1. Memory
Chapter 08

2. Information Processing Model
Encoding - getting information into the memory system
Storage - the retaining of encoded information over time
Retrieval - getting encoded information out of memory storage

3. Automatic Processing
The unconscious encoding of some information without effort
Usually information on space, time and frequency

4. Effortful Processing
Encoding that requires attention and a conscious deliberate effort
The best processing is through rehearsal or practice.

5. Rehearsal
The conscious repetition of information in order to encode it
The more time spent on rehearsal, the more information one tends to remember.

6. Rehearsal and Retention (From Baddeley, 1982)

7. Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)
German philosopher who did early memory studies with nonsense syllables
Developed the forgetting curve, also called the “retention curve” or “Ebbinghaus curve”

8. Overlearning
Continuing to rehearse after the point the information has been learned
Rehearsing past the point of mastery
Helps ensure information will be available even under stress

9. Serial Position Effect
The tendency to recall the first and last items in a list
Primacy effect – the ability to recall information near the beginning of a list
Recency effect – the ability to recall information near the end of a list

10. Primacy/Recency Effect (From Craik & Watkins, 1973)

11. Spacing Effect
The tendency for distributed practice to yield better retention than is achieved through massed practice

12. Distributed Practice
Spreading rehearsal out in several sessions separated by period of time
Usually enhances the recalling of the information

13. Massed Practice
Putting all rehearsal together in one long session (cramming)
Not as effective as distributed practice

14. Semantic Encoding The encoding of meaning
Encoding information that is meaningful enhances recall

15. Semantic Encoding (From Craik & Tulving, 1975)

16. Acoustic Encoding
Encoding information based on the sounds of the information

17. Acoustic Encoding (From Craik & Tulving, 1975)

18. Visual Encoding
Encoding information based on the images of the information

19. Visual Encoding (From Craik & Tulving, 1975)

20. Self-Reference Effect
The enhanced semantic encoding of information that is personally relevant
Making information meaningful to a person by making it relevant to one’s life

21. Mnemonic Device
A memory trick or technique for remembering specific facts
“Every good boy does fine” to remember the notes on the lines of the scale
“People say you could have odd lots of good years” as a way to remember how to spell “psychology”

22. Method of Loci
A mnemonic device in which the person associates items to be remembered with imaginary places

23. Peg-Word System
A mnemonic device in which the person associates items to remember with a list of peg words already memorized
Goal is to visualize the items to remember with the items on the pegs

24. Peg Word System

25. Chunking Organizing information into meaningful units
More information can be encoded if organized into meaningful chunks.

26. Three Storage Systems Three distinct storage systems : Sensory Memory
Short-Term Memory (includes Working Memory)
Long-Term Memory

27. Sensory Memory
The brief, initial coding of sensory information in the memory system
Iconic store – visual information
Echoic store – sound information
Information held just long enough to make a decision on its importance

28. Short-Term Memory
Conscious, activated memory which holds information briefly before it is stored or forgotten
Holds approximately seven, plus or minus two, chunks of information
Can retain the information as long as it is rehearsed
Also called “working memory”

29. Long-Term Memory
The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system
Holds memories without conscious effort

30. Flashbulb Memory
A vivid, clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
Can be personal memories or centered around a shared event

31. Long-Term Potentiation
An increase in a synapse’s firing efficiency
Believed to be the neural basis of learning and memory

32. Explicit Memory
Memory of facts and experiences that one must consciously retrieve and declare
Processed through the hippocampus

33. Implicit Memory
Memory of skills and procedures that are retrieved without conscious recollection
Processed through the cerebellum

34. Implicit Memories

35. Memory and the Hippocampus
Damage to the hippocampus would result in the inability to form new explicit memories, but the ability to remember the skills of implicit memories

36. Memory and the Hippocampus

37. Retrieval The process of getting information out of memory storage
Two forms of retrieval
Recall
Recognition

38. Recall
A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier
Essay, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer test questions test recall

39. Recognition
A measure of memory in which a person must identify items learned earlier
Multiple choice and matching test questions test recognition

40. Context Effect
The enhanced ability to retrieve information when you are in an environment similar to the one in which you encoded the information

41. Context

42. State Dependent Memory
The enhanced ability to retrieve information when the person is in the same physical and emotional state they were in when they encoded the information
The retrieval state is congruent with the encoding state

43. Information Processing Model
Encoding - getting information into the memory system
Storage - the retaining of encoded information over time
Retrieval - getting encoded information out of memory storage

44. Encoding Failures People fail to encode information because:
It is unimportant to them
It is not necessary to know the information
A decrease in the brain’s ability to encode

45. Which is the Right Penny? (From Nickerson & Adams, 1979)

46. Which is the Right Penny? (From Nickerson & Adams, 1979)

47. Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)
German philosopher who did early memory studies with nonsense syllables
Developed the forgetting curve, also called the “retention curve” or “Ebbinghaus curve”

48. The Forgetting Curve (Adapted from Ebbinghaus, 1885)

49. Permastore Memory
Long-term memories that are especially resistant to forgetting and are likely to last a lifetime

50. Interference
A retrieval problem when one memory gets in the way of remembering another
Two types of interference:
Proactive interference
Retroactive interference

51. Proactive Interference
The disruptive effect of earlier learning on the recall of recently stored information
An older memory disrupts a newer memory

52. Retroactive Interference
The disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of previously stored information
A newer memory disrupts an older memory

53. Repression Part of Freud’s psychoanalysis
Process of moving anxiety-producing memories to the unconscious
Supposed means of protecting oneself from painful memories
Not well-supported by research; stressful incidents are actually more likely to be encoded

54. Memory Jigsaw Analogy
Memories, rather than being like a video tape, are formed as bits and pieces.
People may retrieve only some of the pieces of the memory

55. Elizabeth Loftus (1944- ) Does research in memory construction
Has found that subjects’ memories vary based on the wording of questions
Demonstrated the misinformation effect

56. Misinformation Effect
Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event
Affects eyewitness testimony

57. Children’s Testimony on Abuse
Research has shown children’s testimony to be unreliable
Children are very open to suggestions
As children mature their memories improve

58. Accurate Interviewing Methods
To promote accuracy with children’s testimony the interviewer should:
Phrase questions in a way the child can understand
Have no prior contact with the child
Use neutral language and do not lead or suggest answers