Psychology 001 Introduction to Psychology Christopher Gade, PhD Office: 621 Heafey Office hours: F 3-6 and by apt. Email: gadecj@gmail.com Class WF 7:00-8:30 Heafey 650

What’s on tap? In today’s class, we’re going to discuss the topic of memory. In this lecture we’ll be addressing… The pioneer in research done on memory Different tests of memory Different memory time frames and concepts

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909) Sought to examine the concept of memory from a purely scientific viewpoint Had only one subject in almost all of his studies on memory… himself In these studies, he used lists of nonsense syllables in his attempts to examine how our memories work

Ebbinghaus (cont.) His research was based on discovering how fast a “normal” individual can learn, and forget information. From this, he was able to generate both Learning curves Forgetting curves Ebbinghaus conducted experiments that varied in the # of syllables in the list length of time before checking his memory after “learning” the syllables length of time before checking his memory after reading the syllables This variation in timing and the fact that he measure memory after both introduction and memorization of information provided us with a great starting block when it came to examining memory

One of Ebbinghaus’ Remembering Curves

One of Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curves

Another One of Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve

Let’s attempt a replication of one of Ebbinghaus’ experiment... Listen to the list of nonsense syllables that are about to be read to you. Do not write them down until you are instructed to do so.

So what? What does that mean? Ebbinghaus’ work led us to conclusions about how the mind functions when storing meaningless information that we are asked to recall. It also led other researchers to begin exploring memory in a more systematic way. However, his work didn’t tell us about… our memories for meaningful information. the different types of memory that we have. our ability to remember information when we are asked to reproduce it in a different manner. how our reproduction of information might be altered.

Different Types of Memory Tests Free Recall Ebbinghaus’ work Cued Recall Famous authors Recognition Name the dwarfs Savings Name the capitols Implicit Memory Performance Impaired memory example

Cued Recall Example

Cued Recall Example

Recognition Task Grouchy Gabby Fearful Sleepy Smiley Jumpy Hopeful Shy Droopy Dopey Sniffy Wishful Puffy Dumpy Sneezy Lazy Pop Grumpy Bashful Cheerful Teach Shorty Nifty Happy Wheezy Doc Stubby

Attention to important Different types of memory categorized by length of storage (temporal) External events Sensory memory Short-term Long-term Sensory input Attention to important or novel information Encoding Retrieving

Sensory Memory First temporal category of memory Capacity is thought to be infinite (or at least really large) Attention to this information lasts only a fraction of a second After this fraction of a second, your brain breaks down the information and attends to / remembers only the information deemed relevant Involves not only vision, but all of our senses Is unfiltered by any portion of our brain

Lets test whether or not sensory memory exists…

F A U B M V X E W Q H K

A X Z D T B M F O Y R G

P S Q E N H W L B C I U

K H V W G R N U P X Z M

S O W A D R P N M Q E I

Sperling’s Sensory Memory Experiment

Short-Term Memory (aka Working Memory) Said to have a capacity of 7 + or – 2 items. Nonsense syllables example Contains information from our sensory store that our brain has deemed relevant (at least for the time being). Information can be stored in this stage of memory from anywhere between 10 seconds to a few days (some scientists even argue that this can last up to 6 years). After that, the memories stored are either forgotten (information not regarded as important), or placed in our long-term memory store.

Long-Term Memory A collection of information that we value, have time to remember, and feel like it will be of use in the future. Information in this part of our memory is often very complex, but also subject to distortions or complete fabrications. There is debate as to whether or not we actually ever forget information once it’s stored on long term memory. Permanent storage that sometimes needs cues to recall information. Mixture of memories that are sometimes forgotten or changed. This change/forgetting can be due to Decay of neural connections Rewriting of neural connections (computer example)

The Differences Between Our Memory Systems

An Extra Breakdown of Long-Term Memory memories Explicit (declarative) With conscious recall Implicit (nondeclarative) Without conscious Facts-general knowledge (“semantic memory”) Personally experienced events (“episodic Skills-motor and cognitive Dispositions- classical and operant conditioning effects

Moving on… In the next class, we’ll be examining how our memory might go awry, how we can improve our memories, and how we can use our understanding of memory to predict behavior. See you then.