I Think I Remember…. Jim Matiya Psychology In Action, 9th Edition Karen Huffman

Memory Memory: internal record or representation of some prior event or experience Memory is also a constructive process, in which we actively organize and shape information as it is processed, stored, and retrieved.

Memory

False Memory or déjà vu Demonstration There are several words that will be presented, one at a time. Try to remember as many words as you can, but do not write them down. At the end of the list, you will be asked to write down as many of the words as you can recall. ALL-PURPOSE MEMORY DEMONSTRATION 1 (POSSIBLE FALSE MEMORY FOR SLEEP) This demonstration is an adaptation of a workshop presentation by Douglas Bernstein. He could not locate the original source of this demonstration, which was introduced to him by one of his teaching assistants in introductory psychology. The instructions appear on the first slide. Advance to the second slide to present the list of words for two seconds per word. After the last word, students are instructed to recall all of the words; this slide is timed for forty-five seconds followed by a drum roll. On the last slide, poll the students for recall of certain words in the list. Here is a brief explanation of each memory effect, with some elaboration you may use in your discussion: Primacy effect. The words “bed” and “clock” were the first two words in this list. Most students will recall these words due to the greater opportunity for rehearsing these words. Recency effect. The words “snore” and “pillow” were the last two words in the list. Most students will recall these words because they are still in their immediate attention (short-term memory) during recall. You may wish to ask students how recall for these words could be disrupted. The answer is by introducing a distractor task after presentation of the list. Repetition/Rehearsal. Words in the middle of a list are often not well-recalled, however, most students will recall the word “night”. Ask students if they can recall how often the word “night” appeared in the list. It is likely that many students will indicate correctly that the word was repeated three times in the list. Repetition facilitates recall because it permits additional opportunity to rehearse this word compared to other words in the middle of the list. Distinctiveness. Most of the words are associated with each other. However, one word in the list, “artichoke” is so different than the others that it is often recalled, even though it appears in the middle of the list. You may discuss this as an example of deeper processing of a word that is distinctive, salient, and unusual. Semantic Organization. First ask the volunteers if they recalled the word “toss”. Then, ask those who recalled “toss” whether they followed recall of the word “toss” immediately by recall of the word “turn”. There will be several students who recall the words as a pair, even though they are separated in the list and “turn” precedes “toss”. You may discuss this as a form of semantic organization or elaboration of memory. The words are very highly associated and easily connected together in students’ recall. “False Memory”. Ask the whole class if anyone recalled the word “sleep”. Ask those students who recalled this word to attempt to recall where in the list the word appeared. Was it in the first half or the last half of the list? Most students who recall the word will report that they “know” it is in the list, but they cannot “remember” exactly where the word appeared. This demonstrates that constructive processes in memory may create memories of events that did not occur (“false memories”).

BED

CLOCK

DREAM

NIGHT

TURN

MATTRESS

SNOOZE

NOD

TIRED

NIGHT

ARTICHOKE

INSOMNIA

REST

TOSS

NIGHT

ALARM

NAP

SNORE

Data Write down as many words as you can remember…

Words Presented Bed Clock Dream Night Turn Mattress Snooze Nod Tired Artichoke Insomnia Rest Toss Alarm Nap Snore

Data Questions Student Summary of Responses Number of words recalled? Serial Position Effect (remembering words at the beginning and the end of a list) Primacy Effect? (recalled Bed & Clock) Recency Effect (recalled Nap & Snore) Rehearsal effect (recalled Night) Semantic Distinctiveness effect (recalled Artichoke) False Memory or Deja vu (recalled Sleep, which was NOT on the list!)

Memories Serial Position Effect: Primacy effect. Recency effect. remembering material at the beginning and end of the list better than material in the middle Primacy effect. The words “bed” and “clock” were the first two words in this list. Most students will recall these words because of rehearsal and the Serial Position Effect. Recency effect. The words “snore” and “pillow” were the last two words in the list. Most students will recall these words because of the Serial Position Effect

Memories Repetition/Rehearsal. Semantic Distinctiveness. the word “night” was repeated three times in the list. Repetition and rehearsal enhances memorization Semantic Distinctiveness. the word, “artichoke” is remembered more often because it is so different than all the other words.. “False Memory” or “déjà vu.” How many students recalled “Sleep?” The word is not on the list! But, will be recalled.

I Think I Remember…. Jim Matiya The End