Human Memory

Part 1: D’you remember?

Well, it depends…

The Big Three Questions

How does information get into memory?

How is information maintained in memory?

How is information pulled back out of memory?

Encoding, Storage, Retrieval

Encoding: Getting Information Into Memory

The role of attention “Paying” attention and the cognitive

miser

Focusing awareness Selective attention = selection of

input– When does this happen?

– Early or Late?–Debatable

– The Cocktail Party Effect

Fig 7.3 – Models of selective attention. Early-selection models propose that input is filtered before meaning is processed. Late-selection models hold that filtering occurs after the processing of meaning. There is evidence to support early, late, and intermediate selection, suggesting that the location of the attentional filter may not be fixed.

Levels of Processing:You Down with LOP? Yeah you know me!

Incoming information processed at different levels:

Deeper processing = longer lasting memory codes

Encoding levels:– Structural = shallow (what it looks like)– Phonemic = intermediate (what it sounds like)– Semantic = deep (what it means)

Fig 7.4 – Levels-of-processing theory. According to Craik and Lockhart (1972), structural, phonemic, and semantic encoding—which can be elicited by questions such as those shown on the right— involve progressively deeper levels of processing, which should result in more durable memories.

Enriching Encoding: Improving Memory

Elaboration = linking a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding

–Thinking of examples: tying in previous chapters

Visual Imagery = creation of visual images to represent words to be remembered

–Easier for concrete objects: Dual-coding theory

–Creates two codes: visual and semanticSelf-Referent Encoding

–Making information personally meaningful–Brain structures and my Grandfather

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (and other memory tricks)

Acronyms– PEMDAS

Method of Loci– Groceries in my bedroom

Peg Method– Bacon on peg 5

The bizarreness effect– The talking neuron

• Check out my Soma!

Part 2

Keep holdin’ on:Maintenance and storage in memory

Storage: Maintaining Information in Memory

Analogy: information storage in computers ~ information storage in human memory

Information-processing theories– Subdivide memory into 3 different stores

• Sensory, Short-term, Long-term

Fig 7.8 – The Atkinson and Shiffrin model of memory storage.

Sensory Memory: Not just for the 4th of July

Brief preservation of information in original sensory form

Auditory/Visual – approximately ¼ secondWhy?- Sparklers (or my

flashlight)- Listen. To. This.

Sentence.

Short Term Memory (STM)

Limited capacity – Miller’s magical number 7 plus or minus 2

- How many digits are there in a telephone number?

– Chunking – grouping familiar stimuli for storage as a single unit ( so that 7 + / - 2 still applies)

Limited duration – about 20 seconds without rehearsal– Rehearsal – the process of repetitively verbalizing or

thinking about the information– Right before a test… but elaborative rehearsal is better :)

Short-Term Memory as “Working Memory”

STM not limited to phonemic encoding Loss of information not only due to decay

Interference, too (think of the last example…)Could those numbers interfere?

3 components of working memory– Phonological rehearsal loop– Visuospatial sketchpad– Executive control system

Long-Term Memory: Unlimited Capacity

Permanent storage?– Flashbulb memories– Evidence for permanence?

–The question of accuracy… misinformation…–The 9-11 studies; eyewitness testimony

Debate: are STM and LTM really different?– Phonemic vs. Semantic encoding– Decay vs. Interference based forgetting

Part 3

Its all coming back, its all coming back to me now.

How is Knowledge Represented and Organized in Memory?

Clustering and Conceptual HierarchiesRemembering similar items in groups

Sort of a natural chunking Schemas and Scripts

Sets of abstract knowledge about an object or event…

-Instructors schema

-The “saying hello” script Semantic Networks Connectionist Networks and PDP Models

I like birds

Semantic Networks

Schblantic betworks… what does all this mean?

Retrieval: Getting Information Out of Memory

The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon – a failure in retrieval– Retrieval cues… the first letter of the word…

Recalling an event– Context cues… remember elementary school?

Reconstructing memories– Misinformation effect

– Cryptomnesia: inadvertent plagiarism• Source monitoring: where did the info come from?

• reality monitoring: did I think that, or did it really happen?

Forgetting: When Memory Lapses

Retention – the proportion of material retained– Recall: no cues– Recognition: identification out of an array or list – Relearning: how quickly you learn material the second

time around

Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve Important Dead dude, studied his own

memory for nonsense syllables.

-Plotted the now famous forgetting curve

Fig 7.18 – Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve for nonsense syllables.

Why Do We Forget?

Ineffective Encoding - didn’t get in.

Decay theory: use it or loose it Interference theory: other info

gets in the way– Proactive: previously learned info

interferes with new info– Retroactive: new info interferes

with previously learned info

Fig 7.21 – Retroactive and proactive interference. Retroactive interference occurs when learning produces a “backward” effect, reducing recall of previously learned material. Proactive interference occurs when learning produces a “forward” effect, reducing recall of subsequently learned material.

What Words Do You Remember?

The Physiology of Memory

The Case of Clive Wearing