1.  Encoding /Retrieval failure  Motivated forgetting  Decay  Interference theories

2.  The memory was encoded and stored, but sometimes you just cannot access the memory.  Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

3. Undesired memory is held back from awareness  Suppression—conscious forgetting  like an extreme form of denial  Repression—unconscious forgetting (Freudian)  Our bodies way of protecting us from anxiety

4.  Memories fade away if unused (USE IT OR LOSE IT!)  What you remember after 3 years, is what you will remember forever  Foreign Language Average percentage of information retained 20 mins 1 hr 8 hrs 24 hrs 2 days 6 days 31 days Interval between original learning of nonsense syllables and memory test 100% Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve

5.  Source Amnesia (Source Attribution) - Attributing to the wrong source to an event we have experienced, heard about, read about or imagined.  As simple as gossip from the wrong person  As complex as remembering a movie as your real life

6.  Forgetting NOT caused by passage of time, but by one memory competing with or replacing another memory

7. Proactive Interference  OLD information makes it hard to remember new information If you call your new girlfriend your old girlfriend’s name. The old information got in the way!

8. Retroactive Interference  New information makes it hard to remember old information. When you finally remember this years locker combination, you forget last years. The new combo got in the way of remembering the old.

9.  Forgetting can occur at any memory stage Retrieval from long-term memory Depending on interference, retrieval cues, moods, and motives, some things get retrieved, some don’t Long-term storage Some items are altered or lost Short-term memory A few items are both noticed and encoded Sensory memory The senses momentarily register amazing detail

10.  Rehearsal  More Time = More Retention  Self-Reference  Mnemonic Devices  Recall before Interference  Using Retrieval Cues  Spacing Effect  Test Yourself  Sleep