1. Episodic Memory Memory for an episode or event in your own life

2. Episodic Memory Memory for an episode or event in your own life Has temporal context (entails a sense of duration and date)

3. Episodic Memory Memory for an episode or event in your own life Has temporal context (entails a sense of duration and date) examples: –recall breakfast –what happened this weekend

4. Recalling Episodic Memory Recall is highly sensitive to context - Similarities in context (especially smell) can trigger vivid recollections

5. Recalling Episodic Memory Memory is affected by the nature of your engagement with the information Levels-of-Processing Theory

6. Recalling Episodic Memory Memory is affected by the nature of your engagement with the information Levels-of-Processing Theory –Consider this experiment: List CAT pie PILLOW TREE Method of Learning stating capitals or lower-case repeating words putting words into a sentence Recall is tested some time later.

7. Recalling Episodic Memory Memory is affected by the nature of your engagement with the information Levels-of-Processing Theory –Consider this experiment: Result: Best recall with “deep” processing Worst recall with “surface” processing List CAT pie PILLOW TREE

8. Recalling Episodic Memory Memory is affected by the nature of your engagement with the information Interpretation: –the successful use of memory depends on the number of connections that are made between related items and the degree to which these are initially activated

9. Recalling Episodic Memory context is critical! –location, physiological state, etc. affect ability to recall –e.g. lists of words are recalled better when recalled where they were first learned

10. Recalling Episodic Memory Recall is a generative processes rather than simply calling up stored data

11. Recalling Episodic Memory Recall is a generative processes rather than simply calling up stored data Evidenced by the fact that episodic memories can be distorted or completely false under certain circumstances

12. Recalling Episodic Memory Misinformation Effect - exposure to information subsequent to storage of memory can alter the contents of the memory

13. Recalling Episodic Memory Misinformation Effect Consider the following example: –Subjects were shown a video depicting a car accident

14. Recalling Episodic Memory Misinformation Effect Consider the following example: –Subjects were shown a video depicting a car accident –Then given the following question: “How fast were the vehicles going when they ______”

15. Recalling Episodic Memory Misinformation Effect Consider the following example: –Subjects were shown a video depicting a car accident –Then given the following question: “How fast were the vehicles going when they ______” –Different subjects were asked questions that differed in the “magnitude” of the final word

16. Recalling Episodic Memory Misinformation Effect Consider the following example: –Subjects were shown a video depicting a car accident –Then given the following question: “How fast were the vehicles going when they ______” –Different subjects were asked questions that differed in the “magnitude” of the final word –The possible words were: Contacted, Hit, Bumped, Collided, and Smashed

17. Recalling Episodic Memory Misinformation Effect Consider the following example: –Average estimated velocity depended on the nature of the question

18. Recalling Episodic Memory Misinformation Effect Interpretation: –Episodic memory can be distorted by subsequent information

19. Recalling Episodic Memory Misinformation Effect Interpretation: –Episodic memory can be distorted by subsequent information –Memory might be directly altered - the Changed-Trace Hypothesis –A second competing memory could be created by the question, which interferes with the initial memory - the Multiple-Trace Hypothesis

20. Recalling Episodic Memory Memory for episodes in life can be illusory

21. Recalling Episodic Memory Memory for episodes in life can be illusory Consider this example: –Subjects were given a list of words to remember via a video tape of a man and a woman speaking the words

22. Recalling Episodic Memory Memory for episodes in life can be illusory Consider this example: –Subjects were given a list of words to remember via a video tape of a man and a woman speaking the words –Then given a list of words, some but not all of which had been studied, and asked to indicate which speaker had said the word or indicate “not sure”

23. Recalling Episodic Memory Memory for episodes in life can be illusory Consider this example: –Subjects were given a list of words to remember via a video tape of a man and a woman speaking the words –Then given a list of words, some but not all of which had been studied, and asked to indicate which speaker had said the word or indicate “not sure” –87% of the unstudied words were attributed to one of the speakers !

24. Recalling Episodic Memory A particularly difficult challenge regarding such False Memories arises when details of a crime are in question as in eye-witness testimony or repressed memories of abuse during childhood

25. Implicit and Explicit Memory: yet another distinction The successful recall of episodic memory entails a conscious awareness for the contents of the memory

26. Implicit and Explicit Memory: yet another distinction The successful recall of episodic memory entails a conscious awareness for the contents of the memory Explicit Memory is any memory that is both available and accessible by consciousness

27. Implicit and Explicit Memory: yet another distinction Are all memories explicit? Is all information stored in the brain subject to conscious scrutiny?

28. Implicit and Explicit Memory: yet another distinction Are all memories explicit? Is all information stored in the brain subject to conscious scrutiny? Implicit Memory refers to encoded memories that are not part of the “contents” of awareness

29. Implicit and Explicit Memory: yet another distinction How can we know whether memory is stored/recalled implicitly or explicitly?

30. Implicit Memory Consider the following distinction in recalling items from a list of words:

31. Implicit Memory Consider the following distinction in recalling items from a list of words: Free Recall - subjects can be asked to simply recall and report as many items as possible - these items are accessible as explicit memory

32. Implicit Memory Consider the following distinction in recalling items from a list of words: Implicit Recall - subjects can be asked to complete a word stem with any word that comes to mind (no mention of testing memory!) __ack

33. Implicit Memory Consider the following distinction in recalling items from a list of words: Implicit Recall - subjects can be asked to complete a word stem with any word that comes to mind (no mention of testing memory!) But how do you know that information is stored/recalled implicitly? Couldn’t it be explicit?

34. Implicit Memory Consider the following distinction in recalling items from a list of words: Implicit Recall - subjects can be asked to complete a word stem with any word that comes to mind (no mention of testing memory!) Twist - require subject to complete stem with a word that wasn’t on the list - if a word from the list is used preferentially, it was remembered implicitly

35. Implicit Memory Consider the implications regarding the nature of consciousness and the connection between neural activity and awareness

36. Next Time: –Repressed Memories by Beth Loftus –Wednesday - neuropsychology of LTM and discussion of The Lost Mariner by Sacks