Chapter 7 Human Memory

Figure 7.1 – Nickerson & Adams (1979) – Which is the correct penny?

Human Memory: Basic Questions How does information get into memory? How is information maintained in memory? How is information pulled back out of memory? Memory timeline

Encoding: Getting Information Into Memory The role of attention Focusing awareness Selective attention = selection of input Filtering: early or late? Multitasking – issues of driving performance and cell phone use – study by Strayer and Johnson (2001)

Encoding is effective when… You pay attention. “Selective attention” If you don’t pay attention, your sensory memory will hear blah, blah. You have to pay attention to get info into your working memory

Figure 7.4 Divided attention and driving performance – Strayer & Johnson (2001)

Levels of Processing: Craik and Lockhart (1972) Incoming information processed at different levels Deeper processing = longer lasting memory codes Encoding levels: Structural = shallow Phonemic = intermediate Semantic = deep

Figure 7.6 – Retention at three levels of processing – Craik & Tulving (1975)

Enriching Encoding: Improving Memory Elaboration = linking a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding Thinking of examples Self-Referent Encoding Visual Imagery = creation of visual images to represent words to be remembered Easier for concrete objects Figure 7.7

We remember what we are interested in… Can you remember my phone number?

Storage: Maintaining Information in Memory Analogy: information storage in computers ~ information storage in human memory Information-processing theories – Atkinson & Shiffrin (1977) Subdivide memory into 3 different stores Sensory, Short-term, Long-term xx 7.8

Sensory Memory Brief preservation of information in original sensory form Auditory/Visual – approximately ¼ second George Sperling (1960) Classic experiment on visual sensory store Partial report procedure

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Short Term Memory (STM) Limited capacity – magical number 7 plus or minus 2 Chunking – grouping familiar stimuli for storage as a single unit Limited duration – about 20 seconds without rehearsal Peterson and Peterson (1959) Rehearsal – the process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking about the information

Short-Term Memory as “Working Memory” STM not limited to phonemic encoding Loss of information not only due to decay Baddeley (2001) – 4 components of working memory Phonological rehearsal loop Visuospatial sketchpad Executive control system Episodic buffer

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Long-Term Memory: Unlimited Capacity Penfield’s neural stimulation Permanent storage? Flashbulb memories Brown and Kulick (1977) – study of assassinations Talarico & Rubin (2003) Recall through hypnosis Debate: are STM and LTM really different? Phonemic vs. Semantic encoding Decay vs. Interference based forgetting

How is Knowledge Represented and Organized in Memory? Clustering and Conceptual Hierarchies Schemas and Scripts – Shank & Abelson (1977) Semantic Networks – Collins & Loftus (1975) Connectionist Networks and PDP Models – McClelland and colleagues - pattern of activity – neuron based model

Figure 7.14 A semantic network..

Retrieval: Getting Information Out of Memory The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon – a failure in retrieval Retrieval cues Recalling an event Context cues Reconstructing memories – Loftus studies Loftus & Palmer (1974) – I: smashed (40.8); collided (39.3); bumped (38.1); hit (34.0); contacted (31.8) II: smashed (32%) hit (14%) control (12%) (broken glass?) Misinformation effect Source monitoring, reality monitoring cryptomnesia

Seven Sins of Memory – Daniel L. Schacter Misattribution – assigning a memory to the wrong source Suggestibility – memories implanted as a result of leading questions, comments or suggestions when a person is trying to recall a past experience Persistence – repeated recall of disturbing information or events that one may want to forget Transience – loss of memory over time Absent Mindedness – breakdown of interface between attention & memory Blocking – thwarted search for information to retrieve Bias – influence of current knowledge and belief on how we remember our past

Forgetting: When Memory Lapses Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve Retention – the proportion of material retained Recall Recognition Relearning Hill of reminiscence – time frame of remembering

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Why Do We Forget? Ineffective Encoding Decay theory Interference Type of material Proactive Retroactive

Retrieval Failure Authenticity of repressed memories? Encoding Specificity Transfer-Appropriate Processing Repression and the memory wards Authenticity of repressed memories? Memory illusions Controversy False memories Loftus & Pickrell’s (1995) lost-in-the-mall study

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The Physiology of Memory Biochemistry Alteration in synaptic transmission Hormones modulating neurotransmitter systems Protein synthesis Neural circuitry Localized neural circuits Reusable pathways in the brain Long-term potentiation – changes in postsynaptic neuron Anatomy Anterograde and Retrograde Amnesia Clive Wearing Figure 7.23 - Cerebral cortex, Prefrontal Cortex, Hippocampus, Dentate gyrus, Amygdala, Cerebellum

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Are There Multiple Memory Systems? Implicit vs. Explicit Declarative vs. Procedural Semantic vs. Episodic Prospective vs. Retrospective

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Figure 7.26 – Retrospective versus prospective memory

Eyewitness Accounts Use of Eyewitness in court cases – Cutler & Penrod (1995), Loftus (1993) Post information distortion Source confusion Hindsight bias Overconfidence