COGNITION

Memory

True of False?

T/F A woman who could not remember who she was automatically dialed her mother’s number when the police gave her a telephone.

T/F Learning must be meaningful if we are to remember it.

T/F If you can see, you have a photographic memory.

T/F All of our experiences are permanently imprinted on the brain, so the proper stimulus can cause us to remember them exactly.

T/F You may always recall where you were and what you were doing on the morning of September 11, 2001.

T/F If you study with the stereo on, you would probably do better to take the test with the stereo on.

Memory

What is a memory?(podcast-the day my mothers head exploded)

What is its physical state? How is it created? What tells it to be formed?

Why do we create memories? Where is the Engram?

Why is memory important? (very simple explanation)

Avoidance Behavior: If we do not learn from a stressful event then we will repeat

the event. We will never learn more efficient ways to avoid such

situations. If we try to hug an angry bear and happen to survive, we

want to make sure that we never repeat such an act. Bears are dangerous. If I hug them tissue damage will probably ensue. Don’t hug bears anymore.

Basically survival is quite dependent on learning.

Memory

How does a physical event become a memory?

Event Memory

Memory

Elements involved in memory formation: Main requirements- (same as with chemicals)

Speed of onset Level of arousal Message potency

Variability Cognitive stress

Can facilitate or be a detriment Priming State of participant when event takes place

Chemicals and hormones in the body Body temperature

Memory

There is no difference between factual, conceptual, procedural or metacognitive learning. It is all governed by the same process. Though some forms of learning may involve

additional brain regions.

Memory

Three main stages:

Encoding: Processing transduced information.

Storage: Creation of a permanent record.

Retrieval: Calling back the stored information.

Memory

Encoding Storage Retrieval

(reconstruction)

Storage (based on current state)

Memory

The same rules apply when remembering an event as when originally encoding the event.

Remember the elements involved in facilitation and degradation of sensory messages discussed

in the physiology section.

The Three Stages of MemorySensory Memory: (Sensory Register)

Preserves brief sensory impressions of stimuli. Processed in different brain regions depending on what sense

picks up the stimulus.

Working Memory: (Short-term Memory)

Preserves recently perceived events or experiences for less than a minute without rehearsal.

Long-term Memory: Stores material organized according to meaning.

The Three Stages of Memory Sensory

Working

Long-term

The First Stage: Sensory Memory

D J BX H GC L Y

The First Stage: Sensory Memory How many can you recall?

Capacity of sensory memory can be 12 or more items. All but 3-4 items disappear before they can enter.

There is a separate sensory register for each sense . Memory images take the form of nerve impulses.

Transduction

Transduction

Sensation Nerve Impulse

Sensory

Stroop interference effect -

Stroop Interference Effect

•Filter Theory of Attention

•Cocktail Party Effect

2 Types of Sensory Registers Iconic: Sensory memory of visual

stimuli, lasting less than a second.

Echoic: Sensory memory of acoustical stimuli, lasting 3 to 4 seconds.

Sequence of Information Processing

The First Stage: Sensory Memory

The Second Stage: Working Memory

Preserves recently perceived events or experiences for less than a minute without rehearsal. Short-term memory (STM).

Working memory consists of A central executive

Responsible for the selection, initiation and termination of processing routines.

A phonological loop (podcast-music) Deals with sound and phonological processing.

The visiospatial sketch pad Holds information about what we see. Aids in visual planning of future behavior. Contains separate visual, spacial and kinesthetic components. Right Hemisphere storage.

The Second Stage: Working Memory

Encoding and storage: Capacity:

7 +/- 2 “Chunks” of information. (George A. Miller) Chunk:

Organizing pieces of information into a smaller number of meaningful units.

Maintenance rehearsal: Information is repeated keep it from fading while in working

memory. Elaborative rehearsal:

Information is actively reviewed and related to information already in LTM.

Acoustic encoding: Conversion of information to sound patterns in working memory.

The Second Stage: Working Memory

Sneak Peak! Disorders associated with working memory

disruptions: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

We will be covering this in the Psychological Disorders section of this course.

Forgetting in STM

Decay theory: A theory that argues that the passage of time causes forgetting.

Interference theory: A theory that argues interference from other information causes forgetting.

Senso

ry Decay

George Miller’s Magic Number 7 +/- 2

VCRFBIUSACIA

VCR FBI USA CIA

2 Types of Rehearsal

Rote rehearsal: Retaining information in STM simply by repeating it over and over.

Elaborative rehearsal: The linking of new information in STM to familiar material stored in long-term memory.

The Third Stage: Long-Term Memory

Long-Term Memory: Stores material organized according to meaning .

(Schemas, Heuristics, Mental Set)

Declarative (explicit) Stores facts Semantic Memory of meanings (of words) and

understandings . Episodic Memory of events, times, places, and emotions.

Autobiographical Memory

Procedural (implicit) Long-term memory of skills and procedures. How to knowledge.

The Third Stage: Long-Term Memory

Semantic Memory Language Facts General

Knowledge Episodic Memory

Events Personal

Experiences

Includes memory for: Motor Skills Operant

Conditioning Classical

Conditioning

Declarative Memory Procedural Memory

Types of Long-Term Memory

© Prentice Hall, 1999

Explicit (declarative)

Implicit (nondeclara

tive)

Semantic Episodic

tip-of-the-tongue

phenomenon

Flashbulb Memory

Procedural Dispositions

Types of Memory

Explicit Memory

Memory for information that was intentionally committed to memory or intentionally retrieved from memory.

Neural Basis of Learning

Long-term Potentiation: Biological process involving physical changes that strengthen the

synapses in groups of nerve cells. Weak synapse firing alongside a strong synapse causes the weak

synapse to strengthen. Critical element-

Calcium (Ca+)

Mesolimbic Pathway: (Dopamine)

Substantia Nigra Ventral Tegmental Area Nucleus Accumbens Amygdala and Hippocampus Frontal Cortex

Neural Basis of Learning

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon (TOT)

The condition of being able to, but not quite, remember something.

TOT becomes more frequent in stressful situations and as we age.

Words similar to target word interfere with recall.

TOT occurs most often with low-usage words.

Implicit Memory

Memory for information that either was unintentionally committed to memory or was unintentionally retrieved from memory.

Flashbulb Memory

A vivid memory for a highly emotional situation; seems to require an element of surprise.

Types of LTM Interference

Retroactive: The process by which new information interferes with the retrieval of old information.

Proactive: The process by which old information interferes with the retrieval of new information.

Memory

Memory

Sneak Peak!

Ormrod (2004): People often remember things in physical situations

according to schemas, rather than remembering the actual objects that existed

Brewer & Treyens (1981): 30 students placed in office. 9 students remembered seeing books. No students remembered the skull. No students remembered the tennis racket.

Memory Models

Multi-Store Model (Atkinson-Shiffrin Model, 1968) Long-Term Memory

Episodic Procedural

Mechanism-Rehearsal Flashbulb Memory

Working Memory (Baddeley and Hitch, 1974) Short-Term Memory

Central executive Phonological loop Visuospatial sketchpad

Levels of Processing Memory Model (Craik and Lockhart, 1972) Depth of processing is paramount

Future Work

Serial Position Effect Recall and Forgetting

Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve Eyewitness Testamony

Mental Representations Concepts Prototypes

Heuristics (One size fits most!) Small, Medium, Large

Subconscious/Nonconscious processing Implicit learning Mental set Need for cognitive consistency Bias