MEMORY159876123

WHAT IS MEMORY

• MEMORY CAN BE DEFINED AS THE PERSISTENCE OF LEARNING OVER TIME THROUGH THE STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION

HOW DOES MEMORY WORK?• MEMORY WORKS THROUGH THREE PROCESSES• 1) ENCODING- THE PROCESSING OF INFORMATION INTO THE MEMORY SYSTEM –

FOR EXAMPLE, BY EXTRACTING MEANING.• 2) STORAGE- THE RETENTION OF ENCODED INFORMATION OVER TIME• 3) RETRIEVAL- THE PROCESS OF GETTING INFORMATION OUT OF MEMORY

STORAGES

HOW DOES MEMORY WORK?• WE FORM MEMORIES IN THREE STAGES:• 1) WE FIRST RECORD TO-BE REMEMBERED INFORMATION AS A FLEETING SENSORY MEMORY OR

THE IMMEDIATE, VERY BRIEF RECORDING OF SENSORY INFORMATION IN THE MEMORY SYSTEM.• 2) FROM THERE, WE PROCESS INFORMATION INTO A SHORT-TERM MEMORY BIN, WHERE WE

ENCODE IT THROUGH REHEARSAL – SHORT TERM MEMORY CAN BE DEFINED AS ACTIVATED MEMORY THAT HOLDS A FEW ITEMS BRIEFLY, SUCH AS THE SEVEN DIGITS OF A PHONE NUMBER WHILE DIALING, BEFORE THE INFORMATION IS STORED OR FORGOTTEN.• 3) FINALLY, INFORMATION MOVES INTO LONG-TERM MEMORY FOR LATER RETRIEVAL – LONG

TERM MEMORY CAN BE DEFINED AS THE RELATIVELY PERMANENT, AND LIMITLESS STOREHOUSE OF THE MEMORY SYSTEM. IT CAN INCLUDE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND EXPERIENCE.

WORKING MEMORY

• WORKING MEMORY CONCENTRATES ON THE ACTIVE PROCESSING OF INFORMATION IN THE INTERMEDIATE STAGE – WORKING MEMORY CAN TAKE OLD MEMORIES TO SOLVE PROBLEMS OR MAY BE FACED WITH PROBLEMS RETRIEVING MEMORIES

HOW DO WE ENCODE?• WE ENCODE USING VARIOUS WAYS. SOME MEMORIES MAY BE AUTOMATIC

THROUGH AUTOMATIC PROCESSING WHICH WOULD BE INFORMATION THAT IS WELL-LEARNED. OTHER MEMORIES MAY TAKE WORK IN ORDER TO BECOME STORED. • EFFORTFUL PROCESSING REQUIRES ATTENTION AND CONSCIOUS EFFORT• REHEARSAL OR THE CONSCIOUS REPETITION OF INFORMATION, EITHER TO MAINTAIN IT

IN CONSCIOUSNESS OR TO ENCODE IT FOR STORAGE.

WHAT WE ENCODE• VISUAL ENCODING – THE ENCODING OF PICTURE IMAGES• ACOUSTIC ENCODING – THE ENCODING OF SOUNDS, ESPECIALLY THE SOUND

OF WORDS• SEMANTIC ENCODING – THE ENCODING OF MEANING, INCLUDING THE

MEANING OF WORDS

ENCODING STRATEGIES• IMAGERY – MENTAL PICTURES, A POWERFUL AID TO EFFORTFUL PROCESSING• MNEMONIC – MEMORY AIDS, ESPECIALLY THOSE TECHNIQUES THAT USE VIVID

IMAGERY • CHUNKING – ORGANIZING ITEMS INTO FAMILIAR, MANAGEABLE UNITS; OFTEN

OCCURS AUTOMATICALLY• ICONIC MEMORIES – A PHOTOGRAPHIC, OR PICTURE-IMAGE MEMORY LASTING

NO MORE THAN A FEW TENTHS OF A SECOND – CONSTANT REHEARSAL COULD BEING INTO LONG-TERM MEMORY

STRESS AND MEMORY• STRONGER EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES MAKE FOR STRONGER, MORE RELIABLE

MEMORIES.• AFTER TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES SUCH AS A WARTIME AMBUSH, A HOUSE

FIRE, ETC. COULD LEAD TO THE IMAGES BEING “BURNED INTO YOUR MEMORY.” THESE MEMORIES COULD ALERT US OF POTENTIAL DANGERS IN THE FUTURE.

TYPES OF LONG TERM MEMORY• IMPLICIT MEMORY: RETENTION INDEPENDENT OF CONSCIOUS RECOLLECTION• EXPLICIT MEMORY: MEMORY OF FACTS AND EXPERIENCES THAT ONE CAN

CONSCIOUSLY KNOW AND “DECLARE”

• IMPLICIT MEMORIES COULD BE SKILLS (MOTOR AND COGNITIVE) AND CLASSICAL CONDITIONING• EXPLICIT MEMORIES COULD BE FACTS LIKE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE AND

PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED EVENTS

THE THREE R’S OF RETRIEVAL• RECALL: A MEASURE OF MEMORY IN WHICH THE PERSON MUST RETRIEVE

INFORMATION LEARNED EARLIER, AS ON A FILL-IN-THE-BLANK TEST• RECOGNITION: A MEASURE IN MEMORY IN WHICH THE PERSON ONLY NEEDS

TO IDENTIFY ITEMS PREVIOUSLY LEARNED, AS ON A MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST.• RELEARNING: A MEASURE OF MEMORY THAT ASSESSES THE AMOUNT OF TIME

SAVED WHEN LEARNING MATERIAL FOR THE SECOND TIME.

MORE KEY TERMS• DÉJÀ VU: THE EERIE SENSE THAT “I’VE EXPERIENCED THAT BEFORE.” CUES

FROM THE CURRENT SITUATION MAY SUBCONSCIOUSLY TRIGGER RETRIEVAL OF AN EARLIER EXPERIENCE.• MOOD-CONGRUENT MEMORY: THE TENDENCY TO RECALL EXPERIENCES THAT

ARE CONSISTENT WITH ONE’S CURRENT GOOD OR BAD MOOD.• AMNESIA: THE LOSS OF MEMORY

CAUSES OF FORGETTING• ABSENT MINDEDNESS – INATTENTION TO DETAILS (OUR MIND IS ELSEWHERE

WHEN WE LAY DOWN THE CAR KEYS)• TRANSIENCE – STORAGE DECAY OVER TIME (AFTER YOU PART WAYS WITH

FORMER CLASSMATES)• BLOCKING – INACCESSIBILITY OF STORED INFORMATION (SEEING AN ACTOR

IN AN OLD MOVIE BUT NOT BEING ABLE TO PLACE WHO IT IS)

CAUSES OF DISTORTION • MISATTRIBUTION: CONFUSING THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION (PUTTING

WORDS IN SOMEONE ELS’S MOUTH OR REMEMBERING A DREAM AS AN ACTUAL HAPPENING)• SUGGESTIBILITY: THE LINGERING EFFECTS OF MISINFORMATION (A LEADING

QUESTION – “DID MR JONES TOUCH YOUR PRIVATE PARTS” – LATER BECOMES A YOUNG CHILD'S FALSE MEMORY• BIAS: BELIEF-COLORED RECOLLECTIONS (CURRENT FEELINGS TOWARD A

FRIEND MAY COLOR OUR INITIAL FEELINGS)

STORAGE DECAY

• EXAMPLE: PEOPLE 3 YEARS OUT OF TAKING A SPANISH CLASS WHO HAVE NOT USED SPANISH SINCE WILL BE MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER STORAGE DECAY

OTHER FORMS OF FORGETTING• PROACTIVE INTERFERENCE: THE DISRUPTIVE EFFECT OF PRIOR LEARNING ON THE

RECALL OF NEW INFORMATION• RETROACTIVE INTERFERENCE: THE DISRUPTIVE EFFECT OF NEW LEARNING ON THE

RECALL OF OLD INFORMATION • MOTIVATED FORGETTING• REPRESSION: THE BASIC DEFENSE MECHANISM THAT BANISHES CONSCIOUSNESS ANXIETY-

AROUSING THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, AND MEMORIES.

• MISINFORMATION EFFECT: INCORPORATING MISLEADING INFORMATION INTO ONE’S MEMORY OF AN EVENT