Monday, November 6 Assessments: Upcoming Dates: Today’s topic: Name the three processes of memory. Name the three types of memory. Name something that you’ve forgotten lately? Why do you think you forgot it? Today’s topic: Forgetting Upcoming Dates: Homework: All reading should be done 7A Read pages 298-302 ENCODE & STUDY Assessments: Test next Monday or Tuesday

Memory: Forgetting and Improvement AP Psych Myers, Ch. 9

Forgetting Just as important as remembering  avoid clutter Amnesia – the loss of memory Biological – head injuries Motivated forgetting and Repression Three big reasons why we forget Absent-mindedness Transience Blocking

Three Reasons We Forget Absent-mindedness Inattention to details; we cannot remember something we have not encoded. A

Three Reasons We Forget Transience – storage decay Even if we encode, we can still forget it later Often unused info or info that no longer holds meaning. Think of something that used to be in your long-term memory that you haven’t used in a while.

Three Reasons We Forget Blocking – inaccessibility of stored info (“it’s on the tip of my tongue…” Proactive interference – the cause of forgetting by which old/previously stored, existing memory/information prevents learning and remembering new information Ex. You have a song stuck in your head, you can’t think of a new one bc of the one that is currently stuck in your head Ex. You get a new phone number but you’re still going to remember and type in your old one. Ex. Your old password causes you to forget that new one that you just switched to last week. Ex. When you come back to school after winter break, you often find yourself writing the previous year on your papers.

Three Reasons We Forget Blocking – inaccessibility of stored info (“it’s on the tip of my tongue…” Retroactive interference – the cause of forgetting by which newly learned information prevents retrieval of previously stored material Out with the old, in with the new Ex. A teacher forgets the names of his former students that have graduated bc he had to learn the names of his current students Ex. You may have difficulty skiing because you recently learned how to snowboard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJWadZiC0SI

Distortion of memories Source amnesia – attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, hear about, read about, or imagined. Misinformation effect – incorporating misleading info into one’s memory of an event. Loftus’ study on recollections of car accidents using leading questions. Bias – belief-colored recollections Memories are perceptions of the past and as such are subject to expectations and bias.

Memory Wars 1990s – “Memory wars” concerning real/fake repressed memories of abuse What they can agree on: Incest and other sexual abuse happen. Forgetting happens. Recovered memories are commonplace Memories recovered under hypnosis or the influence of drugs are especially unreliable. Memories before the age of 3 are unreliable Memories, real or false, can be emotionally upsetting. .

Children and Eye Witness Recall Young child can recall events as they occurred if… neutral adult asks non-leading questions uses words they understand. Children are more suggestible than adults - can be lead to produce false memories through suggestive questions.

Memory as Biopsychosocial Biological Psychological Social-cultural LTP Automatic processing Electric current or head injury Storage decay Rehearsal Context effects Priming Mood Stress Encoding and organizing strategies Retrieval interference Memory construction Misinformation effect Flashbulb memories for important events Level of implied importance Source amnesia

Improving Memory Study repeatedly to boost long term recall (spacing effect). Spend more time rehearsing (repetition) or actively thinking about material. Make material personally meaningful (semantic encoding). Use mnemonic devices. Refresh memory by activating retrieval cues. Minimize interference (distractions). Test your own knowledge, both to rehearse the information and determine what you do not know yet.

Videos 60 Minutes – Endless Memory (Pt. 1) Zimbardo – Remembering and Forgetting