Cognitive Processes PSY 334 Chapter 6 – Human Memory: Encoding and Storage

Factors Influencing Memory Study alone does not improve memory – what matters is how studying is done. Shallow study results in little improvement. Semantic associates (tulip-flower) better remembered than rhymes (tower-flower), 81% vs 70%. Better retention occurs for more meaningful elaboration.

Elaborative Processing Elaboration – embellishing an item with additional information. Anderson & Bower – subjects added details to simple sentences: 57% recall without elaboration 72% recall with made-up details added Self-generated elaborations are better than experimenter-generated ones.

Self-Generated Elaborations Stein & Bransford – subjects were given 10 sentences. Four conditions: Just the sentences alone – 4.2 adjectives Subject generates an elaboration – 5.8 Experimenter-generated imprecise elaboration – 2.2 Experimenter-generated precise elaboration – 7.8 Precision of detail (constraint) matters, not who generates the elaboration.

Advance Organizers PQ4R method – use questions to guide reading. 64% correct, compared to 57% (controls) 76% of relevant questions correct, 52% of non-relevant. These study techniques work because they encourage elaboration. Question making and question answering both improve memory for text (reviewing is better than seeing the questions first).

Meaningful Elaboration Elaboration need not be meaningful – other sorts of elaboration also work. Kolers compared memory for right-side-up sentences with upside-down. Extra processing needed to read upside down may enhance memory. Slamecka & Graf – compared generation of synonyms and rhymes. Both improved memory, but synonyms did more.

Incidental Learning It does not matter whether people intend to learn something or not. What matters is how material is processed. Orienting tasks: Count whether work has e or g. Rate the pleasantness of words. Half of subjects told they would be asked to remember words later, half not told. No advantage to knowing ahead of time.

Flashbulb Memories Self-reference effect -- people have better memory for events that are important to them and close friends. Flashbulb memories – recall of traumatic events long after the fact. Seem vivid but can be very inaccurate. Thatcher’s resignation: 60% memory for UK subjects, 20% non-UK

Neural Correlates of Encoding Better memory occurs for items with stronger brain processing at the time of study: Words evoking higher ERP signals are better remembered later. Greater frontal activation with deeper processing of verbal information. Greater activation of hippocampus with better long-term memory.