Module 12

Remembering & Forgetting

INTRODUCTION

• Recall– Retrieving previously learned information without the

aid of, or with very few, external cues

• Recognition– Identifying previously learned information with the

help of more external cues

ORGANIZATION OF MEMORIES

• Network theory of memory organization– We store related ideas in separate categories, or files,

called nodes and create links among them– A gigantic interconnected network of files for storing

and retrieving information• Associations

– Linking of nodes or categories together by making associations between new and old, previously stored information

• Network– Thousands of interconnected nodes form a huge

cognitive network for arranging and storing files

ORGANIZATION OF MEMORIES (CONT’D)

ORGANIZATION OF MEMORIES (CONT’D)

• Organization of network hierarchy

– Nodes• memory files that contain related information

organized around a specific topic or category– Network hierarchy refers to the arrangement of nodes

or memory files in a certain order– Bottom of hierarchy made up of nodes with very

concrete information connected to nodes with somewhat more specific information, which in turn are connected to nodes with general or abstract information

ORGANIZATION OF MEMORIES (CONT’D)

FORGETTING CURVES

• Early memories– Earliest that people in different cultures can recall

personal memories averages 3.5 years old• Unfamiliar and uninteresting

– Forgetting curve measures the amount of previously learned information that subjects can recall or recognize

• Familiar and interesting– Remembering is partly related to how familiar or

interesting the information is

REASONS FOR FORGETTING

• Overview: forgetting– Inability to retrieve, recall, or recognize information

that was stored or is still stored in long-term memory– Repression

• according to Sigmund Freud, repression is a mental process that automatically hides emotionally threatening or anxiety-producing information in the unconscious (from which repressed memories can’t be recalled voluntarily, but something may cause them to enter consciousness at a later time)

REASONS FOR FORGETTING (CONT’D)

– Poor retrieval cues/poor encoding

– Retrieval cues• mental reminders that we create by forming vivid

mental images or associations between new information and information we already know

REASONS FOR FORGETTING (CONT’D)

– Interference• common reason for forgetting• recall of some particular memory is blocked or

prevented by other related memories• proactive interference

– occurs when old information (learned earlier) blocks or disrupts the remembering of related new information (learned later)

• retroactive interference– occurs when new information (learned later) blocks

or disrupts the retrieval of related old information (learned earlier)

REASONS FOR FORGETTING (CONT’D)

– Amnesia• may be temporary or permanent loss of memory

that may occur after a blow or damage to the brain or after disease, general anesthesia, certain drugs, or severe psychological trauma

– Distortion• misremembering something due to memory

distortions caused by bias or suggestibility

REASONS FOR FORGETTING (CONT’D)

• Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon– Having a strong feeling that a particular word can be

recalled, but despite making a great effort, being temporarily unable to recall it

• State-dependent learning– Finding it easier to recall information when in the

same emotional state as when originally encoding it

BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEMORY

• Location of memories in the brain– Cortex

• short-term memories– ability to hold words, facts, and events in short-

term memory depends on activity in the cortex• long-term memory

– ability to remember or recall songs, words, facts, and events for days, months, or years depends on areas widely spread throughout the cortex

BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEMORY (CONT’D)

BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEMORY (CONT’D)

• Location of memories in the brain

– Amygdala: emotional memories• the amygdala, located in the tip of the temporal

lobe, receives input from all the senses and is associated with emotional memory

– Hippocampus: transferring memories• transfers words, facts, and personal events from

short-term memory into permanent long-term memory

BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEMORY (CONT’D)

• Making a short-term memory

– Neural assemblies• groups of interconnected neurons whose activation

allows information or stimuli to be recognized and held briefly and temporarily in short-term memory

BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEMORY (CONT’D)

BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEMORY (CONT’D)

• Making a long-term memory

– Long-term potentiation (LTP)• refers to change in the structure and function of

neurons after they’ve been repeatedly stimulated• neuroscientists believe that the LTP process,

which changes the structure and function of neurons, is the most likely basis for learning and memory in animals and humans

MNEMONICS: MEMORIZATION METHODS

• Improving your memory

– Mnemonic methods • improve encoding and create better retrieval cues

by forming vivid associations/images to improve recall

– Method of loci• create visual associations between already

memorized places and new items to be memorized– Peg method

• create associations between number-word rhymes and items to be memorized

APPLICATIONS

• Eyewitness testimony

– Refers to recalling or recognizing a suspect observed during a potentially very disruptive and distracting emotional situation that may have interfered with accurate remembering

APPLICATIONS