus – “Forgetting curve”• Steep decline initially, then gradual decline• Conducted one of the 1st studies of retention and forgetting in

the late 1800s. He learned a large number of nonsense syllables, 3-letter combinations that had no meaning, studying the material until he could recite it perfectly. He then tested himself on what he remembered after certain periods of time had elapsed.

EBBINGHAUS FORGETTING CURVE

• Encoding Failure• Inadequate retrieval cues poorly encoded info

• Decay• Memory traces weaken over time

REPRESSION

• Freudian Defense Mechanism• Unpleasant experiences are kept out of consciousness

and cannot be retrieved voluntarily• Example: False accusation based in repressed memories

MEMORY:THE UNRELIABLE WITNESS

• Read handout

EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY

• Let's see how well you do!

• 60 minutes documentary• Eyewitness

AMNESIA

• Causes: head injury, physical trauma or disease

• Includes:• Rapid forgetting• New information fades from memory within a few minutes• Old memories, such as those from childhood, are retained• Permanent (no cure)

AMNESIA

• Two types: Anterograde & Retrograde

• A: forgetting events that follow an injury or trauma• people find themselves forgetting info, people, or events

within seconds or minutes • Example: 10 second Tom in 50 First Dates

R: forgetting events that occurred before injury or traumaunable to recall some or all of their life or identity prior to the onsetExample: The Vow

BRAIN DISEASES THAT AFFECT MEMORY

• Alzheimer’s• Chronic brain disease that gradually erodes an individuals

memory, intellectual abilities and personality

• Inability to learn and remember new information

• In advanced stages, the ability to think, speak or perform basic tasks such as getting dressed or eating can be severely impaired.

BRAIN DISEASES THAT AFFECT MEMORY

• Dementia• Loss of brain function that occurs with

certain diseases. It affects memory, thinking, language, judgment and behavior.

REVIEW

• Questions?

• Study Guide