MEMORY Forgetting

Is forgetting a good thing? Yes AND NO Yes: gets rid of useless junk that would clutter up our thoughts “S” the Russian genius went crazy because he remembered everything!! No: its frustrating!

3 sins of forgetting Absent-mindedness- inattention to details Transience- storage decay over time Blocking- inaccessibility of stored info

3 sins of distortion Misattribution- source confusion Suggestibility- misinformation effect Bias- belief-colored recollections

Why do we forget? Encoding failure Storage decay Retrieval failure Interference Amnesia

1. Encoding Failure never entered long-term memory Older people encode slower External----sensory----(attn)---short-term---(encoding)---Long-term Events memory mem. Mem. OR --- (encoding failure)---FORGET! What letters are on the #5 on a phone?

2. Storage Decay Memories leave us even if encoded properly *forgetting curve* Example: learning Spanish After 1 year--- retain 80% “ 3 years---50% “ 5 years ---40% “25 years---38% “50 years ---32% *** forgetting levels off over time

3. Retrieval Failure “It’s on the tip of my tongue!” You know it’s there, but you don’t have the right resources or information to get it. External---sensory---(attn)---STM---(encoding)---LTM Events memory ---(retrieval)--- OR (failure)---FORGET

4. Interference 1. something you learn now makes it harder to recall something you learned earlier. Ex: teacher has new students- makes it harder to remember old student’s names 2. something you learn before makes it harder to recall something now. Ex: if you move and get a new phone number, your old number might get in the way

5. Amnesia The blocking of older memories and/or the loss of new ones “blocking” because memories sometime return… “blocking” can be selective 3 explanations: Blood and chemical loss to brain, changes brain’s ability to produce a memory Trauma to head will disrupt neuro-transmission so memories can’t be stored, and erase memories that haven’t been moved into LTM. Electric shock therapy- treats depression

Repression Freudian theory Basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety causing memories to the unconscious Aka…Motivated forgetting

Misinformation and Imagination effects Read Elizabeth Loftus and answer the questions