AP PsychMyers – Ch. 9

MEMORY: ORGANIZATION

The persistence of learning over time through storage and retrieval of information

3 step process: Encoding – processing info into memory system Storage – retention of encoded info Retrieval – process of getting info out of storage

Memory is like a computer’s information processing system.

MEMORY

Encoding

Storage

Retrieval

3 basic stages of memories:Sensory memory – immediate, brief recording of sensory info

Short term memory (STM)/ working memory – activated memory that holds a few items briefly before it is encoded and stored or discarded

Long term memory (LTM) - the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse

MEMORY

Atkinson-Shiffrin and Baddley Models combined

MODIFIED 3 STAGE MODEL

Sensory Memory LTM

STM or Working Memory

Sensory Input

Attention

Encoding

Encoding

Retrieval

ForgettingForgettingForgetting

O T T F F S S E N T

15 SEC TO REMEMBER THIS IN ORDER…

Automatic processing– effortless, unconscious encoding of info Reading signs while driving

Effortful processing – requires attention and conscious effort Reading the psych text book for comprehension and

understanding Rehearsal – conscious repetition

Spacing effect – memories are retained through distributed practice Why cramming for tests is BAD

Serial positioning effect – remembering the first and last items in a list

ENCODING

Write the letters I asked you to memorize a few minutes ago.

OTTFFSSENT

Visual encoding – encoding of picture images (ex: visualization of info on page) Imagery – mental pictures Mnemonic devices – memory aids, especially those

techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices (ex: peg-method/memory palace)

Acoustic encoding – encoding of sounds (ex: rhymes with, repetition of info out loud)

Semantic encoding – encoding of meaning (ex: assigning/creating meaning)

ENCODING

Chunking – organizing items into familiar manageable units; often occurs automatically 17761861191719412001 How can you chunk this? How could you have chunked OTTFFSSENT?

ORGANIZING INFO FOR PROCESSING

Sensory Memory Iconic memory – a momentary sensory memory of visual

info (brief photographic memory)You can briefly look a word’s spelling to copy the word, but cannot recall the spelling minutes later.

Echoic memory – a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli, 3-4 secondsTeacher asks you “what did I just say?” and you can recall the last few words

STORAGE

8 volunteers - think of your favorite food.Now say your favorite food, plus everyone

else’s favorite food before you.

STM/Working memory 7 +/- 2 Importance of chunking

STORAGE

LTM – Unlimited Implicit memory – procedures/skills (processed in

part in the cerebellum)

Explicit memory – retention of facts and experiences that you can consciously declare (primarily processed/stored in hippocampus) Semantic memory – general knowledge Episodic memory – events Prospective memory – remembering to do something in

the future

STORAGE

Flashbulb memories – clear, vivid memory of an emotionally significant event Episodic memory

STORAGE

Biological look at memory storage.Long-term potentiation (LTP) – an

increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory As experience strengthens the pathways between neurons,

synapses transmit signals more efficiently

LONG-TERM POTENTIATION

Getting memories out of storageRecall – retrieving info not in conscious

awareness Short answer questions, fill-in-the-blank questions

Recognition – identifying items previously learned Multiple choice questions

Relearning – learning information a second time, faster than the first time Test corrections

RETRIEVAL

Déjà vu – the eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may subconsciously

trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.

Context-dependent memories – memories are more easily recalled in the same context as when they were encoded

State-dependent memories - memories are more easily recalled in the same state as when they were encoded

Crash Course – Making Memories

CONTEXT EFFECTS ON MEMORY

AP PsychMyers, Ch. 9

MEMORY: FORGETTING AND

IMPROVEMENT

Just as important as remembering avoid clutter

Amnesia – the loss of memory Biological – head injuries

FORGETTING

Absent-mindedness Inattention to details; we cannot remember something we

have not encoded.

THREE SINS OF FORGETTING

A

Transience – storage decay Even if we encode, we can still forget it later Often unused info or info that no longer holds

meaning.

THREE SINS OF FORGETTING

Blocking – inaccessibility of stored info (“it’s on the tip of my tongue…”) Proactive interference – the disruptive effect of prior

learning on the recall of new info. Retroactive interference – the disruptive effect of new

learning on the recall of old info.

Motivated forgetting Repression – in psychoanalytic theory, the basic

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

Most psychologists today would agree that repressed memories do not exist.

THREE SINS OF FORGETTING

Source amnesia – attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, hear about, read about, or imagined.

Misinformation effect – incorporating misleading info into one’s memory of an event. Loftus’ study on recollections of car accidents using

leading questions.

Bias – belief-colored recollections Memories are perceptions of the past and as such are subject

to expectations and bias.

THREE SINS OF DISTORTION

Eye witness recall is subject to false memory reconstruction. Misinformation effect Presupposing and leading questions

Children are more suggestible than adults can be lead to produce false memories through suggestive questions.

Young children can recall events as they occurred if… neutral adult asks non-leading questions uses words they understand.

EYE WITNESS RECALL

Study repeatedly to boost long term recall.Make material personally meaningful.Use mnemonic devices. Minimize interference. Test your own knowledge, both to rehearse

the info and determine what you do not know yet.

IMPROVING MEMORY

Biological Psychological Social-cultural•LTP•Automatic processing•Electric current or head injury•Storage decay

•Rehearsal•Context effects•Priming•Mood•Stress•Encoding and organizing strategies•Retrieval interference•Memory construction

•Misinformation effect•Flashbulb memories for important events•Level of implied importance•Source amnesia

MEMORY AS BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL (PG. 390)

60 Minutes – Endless Memory (Pt. 1)

Zimbardo – Remembering and Forgetting

Brain Games – Remember This!

Crash Course – Remembering and Forgetting

VIDEOS