Chapter 3 SHORT AND LONG TERM MEMORY

Anything in your conscious mind at any one moment Does not necessarily involved paying close attention Repeating what someone said word for word Will not comprehend until you repeat it back Memory lasts as long as you hold it there Numerous strategies to improve short- term memory SHORT TERM MEMORY

Repetition of information Mentally or out loud Maintenance rehearsal Keeps info in short term Does not connect info to meaning Elaborative Rehearsal Transfer info to long term Think about meaning Connect to info already in storage REHEARSAL

PRACTICING REHEARSAL B H A N W O L K D Sheep, phone, book, shoe, card, chip, drum

STM limited in duration and capacity Can hold 5-9 pieces of information Average is 7 *Applies to unrelated items Chunking puts items into groups 1 group = 1 piece 7 pieces of grouped items = greater memory Phone numbers vs CHUNKING

CHUNKING PRACTICE

MNEMONIC DEVICES Named after Greek goddess of memory Mnymosyne Unusual associations made to material in order to aid memory Not always logical Replace rote memorization If you can already make sense of the task at hand, don’t use a mnemonic device Must be used from the beginning when learning info

King Henry Died Drinking Chocolate Milk All Cows Eat Grass / FACE Roy G. Biv 30 Days Hath September, April, June, and November MNEMONIC EXAMPLES In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue Never Eat Soggy Waffles Please Excused My Dear Aunt Sally

Sensory Storage Short Term Long Term

Sensory storage filters out the unnecessary Short-term memory holds onto the knowledge needed right away Information stored for future use Representations of countless facts, experiences, and sensations Holds onto ideas and themes LONG TERM MEMORY

Semantic Memory Ideas and concepts not drawn from personal experience Ex: Concept of a cat Explicit Memory* Consciously recall and use as needed Ex: Knowledge Explicit memory used when taking a test TYPES OF MEMORY Implicit Memory* No conscious recall Ex: Skills Lose ability to describe tasks Episodic Memory Memory of our own life Ex: What you did this morning Time of occurrence is important

Form of implicit memory Information is learned Cues given later to aid in recall Ex: Fill in the blank question First letter of the answer included PRIMING

Long term memory organized into schemas Brain is a filing cabinet with many drawers and each drawer has many folders Way we mentally represent the world SCHEMAS - REVISITED

Little girl sees a horse Horse is tall, has four legs, and a tail Sees a cow for the first time and calls it a horse Cow is tall, has four legs, and tail Modify existing schema for a horse and add new one for a cow Same little girl sees a miniature horse and calls it a dog Dogs are small, have four legs, and a tail Parents explain that it is actually a very small horse Modifies existing schema for horses to remember that they can be tall or short EXAMPLES OF SCHEMAS

Existing schemas can inhibit learning Prevents people from seeing the world as it really is No new info taken in Interpret situations incorrectly Come up with alternate explanations of events that challenge pre-existing beliefs PREJUDICE