1. Psych 101
Dr. Harvey

2. Memory: Living with Yesterday

3. Fundamental Memory Processes
Encoding
Organizing and transforming incoming information to be entered into memory
Storage
Retaining information in memory
Retrieval
Accessing information previously stored in memory
Rehearsal
The continued activation of information to retain it in short-term memory

4. Different Memory Stores
We have three different memory stores, or sets of neurons that maintain information
Each memory store has a different…
Duration: the length of time information is maintained
Capacity: the amount of information that is maintained

5. Different Memory Stores
Fundamental distinctions among memory stores
Sensory
Memory
Short-Term
Memory
Long-Term
Memory
Rehearsal

6. Sensory Memory
Very short memory store arising from the temporary activation of perceptual areas of the brain
Characteristics
Duration: Very short, typically less than 1 second
Capacity: Large

7. Z R A T B S L D Q E K R Sensory Memory
Sperling’s partial report technique: a tone indicated which row to report after the stimuli disappeared
High tone = Top
Medium tone = Middle
Low tone= Bottom
Z R A T
B S L D
Q E K R

8. Sensory Memory Sperling’s partial report technique Conclusions
Large-capacity memory store that fades very quickly
Information must be accessed before it fades or it is lost
Attention is necessary to move information from SM to STM

9. Short-Term Memory
Short-term memory store is the only memory store whose contents you are aware of
Characteristics
Duration: Several seconds without rehearsal, typically 30 seconds with rehearsal
Capacity: Small, typically 5-9 items
Processes in STM
Chunking
Rehearsal

11. 1(954)

12. Working Memory (WM)
WM was proposed to address the limitations of the original STM model
Three components of WM
Central executive
Articulatory loop
Visuospatial sketch pad (VSSP)

13. Long-Term Memory
Long-term memory store containing the accumulated knowledge base, gives meaning
Characteristics
Duration: Hours to years
Capacity: Huge-possibly limitless

14. Serial Position Effect
Primacy
Effect
Recency
Effect
100
Percentage Recalled 50
Note to Instructors: Before showing the graph, present students with the following list of words and plot the number recalled by serial position
Word List: Ring, Tree, Rope, Wall, Pen, Nail, Roof, Monk, Nose, Lake, Pear, Lock, Wax, Store, Chair, Box, Car, Door, Rose, Wing, Clam
Early Middle Late
Serial Position

15. Serial Position Effect
Based on what you now know about the different memory stores, how would you explain…
The primacy effect?
The recency effect?
The poor recall for words in the middle of the list?
How would the results change if…
The words were presented at a very fast rate?
After hearing the list of words, you had to count backward from 431 before writing down your answers?

16. Making Memories: Code
A code is a type of mental representation, an internal “re-presentation” of a stimulus or event
You can store information in a visual or verbal code
vs. “Coffee and a muffin”

17. Making Memories: Code
Information stored as one type of code does not need to match the original input
Visual stimuli can be coded verbally
Verbal stimuli can be coded visually
Information stored and accessed as visual code will activate the visual processing areas of the brain (occipital lobe)

18. Consolidation
The process of forming a relatively permanent memory trace in LTM may take several years!
Patients who receive electroconvulsive therapy experience disruption of memory for recent events, even those that are no longer in STM. Older memories are unaffected.

19. Reconsolidation
The simple act of recalling information can change the information. These changes are reconsolidated, restabilized as a stored structure.
Different proteins undergo consolidation

20. Depth of Processing
The success of learning new information depends upon the depth at which it is processed
Organization and integration is the key to learning
Intentional learning
Incidental learning

21. Flashbulb Memories
Highly emotional and detailed memories of personal experiences
Where were you on September 11, 2001?
Who were you with?
What were you doing?
How did you feel when you heard the news?
Sugar pill vs. Norepinephrine blocker experiment
Von Restorf effect

22. Types of LTM Long-Term Memory Explicit Memory Semantic Memory
Implicit Memory
Explicit Memory
Semantic Memory
Episodic Memory

23. Implicit vs. Explicit Memories
Implicit memories
Cannot be voluntarily called to mind and verbalized
Include motor skills
Explicit memories
Can be voluntarily called to mind and verbalized
Consist of both factual knowledge (semantic) and memory for personal experiences (episodic)

24. Implicit Memories: Skills
Skills are sets of behaviors that can be applied to a variety of stimuli within a domain, such as riding a bike
Initially, skills rely on controlled processing and given enough practice shift to rely on automatic processing

25. Biological Foundations of Memory
Long-term potentiation (LTP) is the strengthening of the connections between the sending and receiving neurons that underlies memory storage

28. Retrieval: More Than the Past
False memories
Loftus and colleagues (1978)
People watched a series of slides that showed a red Datsun stopping at a stop sign and then proceeding into an accident
Participants were asked
“Did another car pass the red Datsun while it was stopped at the stop sign?” OR
“Did another car pass the red Datsun while it was stopped at the yield sign?”

30. What Causes Forgetting?
Decay
Theory that memories fade over time because relevant connections between neurons are lost
Interferences
Theory that the disruption of the ability to remember one piece of information is caused by the presence of other information
Retroactive: New information interferes with old
Proactive: Old information interferes with new

31. Amnesia Retrograde amnesia disrupts previous memories
Infantile amnesia
Anterograde amnesia leaves already consolidated memories intact but prevents the learning of new facts
Patient H.M.

32. The Repressed Memory Debate
Are they real memories that are forced out of consciousness and then later emerge, as hypothesized by Freud, or are they false memories?
Evidence is mixed