Psyc 1002 Dr Caleb Owens Cognitive Processes Lecture 6 : Encoding & retrieving memories Studying and memory

Lifetime memories Infantile amnesia: –Almost no memories from the first three years of life Reminiscence bump –A surprisingly large number of memories coming from the years between 10 and 30 (especially 15-25), see Rubin, Rahhal & Poon (1998) – not just personal memories either

Encoding Good things for encoding: –Picturing information, visual imagery See textbook p.262 –Using context –Avoid distractions E.g. chattering, television – clearly these clog up your working memory; don’t let your mind wander –Study at the ‘optimal’ time of your day (May, Hasher, and Stoltzfus, 1993) See: Or google “Ostberg Morning Eveningness” Are you a ‘lark’ or an ‘owl’ ? –Deep processing Asking questions / Elaboration of material Structuring material semantically Self-referent encoding

Visual imagery Textbook p Words easier to visualize are better remembered: –High-high (juggler-dress) –Low-low (quality-necessity) Make concrete examples of abstract concepts to help yourself remember

Encoding Good things for encoding: –Picturing information, visual imagery See textbook p.262 –Using context –Avoid distractions E.g. chattering, television – clearly these clog up your working memory; don’t let your mind wander –Study at the ‘optimal’ time of your day (May, Hasher, and Stoltzfus, 1993) See: Or google “Ostberg Morning Eveningness” Are you a ‘lark’ or an ‘owl’ ? –Deep processing Asking questions / Elaboration of material Structuring material semantically Self-referent encoding

Context Retrieval is best when encoding and retrieval MATCH –Mood –Time and place –Thoughts and feelings –Smells –Images –Nature of the task

Retrieval is best when encoding and retrieval MATCH Known as the ‘transfer appropriate processing’ principle (Roediger & McDermott, 1993) –E.g. Morris, Bransford & Franks (1977) found levels of processing effects are affected by the match

Godden and Baddeley (1975) asked participants to learn words either on land or 20 feet underwater; and were asked to later recall the words on land or underwater –Recall was best when the contexts matched –Recognition was unaffected by context

Encoding Good things for encoding: –Picturing information, visual imagery See textbook p.262 –Using context –Avoid distractions E.g. chattering, television – clearly these clog up your working memory; don’t let your mind wander –Study at the ‘optimal’ time of your day (May, Hasher, and Stoltzfus, 1993) See: Or google “Ostberg Morning Eveningness” Are you a ‘lark’ or an ‘owl’ ? –Deep processing Asking questions / Elaboration of material Structuring material semantically Self-referent encoding

Avoid interference Competition from other material Retroactive – new material affects old material Proactive – old material affects new material Similarity is important: McGeoch & McDonald (1931), reported in Weiten (2007) from p.279

Encoding Good things for encoding: –Picturing information, visual imagery See textbook p.262 –Using context –Avoid distractions E.g. chattering, television – clearly these clog up your working memory; don’t let your mind wander –Study at the ‘optimal’ time of your day (May, Hasher, and Stoltzfus, 1993) See: Or google “Ostberg Morning Eveningness” Are you a ‘lark’ or an ‘owl’ ? –Deep processing Asking questions / Elaboration of material Structuring material semantically Self-referent encoding

Encoding Good things for encoding: –Picturing information, visual imagery See textbook p.262 –Using context –Avoid distractions E.g. chattering, television – clearly these clog up your working memory; don’t let your mind wander –Study at the ‘optimal’ time of your day (May, Hasher, and Stoltzfus, 1993) See: Or google “Ostberg Morning Eveningness” Are you a ‘lark’ or an ‘owl’ ? –Deep processing Asking questions / Elaboration of material Structuring material semantically Self-referent encoding

‘Deep’ processing Is the logic circular? Semantic structuring of information allows for more effective chunking, and allows you to relate the information you are trying to learn to what you know –E.g. for neuroscience No structure: learn 100 parts of the brain and their function Structure: learn the lobes, what each lobe generally does, then sections of each lobe Elaboration creates more retrieval cues

Organize your memories Gray, 2002 (“Psychology”, p.356) Gray, 2002 (“Psychology”, p.356) Weiten, 2007 (“Psychology”, p.270)

Bower and Clark (1969) asked half of their subjects to make up their own stories from the words. From Weiten, 2007, p.292

Recall vs recognition Free recall task: report items from earlier study episode Recognition task: Select previously studied items from mixture of old and new items Recognition is better than recall, why? Recognition task provides a cue (the studied item) that can activate (“prime”) the memory network However cues may prime the wrong information From Weiten, 2007, p.277

Multiple-choice exams Easier because information provided and only have to recognise it? BUT harder because you have to discriminate between exactly right and nearly right => wrong answer might activate an incorrect memory Need to have processed elaboratively to retrieve related information and choose correct answer –Study for RECALL not RECOGNITION During the exam: –Read question while covering options –Attempt to recall the answer, and write down what you think it is –Uncover the options and decide

“I’m not very good at statistics because I’m an arts student.” “It’s been a long time since I went to school and my brain is old.” “I’m not good at this….” (report writing/ multiple choice exams) Attitudes to study

Who are you? University student –Scholarly attitude towards knowledge –An attitude or stance towards the world –Commitment to lifelong learning In the Faculty of Science –No authorities –Ideas and explanations are judged, not people Studying Psychology –You can reflect on human frailty –You can consider human behaviour and human problems in the context of a huge amount of research

Study for mastery and pride Mastery and pride attitude I need to understand this thoroughly Knowing only half the story is not useful I can make a difference Much more needs to be done Short-term attitude I want to go well in the exam I’ll start this assignment when I finish my others “What is the least that I have to do/read/study?” I’m just a student

Memory and aging Yes, neurons die across our lifespan, and myelination is reduced, affecting processing speed Forgetting should not be considered the loss of information, but simply retrieval failure ‘Active’ remembering, generating cues, rehearsing, elaborating, asking questions, always helps memory

Aging and attitudes, and memory American schema of “old people” –slow, forgetful, frail Chinese schema of “old people” –friendly, kind, wise What Levy & Langer (1994) found: Use it or lose it, e.g. memory among university professors just as good as those younger (Shimamura, 1995) but not if they were not professors –“I’ve given up because old people can’t learn and remember things.” –leads to abandonment of ‘active learning strategies’ Rahal, Hasher and Colcombe (2001) –memory task where half the subjects were told it was testing memory ability and the other half were told it was assessing their ability to learn trivia

For these lectures, assessable reading: –Weiten (2007), Chapter 7, pp –Snodgrass (refer to lecture 1). –This means questions can be from these sources on material which has NOT been mentioned in lectures.