Number a paper 1-30 For each “A” item, write down the number of syllables in the word For each “B” item, write “P” if it is a pleasant word. Write “U” if it is an unpleasant word.

Quickly write down as many of the 50 United States as you can think of

Flip over your paper List as many of the A/B words as you can remember

How many A’s did you remember? How many B’s? What’s the difference?

Now that you know… What we “sense” is different from what we “perceive” We “construct” our experience of the world – we turn wavelengths into color and music! Our “thinking” tricks us – remember “hindsight bias,” and how much we hate “cognitive dissonance”? ….Do you think you can trust your “memory” to tell you the “truth?”

Is memory an accurate representation of your past experience?

On a blank sheet of paper, write: 1.Where you were when you learned what had happened on the morning of September 11, Your earliest memory 3.Anything you can remember about a birthday celebration from your early childhood

These are “episodic” memories. (Think “episodes” of your life) 1.Where you were when you learned what had happened on the morning of September 11, Your earliest memory 3.Anything you can remember about a birthday celebration from your early childhood Do you think they are accurate?

What do you really “remember?” The video? people’s stories? a picture? or the actual event? “Source Confusion”

Is memory an accurate representation of your past experience? No. Even “flashbulb memories” (where were you when you learned about 9/11?) fade. –These memories seem very vivid, but… –Based on study of college students going forward from 9/11 for ordinary and 9/11 memories, “flashbulbs” fade and errors creep in, just as with regular memories, but… –The memories still feel vivid, different from others

Confabulation: Making up a memory This happens to us most often when: –We hear a story over and over again –We have lots of details about the event –It’s easy for us to imagine that we were actually there (for example, the event takes place in our grandmother’s house, not in some state we’ve never been to)

Why does it help us to have a memory that tricks us? Efficient. We have to be selective. Just as we can’t process every new detail that comes in through our senses, we need to forget what shirt we wore last June 16. So.. We store the critical pieces, and rebuild from there. Just like perception, memory is selective and constructed.

Loftus (1970s): “About how fast were the cars going when they…?” contacted each other: 31.8 mph Bumped: 38.1 mph Collided: 39.3 mph Smashed: 40.8 mph Witness testimony can be easily manipulated… not because they want to mislead. They believe they remember what they’re saying

What is memory? Is it a place? Is it a process? Could it be several places? Several processes?

Which question is easier? Name all the students in your high school graduating class. Which of the following students were members of your high school graduating class? Mary Brown Roger Lesser Bill McGowan Edwina Robinson

Can this help us figure out how memory works? Name all the students in your high school graduating class. Which of the following students were in your high school graduating class? Mary Brown Roger Lesser Bill McGowan Edwina Robinson recall recognition

The Three Box Model of Memory a pretty good model of memory

1.Sensory register Visual ½ second Auditory 2 seconds 3. Long Term Memory (LTM ) 2. Short Term Memory (STM) – or “Working Memory” - holds about 7 “chunks” of information

Short Term Memory (STM) LTM How do you get stuff from STM to Long Term Memory? ENCODING Practice

What kind of practice (encoding) works best? Maintenance rehearsal (Jim Jim Jim Jim) Elaborative Rehearsal (Jim likes The Doors) Deep processing (knowing Jim well)

What kind of practice works best? Maintenance rehearsal (sensory register…sensory register…sensory register) Elaborative Rehearsal (sensory register is like the check- in desk for information from the senses) Deep processing (sensory register holds info briefly while we decide whether it’s worth processing further. It’s much longer for hearing than sight. Glow sticks are good for demonstrating the visual register; answering your mom eventually while you’re watching tv is a good example of the auditory register at work)

What kind of practice? Mnemonics may involve elaborative rehearsal and/or deep processing –Every good boy does fine? –Oscar had a heap of apples?

How do you get info out of LTM? LTM STM Sensory Register encoding retrieval Lose everything you don’t notice (pay attention to) Lose everything you don’t rehearse

But there’s more to LTM than what you’ve learned for school Procedural memory (knowing ‘how’) Declarative Memory Semantic memory (knowing ‘that’… Oscar Had a Heap of Apples) – stuff you learned for school Episodic memory (remember when…)

What do we know about memory? Not everything makes it in Sometimes it’s hard to tell how we ‘know’ something – there are many ways to get things into long term ‘memory’ Sometimes ‘encoding’ is automatic, sometimes it takes practice How is memory more like a messy bucket of spare parts than an orderly file cabinet?

what is your earliest memory? Which of your memories are oldest… Semantic? Procedural? Episodic?

What does it take to make an episodic memory? …if each memory is an episode in your autobiography? What kinds of skills do you need to start ‘writing’ your autobiography? “Childhood amnesia” No episodic memories before the age of three or four, but… children at that age have episodic memories. Where do those memories go?

Sense of ‘self… and other Sense of ‘self’… and other “I” “my sister” and “my mother” and “my father” and my childcare provider have their very own selves. am not “you” Language. Language. Your story must be stored away in a language you still use, in order for you to be able to retrieve it. What kinds of skills do you need to start ‘writing’ your autobiography? Links to accessible schemata Links to accessible schemata. How does a one-year-old experience the world? What if there’s no hook for “my aunt’s house” to hang things on? Editing skills. Editing skills. A one-year-old is fascinated by the fact that Dad comes and picks her up at day care every day. Older children and adults are much more interested in the day Dad didn’t come.

Forgetting: An important function of memory Is the memory really gone? –In many cases, probably we’ve just lost our hooks to retrieve it: State of mind Interference Semantic memory (Ebbinghaus) drops off quickly, then levels off Episodic (Linton) drops very little at first, then steady rapid drop after a couple of years