Chapter 7 Memory

1
Chapter 7Memory
2
Memory Some Key Terms

• Memory Active system that receives, stores,
  organizes, alters, and recovers (retrieves)
  information
• Encoding Converting information into a useable
  form
• Storage Holding this information in memory for
  later use
• Retrieval Taking memories out of storage

3
Figure 7.2
FIGURE 7.2 Remembering is thought to involve at
least three steps. Incoming information is first
held for a second or two by sensory memory.
Information selected by attention is then
transferred to temporary storage in short-term
memory. If new information is not rapidly
encoded, or rehearsed, it is forgotten. If it is
transferred to long-term memory, it becomes
relatively permanent, although retrieving it may
be a problem. The preceding is a useful model of
memory it may not be literally true of what
happens in the brain
4
Sensory Memory

• Storing an exact copy of incoming information for
  a few seconds the first stage of memory
• Icon A fleeting mental image or visual
  representation
• Echo After a sound is heard, a brief
  continuation of the sound in the auditory system

5
Short-Term Memory (STM)

• Holds small amounts of information briefly
• Working Memory Another name for STM like a
  mental scratchpad
• Selective Attention Focusing (voluntarily) on a
  selected portion of sensory input (e.g.,
  selective hearing)
• Phonetically Storing information by sound how
  most things are stored in STM by sound
  (phonetically)
• Very sensitive to interruption or interference

6
Long-Term Memory (LTM)

• Storing information relatively permanently
• Stored on basis of meaning and importance

7
Short-Term Memory Concepts

• Digit Span Test of attention and short-term
  memory string of numbers is recalled forward or
  backward
• Typically part of intelligence tests
• Magic Number 7 (Plus or Minus 2) STM is limited
  to holding seven (plus or minus two) information
  bits at once
• Information Bits Meaningful units of information

8
More Short-Term Memory Concepts

• Recoding Reorganizing or modifying information
  in STM
• Information Bits Meaningful units of
  information, like numbers, letters, or words
• Information Chunks Information bits that are
  grouped into larger chunks
• Maintenance Rehearsal Repeating information
  silently to prolong its presence in STM
• Elaborative Rehearsal Links new information with
  existing memories and knowledge in LTM
• Good way to transfer STM information into LTM

9
Long-Term Memory Concepts

• Constructive Processing Re-organizing or
  updating long-term memories on basis of logic,
  reasoning, or adding new information
• Pseudo-Memory False memories that a person
  believes are true or accurate
• Memory Structure Pattern of associations among
  bits of information
• Network Model Memory mode that views it as an
  organizational system of linked information
• Redintegrative Memory Memories that are
  reconstructed or expanded by starting with one
  memory and then following chains of association
  to related memories

10
Figure 7.4
FIGURE 7.4 A hypothetical network of facts about
animals shows what is meant by the structure of
memory. Small networks of ideas such as this are
probably organized into larger and larger units
and higher levels of meaning.
11
Figure 7.5
FIGURE 7.5 The tower puzzle. In this puzzle, all
the colored disks must be moved to another post,
without ever placing a larger disk on a smaller
one. Only one disk may be moved at a time, and a
disk must always be moved from one post to
another (it cannot be held aside). An amnesic
patient learned to solve the puzzle in 31 moves,
the minimum possible. Even so, each time he
began, he protested that he did not remember ever
solving the puzzle before and that he did not
know how to begin. Evidence like this suggests
that skill memory is distinct from fact memory.
12
Types of Long-Term Memories

• Procedural Long-term memories of conditioned
  responses and learned skills
• Declarative LTM section that contains factual
  information
• Semantic Memory Impersonal facts and everyday
  knowledge
• Subset of declarative memory
• Episodic Personal experiences linked with
  specific times and places
• Subset of declarative memory

13
Figure 7.6
FIGURE 7.6 In the model shown here, long-term
memory is divided into procedural memory (learned
actions and skills) and declarative memory
(stored facts). Declarative memories can be
either semantic (impersonal knowledge) or
episodic (personal experiences associated with
specific times and places).
14
Measuring Memory

• Tip-of-the Tongue (TOT) Feeling that a memory is
  available but not quite retrievable
• Feeling of Knowing Feeling that allows people to
  predict beforehand if they will be able to
  remember something (typically seen on game shows
  like Jeopardy)
• Recall Supply or reproduce facts or information
  with some external cues direct retrieval of
  facts or information
• Hardest to recall items in the middle of a list
  known as Serial Position Effect
• Easiest to remember last items in a list because
  they are still in STM

15
Figure 7.7
FIGURE 7.7 The serial position effect. The graph
shows the percentage of subjects correctly
recalling each item in a 15-item list. Recall is
best for the first and last items.
16
Measuring Memory (cont'd)

• Recognition Memory Identifies correctly
  previously learned material
• Usually superior to recall
• Distractors False items included with a correct
  item
• Wrong choices on multiple-choice tests
• False Positive False sense of recognition

17
Relearning

• Learning again something that was previously
  learned
• Used to measure memory of prior learning
• Savings Score Amount of time saved when
  relearning information

18
Additional Memory Concepts

• Explicit Memory Past experiences that are
  consciously brought to mind
• Implicit Memory A memory not known to exist
  memory that is unconsciously retrieved
• Priming When cues are used to activate hidden
  memories
• Internal Images Mental pictures

19
Figure 7.8
FIGURE 7.8 (a) Treasure map similar to the one
used by Kosslyn, Ball, and Reiser (1978) to study
images in memory. (b) This graph shows how long
it took subjects to move a visualized spot
various distances on their mental images of the
map.
20
Eidetic Imagery (Somewhat Like Photographic
Memory)

• Occurs when a person (usually a child) has visual
  images clear enough to be scanned or retained for
  at least 30 seconds
• Usually projected onto a plain surface, like a
  blank piece of paper
• Usually disappears during adolescence and is rare
  by adulthood

21
Figure 7.9
FIGURE 7.9 Test picture like that used to
identify children with eidetic imagery. To test
your eidetic imagery, look at the picture for 30
seconds. Then look at a blank surface and try to
project the picture on it. If you have good
eidetic imagery, you will be able to see the
picture in detail. Return now to the text and try
to answer the questions there. (Redrawn from an
illustration in Lewis Carrolls Alices
Adventures in Wonderland.)
22
Forgetting

• Nonsense Syllables Meaningless three-letter
  words (fej, quf) that test learning and
  forgetting
• Curve of Forgetting Graph that shows the amount
  of memorized information remembered after varying
  lengths of time
• Encoding Failure When a memory was never formed
  in the first place
• Memory Traces Physical changes in nerve cells or
  brain activity that occur when memories are
  stored
• Memory Decay When memory traces become weaker
  fading or weakening of memories
• Disuse Theory that memory traces weaken when
  memories are not used or retrieved often

23
Figure 7.10
FIGURE 7.10 The curve of forgetting. This graph
shows the amount remembered (measured by
relearning) after varying lengths of time. Notice
how rapidly forgetting occurs. The material
learned was nonsense syllables. Forgetting curves
for meaningful information also show early losses
followed by a long gradual decline, but overall,
forgetting occurs much more slowly.
24
Figure 7.11
FIGURE 7.11 Some of the distractor items used in
a study of recognition memory and encoding
failure. Penny A is correct but was seldom
recognized. Pennies G and J were popular wrong
answers.
25
Additional Theories of Forgetting

• Memory Cues Any stimulus associated with a
  memory usually enhance retrieval of a memory
• A person will forget if cues are missing at
  retrieval time
• State-Dependent Learning When memory retrieval
  is influenced by body state if your body state
  is the same at the time of learning AND the time
  of retrieval, retrievals will be improved
• If Robert is drunk and forgets where his car is
  parked, it will be easier to recall the location
  if he gets drunk again!

26
Figure 7.12
FIGURE 7.12 The effect of mood on memory.
Subjects best remembered a list of words when
their mood during testing was the same as their
mood was when they learned the list.
27
Even More (!) Theories of Forgetting

• Interference Tendency for new memories to impair
  retrieval of older memories, and vice versa
• Retroactive Interference Tendency for new
  memories to interfere with retrieval of old
  memories
• Proactive Interference Prior learning inhibits
  (interferes) with recall of later learning

28
Figure 7.13
FIGURE 7.13 The amount of forgetting after a
period of sleep or of being awake. Notice that
sleep causes less memory loss than activity that
occurs while one is awake.
29
Figure 7.14
FIGURE 7.14 Effects of interference on memory. A
graph of the approximate relationship between
percentage recalled and number of different word
lists memorized. (Adapted from Underwood, 1957.)
30
Figure 7.15
FIGURE 7.15 Retroactive and proactive
interference. The order of learning and testing
shows whether interference is retroactive
(backward) or proactive (forward).
31
More on Forgetting

• Repression Unconsciously pushing painful,
  embarrassing or threatening memories out of
  awareness/consciousness
• Motivated forgetting, according to some theories
• Suppression Consciously putting something
  painful or threatening out of mind or trying to
  keep it from entering awareness

32
Flashbulb Memories

• Memories created during times of personal
  tragedy, accident, or other emotionally
  significant events that are especially vivid
• Where were you when you heard that the USA was
  attacked on September 11th, 2001?
• Includes both positive and negative events
• Not always accurate
• Great confidence is placed in them even though
  they may be inaccurate

33
Memory Formation

• Retrograde Amnesia Forgetting events that
  occurred before an injury or trauma
• Anterograde Amnesia Forgetting events that
  follow an injury or trauma
• Consolidation Forming a long-term memory
• Electroconvulsive Shock (ECS) Mild electrical
  shock passed through the brain, causing a
  convulsion one way to prevent consolidation

34
Memory Structures

• Hippocampus Brain structure associated with
  information passing from short-term memory into
  long-term memory also associated with emotion
• If damaged, person can no longer create
  long-term memories and thus will always live in
  the present
• Memories prior to damage will remain intact
• Engram Memory trace in the brain

35
Ways to Improve Memory

• Knowledge of Results Feedback allowing you to
  check your progress
• Recitation Summarizing aloud while you are
  rehearsing material
• Rehearsal Reviewing information mentally
  (silently)
• Elaborative Rehearsal Look for connections to
  existing knowledge
• Selection Selecting most important concepts to
  memorize
• Organization Organizing difficult items into
  chunks a type of reordering

36
Ways to Improve Memory (cont'd)

• Whole Learning Studying an entire package of
  information at once, like a poem
• Part Learning Studying subparts of a larger body
  of information (like text chapters)
• Progressive Part Learning Breaking learning task
  into a series of short sections
• Serial Position Effect Making most errors while
  remembering the middle of the list
• Overlearning Studying is continued beyond bare
  mastery

37
Ways to Improve Memory Concluded

• Spaced Practice Alternating study sessions with
  brief rest periods
• Massed Practice Studying for long periods
  without rest periods
• Lack of sleep decreases retention sleep aids
  consolidation
• Hunger decreases retention
• Cognitive Interview Technique used to improve
  memories of eyewitnesses

38
Mnemonics Memory Tricks

• Any kind of memory system or aid
• Use mental pictures
• Make things meaningful
• Make information familiar
• Form bizarre, unusual or exaggerated mental
  associations
• Keyword Method Memory aid using a familiar word
  or image to link two items

39
Using Mnemonics to Remember Things in Order

• Form a Chain Remember lists in order, forming an
  exaggerated association connecting item one to
  two, and so on.
• Take a Mental Walk Mentally walk along a
  familiar path, placing objects or ideas along the
  path.
• Use a system.