Memory AP Psychology

 Persistence of learning over time via the storage and retrieval of information  Can you remember your first memory? Why do you think you can remember certain events in your life over others?

 Memory as Information Processing  similar to a computer  write to file  save to disk  read from disk  Encoding  the processing of information into the memory system  code and put into memory  Acoustic, Visual, & Semantic Encoding  Storage  the retention of encoded information over time  maintain in memory  Retrieval  process of getting information out of memory  recover from memory

 Episodic – specific events in your life  Semantic – generalized knowledge of the world that does not involve a specific event  Procedural (skill memory) – knowledge of how to perform a physical task

 Explicit Memory – used to deliberately remember something  Implicit Memory – unintentional influence of prior experiences

 4 Models of Memory that attempt to explain what and how well items are remembered: 1. Levels-of-Processing –  What we remember is dependent on how deeply the information is processed or rehearsed  Elaborative rehearsal – applying to real-life  Maintenance rehearsal - repetition

1. Transfer-appropriate processing model  Remembering things is determined by how well the encoding matches what is retrieved 2. Parallel distributed processing models (PDP)  New facts change our knowledge base by altering interconnected networks, facts, and associations. 3. Information processing models  There are three stages of mental processing required before information can be firmly stored in memory – sensory, short-term, long-term

 Sensory Memory  the immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system – holds info for a fraction of a second  Working Memory  focuses more on the processing of briefly stored information  The part of the memory that allows us to mentally work with, or manipulate, information being held in our memory  Try This: How many windows are on the front of your house or apartment building? What did you do to remember this?

 Short-Term Memory (STM)  activated memory that holds a few items briefly – if no further processing occurs, STM disappears in seconds  look up a phone number, then quickly dial before the information is forgotten  Immediate memory span = 7 +/- 2  Long-Term Memory (LTM)  the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

 Chunking  organizing items into familiar, manageable units  like horizontal organization  often occurs automatically  use of acronyms  HOMES--Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior  ARITHMETIC--A Rat In Tom’s House Might Eat Tom’s Ice Cream  Brown-Peterson Procedure – unless rehearsed, material stays in short-term memory for about 18 seconds

 Organized information is more easily recalled

 Serial Position Curve – a tendency to recall both the first and last parts of a list when memory is immediately tested  Primacy and Recency Effects

12 Percent age of words recalled Position of word in list Serial Position Effect--tendency to recall best the last items in a list

 Short-Term Memory  limited in duration and capacity  “magical” number 7+/ Time in seconds between presentation of contestants and recall request (no rehearsal allowed) Percentage who recalled consonants

Types of long-term memories Explicit (declarative) With conscious recall Implicit (nondeclarative) Without conscious recall Facts-general knowledge (“semantic memory”) Personally experienced events (“episodic memory”) Skills-motor and cognitive Dispositions- classical and operant conditioning effects

 Recall  measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier  as on a fill-in-the blank test  Recognition  Measure of memory in which the person has only to identify items previously learned  as on a multiple-choice test

 Relearning  memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material a second time  Priming  activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

 déjà vu -- already seen  cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier similar experience  "I've experienced this before."  Mood-congruent Memory  tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current mood  memory, emotions, or moods serve as retrieval cues  State-dependent Memory  what is learned in one state (while one is high, drunk, or depressed) can more easily be remembered when in same state

 After learning to move a mobile by kicking, infants had their learning reactivated most strongly when retested in the same rather than a different context (Butler & Rovee- Collier, 1989).

 Forgetting as encoding failure  Information never enters the long-term memory External events Sensory memory Short- term memory Long- term memory Attention Encoding failure leads to forgetting

 Forgetting as encoding failure  Which penny is the real thing?

 Ebbinghau s forgetting curve over 30 days-- initially rapid, then levels off with time Time in days since learning list Percentage of list retained when relearning

 The forgetting curve for Spanish learned in school Retention drops, then levels off ½ 14½ 25 35½ 49½ Time in years after completion of Spanish course 100% Percentage of original vocabulary retained

 Forgetting can result from failure to retrieve information from long-term memory External events Attention Encoding Retrieval failure leads to forgetting Retrieval Sensory memory Short-term memory Long-term memory

 Learning some items may disrupt retrieval of other information  Proactive (forward acting) Interference  disruptive effect of prior learning on recall of new information  Retroactive (backwards acting) Interference  disruptive effect of new learning on recall of old information

 Retroactive Interference Without interfering events, recall is better After sleep After remaining awake Hours elapsed after learning syllables 90% Percentage of syllables recalled

 Forgetting can occur at any memory stage  As we process information, we filter, alter, or lose much of it

 Motivated Forgetting  people unknowingly revise memories  Repression  defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

 We filter information and fill in missing pieces  Misinformation Effect  incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event  Source Amnesia  attributing to the wrong source an event that we experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined (misattribution)

 Eyewitnesses reconstruct memories when questioned Depiction of actual accident Leading question: “About how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?” Memory construction

 Memories of Abuse  Repressed or Constructed?  Child sexual abuse does occur  Some adults do actually forget such episodes  False Memory Syndrome  condition in which a person’s identity and relationships center around a false but strongly believed memory of traumatic experience  sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists

 Most people can agree on the following:  Injustice happens  Incest happens  Forgetting happens  Recovered memories are commonplace  Memories recovered under hypnosis or drugs are especially unreliable  Memories of things happening before age 3 are unreliable  Memories, whether false or real, are upsetting

 Study repeatedly to boost recall  Spend more time rehearsing or actively thinking about the material  Make material personally meaningful  Use mnemonic devices  associate with peg words--something already stored  make up story  chunk--acronyms

 Activate retrieval cues--mentally recreate situation and mood  Recall events while they are fresh-- before you encounter misinformation  Minimize interference  Test your own knowledge  rehearse  determine what you do not yet know