Psychology in Everyday Life David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall Psychology in Everyday Life Third Edition Chapter 7 Memory Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s classic three-step model helps us to think about how memories are processed, but today’s researchers recognize other ways long-term memories form. For example, some information slips into long-term memory via a “back door,” without our consciously attending to it (automatic processing). And so much active processing occurs in the short-term memory stage that many now prefer to call that stage working memory. Figure 7.1 A modified three-stage information-processing model of memory David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

Alan Baddeley’s (2002) model of working memory, simplified here, includes visual and auditory rehearsal of new information. Part of the brain functions like a manager, a central executive focusing attention and pulling information from long-term memory to help make sense of new information. Figure 7.2 Working memory David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

When George Sperling (1960) flashed a group of letters similar to this for one-twentieth of a second, people could recall only about half the letters. But when signaled to recall any one row immediately after the letters had disappeared, they could do so with near-perfect accuracy. Figure 7.3 Total recall—briefly David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

Unless rehearsed, verbal information may be quickly forgotten Unless rehearsed, verbal information may be quickly forgotten. (From Peterson & Peterson, 1959; see also Brown, 1958.) Figure 7.4 Short-term memory decay David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

Organizing information into meaningful units, such as letters, words, and phrases, helps us recall it more easily. (From Hintzman, 1978.) Figure 7.5 Chunking effects David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

Roger Harris / Science Source Explicit memories for facts and episodes are processed in the hippocampus (orange) and fed to other brain regions for storage. Figure 7.6 The hippocampus David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

Frontal lobes and hippocampus: explicit memory formation Cerebellum and basal ganglia: implicit memory formation Amygdala: emotion-related memory formation Figure 7.7 Review key memory structures in the brain David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

Figure 7. 8 Our two memory systems David G. Myers and C Figure 7.8 Our two memory systems David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

The more times he practiced a list of nonsense syllables on day 1, the fewer practice sessions he needed to relearn it on day 2. Speed of relearning is one way to measure whether something was learned and retained. (From Baddeley, 1982.) Figure 7.9 Ebbinghaus’ retention curve David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

After seeing or hearing rabbit, we are later more likely to spell the spoken word as h-a-r-e. Associations unconsciously activate related associations. This process is called priming. (Adapted from Bower, 1986.) Figure 7.10 Priming—awakening associations David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

Alexis Rosenfeld / Science Source Words heard underwater were best recalled underwater; words heard on land were best recalled on land. (Adapted from Godden & Baddeley, 1975.) Figure 7.11 The effect of context on memory David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

Ian West - WPA Pool/ Getty Images Immediately after the royal newlyweds, William and Kate, made their way through the receiving line of special guests, they would probably have recalled the names of the last few people best. But later they may have been able to recall the first few people best. Figure 7.12 The serial position effect David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

We cannot remember what we have not encoded. Figure 7.13 Forgetting as encoding failure David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

Bill Aron / Photo Edit Compared with others just completing a Spanish language-learning course, people 3 years out of the course remember much less. Compared with the 3-year group, however, those who studied Spanish even longer ago did not forget much more. (Adapted from Bahrick, 1984.) Figure 7.14 The forgetting curve for Spanish learned in school David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

Sometimes even stored information cannot be accessed, which leads to forgetting. Figure 7.15 Retrieval failure David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

People forgot more when they stayed awake and experienced other new material. (From Jenkins & Dallenbach, 1924.) Figure 7.16 Retroactive interference David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

Forgetting can occur at any memory stage Forgetting can occur at any memory stage. As we process information, we filter, alter, or lose much of it. Figure 7.17 When do we forget? David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers

In this experiment, people viewed a film of a car accident (left) In this experiment, people viewed a film of a car accident (left). Those who later were asked a leading question recalled a more serious accident than they had witnessed. (From Loftus, 1979.) Figure 7.18 Memory construction David G. Myers and C. Nathan DeWall: Psychology in Everyday Life, Third Edition Copyright © 2014 by Worth Publishers