MEMORY

MEMORY

1. ENCODING (forming a memory code ex. Entering data through a keyboard)

   • requires ATTENTION (you must consciously/selectively choose to pay attention to what you would like to remember)
     • • Hi cognitive load requires a lot of attention/resources so anything other than what you are trying to remember gets filtered out & selective attention begins early
     • • Low cognitive load requires less attention/resources so less things get filtered out & selective attention begins later
   • requires PROCESSING (shallow, intermediate or deep) determines what you remember
     • SHALLOW processing you remember the font of a text or the size
     • INTERMEDIATE you remember patterns like angles and shadows
     • DEEP deep (best for long term memory) includes processing the meaning of verbal/written input (what does this mean?)
   • ELABORATION is when you link one stimulus/something to other information/to something else to remember it ex. In order to remember something you use examples, acronyms etc.
     • VISUAL MEMORY allows for dual coding ex. Putting a picture to match with the words, you gain two memory codes of the same thing making it easily retainable
       • SELF-REFERENT ENCODING is when you make the examples relevant to you ex. Engaging in a lecture by relating to it helps to remember it
         • ORGANIZATION when encoding is done in a way that makes sense to you (mind maps), help you to remember them

2. STORAGE is the maintenance of encoding information in memory over time.

   • Sensory stimuli are inputted and then held in a “holding bin” before entering your short-term memory where you then determine what you remember through selective attention. We then rehearse what we want to remember repeatedly through maintenance rehearsal and elaborative rehearsal so that it enters our long term memory.
     • inaccuracy of memories
       • FLASH BULB MEMORIES:
       • • Electrically stimulated memories are not accurate either
     • - Organization of long-term memory – memory is organized in a particular way in order to enhance memory ex. You remember the months of the year in order but not alphabetically
       • CONCEPTUAL HIERARCHIES: concepts that can be broken down into subcategories and can be hierarchically organized (ex. animals into wild cats into African cats, domestic cats, etc.)
       • SCHEMAS organized clusters of information based on previous experience or expectations (ex. Before coming to Laurier you attend info sessions, speak to people already here, ex. And get information that allow you to form expectations of what school would be like)
         • we remember schema consistent information and forget schema inconsistent information meaning we prefer to remember info that is consistent with our own expectations/experiences (selective – biased memory)
       • SEMATIC NETWORKS: an activation of a memory stimulates another memory and so on. Memories linked by experience.
         • Includes Spreading activation (the continues activation of memories through the network of memories). Ex. You start talking about school and end up talking about animals. “flood of memories”
       • PARALLEL DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING MODEL (PDP): memories require patterns of activated networks (ex. The memory of what your mom cooked every Sunday night for dinner – not just one memory but a pattern of memories)
   • IMPLICIT MEMORIES (non-intentional - the memories you don’t intend to stick with you for the rest of your life but you do)
     • - Procedural memory is a part of your implicit memory where you remember certain things by doing them ex. How to drive a car and tie your shoelaces
   • EXPLICIT MEMORIES (intentional – those we hope and work on to put into our long term memory)
     • FACTUAL MEMORY: long term memory that can be further divided (fact based information you hope to remember like course content)

3. - Retrieval – retrieval cues (stimuli that help gain access to memories)

   • ENCODING SPECIFICITY FOR CONTEXT: for optimal retrieval we need to retrieve into under the same conditions that we used to encode it ex. If you study in your bedroom, the best place to right the test will be in your bedroom
     • ENCODING SPECIFICITY FOR MOOD/STATE OF MIND: its ideal for you to take the test in the same mood or state of mind you were in that you studied in
   • RECONSTRUCTED MEMORIES: memories that people create/make-up in order to fit with their schemas (ex. Thinking sleep was in the cluster of words associated with it when it wasn’t)
     • MISINFORMATION EFFECT: – recall of events are altered by misleading information, it occurs when people are led to believe they have a certain memory through certain cues/words. Ex. Did you see the broken headlight vs. did you see a broken headlight will change you answer about what you remember you saw
     • REALITY MONITORING: is this real? Did I dream that or did it happen? Is the memory real or did we observe it?
     • SOURCE MONITORING: where did the memory come from? Did it happen to me or did it happen to someone else?
     • DESTINATION MEMORY: did I say this already? Ex. When grandma keeps saying the same things about when she was younger

4. Forgetting: - We forget because of ineffective encoding , trouble using your storage component, & issues with retrieval

   • - Measures of retention (how much we remember)
     • RECALL: (reproducing information without any given cues) – e.g. Essay exams – explicit memory
       • RECOGNITION: (uses cues) – e.g. multiple choice questions where the question itself has cues to help you reproduce what you remember – explicit memory
         • RELEARNING: you need less and less time to recall information each time you try to learn - implicit learning
   • - Interference is retroactive (there are troubles storing past/old information because of new information) & proactive (when you cant remember new information because old information is blocking it)
   • Seven sins of Memory
     • OMISSION: blocking/interference, transience (decay), absent minded (divided attention)
     • COMISSION: suggestibility (repressed memories), biased memories (schema consistent information), persistence (post traumatic stress disorder), misattribution

5. Biology of Memory

   • • Biochemical changes at synapses – e.g. when a animal learns a new skill neurotransmitters increase at the synapses and strengthen the connections between the networks
     • • Localized neural circuitry – memories are reusable pathways rather than one specific place where they are
       • • Long term potentiation – the receiving and sending neurons become more sensitive along these pathways
         • • Neurogenesis – new neurons developing in the hippocampus which are more excitable when they are developed
           • • Hippocampus – responsible for consolidation meaning memories can occur on many pathways and the hippocampus puts them together in a understandable way
             • • Amygdala – learned fear that we remember to have repeatedly
               • • Pre-frontal cortex – memories about time & central executive in the working memory