1. Chapter 6 Memory

2. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2 The Nature of Memory Memory –the retention of information over time –Psychologists study how information is initially placed, or encoded, into memory; how it is retained, or stored, after being encoded; and how it is found, or retrieved, for a specific purpose later

3. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 3 Sensory Memory Sensory memory –holds information from the world in its original sensory form for only an instant, not much longer that the brief time for which one is exposed to the visual, auditory, and other senses

4. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 4 Sensory Memory Echoic memory –the auditory sensory registers in which information is retained for up to several seconds Iconic –the visual sensory registers in which information is retained only for about 1/4 seconds

5. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 5 Working Memory Working memory (short-term memory) –a limited-capacity memory system in which information is retained for as only as 30 seconds, unless the information is rehearsed, in which case it can be retained longer

6. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 6 Working Memory Memory span –the number of digits an individual can report back in order after a single presentation (7  2) Chunking –the grouping or “packing” of information into higher-order units that can be remembered as single units

7. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 7 Working Memory Maintenance rehearsal –the conscious repetition of information that increases the length of time it stays in working memory Eidetic memory (photographic memory) –involves especially vivid images

8. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 8 Long-Term Memory Long-term memory –holds huge amounts of information for along period of time, relatively permanently

9. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 9 Long-Term Memory Declarative memory –the conscious recollection of information, such as specific facts or events, that can be verbally communicated Procedural memory –knowledge in the form of skills and cognitive operations about how to do something

10. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 10 Long-Term Memory Episodic memory –the retention of information about the where and when of life’s happenings Semantic memory –a person’s general knowledge about the world –independent of the individual’s personal identity with the past

11. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 11 Contemporary Memory Models Contemporary working memory model (Alan Baddeley, 1993) –long-term memory often precedes working memory –working memory uses long-term memory in flexible ways

12. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 Contemporary Memory Models

13. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 13 The Processes of Memory: Encoding Encoding –the transformation and/or transfer of information into a memory system Attention –the ability to focus mental effort on certain stimuli while excluding others –selective attention

14. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 14 The Processes of Memory : Encoding Effortful processing –requires capacity or resources to encode information in memory Automatic processing –does not require capacity, resources, or effort to encode information in memory

15. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 15 The Processes of Memory : Encoding Levels of processing theory –memory is on a continuum from shallow to deep Elaboration –describes how extensively information is processed at any given depth in memory

16. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 16 The Processes of Memory : Representation Network theories Schema theories –schema information (concepts, events, and knowledge) that already exists in a person’s mind –script a schema for an event

17. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 17 Retrieval and Forgetting Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon (TOT) –a type of “effortful retrieval” that occurs when people are confident they know something but just can’t quite seem to pull it out from memory Serial position effect –the effect of an item’s position in a list on our recall of it

18. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 18 Retrieval and Forgetting Primacy effect –better recall for items at the beginning of a list Recency effect –better recall for items at the end of a list

19. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 19 Retrieval and Forgetting

20. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 20 Retrieval and Forgetting Recall –a memory measure in which the individual must retrieve previously learned information Recognition –a memory measure in which the individual only has to identify learned items

21. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 21 Retrieval and Forgetting Cue-dependent forgetting –a form of forgetting information because of failure to use effective retrieval cues Interference theory –we forget not because memories are actually lost from storage; but because other information gets in the way of retrieving what we want to remember

22. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 22 Retrieval and Forgetting Proactive interference –occurs when material that was learned earlier disrupts the recall of material learned later Retroactive interference –occurs when material learned later disrupts retrieval of information learned earlier

23. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 23 Retrieval and Forgetting Amnesia: Anterograde amnesia –affects the retention of new information or events Retrograde amnesia –involves memory loss for a segment of the past but not for new events

24. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 24 The Biological and Cultural Contexts of Memory The neurobiological origins of memory –neural circuits –broad-scale architecture Cultural influences on memory –culture specificity hypothesis cultural experiences determine what is socially relevant in a person’s life and, therefore, what the person is most likely to remember

25. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 25 Improving Memory General memory strategies: –pay close attention –rehearse and practice –make a list…check twice –organize yourself to jog your memory –give yourself additional memory cues –when your memory fails, analyze what went wrong

26. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 26 Improving Memory Improving academic memory: –organize the material –elaborate the meaning –use mnemonics method of loci peg method

27. Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 27 Improving Memory Improving academic memory: –consolidate your learning –minimize distraction –organize yourself