Chapter Seven

Memory

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Memory is deceptive because it is colored by todays events.

Albert Einstein

THE NATURE OF MEMORY

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Defining Memory
Memory
Internal record or
representation of some prior
event or experience

Constructive Process
Organizing and shaping of
information during processing,
storage, and retrieval of
memories
Memory is not a videotape of
the experience, memory is
constructed!

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Four Models of Memory

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Four Models of Memory, cont.

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In Depth: Three-Stage Model

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Sensory Memory
Iconic Memory

Echoic Memory

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Short-Term Memory (STM)

Also known as
working
memory

Maintenance Rehearsal
Repeating information over and
over to maintain it in shortterm memory (STM)
Elaborative Rehearsal
Linking new information to
previously stored material (also
known as deeper levels of
processing)
Chunking Grouping separate
pieces of information into a
single unit (or chunk)
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Long-term Memory (LTM)

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Retrieval and LTM

Serial-Position Effect
Information at the
beginning (primacy effect)
and end (recency effect)
of a list is remembered
better than material in the
middle.

2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Retrieval and LTM (cont.)

Retrieval Cue
Clue or prompt that helps
stimulate recall or retrieval of a
stored piece of information from
long-term memory

Recall
Retrieving a memory using a
general, nonspecific clue (e.g.,
essay test)

Recognition
Retrieving a memory using a
specific cue (e.g., multiplechoice test)
Priming
Prior exposure to a stimulus
(or prime) facilitates OR
inhibits the processing of new
information, even when one
has no conscious memory of
the initial learning and storage

2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Retrieval and LTM (cont.)

Encoding Specificity
Principle
Retrieval of information is
improved when conditions
of recovery are similar to
the conditions when the
information was encoded

Context-dependent memory
Ex: Recall in the same seat or
classroom
Mood congruence
Ex: When you are mad at your
partner, you recall the times
s/he made you mad!
State-dependent memory
Ex: If you learn a joke while
under the influence of alcohol,
youll remember it better in
that state.

2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving Long-Term Memory

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Memory Demonstration
Listen carefully to the list of wordsyoull be asked to recall as many as
possible.

2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

The existence of forgetting has never been proved: we only

know that some things do not come to our mind when we want
them to.
Nietzsche

FORGETTING

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Five Theories of Forgetting

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Two Types of Interference

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Four Factors Key to Forgetting

Misinformation Effect

Memory distortion resulting

from misleading post-event
information
Sleeper Effect

Source Amnesia

Forgetting the True Source of a

memory
Information Overload

Information from an unreliable Trying to learn too much at

source, which was initially
one time!
discounted. Later gains
credibility because source is
forgotten
2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Research Challenge:
How Quickly We Forget
Answer these questions!

Read the description of the

study on page 260!

1. Hypothesis?
2. Research method (experimental,
descriptive, correlational, or biological)?
3. If you chose the:
Experimental methodlabel the IV, DV,
experimental group, and control group.
Descriptive methodis this a naturalistic
observation, survey, or case study?
Correlational methodis this a positive,
negative, or zero correlation?
Biological methodidentify the specific
research tool (e.g., brain dissection, CT
scan, etc.)

2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Memory and the

Criminal Justice System
Unreliability of eyewitness
testimony
Confidence in memory is
not a predictor of
accuracy
Importance of false
memories
Bitter debate about
repressed memories
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BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEMORY

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Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

Two Ways
Repeated stimulation of a
synapse can strengthen the
synapse by causing the
dendrites to grow more spines

Long-Term Potentiation
Long-lasting increase in neural
excitability, which may be a
biological mechanism for
learning and memory

The ability of a particular

neuron to release or accept
neurotransmitters can be
increased or decreased

2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Emotional Arousal
and Memory

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The Brain and Memory

Damage to any one of these areas can affect encoding, storage, and retrieval of
memories. For example, what effect might damage to your amygdala have on
your relationships with others? How might damage to your thalamus affect your
day-to-day functioning?

2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Biological Causes of Memory Loss:

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
(a) In retrograde amnesia, the
person loses memories of events
that occured before the accident, yet
has no trouble remembering things
that happened afterward. Old,
retro memories are lost.
(b) In anterograde amnesia, the
person cannot form new memories
for events that occur after the
accident (new, antero memories
are lost). Anterograde amnesia also
may result from a surgical injury (as
in the case of H.M.) or from diseases,
such as chronic alcoholism.
2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Biological Causes of Memory

Loss: Alzheimers Disease
Extreme decrease in
explicit/declarative memory
Retain some
implicit/nondeclarative
memory
Upon autopsy, brains have:
tangles from degenerating
cell bodies
plaques from degenerating
axons and dendrites

(left) Note the large amount of red and yellow color

(signs of brain activity) in the positron emission
tomography scans of the normal brain. (right) Now
compare the reduced activity in the brain of the
Alzheimers disease patient. The loss is most
significant in the temporal and parietal lobes, which
indicates that these areas are particularly important
for storing memories.

2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tips for Memory Improvement

Use metacognition: Thinking about your thinking!
Pay attention and reduce interference
Use rehearsal techniques
Use the encoding specificity principle
Improve your organization
Counteract the serial-position effect
Manage your time
Employ self-monitoring and overlearning
Use mnemonics
2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

More About Mnemonics!

Method of loci
Greek and Roman orators developed
the method of loci to keep track of
the many parts of their long
speeches. Orators would imagine the
parts of their speeches attached to
places in a courtyard. For example, if
an opening point in a speech was the
concept of justice, they might
visualize a courtroom placed in the
first corner of their garden. As they
mentally walked around their garden
during their speech, they would
encounter, in order, each of the
points to be made.
2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

More About Mnemonics!

Peg words
To use the peg-word mnemonic, you
first need to memorize a set of 10
images that you can use as pegs on
which to hang ideas. For example, if
you learn 10 items that rhyme with
the numbers they stand for, you can
then use the images as pegs to hold
the items of any list. Try it with items
you might want to buy on your next
trip to the grocery store: milk, eggs,
and bread.

2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

More About Mnemonics!

Acronyms
To use the acronym method, create
a new code word from the first
letters of the items you want to
remember. For example, to recall
the names of the Great Lakes, think
of HOMES on a great lake (Huron,
Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior).
Visualizing homes on each lake also
helps you remember your code
word homes.

2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Memory and Culture

Do children who are raised in

cultures that have a rich oral
tradition have better
memories for information
related through stories?
2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Multimedia
Animations
Your Amazing Brain: Are you a good eyewitness?
(7:00 estimated)
Show your students the videotaped crime, then have
them text themselves (in class!!) on the reliability of
their memory.

2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Multimedia
Web Video
The Mind: Live Without Memory (12:38)
Raises many questions about the nature of memory and its
importance in human existence. Introduces the viewer to
Clive Wearing, who is incapable of making new memories due
to viral encephalitis.

The Mind (2e) Clive Wearing, Part 2 (34:40)

Presents an extraordinary example of the relationship
between brain damage and memory function by reintroducing
the viewer to Clive Wearing 13 years after his appearance in
Part 1.

The Brain: Living With Amnesia: The Hippocampus

and Memory (10:41)
Amnesia appears in many different forms. This module shows
how the extent and location of damage can result in varying
levels of memory impairment. Footage of Mike, an amnesic
individual, demonstrates the result of an injury to the
hippocampus. Mikes reaction to his memory deficit and his
drastic coping measures underscore the importance of
memory to everyday functioning.

The Brain: A Super-Memorist Advises on Study

Strategies (9:56)
This module explores the brains potential for storage-asmemory. Rajan Mahadevan, a super-memorist,
demonstrates his phenomenal memory by scanning a 7 by 7
matrix of digits and recalling all forty-nine digits forward,
backward, and by columns. He also claims to have memorized
100,000 digits of pi. Mahadevan offers suggestions to help
college students improve their study habits when learning
new material.
2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Multimedia
Web Video

We know that YouTube videos are less stable So we have not embedded them in the PPT slide
show, but offer the links for your viewing pleasure at the end, on this page.

BBC: Man Without a Memory: Clive Wearing (10:00)

This shorter video clip shows an older Clive and his wife
meeting after minutes, eating, and playing the piano, and
provides a discussion of the impact of his traumatic brain
injury on their lives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDNDRDJy-vo

60 Minutes: Eyewitness Testimony, Part 2 (13:07)

How to Get the Most Out of Studying: Beliefs that Make

You Fail . . . or Succeed (6.54)
In the first of five tutorials on effective studying, Dr. Steven Chew,
cognitive psychologist, discusses beliefs that many students hold
regarding learning that interfere with their learning. Includes a
discussion of metacognition that applies to their studying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH95h36NChI

In this partial segment from 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl explores

the task of an eyewitness to choose a criminal out of a lineup
through memory. Jennifer Thompson falsely selected Ronald
Cotton as her rapist. Elizabeth Loftus is a featured expert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4V6aoYuDcg&feature=pla
yer_embedded

2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.