1. Chapter 7
Memory

2. Memory The basics Encoding – how info becomes part of memory
Storage – maintaining memory
Retrieval – recall
People think in 2 ways – via language & visually

3. Encoding Semantic encoding – meanings, concepts, associations, facts
- uses elaboration – link new memories to other memories, information > we use examples, experiences
- uses visual imagery – some terms easier than others

4. Encoding Dual Coding Theory – these methods make recall more likely
Have a word + picture > know it better - remember

5. Storage Information-processing theories 3 levels
Sensory & short-term storage – both for temporary
(temporary at first, may/may not go into long-term)

6. Storage Sensory memory Original input > afterimages Brief
For visual, auditory sec
Some psychologists/neuroscientists say no such thing > just sensory processing

7. Storage Short-Term Memory (STM)
Holds memory for 20 sec, without doing anything (like rehearsing)
Will fade unless you rehearse (keep repeating)
Rehearsal only keeps it in STM
STM ends because of decay & interference

8. Storage STM How much does it hold ? 4-7 items 1950s – Miller claimed 7
2000s – 4 > said subjects give impression of holding more by grouping items (chunking)
New items push out/displace others

9. Storage
STM
2000s – new conceptualization of STM – it can do more than hold 4-7 items (phonemes ~ words/sounds)
STM is really working memory ~ work on your desk,maybe an iPad - Baddeley

10. Storage STM as working memory – has functions
Phonological loop – works w sounds/words – may help us dev language
Visuospatial sketchpad – work w images
Central executive system – manages attn
Episodic buffer – stores info for short time, helps encode it permanently

11. Storage STM as working memory Makes STM more important
Typically weakens as we age

12. Storage Long-Term Memory (LTM) How we hold memories permanently
In theory, unlimited > ???????
People have difficulty retrieving ~ “can’t remember”
“Flashbulb memories” – a moment held, virtually complete - vivid > this theory disputed – not typical memories, not complete & do fade

13. Storage LTM Flashbulb memories – special b/c they are emotional
LTM questionable – healthy individuals – there is likely some fading – may/may not be retrieval

14. Organization of Memory
Different forms
Remembering a formula/rules of poker/when to pick up children all different
Schema – assumes subject is familiar with this event/idea/experience – subject organizes memory w related things
Contradictions – studies show that some remember better if memory fits schema/others say distinctions better

15. Organization of Memory
Semantic networks
How concepts become linked (not physical) but certain nerves involved
Explains word associations
Spreading activation within a semantic network – think of one word > move to others

16. Organization of Memory
Connectionist networks
Based on parallel distributed processing (PDP)
PDP ~ way a PC works – handles same info via many networks – different jobs at same time
Brain > excitation & inhibition manage this
What is believed: Each memory coded with a specific activation pattern

17. Organization of Memory
PDP
Connectionism – strength of memory ~ strength of those connections

19. Retrieval How we remember something Cues help
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon – unable to remember, but know you know
Cues – powerful
- give clue
- contextual cues – often place, witnesses

20. Retrieval Reconstruction of memories May not be accurate
Misinformation effect – what happened later colored the memory
Wording of the story may Δ memory
Style of questioning may Δ memory

21. Retrieval Source monitoring Where we think (infer) memories come from
M. Johnson blames most memory errors on this
Memories not coded w/ provenance
As people remember – they tag a source to it
Source-monitoring error – source of memory

22. Retrieval Source-monitoring error
Unsure about where you learned something
Eye-witness accounts

23. Forgetting Has + function > discard useless info
Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve – 1880s
Only studied himself
Memorized nonsense syllables
Sharp drop immediately > more than ½ (20min-9hr)
Material more likely to be retained if meaningful

24. Forgetting Measures Retention - % retained
Retention interval – time between stimulus and forgetting
How to measure
Recall, recognition & relearning
Recall measure – reproduce w/o cues

25. Forgetting
Recognition measure – material already learned, so subject must pick it out – other incorrect material present
Relearning measure – subject learns material (esp memorized) & learns it again – how much time saved

26. Forgetting
Reasons
1. Ineffective encoding – pseudoforgetting – S never paid attention, so never learned
- Phonemic v semantic encoding
2. Decay – fading b/c time – decay & LTM > maybe interference ???
3. Interference – other material more demanding

27. Forgetting 3. Interference – 2 types
A. retroactive interference – later material blocks
B. proactive interference – earlier material blocks
4. Retrieval failure – like a PC – cue/encoding mismatch – encoding specificity principle – cue needs to be close to the encoding

28. Forgetting
5. Motivated forgetting – Freudian – repression – Unc blocks off certain material
- Repressed memories
6. Physical issues – mostly head injuries
Amnesia
Retrograde amnesia – unable to remember before injury

29. Forgetting
6. Amnesia
Anterograde amnesia – can’t remember what happened after injury

30. Types of Memory Declarative memory system – facts
Procedural (Non-declarative) memory system – skills, how-to, emotional
Declarative memory system
– medial temporal lobe, amygdala, cerebellum
- Tulving divided declarative mem: semantic & episodic

31. Types of Memory Declarative memory
Episodic memory – personal material, chronological, temporal
Semantic memory – facts – not when learned
Help: mnemonic device

32. Mnemonic Device Balkan League
Cranial nerves: olfactory, optic, oculomotor, trochlear, trigeminal, abducens, facial, vestibulocochlear, glossopharyngeal, vagus, spinal accessory, hypoglossal
= On Mount Olympus’s towering tops, a fat-eared giant viewed some hops