Memory

unit 8, modules 24-28

m24 Intro to Memory
 MEMORY IS THE
PERSISTENCE OF LEARNING
OVER TIME, THROUGH THE
STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
OF INFORMATION.
Can you remember:

September 11, 2001?

E D
Your first kiss? C T
D A
RE
A funeral you attended?

An embarrassing moment in your life?

Can you remember:
C L E AR
-A
September 11, 2001?
E D
H B U LB M EM O R
EM
I E
O
S
TI O N A L LY
E N T

Your first kiss?

F L
C T
AS
O R
MEM ANT MOM
Y OF AN
E N T OR E V

D A SI G N I F IC

RE
A funeral you attended?

An embarrassing moment in your life?

A list apart ...
 ATKINSON-SHIFFRIN
THREE-STAGE MODEL OF MEMORY
Amnesia
Anterograde Amnesia: inability to form new
memories

Retrograde Amnesia: inability to recall events

prior to brain damage

Posthypnotic amnesia

Lacunar Amnesia: inability to recall specific event

Korsakoff syndrome: alcoholism-induced amnesia

m25 Encoding
Hijacking

Leveling
E D
C T
nondistinctive details are left out

D A
E
Sharpening R

distinctive elements retained

 E D
C T
D A
RE
Automatic Effortful
Processing
OR Processing
Automatic Processing

Encode for Time, Space, and Frequency

Example of parallel processing

Cannot willingly be turned on or off

Effortful Processing

Rehearsal

Next-in-Line Effect

Spacing Effect or “distributed learning”

Effortful Processing
EBBINGHAUS: THE
AMOUNT
REMEMBERED
DEPENDS ON THE
TIME SPENT
Rehearsal LEARNING

Next-in-Line Effect

Spacing Effect or “distributed learning”

Effortful Processing

Rehearsal

Next-in-Line Effect

Spacing Effect or “distributed learning”

Effortful Processing

Rehearsal

Next-in-Line Effect

Spacing Effect or “distributed learning” SERIAL

POSITION
EFFECT
Effortful Processing

Rehearsal

Next-in-Line Effect

Spacing Effect or “distributed learning”

 E D
C T
D A
RE

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

HOW WELL COULD YOU REMEMBER THIS?
WHAT DO WE ENCODE BEST?
WHAT DO WE ENCODE BEST?

MEANING!
WHAT DO WE ENCODE BEST?

MEANING!

WHAT ARE THE MOST

MEANINGFUL THINGS IN
LIFE?
 Pop Quiz
1. What was the flight attendant’s name?

E D
2. Where was the flight headedTto originally?
A C
3. What was the pilot’sD name?
R E
4. What airlines was it?

5. Where did the hijacker want to go?

Mnemonic devices
Acronyms Chunking

Roy G Big 2024562461

HOMES Method of loci

Rhyme ...

In 1492 Columbus
sailed the ocean
blue
Method of loci
Method of loci
Method of loci
Method of loci
Method of loci
Method of loci
m26 Storage
Sensory Memory

Iconic memory

Echoic memory
Working Memory
Working Memory

50% loss in 12
seconds

7 +/- 2 items
short-term explicit
memories
Long-term Memory

Increased serotonin
sensitivity in cerebral
cortex due to new receptor
sites (created through
CREB stimulation)

Long-term potentiation
Long-term memories
Stronger emotional experiences make for
more enduring memories ...

... but prolonged stress degrades memories

IMPLICIT VS EXPLICIT MEMORIES
IMPLICIT VS EXPLICIT MEMORIES
m27 Retrieval
RECOGNITION VS RECALL
Priming: the activation of “nearby” or associated
memories.
Context and Retrieval
MOOD-CONGRUENT MEMORIES
Deja Vu ...
m28 Forgetting
 Encoding failures

E D
How many sides are on an average pencil?

Which color is at the bottomC

T
of a stoplight?
D A
George Washington
R
back of a $1 bill?
E is on the front; what’s on the

Name Santa’s reindeer.

Decay Theory

Time, and time alone, will end all of your memories

Effectively explains sensory and STM loss

Ineffectively explains forgetting from LTM

 Disuse Theory

Use it or lose it

Not recalling memories leads the brain to pair down

those synaptic connections
 Interference/Inhibition
Theory

Inability to recall or difficulty in remembering caused

by too many memories interfering

Proactive: PAST learning interferes

Retroactive: PRESENT learning interferes

 Amnesia

Loss of memories as a result of psychological or

physiological trauma

Anterograde: no NEW memories

Retrograde: loss of OLD memories

State Dependent
Learning

Not in the same state as when the learning

occurred? Then difficulty in recall
Motivated Forgetting

Some things, you WANT to forget . . .

According to Freud, “repression”

Cue Dependent
Forgetting

Retrieval failure due to missing cues that were

present during encoding

misinformation effect

source amnesia
 E D
C T
D A
RE

SO WHAT ACCOUNTS FOR THE LOW ACCURACY OF POLICE SKETCHES?

 E D
C T
D A
RE

SO WHAT ACCOUNTS FOR THE LOW ACCURACY OF POLICE SKETCHES?