Memory

Three Kinds of Memory

1). Episodic: memories of the events that happen to a person or take place in the person’s presence

Breakfast, Thanksgiving, birthdays

Three Kinds of Memory

2). Semantic: general knowledge

Concerns meaningsHistory dates, authors, factsRemember = episodicKnow=semantic

Three Kinds of Memory

3). Procedural: (skill memory)

Knowledge of ways of doing things

Ride a bike, drive a carPersevere even when you

haven’t used it in a while

Mnemonic DeviceSystems for remembering

in which items are related to easily recalled sets of

symbols such as acronyms, phrases, or jingles

ESP-episodic, semantic, procedural

Three Processes of Memory

1). Encoding: The first stage of information processing Modifying information so that it can be placed

in memory Exercise 1:Recall list of letters

a) Visual code-mental imageb) Acoustic code-sequence of soundsc) Semantic code-mental representation of information according to its meaning

THeUNitedSTatesOFAMericaTHUNSTOFAM

Three Processes of Memory

2). Storage: the maintenance of information over time

Maintenance rehearsal-mental repetition of information in order to keep it in memory

Three Processes of Memory

3). Retrieval: the location of stored information and its return to consciousness

Not able to retrieve list because:Not encoded the list in a useful wayNot entered the encoded information

into storageStored the information but lacked the

proper cues for remembering

Three Stages of Memory

Sensory Short-term Long-termMemory Memory Memory

This is LindaLinda? Janet?Tina? Lane?

File Cabinet:People met at

party

SensoryInput Attention

Storage&

Retrieval

Three Stages of Memory1). Sensory Memory: the

type or stage of memory first encountered by a stimulus. Sensory memory holds impressions briefly, but long enough so that series of perceptions are psychologically continuous

Sensory Memory Iconic- a mental representation of a

visual stimulus that is held briefly in sensory memory– Accurate, photographic memory for

brief time Eidetic imagery- maintenance of

detailed visual memories over several minutes– Declines with age

Echoic memory- sensory register that briefly holds mental representations of auditory stimuli

Three Stages of Memory2). Short-term Memory: (working memory)

the stage of memory that can hold information for up to a minute or so after the trace of the stimulus decays

phone #’s, told a name at the party

Fade significantly after 10-12 seconds if not rehearsed

Short-term Memory Exercise 2: Quarter Lists Serial-Position Effect: The tendency to recall more accurately

the first and last items in a series Primacy effect:

Tendency to recall the initial items in a series of items

Recency effect: Tendency to recall the last items in a series of

items

Short-term Memory Exercise 3 & 4: Chunking:A stimulus or group of stimuli that

are perceived as a discrete piece of information

Exercise 3-tic tac toe grid Exercise 4-move dash to left

GM-CBS-IBM-ATT-CIA-FBI

Short-term MemoryRote learning: mechanical

associative learning that is based on repetition

Interference/Displace: to cause chunks of information to be lost from short-term memory by adding new items

Memory

Long-term Memory The third stage of

processing of information capable of relatively

permanent storage vast storehouse of

information containing names, dates, places

Long-term Memories How accurate? Elizabeth Loftus:

-memories are distorted by our biases and needs and by the ways in we conceptualize our worlds-schemas

SchemasA way of mentally

representing the world, such as a belief or

expectation, that can influence perception of persons, objects, and

situations

Example Loftus:

– Showed video on car crash– Questionnaire asked how fast the

cars were going at the time of the crash

– “Smashed” 41 mph– “Hit”34 mph– Words “hit” and “smashed” caused

people to organize their knowledge about the crash in different ways

Eye-Witness Testimony

Words chosen by an experimenter and those

chosen by a lawyer interrogating a witness

can influence the reconstruction of

memories

Eye-Witness TestimonyHypnosis-can amplify and

distort memoriesIdentification of criminals-

people pay more attention to clothing rather than height, weight, facial features

Improvement-describe what happened rather than pump witness with suggestions

Short-term to Long-term Maintenance rehearsal-repetition

but not effective way to place info in permanent storage

vs. Elaborative rehearsal:

relating new material to well-known material (meaningful)

– Vocabulary

Flashbulb Memories Exercise: First Kiss or Love We tend to remember

events that occur under unusual, emotionally arousing circumstances

Ex. 5-Write down your 3 most vivid memories

Ex: September 11th, first kiss, death of a loved one, heartache

Tip-of-the-tongue Phenomenon

The feeling that information is stored in memory although it cannot be readily retrieved

Incomplete or imperfect learning

May not know exact answer but we know something

Ex.6-List the 7 dwarfs

Seven Dwarfs

Sleepy Sneezy

Dopey Doc

Grumpy Bashful Happy

Two S’s, Two D’s, Three Emotions

Context-Dependent Memory Information that is better

retrieved in the context in which it was encoded and stored, or learned

Ex: Yen’s room? Scene of crime, under water experiment

How many of you visualize where you were when trying to remember a concept?

State-Dependent Memory Information that is better

retrieved in the physiological or emotional state in which it was encoded and stored, or learned

Ex: under the influence, mood-happy, angry, sad

Forgetting Failure to recognize a

nonsense syllable that has been read before

We don’t encode info we don’t consider useful (questions)

Memory tasks used in measuring forgetting

1) Recognition2) Recall3) Relearning

Exercise 7: Encoding Failure

1) Which letters do not appear on the telephone dial?

2) Most wooden pencils are not round. How many sides do they typically have?

3) In what hand does the Statue of Liberty hold her torch?

4) What is pictured on the back of a $20?5) What four words besides “In God We

Trust” appear on most US coins?

Answers

1) Which letters do not appear on the telephone dial? (Q, Z)

2) Most wooden pencils are not round. How many sides do they typically have? (6)

3) In what hand does the Statue of Liberty hold her torch? (Right)

4) What is pictured on the $20? (White House)

5) What four words besides “In God We Trust” appear on most US coins? (United States of America)

Recognition Easiest type of memory

task, involving identification of objects or events encountered before

Ex: multiple choice questions Recognize photos of old

classmates easier than recalling their names

Recall

Retrieval or reconstruction of learned material

More difficult than recognition (Ex.8-Draw both sides of a penny)

Recall task-person must retrieve a syllable with another syllable serving as a cue (fill in the blank)

Meaningful links help

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Relearning

A measure of retention. Material is usually relearned more quickly than it is learned initially

Ex: Future Psych classes

Interference Theory

We forget material in short-term and long-term memory because newly learned material interferes with it

Retroactive vs. Proactive

Retroactive InterferenceNew learning interferes

with the retrieval of old learning

Ex: Italian interfered with Spanish when I returned

Your examples?

Proactive Interference

Old learning interferes with the capacity to retrieve more recently learned material

Ex: Spanish made learning Italian more difficult

Your examples?

RepressionFreud:

– We are motivated to forget painful memories and unacceptable ideas because they produce anxiety, guilt, and shame

Infantile Amnesia Exercise: Write down your

earliest memory Inability to recall events

that occur prior to the age or 2 or 3

– No meaningful stories or connections

– No reliable use of language to symbolize or classify events

Anterograde Amnesia Failure to remember events

that occur after physical trauma because of the effects of the trauma

H.M.-couldn’t transfer info from short-term to long-term

Retrograde Amnesia

Failure to remember events that occur prior to physical

trauma because the effects of the trauma

Which one?

Anterograde Amnesia

Or

Retrograde Amnesia