CH. 8: Information Processing & Memory

Attention and Learning Attention results in physical arousal that activates brain chemicals which aid in learning. Therefore, we’re better at remembering things that grab our attention!

Stimulants and learning Stimulants like caffeine can increase learning by stirring up activity level. Artificial sweeteners alter brain cell firing and cancel out effects of caffeine. Overstimulation can result in loss of learning. So being a little nervous for a test is good, a lot nervous is bad.

Depressants and Learning Depressants like alcohol reduce learning by blocking the firing of nerve cells. Hot dogs and cold cuts have a preservative that depresses learning ability – RANDOM!

State dependent learning Learning that occurs in one chemical state and is best reproduced when the same state occurs again. So if you learn all the material in a certain 70 degree classroom while chewing gum, you might want to take the test in that same 70 degree classroom while chewing gum.

Positive transfer of training Transfer of learning that results from similarities between two tasks. For example, practicing shooting moving targets and flight simulators. In school, I learned to teach lessons using my peers, which helped when I was in front of real students.

Negative transfer of training Interference with learning that results from differences between two otherwise similar tasks. For example, learning to drive stick then moving to automatic or vice versa. I had a difficult time learning to write for journalism, because I was so used to writing literary analysis – the styles are very different!

Schemas They provide an organized system of sorting through the TONS of information in our brains.

Elaboration The more CONNECTIONS something has in your brain, the easier it will be to find it. If a new concept is connected to something that you think of often or know well, it’ll be easier to remember. For example, if someone is wearing a shirt with a cat on it and you LOVE cats, it will be easier to remember what that person was wearing.

Mnemonic Devices Unusual associations made to aid memory. Like creating a story, a mental image, a word out of first letters.

Chunking Putting items into clusters or “chunks” so that the items are learned in groups rather than separately. Calling both oaks and evergreens “trees” Remember phone number by chunking into 2 (or 3) sections (248)555-1234

Memory retention If something is learned to the point of one recitation, we will forget half of it in one hour, and 65% in 2 hours.

Overlearning Overlearning: learning something beyond one perfect recitation so that the forgetting curve will have no effect; the development of perfect retention. I pledge allegiance to the flag… Jingle bells, jingle bells…

Recall vs. recognition Recall: the ability to bring back and integrate many specific learned details. Recognition: the ability to pick the correct object or event from a list of choices. This is essay test vs. multiple choice. Recognition tasks give you the storage area to search which is much easier.

Interference theory The idea that we forget because new and old material conflict (interfere) with one another. After golfing for several months, a softball player may forget the feel of a softball swing, since they’re used to the golf swing, which feels much different. You need to forget where you parked yesterday if you want to find your car easily today.

Human storage capacity Humans’ ability to store information is practically limitless.

Causes of Amnesia The blocking of older memories and/or the loss of new ones. Can be caused by blow to the head, major trauma, or electric shock. Most material usually returns.

Results of Amnesia People rarely forget things like how to tie a shoe or brush their teeth. Referred to as “procedural memory”

Short-term memory Memory system that retains information for a few seconds to a few minutes. All material is first processed in STM, then either eliminated or sent to LTM. STM can usually only hold 7 items at a time – but these items can be chunks.

Long-term memory Memory system that retains information for hours, days, weeks, months, or decades.

Consolidated memory Memory that has been solidified over time, eventually becoming permanent.

“Photographic” memory An iconic memory lasting a minute or so that keeps images “in front of” the viewer so objects can be counted or analyzed; also called photographic memory. Doesn’t really exist.

Eyewitness testimony Eyewitness testimony is often wrong, and more often fits stereotypes than reality. Under stress, perception is faulty and blanks are filled in with fake details. A professor set up a fake assault and 60% of students picked the wrong assailant. Very easily swayed by suggestion. Crimes happen fast, so people don’t have enough time to make associations and properly store what they saw.