My granny went shopping and she bought a loaf of bread…. Memory Games! My granny went shopping and she bought a loaf of bread….

Ben Pridmore, World Memory Champion

How well can you do?!

Clive Wearing – Amnesia Video Wikipedia link

How often do you forget these: Birthdays People’s names Returning things you’ve borrowed Where you put something What you went into a room for Telephone numbers Information for a test Doing homework

The process of memory Encoding: Information taken into the memory is changed into a form that can be stored and later recalled. Storage: Holding information in the memory system for use at some point in the future. Retrieval: Recovering information from a memory store

How is information encoded? Sometimes you can recall information without having to make an effort to encode it, e.g. what you had for breakfast this morning However, usually you have to focus on information to encode it. You can focus on it: Visually – what the words look like How many windows are there on your house? Acoustically – what the words sound like What are the lyrics of ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? Semantically – what the words mean The capital of France is Paris There are also other types of encoding used, e.g. olfactory memory (smells) and tactile memory (feel / texture) How could you encode this address?

Memories Where did you go on your last holiday? What is the capital of England? What colour is grass? Pick up your pen and write your name Can you describe your first day at secondary school? Can you name an animal with wings? Tie and untie the shoe laces What did you have for breakfast this morning? What do you notice about these questions and your answers? Can you group the questions?

Types of long term memory Where did you go on your last holiday? What is the capital of England? What colour is grass? Pick up your pen and write your name Can you describe your first day at secondary school? Can you name an animal with wings? Tie and untie the shoe laces What did you have for breakfast this morning? Types of long term memory Psychologists believe there are three types of long-term memory: Episodic memory: unique memories which are concerned with personal experiences or events, e.g. Stored in the right pre-frontal cortex Semantic memory: memories which are concerned with general knowledge rather than personal experience, e.g. Stored in the left pre-frontal cortex Procedural memory: our memory for carrying out complex skills, e.g. Procedural memories are stored using a motor code instead of a verbal code – you have to be shown what to do rather being told what to do in order to remember. Stored in the motor area

Task: Work in pairs. Take a shoe and untie the laces Ask one person to give verbal instructions to the other person as to how to tie the laces (without using hand gestures) How successful was each person? Why is this a difficult task?

Evaluation: How strong is the evidence for different types of memory? P.E.C. Point Explain using Evidence Conclude / Consequence

Evaluation: How strong is the evidence for different types of memory? P.E.C. Point Explain using Evidence Conclude / Consequence

Evaluation: How strong is the evidence for different types of memory? P.E.C. Point Explain using Evidence Conclude / Consequence

Retrieving memories Free recall – you can remember something without cues 1 Cued recall – you try to remember something and then someone gives you a clue, e.g. “it starts with B” and then you remember it 2 Recognition, e.g. given 4 multi choice answers you can remember the right one. Or if you see a person’s face you can remember their name 3

What we have learnt so far:

Data handling task Does episodic memory worsen with age? A psychologist tested the episodic memory of 10 people of different ages Draw a suitable graph of this data

Practice Exam Questions