Memory

AP Psychology

Persistence of learning over time via the storage and retrieval of information

Can you remember your first memory? Why do you think you can remember certain events in your life over others?

Memory as Information Processing similar to a computer

write to file save to disk read from disk

Encoding the processing of information into the memory system code and put into memory

Acoustic, Visual, & Semantic Encoding Storage

the retention of encoded information over time maintain in memory

Retrieval process of getting information out of memory recover from memory

Episodic – specific events in your life

Semantic – generalized knowledge of the world that does not involve a specific event

Procedural (skill memory) – knowledge of how to perform a physical task

Explicit Memory – used to deliberately remember something

Implicit Memory – unintentional influence of prior experiences

4 Models of Memory that attempt to explain what and how well items are remembered:1. Levels-of-Processing –

What we remember is dependent on how deeply the information is processed or rehearsed

Elaborative rehearsal – applying to real-life Maintenance rehearsal - repetition

1. Transfer-appropriate processing model Remembering things is determined by how well

the encoding matches what is retrieved

2. Parallel distributed processing models (PDP)

New facts change our knowledge base by altering interconnected networks, facts, and associations.

3. Information processing models There are three stages of mental processing

required before information can be firmly stored in memory – sensory, short-term, long-term

Sensory Memory the immediate, initial recording of sensory

information in the memory system – holds info for a fraction of a second

Working Memory focuses more on the processing of briefly

stored information The part of the memory that allows us to

mentally work with, or manipulate, information being held in our memory Try This: How many windows are on the front of your

house or apartment building? What did you do to remember this?

Short-Term Memory (STM) activated memory that holds a few

items briefly – if no further processing occurs, STM disappears in 20-30 seconds

look up a phone number, then quickly dial before the information is forgotten

Immediate memory span = 7 +/- 2 Long-Term Memory (LTM)

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

Chunking organizing items into familiar, manageable

units like horizontal organization--1776149218121941

often occurs automatically use of acronyms

HOMES--Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior ARITHMETIC--A Rat In Tom’s House Might Eat

Tom’s Ice Cream

Brown-Peterson Procedure – unless rehearsed, material stays in short-term memory for about 18 seconds

Organized information is more easily recalled

Serial Position Curve – a tendency to recall both the first and last parts of a list when memory is immediately testedPrimacy and Recency Effects

12

Percentage of words

recalled

0

90

80

70

60

50

40

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20

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Position of word in list

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Serial Position Effect--tendency to recall best the last items in a list

Short-Term Memory limited in

duration and capacity

“magical” number 7+/-2

0102030405060708090

3 6 9 12 15 18

Time in seconds between presentationof contestants and recall request

(no rehearsal allowed)

Percentagewho recalledconsonants

Types oflong-termmemories

Explicit(declarative)

With consciousrecall

Implicit(nondeclarative)

Without conscious recall

Facts-generalknowledge(“semanticmemory”)

Personally experienced

events(“episodic memory”)

Skills-motorand cognitive

Dispositions-classical and

operant conditioning

effects

Recall measure of memory in

which the person must retrieve information learned earlier

as on a fill-in-the blank test

Recognition Measure of memory in

which the person has only to identify items previously learned

as on a multiple-choice test

Relearning memory measure that

assesses the amount of time saved when learning material a second time

Priming activation, often

unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

déjà vu -- already seen cues from the current situation may subconsciously

trigger retrieval of an earlier similar experience "I've experienced this before."

Mood-congruent Memory tendency to recall experiences that are consistent

with one’s current mood memory, emotions, or moods serve as retrieval

cues State-dependent Memory

what is learned in one state (while one is high, drunk, or depressed) can more easily be remembered when in same state

After learning to move a mobile by kicking, infants had their learning reactivated most strongly when retested in the same rather than a different context (Butler & Rovee-Collier, 1989).

Forgetting as encoding failure Information never enters the long-term

memory

Externalevents

Sensorymemory

Short-term

memory

Long-term

memory

Attention

Encoding

Encoding

Encodingfailure leadsto forgetting

Forgetting as encoding failure

Which penny is the real thing?

Ebbinghaus forgetting curve over 30 days-- initially rapid, then levels off with time

12345 10 15 20 25 30

10

20

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60

0

Time in days since learning list

Percentage oflist retainedwhen relearning

The forgetting curve for Spanish learned in school

Retentiondrops,

then levels off

1 3 5 9½ 14½ 25 35½ 49½Time in years after completion of Spanish course

100%

90

80

70

60

50

40

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20

10

0

Percentage oforiginal

vocabularyretained

Forgetting can result from failure to retrieve information from long-term memory

Externalevents

Attention

Encoding

Encoding

Retrieval failureleads to forgetting

Retrieval

Sensorymemory

Short-termmemory

Long-termmemory

Learning some items may disrupt retrieval of other information Proactive (forward acting)

Interference disruptive effect of prior learning on

recall of new information Retroactive (backwards acting)

Interference disruptive effect of new learning on

recall of old information

Retroactive Interference

Without interferingevents, recall isbetter

After sleep

After remaining awake

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Hours elapsed after learning syllables

90%

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Percentageof syllables

recalled

Forgetting can occur at any memory stage

As we process information, we filter, alter, or lose much of it

Motivated Forgetting people unknowingly revise

memories Repression

defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

We filter information and fill in missing pieces

Misinformation Effect incorporating misleading information into

one's memory of an event Source Amnesia

attributing to the wrong source an event that we experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined (misattribution)

Eyewitnesses reconstruct memories when questioned

Depiction of actual accident

Leading question:“About how fast were the carsgoing when they smashed intoeach other?”

Memoryconstruction

Memories of Abuse Repressed or Constructed?

Child sexual abuse does occur Some adults do actually forget such episodes

False Memory Syndrome condition in which a person’s identity and

relationships center around a false but strongly believed memory of traumatic experience

sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists

Most people can agree on the following: Injustice happens Incest happens Forgetting happens Recovered memories are commonplace Memories recovered under hypnosis or drugs

are especially unreliable Memories of things happening before age 3

are unreliable Memories, whether false or real, are upsetting

Study repeatedly to boost recall Spend more time rehearsing or

actively thinking about the material Make material personally

meaningful Use mnemonic devices

associate with peg words--something already stored

make up story chunk--acronyms

Activate retrieval cues--mentally recreate situation and mood

Recall events while they are fresh-- before you encounter misinformation

Minimize interference Test your own knowledge

rehearse determine what you do not

yet know