1. MEMORY

2. A huge problem  Eye witness testimony  Witnesses are not always right, even if they are certain  Picking the wrong “rapist”  How could this happen?

3. Memory Overview  Receives information from senses  Puts that information into a usable form  Organizes it as it is stored away  Retrieves it when needed

4. Three Processes  Encoding – getting the info and then transforming it into a form that the brain can retain  Storage – holding the info  Retrieval – pulling it out

5. Three Models  Information-processing- way that information is handled  Levels of processing – how long and how intensely we work with a memory determines how well we retain and retrieve it  Parallel distributed processing – we remember things in many different forms all at once, in parallel

6. Information processing view  Encoding  Storage  Retrieval

7. Short-term memory  Temporary storage of information you have just experienced  Lasts for about 20-30 seconds, unless rehearsed  Holds 7 (plus or minus 2) items, like a crowded elevator holds passengers  Can be effectively extended by memorizing information in chunks – meaningful units  Maintenance rehearsal – repeating the same thing over and over

8. Long-term memory  Unlimited capacity  Lasts (usually) as long as you do  Weakened by interference  Also vulnerable to loss of retrieval cues  Usually located in the frontal lobes  Meaningful, distinctive material goes in quickly

9. Sensory memory  The first stage of memory  A very brief representation of all stimuli present to us  This is what we see briefly around us, we need to put into short or long term to retain it  Selective attention will transfer this information into short term memory

10. Echoic memory  Brief memory that someone said something  This helps us have meaningful conversations  Helps us remember what a person said to be able to continue the discussion

11. Retroactive interference  Retroactive interference – work with new material makes old material harder to remember  Final exams. Going back to an old phone, previous car…

12. The crucial focus  “How does this information apply to some experience in my own life?”  Make it your own and it will be yours forever.  Also known as elaborative rehearsal

13. Long-term memory storage  To improve our memory we must improve the way we store information  Just repeating things, over and over again, will not help us remember them  We must process (work with) them deeply, by focusing on meaning

14. Procedural memories  Memory of skills, procedures, habits, even conditioned responses  There are plenty of things that we can easily do, but have great difficulty describing  Very hard to “forget”  Riding a bike, typing, tying a tie, etc.  Tested patients with Alzheimer's showed no loss of memory of these skills

15. Declarative memory  General facts and personal information  Long term memory  Conscious and known

16. More memory types  Semantic – memory of general principles  Information learned through education  Episodic – memory of specific events  Specific to you, events of your day..

17. Encoding specificity  Associations formed while learning are the most effective retrieval cues  This classroom  This time of day  Same chair  Same people

18. Where were you?  President Kennedy’s assassination  The Challenger explosion  But research conducted in the wake 9/11, show that even these memories decay