Memory MAR 3503 January 24, 2012

Basic memory processes Encoding – Codes can be acoustic, visual, or semantic Storage – Can store episodic, procedural, or semantic memories Retrieval – Can be done via recognition or recall

Sensory memory “Holding cells” – Holds information from the sensory registers until it can be processed further Fleeting Brings continuity to the world Only some is passed on for further processing

Short-term (working) memory Holds limited amounts of information until it is: – Used in response – Stored more permanently – Lost Information can be encoded: – Acoustically (ECVTGB or HLEITF) – Visually – And other ways (e.g., kinesthetically)

STM capacity Is determined with a memory span test “Magic number” thought to be 7 +/- 2 Capacity can be increased by “chunking” 7 meaningful units, rather than 7 letters or numbers

STM: The importance of rehearsal Ps given a list of nonsense syllables Told to count backwards (to prevent rehearsal) Stopped after certain number of seconds, tested for memory of syllables Peterson & Peterson, 1959

Long-term memory …Holds information more permanently after it has been transferred from STM Potentially unlimited capacity Usually involves semantic coding – Surface features are less important

A model of memory Sensory memory Short-term (working) memory Long-term memory Environmental input Response EncodingStorage Retrieval

How LTM and STM interact

The serial position curve Primacy effect – Early items in list remembered well because you had time to transfer them into LTM Recency effect – Later items in list remembered well because they’re still in STM Obvious implications for – Lists – Commercials

The seven sins of memory The sin of transience The sin of absent-mindedness The sin of blocking The sin of misattribution The sin of suggestibility The sin of bias The sin of persistence

Transience Memories are connections between neurons in the brain – Without use, these connections weaken or even disappear Forgetting – Information is likely still there, just not being retrieved properly

LTM: How do we get info to stay in? Rehearsal – Transmits info to LTM, strengthens connections between neurons – Not just any rehearsal though (some work better than others) Best: Elaborative rehearsal/elaborative encoding – This helps us create cues for remembering

Elaboration Ps saw 40 adjectives For each, they were asked to indicate: – Whether it was in uppercase letters – Whether it rhymed with XXXX – Whether it meant the same as YYYY – Whether it described them Their memory for the adjectives was tested Rogers et al., 1977

How LTM is organized OREO chocolate brown mud pie bakery cookie slice milk cow farm flour wheat cake golf Associative Network

Principles of an associative networks Spreading activation Priming – …Activating a node in memory – A primed, or activated, node may then activate other nodes and may trigger associated behaviors One implication – The more associations a node (e.g., a product) has, the better its chance of getting activated/retrieved

Retrieval from LTM Retrieval cues – Pull information from long-term memory into short-term memory Which cues will be effective? – Encoding specificity The best cues for retrieval are the ones that were there at encoding

Retrieval: Context dependence Cues can be very broad. Memory can be helped by similarities between the encoding and retrieval environments. Godden & Baddeley, 1975

Retrieval: Context dependence Retrieval is better when the conditions of retrieval match the conditions of encoding – Under water – Classroom – Mood – Odors – Chemicals Encoding (Learning) Encoding (Learning) Retrieval (Test) Retrieval (Test) Cues and context

Absent-mindedness Lapses of attention that result in failing to remember information – Info that never gets encoded properly – Info that is available in memory by is overlooked at the time we need to retrieve it Divided attention often at fault – Prevents us from transferring info to LTM – Interferes with recollection (specific details of event) but not familiarity (remembering that an event happened)

Absent-mindedness Failures of retrospective memory – Not remembering something that happened in the past – Divided attention often at fault Prevents us from transferring info fully to LTM, or creating the right cues Interferes with recollection (specific details of event) but not familiarity (remembering that an event happened) Failures of prospective memory – Not remembering something that you’re supposed to do Time-based cues easy to forget Event-based cues easier to elaborate on, more likely to succeed

Blocking Two types of interference – Retroactive interference Learning new info interferes with the memory of the old

Blocking Interference, continued – Proactive interference Old knowledge interferes with ability to learn something new – Part-list cueing Learn a list Recall for part of the list is cued The partial retrieval can block recall of the rest of the list – Ex. “We’re better than Tide and Cheer”

Blocking Names are very commonly blocked – Name retrieval comes after visual and conceptual memory, which can interfere with the name They’re also only tenuously linked to a name – Also partly due to there being only one name per person, so you can’t fall back on a synonym The tip of the tongue effect

Tip of the tongue Most common for infrequent words – Lack of use weakens connections between lexical and phonological aspects of words They still exist; that’s why you can know what the first letter is “Ugly sisters” play a part – The related but incorrect words that you come up with – Like part-list cueing—blocks the true word from coming forth

Misattribution Another reason why the filing cabinet metaphor isn’t right Deese lists and lures Schemas can be activated at encoding and misapplied – (Similar to miscategorization) – Leads to schema-consistent recall Can work in a marketer’s favor Or against it

Suggestibility The power of the question – Watch a tape of a car accident – How fast were the cars going when they…? Contacted?31.8 mph Hit?34.0 mph Collided?39.3 mph Smashed?40.5 mph 1 week later: Did you see any broken glass when they: Smashed: 32% yes Hit: 14% yes Control condition (no verb): 12% yes Loftus & Palmer, 1974

Bias Our desires and beliefs guide our memories – Just as the format of a question can shape the answer, so can the answer we want to give shape the answer we actually give Stereotypes influence what we recall about others – People “remember” women were more emotional than men last month – People are more likely to “remember” Black-sounding names correspond to criminals than White-sounding names We’ll talk about biased memories more later in the semester

Persistence Ever get a song stuck in your head? The opposite of the other sins—remembering something you want to forget Usually negative memories fade faster than positive ones (see bias, too)—why don’t these? – Continual reminding – Cues too common or too strong – Suppression backfires

Why the irony? Two processes: – Automatic target search: automatically “looks for” the unwanted (to-be-suppressed) thought all during the suppression period, and if it finds the target it alerts the controlled distracter search to focus on something else – Controlled distracter search: operates when the person implements the plan to think of something else. But when cognitive resources are scarce or stretched to the limit (for instance, under cognitive load, as when you are asked to remember a number for later recall), this distracter search may fail

Ironic sexism

Summary How can memory be improved? – Rehearsal and chunking keeps info in STM longer This may aid transfer to LTM – Elaborate encoding (including self-relevance) encourages integration into LTM – Retrieval and encoding should occur under similar conditions – Interference should be minimized But, what’s stored might not be the same as what’s retrieved. Watch out for – Schemas – Leading questions

Next time What are attitudes? How do we form them?