Psychology in Your Life Sarah Grison • Michael Gazzaniga Psychology in Your Life SECOND EDITION Chapter 7 Memory © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

7.1 How Do We Acquire Memories? Memory The nervous system’s capacity to acquire and retain skills and knowledge for later retrieval 2

We Acquire Memories by Processing Information Encoding The processing of information so that it can be stored Storage The retention of encoded representations over time Retrieval The act of recalling or remembering stored information when it is needed 3

FIGURE 7.2 Three Phases of Information Processing in Memory 4 4

Attention Allows Us to Encode a Memory Focusing mental resources on information; allows further processing for perception, memory, and response 5

Attention Allows Us to Encode a Memory Visual attention We automatically pay attention to and recognize basic visual features in an environment, including color, shape, size, orientation, and movement 6

FIGURE 7.3 Visual Attention to the Feature of Color

Attention Allows Us to Encode a Memory Auditory attention Selective-listening studies examine what we do with auditory information that is not attended to 8 8

FIGURE 7.4 Auditory Attention to “Shadow” Message in One Ear 9 9

Selective Attention Allows Us to Filter Unwanted Information Filter theory Filter theory attempts to explain how we selectively attend to the most important information Change blindness An individual’s failure to notice large visual changes in the environment 10

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Selective Attention Allows Us to Filter Unwanted Information Laptops in the classroom It can be hard to pay complete attention for an entire class period even with the most exciting lecturers Unfortunately, students can also tune out lectures by checking Facebook or email, texting, or watching YouTube videos To do best in your courses, give your complete and undivided attention to your instructors 12 12

FIGURE 7.5 Technology in the Classroom 13 13

7.2 How Do We Maintain Memories over Time? Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin proposed that we have three different types of memory stores Sensory storage Short-term storage Long-term storage Each of these memory stores retains different encoded input, and each has the capacity to maintain information for a certain length of time 14

FIGURE 7.6 Three-Part Memory Storage System 15 15

TABLE 7.1 The Three Memory Stores 16 16

Sensory Storage Allows Us to Maintain Information Very Briefly Five types of sensory storage Sensory storage: A memory storage system that very briefly holds a vast amount of information from the five senses in close to their original sensory formats. The five types are: Visual Auditory Smell Taste Touch 17

Figure 7.7 Sensory Storage 18 18

Sensory Storage Allows Us to Maintain Information Very Briefly Duration and capacity of sensory storage Sperling concluded from his experiment that participants maintained many of the 12 items in sensory storage for about one-third of a second By maintaining a large amount of information for a fraction of a second, sensory storage enables us to experience the world as a continuous stream of information rather than as discrete sensations 19

FIGURE 7.8 Duration and Capacity of Sensory Storage 20 20

Working Memory Allows Us to Actively Maintain Information in Short-Term Storage A memory storage system that briefly holds a limited amount of information in awareness Working memory An active processing system that allows manipulation of different types of information to keep it available for current use 21

Working Memory Allows Us to Actively Maintain Information in Short-Term Storage Duration of short-term storage Short-term storage may be a “location” for maintaining memories. Working memory allows for manipulation of sounds, images, and ideas for longer maintenance in short-term storage 22

FIGURE 7.9 Duration and Capacity of Short-Term Storage 23 23

Working Memory Allows Us to Actively Maintain Information in Short-Term Storage Capacity of short-term storage George Miller noted that the capacity of short-term storage is generally seven items (plus or minus two), which is referred to as the memory span Chunking: Using working memory to organize information into meaningful units to make it easier to remember 24

Long-Term Storage Allows Us to Maintain Memories Relatively Permanently A memory storage system that allows relatively permanent storage of a probably unlimited amount of information 25

Long-Term Storage Allows Us to Maintain Memories Relatively Permanently Encoding for long-term storage Maintenance rehearsal: Using working-memory processes to repeat information based on how it sounds (auditory information); provides only shallow encoding of information 26

Long-Term Storage Allows Us to Maintain Memories Relatively Permanently Elaborative rehearsal: Using working-memory processes to think about how new information relates to ourselves or our prior knowledge (semantic information); provides deeper encoding of information for more successful long-term storage 27

FIGURE 7.10 Deeper Encoding Aids Long-Term Storage 28 28

Long-Term Storage Allows Us to Maintain Memories Relatively Permanently Long-term storage versus short-term storage Long-term storage lasts longer, has a far greater capacity, and depends on deep encoding of information 29

Long-Term Storage Allows Us to Maintain Memories Relatively Permanently The primacy effect refers to the better memory people have for items presented at the beginning of the list The recency effect refers to the better memory people have for the most recent items, the ones at the end of the list 30

FIGURE 7.11 Primacy and Recency Effects 31 31

Our Long-Term Storage Is Organized Based on Meaning Schemas Decisions about how to chunk information depend on schemas, ways of structuring memories in long-term storage that help us perceive, organize, process, and use information 32

Our Long-Term Storage Is Organized Based on Meaning Association networks Meaning of information is organized in long-term storage based on networks of associations Spreading activation models of memory According to these models, information that is heard or seen activates specific nodes for memories in long-term storage 33

FIGURE 7.12 A Network of Associations 34 34

7.3 What Are Our Different Long-Term Storage Systems? Henry Molaison (H.M.) Retrograde amnesia A condition in which people lose the ability to access memories they had before a brain injury Anterograde amnesia A condition in which people lose the ability to form new memories after experiencing a brain injury 35

FIGURE 7.13 Henry Molaison (H.M.) 36 36

FIGURE 7.14 Surgery on H.M.’s Brain 37 37

FIGURE 7.15 Retrograde and Anterograde Amnesia 38 38

LEARNING TIP: Remembering the Types of Memory in Long-Term Storage 39 39

Our Explicit Memories Involve Conscious Effort After the surgery, H.M. could not encode new memories in long-term storage He never remembered what day of the week it was, what year it was, or his own age 40

Our Explicit Memories Involve Conscious Effort Amnesia and explicit memory Explicit memory: The system for long-term storage of conscious memories that can be verbally described 41

Our Explicit Memories Involve Conscious Effort Episodic and semantic memory Episodic memory: A type of explicit memory that includes personal experiences Semantic memory: A type of explicit memory that includes knowledge about the world 42

FIGURE 7.16 Two Types of Explicit Memory 43 43

Our Implicit Memories Function Without Conscious Effort Implicit memory and amnesia Implicit memory: The system for long-term storage of unconscious memories that cannot be verbally described 44

FIGURE 7.17 H.M.’s Performance in Mirror Drawing 45 45

Our Implicit Memories Function Without Conscious Effort Classical conditioning and procedural memory Classical conditioning employs implicit memory Procedural memory: A type of implicit memory that involves motor skills and behavioral habits 46

FIGURE 7.18 Two Types of Implicit Memory 47 47

Prospective Memory Lets Us Remember to Do Something Remembering to do something at some future time Remembering to do something takes up valuable cognitive resources 48

FIGURE 7.19 Prospective Memory 49 49

Memory Is Processed by Several Regions of Our Brains Memory’s physical location Not all brain areas are equally involved in memory; a great deal of specialization occurs The take-home message here is that memory does not “live” in one part of the brain 50

FIGURE 7.20 Brain Regions Associated With Memory 51 51

Memory Is Processed by Several Regions of Our Brains Consolidation of memories Consolidation: A process by which immediate memories become lasting through long-term storage 52 52

FIGURE 7.21 Brain Activation During Perception and Remembering 53 53

Memory Is Processed by Several Regions of Our Brains Reconsolidation of memories Once memories are activated, they need to be consolidated again for long-term storage; this process is known as reconsolidation Retrieved memories can be affected by new circumstances, so reconsolidated memories may differ from their original versions 54

Memory Is Processed by Several Regions of Our Brains Researchers have shown that using the classical conditioning technique of extinction during the period when memories are susceptible to reconsolidation can be an effective method for altering bad memories 55

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7.4 How Do We Access Our Memories? Retrieval Cues Help Us Access Our Memories Retrieval cue Anything that helps a person access information in long-term storage Context and state aid retrieval Context-dependent memory effect State-dependent memory 57

FIGURE 7.23 Context–Dependent Memory 58 58

Retrieval Cues Help Us Access Our Memories Mnemonics aid retrieval Mnemonics are learning aids or strategies that use retrieval cues to improve access to memory Method of loci 59

We Forget Some of Our Memories Forgetting The inability to access a memory from long-term storage In his experiment, Hermann Ebbinghaus examined how long it took him to relearn lists of unfamiliar nonsense syllables and used these data to develop the forgetting curve 60

FIGURE 7.24 Forgetting Curve 61 61

USING PSYCHOLOGY IN YOUR LIFE: How Can I Remember Information for Exams? 62 62

We Forget Some of Our Memories Interference Retroactive interference: When access to older memories is impaired by newer memories Proactive interference: When access to newer memories is impaired by older memories 63

FIGURE 7.25 Proactive Interference Versus Retroactive Interference 64 64

We Forget Some of Our Memories Blocking Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon Blocking often occurs because of interference from words that are similar in some way, such as in sound or meaning, and that are repeatedly experienced 65

We Forget Some of Our Memories Absentmindedness Absentmindedness is the inattentive or shallow encoding of events. The major cause of absentmindedness is failing to pay attention 66

Our Unwanted Memories May Persist Persistence The continual recurrence of unwanted memories from long-term storage Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Erasing memories leads to many ethical questions 67

Our Memories Can Be Distorted Distortion Human memory is not a perfectly accurate representation of the past; it is flawed Memory bias Memory bias is the changing of memories over time so that they become consistent with our current beliefs or attitudes 68

Our Memories Can Be Distorted Flashbulb memories These vivid memories seem like a flash photo, capturing the circumstances in which we first learned of a surprising and consequential or emotionally arousing event 69

Figure 7.27 Flashbulb Memories 70 70

Our Memories Can Be Distorted Misattribution Misattribution occurs when we misremember the time, place, person, or circumstances involved with a memory In cryptomnesia, we think we have come up with a new idea but really have retrieved an old idea from memory and failed to attribute the idea to its proper source 71

FIGURE 7.28 Cryptomnesia 72 72

Our Memories Can Be Distorted Suggestibility When people are given misleading information, this information affects their memory for an event The suggestibility of memories in long-term storage creates problems for one of the most powerful forms of evidence in our justice system: the eyewitness account 73

FIGURE 7.29 Suggestibility 74 74

FIGURE 7.30 Eyewitness Accounts Can Be Unreliable 75 75

Our Memories Can Be Distorted False memories When a person imagines an event happening, he or she forms a mental image of the event. The person might later confuse that mental image with a real memory Children are especially likely to develop false memories 76 76

LEARNING TIP: Remembering the Ways We Access Stored Memories 77 77