1. Memory
The ability to remember things we have experienced, imagined, or learned
Memory is often seen as steps in an information-processing model
Encoding – forming a memory code
Keyboard
Storage – maintaining encoded information in memory over time
Saving data on hard drive
Retrieval – recovering information from memory storage
Displaying data on the monitor

2. Attention Selects certain information for further processing
We normally pay attention to only a small portion of incoming information

3. Encoding Process/Levels of processing
Some information is stored visually, the physical structure of the stimulus - – structural encoding
Shallow processing
Much information is stored in STM phonologically (according to how it sounds) – phonemic encoding
Intermediate processing

4. Encoding in Long-Term Memory
Most information is encoded in terms of meaning – semantic encoding
Deep processing
Some information is stored verbatim
Some information is coded in terms of nonverbal images

5. Memory Atkinson-Shiffrin theory
Memory storage involves 3 separate systems:
Sensory memory – fraction of a second to several seconds
Short-term memory – up to 30 seconds
Long-term memory – up to a lifetime

6. Sensory Memory
Sensory registers are the first stop for all sensory information
The sensory registers are very large, but information stays for only a very short time

7. Visual vs. Auditory memory
Iconic (visual) vs. Echoic (auditory) memories
George Sperling’s classic study – pg 213

9. Visual and Auditory Registers
Visual register holds images, or icons, that represent all aspects of a visual image
Icons normally last about ¼ second in the visual register
No meaning
Auditory register holds echoes of sound
Echoes can last up to several seconds in the auditory register

10. Short-Term Memory
Short-term memory holds information we are aware of or thinking about at any given moment
Sometimes referred to as working memory
Information selected by attention from sensory memory, may pass into STM

11. Capacity of Short-Term Memory
STM allows us to retain information long enough to use it, e.g. looking up a telephone number and remembering it long enough to dial it.
Research has demonstrated that STM lasts approximately between 15 and 30 seconds, unless people rehearse the material

12. Capacity of Short-Term Memory
Larger amounts of information can be held by using the process of chunking
Miller has found that STM has a limited capactiy of around 7 “chunks” of information
George Miller, 1956 “Magical number seven, plus or minus 2”
Individuals can recall only about seven items in a task that required them to remember unfamiliar material

13. Capacity of Storage
Chunking – a way of increasing the capacity of your STM by combining stimuli into larger, possibly higher-order units
Chunk – a group of familiar stimuli stored as a single unit

14. Capacity of Short-Term Memory
STM also appears to mostly encode memory acoustically (sound), but can also retain visuospatial images.

15. Maintaining Short-Term Memory
Information can be held in STM by using rote rehearsal, also called maintenance rehearsal
maintenance rehearsal involves repeating information over and over
This technique is not very effective in creating long term memories

16. Long Term Memory

17. Long-Term Memory
Everything that is learned is stored in long-term memory
LTM provides the lasting retention of information and skills, from minutes to a lifetime
Capacity of long-term memory
Vast amounts of information may be stored for many years
No known limits to capacity

18. Serial Position Effect
People tend to recall the first items (primacy effect) and last items (recency effect) in a list
Demonstrates how short- and long-term memory work together
Primacy effect reflects long-term memory
Recency effect reflects short-term memory

19. Serial Position Effect

20. Retrieval
Recognition – identification of learned items when they are presented
I.e., Multiple choice exam
Recall – retrieval of previously learned information
i.e., Essay exam

21. Maintaining Long-Term Memory
maintenance rehearsal
Repetition can result in long-term memory
Only effective if there is intent to learn material
Example: What does a penny look like?
The accurate picture is the one third from the left. Most people will get this wrong because although they have seen a lot of pennies, they never pay attention so they never learn.

22. Maintaining Long-Term Memory
Elaborative rehearsal
Process of relating new information to information already stored in memory
Meaning is assigned to new information and then linked to as much existing knowledge as possible

23. Sequence of Information Processing

24. Schemata
A schema is a set of beliefs or expectations about something based on past experience
Incoming information is fit with existing schemata
Schemata can also influence the amount of attention paid to a given event

25. Schemata
People are more likely to remember things that are consistent with their schemas than things that are not
However, individuals sometimes exhibit better recall of items that violate their schema-based expectations

26. Schema Activity

27. Gender Schema

28. Types of Long-Term Memory
Episodic memories
Memories for personal events in a specific time and place
(life events)
Semantic memories
Memory for general facts and concepts not linked to a specific time
(things learned in school)
Procedural memories
Motor skills and habits
Emotional memories
Learned emotional responses to various stimuli

29. Types of Long-Term Memory
Prospective Memory
Prospective memory is the ability to remember to do something in the future (e.g., remembering to return someone's phone call, or the time and day of your dentist appointment next week).
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

30. Explicit and Implicit Memory
Explicit memory
Memory for information we can readily express and are aware of having
This information can be intentionally recalled
Declarative Memory System – Episodic and Semantic

31. Explicit and Implicit Memory
Memory for information that we cannot readily express and may not be aware of having
Cannot be intentionally retrieved
Nondeclarative memory - Procedural , memories, classical conditioning

32. The Biology of Memory How are memories formed?
Changes in synaptic connections among neural cells
Called long-term potentiation
Where are memories stored?
There is no one place
Different parts of the brain are specialized for different types of information

33. Where Are Memories Stored?

35. Amygdala Right side of the Amygdala Left side of the Amygdala
Focuses on the overall picture of events
More activated in males
Left side of the Amygdala
Focuses on the details of events
More activated in females

36. Forgetting

37. Memory Ebbinghaus – first to research on memory Forgetting Curve
He concluded that most forgetting occurs very rapidly after learning something – without meaning.

38. The Biology of Forgetting
Decay theory
Memories deteriorate because of the passage of time
Amnesia
Memory loss caused by accidents, surgery, poor diet, or disease
Retrograde amnesia
Loss of memory from prior to an accident or injury
Anterograde amnesia
Loss of memory from after the accident or injury

39. Experience and Forgetting
Retroactive interference
Occurs when new information interferes with information already in memory
Ie., Can’t remember your old phone number; can’t remember plays from Varela
Proactive interference
Occurs when information already in memory interferes with new information
Ie., Can’t remember new phone number; can’t remember new plays from Ferguson

40. Experience and Forgetting
PORN
Proactive – can remember Old
Retroactive – can remember New

41. Interference

42. Experience and Forgetting
Situational factors
Recall of information is better if environment is the same as when information was learned
State-dependent memory
Recall of information is better if person is in the same physiological state as when information was learned
Reconstruction
Memories can be altered with each retrieval

43. How to Reduce Forgetting
Develop motivation
Practice memory skills
Be confident in your ability to remember
Minimize distractions
Stay focused
Make meaningful connections to what is in long-term memory
Use mental imagery
Use retrieval cues
Rely on more than memory alone
Be aware of possible distortion due to schemata

44. Special Topics in Memory
Autobiographical memory
Recollection of events in our life
More recent events are easier to recall
Childhood Amnesia
Generally poor memory for events prior to age two
May occur because brain in not fully developed at birth
Another theory is that it may be due to lack of clear sense of self in young children

45. Special Topics in Memory
Extraordinary memory
Includes eidetic imagery (photographic memory)
Usually due to well developed memory techniques
Flashbulb memories
Vivid memories of dramatic event
May occur because of strong emotional content

46. Special Topics in Memory
Flashbulb memories
Vivid memories of dramatic event
May occur because of strong emotional content
Distinctly vivid, precise, concrete, long lasting memories of the personal circumstances surrounding people’s discovery of shocking events (stressful situations)

47. Flashbulb memory Flashbulb memories
Bring out very clear personal memories of the context in which someone hears the news
Time affects the forgetting curve for FB memories less than it does with other memories

48. Flashbulb memory
During a stressful situation, the sympathetic nervous system activates and pours epinephrine and norepinephrine into one’s bloodstream
When the sympathetic nervous system activates it also signals the hippocampus into a more alert state, heightening memory consolidation

49. Flashbulb memory
During a mild to moderate stressor, cognition is enhanced
This is why you can easily recall the events from your Senior Picnic
Prolonged stressors damage memory consolidation and emotional stability, a process that also increases the risk of mental illness

50. Special Topics in Memory
Eyewitness testimony
Shown to be unreliable
People’s recall for events may be influenced by what they heard or imagined
Elizabeth Loftus, 1979, 1992
Misinformation effect – reconstructive distortions show up frequently in eye-witness testimony
Loftus & Palmer, 1974
Videotape of a car accident

51. Eyewitness testimony https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB2OegI6wvI

52. Special Topics in Memory
Recovered memories
Involved the recall of long-forgotten dramatic event
May be the result of suggestion
Some evidence that memories can be repressed and recalled later

53. Cultural Influences on Memory
Cultural values and practices influence what kinds of things we remember and how easily we recall them