The Nature of Memory & Schema Theory

Today’s Goals I can explain what memory is and begin to explain how it

works.

C5- Evaluate schema theory with reference to research studies.

Warm Up Listen to the following story. Do not take notes.

Memory Quotations Warm-UpRead the quotations on memory with your group

and make a list of the three which you think are most effective at describing the nature of memory.

Be prepared to share and defend your choices.

What is Memory?The capacity to retain and retrieve information, and also the mental structures that account for this capacity.

Explicit Memory Declarative Memory

Implicit Memory Procedural Memory

Explicit MemoriesExplicit Memory – Conscious, intentional recollection of an event or an item of information.Declarative Memory – Memories that can be

consciously recalled such as facts and details.

Recall- Retrieve and reproduce memory from previously encountered material.

Recognition – The ability to identify previously encountered material.

Autobiographical MemoryA memory system consisting of episodes

recollected from an individual's life, based on a combination of episodic (personal experiences and specific objects, people and events experienced at particular time and place) and semantic (general knowledge and facts about the world) memory.

ChallengeDraw the heads side of a penny.

Recall - How did you do?

Recognition TestDumbyHappy

ChubbyDoc

SleepyBashfulSmartyBraty

LaughyCoughyDopeyCutey

ToughyMilky

GrumpySneezy

Implicit Memory• Implicit Memory - The unconscious retention of

previous experiences that creep into our current thoughts/actions.

• Procedural Memories- Memories that help you perform certain procedures and tasks.

Early Research into MemoryEbbinghaus – 1885

Used self as subject Tested his memory using lists of 3-letter nonsense syllables (like KAF, PEB, LEV)Nonsense because he didn’t want his existing

knowledge to be able to help out his memory

Method: Relearning Task – Learned a list, set it aside for a period of time, then later relearned the material to the same level.

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

Ebbinghaus & Studying

Remember as many numbers as you can.682375987728092623596

Now Try This482-972-460-173-081-749-375

Chunking- When people reorganize and group information into small groups.

Miller’s Magic Number 7 Plus/Minus 2

760234983

Critical Thinking Long words like “onomatopoeia” are harder to remember

than short words like “dog” & “ball”

Psychologists now believe that we can recall about four chunks of information at a time, which works out to approximately six letters, five one-syllable words and seven digits.

The War of the Ghosts

The War of the GhostsWhat similarities/accurate recollections are there?

What differences/errors did you make?What might this show about your memory?

Bartlett (1932) Schema Theory (C5) Aim: To determine whether a person’s memory is impacted

by the knowledge (schemas) and the extent to which memory is reconstructive.

Method: Had British citizens read the story and then rewrite it based on their memory over several months.

Finding/Results: Participants remembered the main ideas but remembered it as shorter. Unfamiliar elements were changed to make sense of the story in terms of their own culture.

Conclusion: Memory is an ACTIVE PROCESS that is influenced by our experiences and understanding of how the world works SCHEMA THEORY IS BORN!!!!

Critical Thinking?

Schema TheoryA mental representation of knowledge stored in the

brain. A network of knowledge, beliefs, and expectations about particular aspects of the world. The lens that you see the world through. Paradigms

The Office

Brewer and Treyens (1981)Aim: To investigate whether people’s memory for objects in a room is influenced by their existing schemas.

Method: 30 university students were asked to wait in an office before being called into a research study.

Participants were taken out of the office and asked to write down everything they could remember from the room.

Brewer and Treyens (1981)Findings:

Most participants recalled the schematic objects (desk, typewriter).

Some participants reported things that would be expected but were not present (books, telephone, etc.)

Many participants recalled non schematic items such as the skull…Unusual items resulted in better memory than schema theory predicted.

Conclusions: Schemas do impact memory, but only to a certain extent.

Evaluate Schema TheoryWhat are the strengths of schema theory?

What are the limitations of schema theory?

What applications are there for schema theory beyond memory?

Do you trust the research done on schema theory? Why or why not?

Strengths Limitations

Evaluation of Schema Theory

Lots of research that defends schemas.

Helps understand the reconstructive nature of memory/perception.

“Social Schemas” help explain stereotypes.

Not entirely clear how schemas are acquired and how they actually influence cognitive processes.

Too vague to be useful.

The Case of Clive Wearing(C7 Biological Impact on Memory)

Clive Wearing Video (Sorry for the blurry picture)

How does Clive Wearing’s story relate to what we already know about memory?

What memories does Clive still have and what ones does he not have?

How does Clive Wearing’s Memory problems relate to the models of memory?

Tonight’s HomeworkWatch the Prezi on the two Models of Memory and record information for each model of memory in your notes. We will discuss them next time.

Warm Up

1. Remember back to your first day of high school. Describe how each model would describe this memory.

a. Which model best explains your memories?

2. Create an analogy for each of the models. Include each component and explain why your analogy represents these models.