Chapter 6: Memory Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction...

Chapter 6: Memory

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.


Memory

The process by which we encode, store, and retrieve information


Encoding

Refers to the process by which information is initially recorded in a form usable to memory

Storage

The maintenance of material saved in the memory system

Retrieval

Material in memory storage is located, brought into awareness, and used


The Three Systems of Memory: Sensory Memory

The initial, momentary storage of information, lasting only an instant

Iconic memory– Reflects

information from our visual system

Echoic memory– Stores

auditory information coming from the ears


The Three Systems of Memory: Short-Term Memory

Memory store in which information first has meaning

May hold approximately 7 (plus or minus 2) chunks of information– A chunk is a meaningful

grouping of stimuli that can be stored as a unit in short-term memory

Holds information for approximately 15 to 20 seconds

PBSFOXCNNABCCBSMTVNBC

PBS

FOX

CNN

ABC

CBS

MTV

NBC


The Three Systems of Memory: Short-Term Memory

Rehearsal– The repetition of information

that has entered short-term memory

Elaborative rehearsal– Occurs when information is

considered and organized in some fashion resulting in a greater likelihood to be transferred into long-term memory

Mnemonics– Formal techniques for

organizing information in a way that makes it more likely to be remembered


The Three Systems of Memory: Long-Term Memory

A storehouse of almost unlimited capacity

Information in long-term memory is filed and coded so that we can retrieve it when we need it


Contemporary Approaches To Memory

Working memory– View of short-term memory

as an active “workspace” in which information is retrieved and manipulated, and in which information is held through rehearsal


Working Memory

Central Executive Processor

(reasoning and decision making)

Visual store

(visual & spatial information)

Verbal store

(speech, words, & numbers)


Models of Memory

Associative model– Memory consists of mental

representations of clusters of interconnected information

Priming– Phenomenon in which

exposure to a word or concept later makes it easier to recall related information

Spreading activation– Activating one memory

triggers the activation of related memories


Modules of Memory

Explicit memory– Intentional or conscious

recollection of information Implicit memory

– Memories of which people are not consciously aware, but which can affect subsequent performance and behavior


Recalling Long-Term Memories

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon– Inability to recall information

that one realizes one knows Retrieval cue

– Stimulus that allows us to recall more easily information that is located in long-term memory



Levels-of-processing theory– Emphasizes the degree to

which new material is mentally analyzed

Flashbulb memories– Memories around a specific,

important, or surprising event that are so vivid they represent a virtual snapshot of the event


Constructive Process in Memory

Constructive process– Processes in which

memories are influenced by the meaning that we give to events

Schemas– Organized bodies of

information stored in memory that bias the way new information is interpreted, stored, and recalled



Memory in the courtroom– Repressed memory

– False memory Autobiographical memory

– Recollections of circumstances and episodes from our own lives


Forgetting: Herman Ebbinghaus


Forgetting: When Memory Fails

Decay– Loss of information through

nonuse

– Assumes that when new material is learned a memory trace appears (actual physical change in the brain

Interference– Information in memory

displaces or blocks out other information, preventing its recall


Proactive Interference

Information learned earlier interferes with recall of newer material


Retroactive Interference

Difficulty in recall of information because of later exposure to different material


Biological Bases of Memory

Long-term potentiation– Certain neural pathways

become easily excited while a new response is being learned

Consolidation– Changes in the number of

synapses between neurons as the dendrites branch out to receive messages and memories become fixed and stable in long-term memory


Memory Dysfunctions

Alzheimer’s disease– An illness that includes

among its symptoms severe memory problems

Korsakoff’s syndrome– A disease afflicting long-

term alcoholics


Memory Dysfunctions

Amnesia– Memory loss that occurs

without other mental difficulties

Retrograde amnesia– Memory is lost for

occurrences prior to a certain event

Anterograde amnesia– Loss of memory occurs for

events following an injury

Chapter 6: Memory Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction...

Documents

Transcript of Chapter 6: Memory Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction...