Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

CHAPTER 6:

Memory

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Memory

An Information-Processing Model

The Sensory Register

Short-Term Memory

Long-Term Memory

Autobiographical Memory

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Information-Processing Model of Memory

A model of memory in which information must pass through discrete stages via the processes of attention, encoding, storage, and retrieval.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

MemoryTypes of MemorySensory Memory

Records information from the senses for up to three seconds Examples are Iconic (Visual) Memory and Echoic (Auditory) Memory

Short-Term Memory Holds about seven items for up to twenty seconds before the material is forgotten or transferred to long-term memory

Long-Term Memory Relatively permanent, can hold vast amounts of information

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

The Sensory Register Testing for Iconic Memory

Invented by George Sperling

A letter array is shown briefly

After array is gone, tone signals which row to report

Subjects recalled more letters when signaled to recall only one row compared to trying to recall all the letters

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

The Sensory Register Duration of Iconic Memory

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Short-Term MemoryCapacity

Memory-Span Test Read the top row of digits, then look away and repeat them

back in order. Continue until a mistake is made. The average capacity is seven items of information.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Short-Term MemoryCapacity

Increased Memory Span

Two students practiced memory span tasks for an hour 3-4 days/week.

After six months, digit span had increased from 7 to 80 items.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Short-Term MemoryCapacity Chunking

Process of grouping distinct bits of information into larger wholes to increase short-term memory capacity.

Take 5 seconds to memorize as much as possible on the next slide.

Then, try to reproduce the arrangement of pieces.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Short-Term MemoryCapacity The Value of Chunking

Was the number correct around seven pieces? Or, was the information chunked?

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Short-Term Memory Duration of Short-Term Memory

Subjects memorized nonsense syllables, (e.g., MJK, ZRW).

To prevent rehearsal, they were given a distracter task during the waiting period.

When a cue was given, subjects tried to recall the letters.

Short-term memories vanish within twenty seconds.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Short-Term MemoryFunctions of Short-Term Memory

Working Memory Term used to describe short-term memory as an active workspace where information is accessible for current use.

Baddeley’s model of working memory contains three elements:

A “central executive” Auditory working memory Visuo-spatial working memory

Material can enter conscious workspace from senses or from long-term memory

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Short-Term Memory The Serial-Position Effect

Serial Position Curve Indicates the tendency to

recall more items from the beginning and end of a list than from the middle.

Both groups of subjects showed primacy effects, good recall of first items on list.

Only the no-delay group showed recency effects, good recall for last items.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Short-Term Memory The Long-Term Serial-Position Effect

Can you name the U. S. Presidents?

Can you name them in the correct order?

Note that these subjects exhibited both primacy and recency effects.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term MemoryEncoding

Elaborative Rehearsal Subjects were shown lists of

words and asked to use one of three strategies:

Visual: Is the word printed in capital letters?

Acoustic: Does the word rhyme with _____?

Semantic: Does the word fit the sentence _________?

The more thought involved (elaborative rehearsal), the better was their memory.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term MemoryStorageProcedural Memory

Stored long-term knowledge of learned habits and skills.

Examples are how to drive, ride a bike, tie one’s shoes, etc.

Declarative Memory Stored long-term knowledge of facts about

ourselves and the world. Includes both semantic (nonpersonal) and

episodic (personal) memories

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term Memory Storage

Semantic Networks Semantic Network A complex web of semantic associations that link items in memory such that retrieving one item triggers the retrieval of others as well Supported by research using the lexical decision making task

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term MemoryStorage The Hippocampal Region

Hippocampus: Part of the limbic system that plays a key role in encoding and transferring new information into long-term memory.

Anterograde amnesia Inability to store new

information Retrograde amnesia

Inability to retrieve memories from the past

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term Memory RetrievalExplicit Memory

The types of memory elicited through the conscious retrieval of recollections in response to direct questions.

Conscious retention, direct tests, disrupted by amnesia, encoded in the hippocampus

Implicit Memory A nonconscious recollection of a prior experience that is

revealed indirectly, by its effects on performance. Nonconscious retention, indirect tests, intact with amnesia,

encoded elsewhere

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term MemoryRetrieval Context-Dependent Memory

Russian-English bilinguals were prompted in English and in Russian to recall stories.

They recalled more Russian-experienced events when interviewed in Russian and more English-experienced events when interviewed in English.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term MemoryRetrieval Retention Without Awareness

Amnesic patients and normal controls were tested for memory of words learned previously.

Amnesics performed poorly on explicit memory tasks.

However, performance on implicit memory tasks was similar to control subjects.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term Memory Retrieval Implicit Memory in Everyday LifeDéjà vu

A sense of familiarity but no real memory

The false-fame effect Names presented only once, familiarity but no real memory,

assume person is famous

Eyewitness transference Face is familiar, but situation in which they remembering

seeing face is incorrect

Unintentional plagiarism Take credit for someone else’s ideas without awareness

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term Memory Forgetting The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term Memory Forgetting

Long-Term Forgetting CurveHow much Spanish

vocabulary is remembered over time?

Most forgetting occurs within the first three years.

After that, memory remains stable.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term Memory Forgetting Can You Recognize a Penny?

One reason people forget is due to lack of encoding.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term Memory Forgetting

Proactive Interference The tendency for previously learned

material to disrupt the recall of new information

Retroactive Interference The tendency for new information to disrupt

the memory of previously learned material

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term Memory Forgetting Interference and Forgetting

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Long-Term Memory Reconstruction

“Office” Schema

Study this picture for 30 seconds.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

List as many objects as you can recall from the photograph you just saw.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

How to Improve MemoryMnemonics

Memory aids designed to facilitate the recall of new information.

Increase Practice Time Increase the Depth of ProcessingHierarchical OrganizationVerbal MnemonicsMethod of LociPeg-Word MethodMinimize InterferenceUtilize Context Effects

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Autobiographical Memory Memorable Transitions

Autobiographical Memory The recollections people

have of their own personal experiences and observations.

People’s memories are most vivid for times of transition.

In college, these are memories from the beginning of the first year and end of the last year.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Autobiographical Memory

Flashbulb Memories Highly vivid and enduring memories, typically for

events that are dramatic and emotional

Childhood Amnesia The inability of most people to recall events from

before the age of three or four

Hindsight Bias The tendency to think after an event that one knew

in advance what was going to happen

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall