Memory

Memory

1. Storage

   • Maintaining information in memory
   • Sensory Stores
     • Sensory
       • Capacity to preserve sensory info in its original form for 1/4 of a second
       • Partial Report (Sperling)
         • Classic experiment on visual sensory store
         • Tone cues participants which row to report
           • Tone comes after the array is gone
         • Much larger percent recalled, regardless of which row
     • Short Term
       • Limited Capacity store that can maintain unrehearsed info for up to 20 seconds
       • Capacity
         • George Miller 1956
           • Number of items that can be recalled from STM, in order on half of the tested memory trials is 7+ or -2 items
         • Recent research by Cowan that prevents subjects from chunking and rehearsing info shows it s likely 4+ or -1
       • Chunking
         • Storing info into meaningful or familiar units
       • Rehearsal
         • Repeating words over&over or thinking about the info
         • Maintenance Rehearsal
           • Done to keep in memory
         • Elaborative Rehearsal
           • Thinking about it more so you are more likely to remember later
       • Allan Baddely
         • Describes STM as Working Memory
           • A limited capacity storage that temp. maintains & stores info by providing an interface between perception, LTM & action
           • STM is not limited to phonemic encoding but includes visual also
     • Long Term
       • Unlimited capacity store that can hold info for days, weeks or years. Can be permanent
       • Flashbulb Memories
         • Vivid & Detailed recollections of momentous events
         • May not be permanent or accurate
         • Special because people are influenced by emotion & are more attached to these memories
       • Recognition
         • Requires the subject to select previously learned info from a number of options.
       • Recall
         • Requires the subject to reproduce info on their own without any cues
       • Conceptual Hierarchies
         • Multilevel classification system
       • Schemas
         • An organized cluster of knowledge about a particular object or event which we understand from previous experience
       • Semantic Networks
         • Nodes represent concepts & are joined to related concepts
         • Kind of like a concept map

2. Encoding

   • Craik & Lockhart
     • Levels of Processing
       • Structural Encoding
         • Shallow Processing
       • Phonemic Encoding
         • Intermediate Processing
       • Semantic Encoding
         • Deep Processing
           • Best way to remember something
     • Deeper levels of processing (encoding) result in having the ability to remember something longer.
   • Enriching Encoding
     • Elaboration
       • linking the info. you're suppose to remember to other info at the time of encoding.
       • Done with Semantic Encoding
     • Visual Imagery
       • Dual Coding Theory
         • Memory is enhanced by forming semantic (meaning) & visual codes since either can lead to recall
       • Creating mental pictures to represent the information you want to remember
     • Self-Referent Encoding
       • Involves deciding how or whether info is personally relevant.
       • Improves memory for the words because it promotes additional elaboration & better organization of the info.

3. Retrieval

   • Getting Info out of Memory
     • Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon
       • Temp. inability to remember something you know, feels just out of reach.
     • Reinstating the Context
       • Hypnosis, increases the subject's tendency to report incorrect info.
     • Encoding Specificity Principle
       • Various pieces of info. stored at the same time or in the same type of situation, mood, or place.
   • Retrieval Cues
     • Context Cues
       • Trying to recall an event by putting yourself back into the context in which it occurred.
     • Memories can often be jogged with retrieval cues.
     • Stimuli that help gain access to memories
   • Elizabeth Loftus
     • Misinformation Effect
       • Consists of 3 Stages
         • 1 Subjects view an event
         • 2 Subjects are exposed to info about the event, some of which is misleading
         • 3 Subjects are later tested on what they remember about the original event
       • One's SCHEMA may be different than others

4. Forgetting

   • Hermann Ebbinghaus 1885
     • Studied only himself
     • Memorized 420 lists of nonsense syllables
       • BAF, GAC
       • Tested his memory after various time periods
       • Forgetting Curve
         • Graphs retention (remembering) & Forgetting over time
         • Most forgetting occurs right after learning something
         • Learning Meaningful Information
           • Forgetting curve is not so sharp
         • Depends on what measure is used to measure forgetting
     • First person to conduct scientific studies of Forgetting
   • Measures of Retention/Forgetting
     • 3 Measures
       • Recall
         • Requires subjects to reproduce info on their own without any cues
       • Recognition
         • Requires the subject to select previously learned info from a number of options
           • Multiple Choice
         • Recognition tests yield higher scores than recall tests on the same material
           • No guarantee that the test will be easier
       • Relearning
         • Requires a subject to memorize info a second time to determine how much time/effort is saved by having learned it before.
   • Why we Forget
     • Ineffective Coding
       • A lot of forgetting is due to not remembering,
       • It has never been encoded
       • Pseudoforgetting
         • Usually happens due to lack of attention
     • Decay
       • Involves Storage
       • Proposes that forgetting occurs because memory traces fade with time.
         • We forget because of the time that passes.
       • Time alone can cause a person to forget info from the Sensory Memory & STM
       • Researchers have not been able to prove Decay causes LTM forgetting
     • Interference
       • Forget info because of competition from other material.
       • 2 Kinds of interference
         • Retroactive
           • Occurs when new info interferes with the info one already acquires.
         • Proactive
           • Occurs when info one already learned prevents the person from remembering new info.
     • Retrieval Failure
       • More likely to happen when there is a mismatch between the way we encoded the material & the retrieval cues.
     • Motivated Forgetting
       • Forgetting things you don't want to think about.

5. The Anatomy of Memory

   • 7 Sins of Memory
     • Transcience
       • The simple weakening of memory over time.
     • Absentmindedness
       • Failure to pay attention because of preoccupied with other things
     • Blocking
       • Fail to retrieve an item of information
       • Similar to the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
     • Misattribution
       • Assigning a memory to the wrong source.
     • Suggestibility
       • Memory is distorted.
         • Sometimes due to misleading questions
     • Bias
       • Inaccuracy due to the effect of our current knowledge on our reconstruction of the past.
       • We often edit or rewrite our previous experiences.
     • Persistance
       • Unwanted memories or recollections that you cannot forget.
         • Memories that haunt you.
         • Associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or Depression.
   • Systems&Types of Memory
     • Implicit Memory
       • Remembering something you didn't mean to,
     • Explicit Memory
       • Intentionally remembering something.
       • Affected By:
         • Age
         • Alcohol
         • Amnesia
         • Interference
     • Declarative Memory
       • Handles Factual Information
         • Definitions, Math, Faces, Dates
       • Handled by the medial temporal lobe & parts of the cortex it communicates with.
     • Procedural Memory
       • Memory for actions, skills & conditioned responses.
       • Related to Implicit Memory
       • Cerebelum & Amygdala may be involved, but difficult to study.
   • Parts of the Declarative Memory:
     • Semantic
       • General Facts
     • Episodic
       • Personal Facts & Experiences
     • Prospective Memory
       • Refers to recalling something you must do in the future.
     • Retrospective Memory
       • Refers to remembering past events or facts
   • Mnemonic Devices
     • Used to improve memory
     • Visual
       • Link Method
         • Forming a mental image of items to be remembered in a way that links them together.
       • Method of Loci
         • Taking an imaginary walk along a familiar path where images of items to be remembered are associated with certain locations.
       • Keyword Method
         • associate a concrete word with an abstract word & generate an image to represent the concrete word.
     • Verbal
       • Acrostics
         • First Letter of words in a sentence
       • Acronyms
         • Make up a word from the first letter of info you need to remember.
       • Narrative Methods
         • Make a story or song
       • Rhymes
         • Thirty days hath September.