Memory

Memory The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information –Your memory is your mind’s storehouse, the reservoir of your accumulated learning

Memory – Information Processing Encoding – the processing of information into the memory system Storage – the retention of encoded information over time Retrieval – the process of getting information out of memory storage

Encoding Encoding is the processing of information into the memory system – the first step of building a memory is sensory input

Automatic Process – some information is encoded without any conscious effort or awareness at all – noticing the color of your friends shirt, or the smell of the bathroom, …..you didn’t have to do anything to remember them later… – noticing the color of your friends shirt, or the smell of the bathroom, …..you didn’t have to do anything to remember them later…

Effortful Processing –some information encoding requires both your attention and a conscious effort Remembering the names of the presidents or some girl’s phone number…

Encoding – Effortful Processing Two effortful practices that may help to gather (encode) sensory information include rehearsal and spacing Rehearsal – the conscious repetition of information Spacing – rehearsing information repeatedly, over time. (study, take a break; study, take a break; etc…)

Encoding – Effortful Processing Semantic Encoding – its easier to remember things that have meaning Acoustic Encoding – its easier to remember things with sound/rhyme Visual Encoding – its easier to remember things we visualize

Encoding – Effortful Processing Semantic Encoding Flashbulb Memories – a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event –Where were you when 9/11 occurred –Your 16 th Birthday, your first kiss, the first day of high school, a funeral, etc…..even though the memory old, you have a clear recollection the event because it has more meaning to you personally

Visual Encoding –Drumstick –Handshake –Soccer ball –Puppy –Chalkboard –Letter C –Football –Apple –Hofn –Hotdog –Number 7 –Eggs –Pitcher –Balloons –Bell –Musical notes –Surtsey –Hamburger –Present –Glasses –Bicycle –Cake –Lunch Box –Cup of Coffee –Cat –Keflavik –Truck –Stork Study this list for 20 seconds

write down as many as you can remember! Did any of you write Hofn, Surtsey or Keflavik? …probably not, that’s because words that have no “meaning” (Semantics) to you are harder to remember… By the way, they are all towns in Iceland….

Now study these images for 20 seconds

write down as many as you can remember! Did you remember more from the first list (words) or from the second list (images)? Usually, people remember more from the second list because visual encoding is very powerful!

Encoding – A uditory Encoding Songs! The Alphabet Song and School House Rock! Rhymes! In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue. "i" before "e," except after "c," or in sounding like "ay" as in "neighbor" or "weigh."

Encoding – Mnemonics - Strategies or Shortcuts that help us remember (Mnemonics) Mnemonics Acronyms – Organizing items by creating words or sentences from the first letters of the words or information to be remembered

Encoding –Chunking 1,8,1,2,1,7,7,6,1,9,4,1,1,4,9,2

What numbers do you remember?

Encoding –Chunking Would those have been easier to remember if I had chunked them like this?: 1812, 1776, 1941, 1492 Chunking – Organizing items into familiar, manageable units

Encoding –Chunking Where they easier to remember? They were the same numbers as before…

1,8,1,2,1,7,7,6,1,9,4,1,1,4,9,2 1812, 1776, 1941, 1492

Encoding –Acronyms Need to learn the names of North America’s five “Great Lakes”? –HOMES – Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior

Encoding – Effortful Processing Acronyms National Basketball Association – NBA Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus – SCUBA

Encoding –Acronyms How does a doctor diagnose Depression? DEAD SWAMP: Depressed mood most of the day Energy loss or fatigue Anhedonia Death thoughts (recurrent), suicidal ideation or attempts Sleep disturbances (insomnia, hypersomnia) Worthlessness or excessive guilt Appetite or weight change Mentation decreased (ability to think or concentrate, indecisiveness) Psychomotor agitation or retardation

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s “Three-Stage Processing” Model Sensory Memory – the immediate, initial recording of sensory information Short-Term Memory – activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven-digits of a phone number while you are dialing, and then the information is either stored, or forgotten Long-term Memory – the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of memories