I WOULD NEVER FORGET THAT MEMORY CONCEPTS

Lesson Plan 8

Competency Explain the three-box model of memory. Summarize Elizabeth Loftus’ research, “Lost in

the Mall.” Define the cocktail party phenomenon. Illustrate concepts of short-term memory. Discriminate among concepts connected to

long-term memory. Summarize concepts connected to forgetting.

Overview Take a moment to remember a time from your childhood or teenage

years. Who is in the memory? What is happening? What are the details? Can you see yourself in the memory?

Memory is the capacity to retain and retrieve information. Human beings rely on memory to identify who they are, reconstruct the past, make predictions about the future and do the daily activities required to function. Without memory, people would be as helpless as newborns.

The general public believes that memory functions like a camera, a snapshot of the past. This belief, though, is inaccurate. In reality, every time a person recalls a memory he/she actually reconstructs it. The process of retrieving a memory includes drawing on many sources, gathering bits and pieces of the event and then creating a story around it. Information is derived from what others have said about the event, photographs of the event, bits of information in memory and perhaps information read or seen about the event. When a person draws information from other sources but cannot remember what exactly those sources are, it is called source amnesia.

Flashbulb Memories Vivid memories that seem like they happened yesterday People are absolutely certain that the details are

accurate as if the event were frozen in time- these are flashbulb memories

Everyone’s flashbulb memories can be flawed Example- those who saw the Space Shuttle Challenger

explode often swear that they know exactly where they were and what they were doing when it happened. Research conducted after the explosion showed that

memories like these tend to decay with time. In one study, college students reported on the morning after the tragedy how they had heard the news. Three years later, when asked to recall that information again, not one student was entirely accurate and a third of them were completely inaccurate (Neisser & Harsch, 1992). This type of research suggests that even our most vivid memories may not be completely accurate.

Memory Theories Information-Processing Models of Memory

Information-processing models liken memory to a computer. When one enters information on a computer, the computer

encodes the information and stores it on a CD or hard-drive for later retrieval.

In comparison, the brain encodes sensory information experienced into a neural code; the brain can understand, stores or retains the information, and retrieves it for use when necessary.

3-Box Model This model of memory is the dominant theory in memory

research today. Explains how a sensory stimulus works its way through the

three types of memory to its final destination, long-term memory. According to this theory, memory is processed in stages.

Sensory Model Maintains a fairly accurate image of the experienced sensation

for a very brief period of time. There is only a short time to decide what to pass on to short-

term memory (STM) and what information is not important. http://elora.national.edu/res/files/courses/PS1050/memory.pdf

Short-Term Memory (STM)

7 +/- 2 bits of information held for about 30 seconds.

Will be forgotten unless an effort is made to pass the information on to long-term memory (LTM).

STM is also called “working memory” because information is brought from LTM to STM to think about it.

Items may be retained in STM by rehearsal, such as repeating a telephone number until it is dialed.

Long-Term Memory (LTM) Unlimited capacity. Unlimited duration: it may last for years and years. How information is transferred to LTM is not yet

known. LTM is organized in several different ways.

Semantic categories: general information or concepts by category such as “A Ford is a vehicle”.

Network of inter-related concepts. Way a word sounds or looks. Familiarity, relevance or association with other information. Contents. Procedural memories: memories about how to perform an

action like riding a bike or playing a sport. Declarative memories: general information that one can

talk about with others.

Types of Memories

Semantic memories are general knowledge. Episodic memories are personally

experienced events. Emotional memory is the most powerful kind

of memory. It takes precedent over all other kinds of memory. If the information entering the brain has emotion, the brain immediately focuses its energy on it, taking energy away from other memory functions. This helps explain why students cannot remember test information when they become too anxious.

Parallel Distributed Processing Contends that information is stored in a variety

of ways Mental networks of general knowledge are made

including expectations and beliefs about certain topics, concepts, and images

Asserts information is not processed in stages but that it is processed simultaneously

Diagram is simplified version of the associations that may be made in relation to a child

Lines show the connections between the images, thoughts, and people in one’s mind that make-up his/her mental network of information

http://elora.national.edu/res/files/courses/PS1050/parallel-distributed-processing.pdf

Forgetting Decay Theory asserts that when a new memory is

formed, a certain neural “trace” is made. If not used, it will disintegrate or decay, and the information will be forgotten.

Retrograde amnesia happens as a result of an accident or trauma the consequences of which events or information stored in memory before the accident or trauma cannot be recalled.

There are several types of barriers, or interference, associated with memory and forgetting. They include: Retroactive interference occurs when new information

one is attempting to store in memory interferes with or disrupts information that is already in long-term memory.

Proactive interference occurs when old memories make it more difficult to remember new memories

Forgetting Continued Childhood amnesia refers to the inability to recall events that

took place in early childhood. Encoding failure occurs because information fails to be stored

in long-term memory due to improper encoding. Motivated forgetting is the purposeful forgetting of events that

are particularly painful or upsetting. In psychoanalytic theory, it is known as repression. Repression is a term used in psychoanalytic theory that refers to one blocking out a painful, anxiety provoking or otherwise unacceptable memory into the unconscious mind. However, it can still adversely affect behavior.

Retrieval failure happens when information is stored in long-term memory but not accessible. One reason this might happen is known as cue-dependent forgetting. Cue-dependent forgetting is a type of retrieval failure characterized by the inability to recall information in long-term memory because no sufficient cues were associated with that memory.

Strategies for Remembering Researchers and educators have found that there are techniques

that can enhance a person’s ability to remember. Serial position effect is the tendency to remember the first

and last items in a list. To use this strategy, a person should study information in small bits. Therefore he/she will have more firsts and lasts and will be more likely retain more information.

Rehearsal. There are several types of rehearsal including: Maintenance rehearsal refers to repeating the information over

and over. Elaborative rehearsal occurs when new information is

associated with information that is currently in long-term memory.

Deep processing refers to analyzing the meaning of the information rather than just memorizing a definition or only remembering the physical or sensory features of the information.

A mnemonic refers to a special word, jingle or rhyme that provides one with cues that help recall. For instance, the acronym HOMES helps one remember the great lakes—Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Eerie and Superior

Research in the Area of Memory Lost in the Mall The purpose of the experiment was to see if researchers

could plant a false memory in a subject. Of the 24 subjects, in the initial interview seven

“remembered” being lost in the mall even though it never really happened to them. Six of them continued to believe that they remembered the event in a follow-up interview. This study showed that people can be led to “remember” events that never happened (Loftus, 1997).

Cocktail Party Phenomena The cocktail party phenomenon refers to a person’s

ability to attend to specific information while tuning out extraneous information.

Low versus high working memory

Glossary Flashbulb Memories: Flashbulb memories are vivid

recollections of emotionally significant events. Long-term memory: Long-term memory is a type

of memory that has an unlimited capacity and can hold information for an unlimited amount of time.

Memory: Memory is the ability to retain and recall information.

Sensory memory: Maintains a fairly accurate image of the experienced sensation for a very brief period of time.

Serial position effect: The tendency to remember the first and last items in a list.

Short-term memory: Working memory; a type of memory that can hold a small amount of information for a short period of time (about 30 seconds). It is also called working memory.