The Phenomenon of Memory

In your notes, WITHOUT talking to anyone, write down the names of the 7 dwarfs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

 How difficult or easy was this for you?  In order to name the 7 dwarfs, your brain went through the following process: ◦ Encoding: learning the information ◦ Retaining: storing the information over time ◦ Retrieval: getting the information back out

 Did you have a feeling that you knew the name of a dwarf but were unable to retrieve it? ◦ This is called Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon: when the retrieval process does not produce a complete response but produces parts that must be constructed into a whole  Shows that forgetting may result from retrieval failure, not encoding or storage failures

 Look at the order in which you wrote down the names, is there any pattern?  Memory is organized by sound, letter, or meaning

 How many think they would do better if they saw pictures of the dwarfs? ◦ Recall vs. Recognition  Recognition is generally easier b/c the first step is already complete & all you have to do is decide if the information is correct

 Circle correct dwarf names  Cross out incorrect names  Leave alone ones you are unsure of  Were we able to remember more correct names this way?

 Correct names in order from most likely to be remembered to least likely: ◦ Sleepy ◦ Dopey ◦ Grumpy ◦ Sneezy ◦ Happy ◦ Doc ◦ Bashful

 Memory: the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information  Memory = basis for knowing your friends, neighbors, English, the national anthem, and yourself  If memory was nonexistent, everyone would be a stranger to you; every language foreign; every task new; & even you yourself would be a stranger.

 Highly intelligent & talented English musician who experienced brain damage in his 40s ◦ Unconscious for several weeks before awakening with a very dense amnesia  Can remember nothing for more than a few minutes  The Mind: Module 10 & 11

 Write down a sentence or two about your 3 most vivid memories  Almost all of what you wrote down was probably of a personally, rather than nationally, important nature: ◦ Injury/accident (18%) ◦ Sports (11%) ◦ Attraction (10%) ◦ Animals (9%) ◦ Deaths (5%) ◦ Vacations (5%)

 A unique and highly emotional moment may give rise to a clear, strong, and persistent memory called flashbulb memory  However, this memory is not free from errors

 Why can flashbulb memories be wrong?  How can we remember things we haven’t thought about for 4 years but forget the name of a person we just met a minute ago?  How can 2 people’s memories of the same event be different?  How can we improve our memories?

 Without writing it down, try to remember this sentence: ◦ The angry rioter threw the rock at the window.

Keyboard (Encoding) Disk (Storage) Monitor (Retrieval) Sequential Process

The Atkinson-Schiffrin (1968) 3-stage model of memory: 1.sensory memory 2.short-term memory 3.long-term memory

1.Some info skips the first 2 stages & enters long-term memory automatically 2.Since we can’t focus on all sensory info in the environment, we select info (through attention) that is important to us 3.The nature of short-term memory is more complex

 Working memory: newer understanding of short-term memory; involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory & visual-spatial info, and of info retrieved from long-term memory ◦ Incoming stimuli, along with info from our long-term memory, becomes conscious short-term memories in a temporary “construction zone”

 Auditory & visual processing is controlled by a central executive, through an episodic buffer

 Brain activity underlies these working memory components ◦ Frontal lobes are active when central executive focuses on complex thinking ◦ Parietal & Temporal lobes that help us process auditory & visual info are active when such info is in our working memory

 Average Answers: 1.C/D 2.A 3.B 4.B 5.D 6.B/C 7.B/C 8.B/C 9.A 10.B 11.A 12.D 13.B 14.A 15.B/C 16.C 17.B 18.B 19.A 20.A

 Percentage of common memory complaints: Losing things5673 Forgetting major events in their past 2939 Forgetting events that just occurred2127 Making simple errors1422 Getting lost in familiar places1022