11. Encoding & Retrieval

11. Encoding & Retrieval

1. Encoding

   • Act of getting information from the environment into memory stores = automatic / effortful
   • Bartlett (1932) used complex folk tales to consider people's memory, found we use schemas to help store information
   • Encoding > Storage > Retrieval
   • Episodic memory = mental time travel, for distinctive and spatial-temporal information
   • LTM divided into explicit (episodic and semantic) and implicit (procedural/stimulus). Linked to the hippocampus and medial temporal lobes
   • Meaning (semantics) enhance episodic memory encoding. E.g. Jenkins & Russell (1952) suggested when we are given a list of random words, we find a way to organise / cluster them together to remember them

2. Encoding Models

   • Levels of processing (Craik & Lockhart, 1972)
     • the deeper level of processes, the more durable memory trace is made
     • Craik & Tulving (1975) = gave p's information in a shallow or deep condition = those with deeper processing had greater recall
     • Deeper processing may take longer = may be better memory due to time
     • Greater deeper processing doesn't always lead to better performance, may be the matching of encoding and retrieval, e.g. Transfer appropriate
   • Transfer-Appropriate Model
     • The way we encode information should be the same as how we test memory
     • Morris, Branford & Franks (1977) found p's recalled the most information when they encoded semantically and recalled semantically, not deeply
     • Craik & lockhart (1972) suggested 2 ways of rehersal. Maintence and elaborative
   • Organisation Model
     • People actively seek meaning from new experiences, imposing their own organisation / schemas
     • Tulving & Pearlstone (1966) - gave p's words from the same semantic category, recall for those was much better
     • Tulving (1962) p's found ways of linking words in clusters = subjective organisation
     • Bower et al (1969) gave participants list of 122 minerals, those who organised them in a meaningful way could remember all of them
     • Ericsson (1977) suggested experts develop organisation

3. Episodic Memory & the brain

   • Hippocampus and episodic memory
     • H is well positioned in the cortex to build mutli-modal representations of information
     • H is on-top of all structures like a hierarchy, all information from other strtures feeds into H
     • Strong H activity during retrieval of personal events
     • Encoding has the ability to reactivate memory features = like a road map with information leading to H
     • Vargha-Khadem et al (1997) considered the case of Jon, who damage his hippocampus due to lack of oxygen during childhood, his damage was limited to episodic memories
   • Hippocampus and consolidation of episodic memory
     • HM Had early childhood memories but not closer to the damage = suggests the H is involved in consolidation of memories but after some time its limited
     • Systems consolidation = replaying information, reactivating traces to strengthen links between systems and the activation of memoires
     • Hippocampus involved in memories, but they eventually get trasferred to the neocortex
   • Schema's and episodic memory
     • Sommer (2016) replicated Morris study with humans, finding similar results
     • ventromedial prefrontal part of the cortex integrates episodic information with pre-existing knowledge (schemas)
     • Morris et al (1982) studies = trained rats to associate locations (episodic) with food. Episodic and schema rats learned the task well, and those allowed consolidation performed well the next day

4. Retrieval modes

   • Environmental context dependent memory
     • The environment we encode information should match the environment we remember
     • Godden & baddeley (1975) deep sea divers performed better when the environment at encoding and retreval matched, either both land or sea
     • Smith & Vela (2001) suggests people must pay attention to their environment
   • State dependent memory
     • Learners internal state, altered by alcohol, drugs, drugs, mood, must match
     • Eich (1980) heavy drinkers can remember where they misplaced something when they were drunk, when drunk not sober
     • Miles & Hardman (1998) p's encoded information on an exercise bike, either rest or HR 120. Recall better in same environment
   • Cognitive context dependent memory
     • internal context, inclduing ideas, thoughts and concepts must match
     • Marian & neisser (2000) Russian english bilinguals
   • Retrieval Order
     • Way we interrogate memories is important for retrieval
     • Whitten & leonard (1981) retrieving teacher names was easier when starting at newer teachers and moving backwards
   • Mood congruent memory
     • When you are sad, you are more likely to remember sad memories
     • Clark & Teasdale (1982) = sad times, likely to produce sad memories
     • Eich, macaulay & ryan (1994) p's encoded in a pleasant or unpleasant state, more recalled when mood matched
   • Retrieval Mode
     • We need to be in the right frame of mind to look for memories
     • Herron & Wilding (2006) presented lists of words, either on left or right side of screen. greater activity in the right frontal cortex when preparing to revtrive information
   • Retrieval Perspective
     • We remember different parts of information from the same scene, depending on the persepective we take
     • Link to EWT
     • Anderson & Prichert (1978) young boys read stories about a house, either as aburgalr or hosuebuyer. When tested recalled words with bias to persepctive, when tested a second time with chnage in persepctive, remembered different words with bias

5. Retrieval

   • Act of retrieving information from memory stores
   • Memory contains more information than we can access = we need mechanisms to isolate appropriate memories
   • Retrival tasks
     • Explicit/direct tasks = free and cued recall
     • implicit/indirect tasks = lexical decision, perceptual identification or word fragment
   • Factors determining success
     • Attention to cues = we must attend cues to be effective
     • Cue-target association must be strong to activate the target memory when the cue is played
     • Relevance of cues
     • Number of relevant cues
     • Strength of target memory