Memory Chapter 7

OTTFFSSENT Wade/Tavris, (c) 2006, Prentice Hall

Wade/Tavris, (c) 2006, Prentice Hall

The Manufacture of Memory Memory is the capacity to retain and retrieve information Memory is a reconstructive process. Recovering a memory is not playing a videotape. Source misattribution –The inability to distinguish what you originally experienced from what you heard or were told later about an event.

The Fading Flashbulb Some unusual, shocking or tragic events hold a special place in memory. These memories were called Flashbulb memories because the term captures the surprise, illumination & photographic detail that characterize them. Even flashbulb memories have errors.

The Conditions of Confabulation Confabulation –Confusion of an event that happened to someone else with one that happened to you, –or a belief that you remember something when it never actually happened.

Confabulation is most likely when: You have thought or heard about the imagined event many times. The image of the event contains many details. The event is easy to imagine You focus on emotional reactions to the event rather than what actually happened.

The Eyewitness on Trial Eyewitnesses are not always reliable. Factors which influence accuracy –Cross race identification. –Question wording. Crashed versus hit. –Misleading information.

Explicit Memory Conscious, intentional recollection of an event or of an item of information. Assessed through: –Recall The ability to retrieve and reproduce from memory previously learned material. (fill in the blank) –Recognition The ability to identify previously encountered material. (multiple choice)

Three-Box Model of Memory

Stage one: Sensory Memory A memory system that momentarily preserves extremely accurate images of sensory information. Information that is not quickly passed to short term memory is gone forever. Acoustic Codes are easier than visual codes

Stage two: Short-term Memory A limited capacity memory system involved in the retention of information for brief periods; typically lasts up to about 30 seconds (some researchers say longer).

Short-term Memory Also called Working memory –A memory system which includes STM and mental processes that control retrieval of information from LT memory and interpret that information appropriately for a given task. –Why is our memory a “leaky bucket”???

Chunking- makes things easier to remember Short term memory can only hold 7 pieces of information at a time (+ or – 2) Chunking: Grouping small bits of information into larger units Chunking can enlarge our capacity in short term memory

Wade/Tavris, (c) 2006, Prentice Hall Chunking xibmciafbicbsmtv X IBM CIA FBI CBS MTV

Long-term Memory The memory system involved in the long term storage of information One way information is organized is in semantic categories (i.e., animals).

Conceptual Grid

Wade/Tavris, (c) 2006, Prentice Hall Types of Long-term Memories

Contents of Long-Term Memory Procedural memories –Memories for performance of actions or skills. –“Knowing how.” Declarative memories –Memories of facts, rules, concepts, and events; includes semantic and episodic memory. –“Knowing that.” Examples include semantic and episodic memories.

Contents of Long-Term Memory Semantic memories –General knowledge, including facts, rules, concepts, and propositions. Episodic memories –Personally experienced events and the contexts in which they occurred.

Serial-Position Effect The tendency for recall of first and last items on a list to surpass recall of items in the middle of the list.

Brain Areas Involved in Memory

Deep Processing In the encoding of information, the processing of meaning rather than simply the physical or sensory features of a stimulus.

Rehearsal Maintenance Rehearsal –Rote repetition of material in order to maintain its availability in memory. Elaborative Rehearsal –Association of new information with already stored knowledge and analysis of the new information to make it memorable.

Mnemonics Strategies and tricks for improving memory, such as the use of a verse or a formula. –Examples include: My very educated mother just… ROY G. BIV

Decay Theory The theory that information in memory eventually disappears if it is not accessed; it applies more to short-term than to long-term memory.

Forgetting Curve Herman Ebbinghaus tested his own memory for nonsense syllables. Forgetting was rapid at first and then tapered off.

Linton’s Forgetting Curve In contrast to Ebbinghaus, Linton’s memory for personal events was retained over a period of several years and then decreased rapidly.

Replacement The theory that new information entering memory can wipe out old information. In one study, researchers showed subjects slides of a traffic accident. –The experimental group was mislead into thinking there was a stop sign instead of a yield sign. –Even after being debriefed on the purpose of the study, subjects insisted that they really saw the stop sign (Loftus et al., 1978). –The new information which came from the researchers replaced what the subjects saw.

Interference : Similar items interfere with one another. –Retroactive Interference Forgetting that occurs when recently learned material interferes with the ability to remember similar material stored previously.

Interference –Proactive Interference Forgetting that occurs when previously stored material interferes with the ability to remember similar, more recently learned material.

Cue-dependent Forgetting The inability to retrieve information stored in memory because of insufficient cues for recall. Physical state can be a memory cue. –State-Dependent Memory The tendency to remember something when the rememberer is in the same physical or mental state as during the original learning or experience.

State Dependent Memory The tendency to remember experiences that are consistent with one’s current mood and overlook or forget experiences that are not.

Amnesia The partial or complete loss of memory for important personal information. Psychogenic Amnesia –The causes of forgetting are psychological such as the need to escape feelings of embarrassment, guilt, shame, disappointment, emotional shock. Traumatic Amnesia –The forgetting of specific traumatic events, sometimes for many years.

The Repression Controversy Repression –In psychoanalytic theory, the selective involuntary pushing of threatening or upsetting information into the unconscious. Individuals are more likely to struggle with forgetting traumatic events. Hard to distinguish repression from other forms of forgetting.

When should we question recovered memories? If person says he or she has memories of first year or two of life. If over time the memories become more and more implausible. If therapist used suggestive techniques such as hypnosis, dream analysis, age regression, guided imagery and leading questions.

Childhood Amnesia The inability to remember events and experiences that occurred during the first two or three years of life. Cognitive explanations –Lack of sense of self. –Impoverished encoding. –A focus on the routine. –Different ways of thinking about the world.