Psychology - Memory Review

Memory: the set of processes used to encode, store and retrieve information over time There are three stages to memory: Encoding Storage Retrieval (in this order!) ENCODING - the input of info into the memory system - occurs through automatic and effortful processing Semantic Encoding: the encoding of words and their meaning Visual encoding: the encoding of pictures/images Acoustic encoding: the encoding of sound, especially the sound of words STORAGE - permanent record of info In LTM; goes through 3 stages: sensory short-term long-term RETRIEVAL - when you remember encoded memories - three ways to retrieve: recall, recognition, relearning Recall is when you are retrieving memory without any retrieval cues or hints - EX: short-response, essay questions or an eye witness recalling how the robber looks like Recognition is when you are given a retrieval cue or have to identify the correct answer - EX: multiple choice, matching problems Relearning is when you are learning info you’ve previously learned and remember it more easily ATKINSON-SHIFFRIN THREE STAGE MEMORY MODEL 1. New info enters your sensory memory a. extremely short b. automatic and nondeclarative/implicit c. most sensory input will never become conscious or enter into STM Echoic Memory- STM coming in through hearing; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds Iconic Memory- STM coming in through sight (shortest-lived; lasts no more than a few tenths of a second) 2. Short-term/Working Memory is where you actively process or “work on” information to be encoded EX: active problem-solving and actively thinking a. holds on average 7 pieces on info b. very short, usually 30 seconds before the information is stored or forgotten c. effortful and declarative/explicit because it is conscious d. located in the frontal lobe 3. Long-term Memory is the continuous storage of memory a. limitless storehouse of the memory system Working memory: a newer understanding of Atkinson and Shiffrin’s second stage of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory. TYPES OF MEMORIES The diagram below shows how the different types of memory are broken out into those that use conscious processing and those that don’t. Explicit memory involves conscious effort, such as telling about a vacation or giving directions. Goes through the hippocampus (the part of the limbic system responsible for explicit memories of names, images, and events). Implicit memory occurs on an unconscious level. It does not go through the hippocampus unless it is procedural, which goes through the hippocampus during encoding. Types of LTM Declarative/Explicit Memory Nondeclarative/Implicit Memory Working Memory Priming Episodic Memory Conditioning Semantic Memory Motor/Procedural Sensory (not LTM) Declarative/Explicit Memory Episodic Memory- memories of certain episodes/events in our life - EX: vacations, birthdays, holidays, prom - Flashbulb memory is an unusually clear episodic memory of an emotionally significant moment or event. Semantic Memory- info on concepts, words, language-based knowledge - EX: school material, phone numbers, formulas Prospective Memory- involves remembering to do something in the future; “remembering to remember” Nondeclarative/Implicit Memory Procedural Memory- involves encoded physical tasks Priming- something that entered into your unconscious sensory memory influenced your conscious behavior later on Conditioning- unconscious behavior/responses that you learn and cannot consciously control *Eidetic memory: photographic memory, very rare and not 100% accurate BRAIN & MEMORY Prefrontal Cortex- working memory or short-term memory Thalamus- processes sensory input and sensory memory by directing input to appropriate structure Hippocampus- consolidated explicit memories from STM to LTM which are stored in various locations across the cortex (outer layer of brain) Cerebellum- processing and consolidation of implicit memories Basal Ganglia- consolidation and storage of procedural memory Amygdala- processing and consolidation of fear conditioning and involved in arousal theory of explicit memory PROCESSING Parallel Processing: the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions. We take in a lot of information at the same time, not like a computer in which you can only input one piece of information at a time. Automatic Processing: unconscious encoding of incidental information such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as the meanings of words Effortful Processing: encoding that requires attention and conscious effort Shallow Processing: encoding the shapes, looks, or surface structure of things, especially words, but not the meanings. It is difficult to remember things if it is only shallowly processed. Deep Processing: encoding something according to its semantics Rehearsal: the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage - Maintenance Rehearsal is a form of shallow processing. Elaborative Rehearsal is a form of deep processing. TECHNIQUES FOR BETTER MEMORY Self-reference Effect: increase likelihood of consolidating a memory if you make a personal connection while you’re encoding it Serial position effect: our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list - Primacy: information at the beginning of a list is remembered better than material in the middle - Recency: information at the end of a list is remembered better than the material in the middle Imagery: mental pictures, a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding Mnemonics: memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices Acrostics: a sentence or phrase to remember - EX: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (PEMDAS) Chunking: organizing items into familiar, manageable units Acronym: a type of chunking in which a word is made out of the first letters of the to-be-remembered items - EX: HOMES (the 5 Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior) Mood Congruent Memory: the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood State Dependent Memory: what we learn in one state may be more easily recalled when we are again in that state, such as being happy or sad Context Dependent Memory: putting yourself back in the context where you experienced something can prime your memory retrieval Distributive Practice: working to retain information over time, not cramming it all in during one session Massed Practice: cramming that can produce speedy short-term learning and feelings of confidence Retrieval Cues: anchor points used to access the information you want to remember later Déjà vu: the eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience. AMNESIA - the loss of long-term memory Infantile amnesia: the inability to remember anything before the age of 3 Retrograde amnesia: the inability to remember old memories after accident Anterograde amnesia: the inability to form new memories after an accident INTERFERENCE - information is stored but we can’t access it - PORN (Proactive Old blocks new Retroactive New blocks old Proactive Interference: old info hinders the recall of new info - EX: can’t remember your new locker combination b/c you keep remembering your old one Retroactive Interference: new info hinders the recall of old info - EX: can’t remember your old locker combination b/c you keep remembering your new one Positive Transfer: when old information can facilitate our learning of new information, such as knowing Latin to help learn French SCHACTER’S SEVEN SINS OF FORGETTING The causes of forgetting 1. Three Sins of Forgetting a. Absent-mindedness: inattention to details leads to encoding failure EX: not paying attention to where you put down your keys b. Transience: storage decay over time EX: forgetting the names of former classmates c. Blocking: inaccessibility of stored information (tip of the tongue phenomenon) 2. Three Sins of Distortion a. Misattribution: confusing the source of information EX: putting words into someone else’s mouth or remembering a dream as an actual happening b. Suggestibility: creation of false memories b/c of external sources EX: a leading question on the stand in court c. Bias: belief-colored recollections EX: current feelings toward a friend may color our recalled initial feeling 3. One Sin of Intrusion a. Persistence: involuntarily recall unwanted memories EX: being haunted by images of a car accident KEY PEOPLE 1. Hermann Ebbinghaus: discovered the more time we spend practicing novel information, the more we retain it. a. The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve shows the exponential decline of memory retention of learning new things. 2. Karl Lashley: lesioned rats’ brains after running a maze to discover where memory is stored. He concluded that it is all over the cortex. 3. Daniel Schacter: specified seven ways in which our memories fail us (three sins of forgetting, three sins of distortion, one sin of intrusion). 4. Elizabeth Loftus: memory researcher who showed that if false memories are implanted in individuals, they construct (fabricate) their memories. a. The Misinformation Effect Paradigm holds that after exposure to additional and possibly inaccurate info, a person may misremember the original event. b. she wanted to test the effect of language the people used on other people recalling events c. showed participants 2 cars crashing (visual only, no sounds) d. experimental group were asked the speed of the car with suggestive wording “smashing” i. significantly overestimated the speed of the car e. control group was asked with objective wording very accurate answers Suggestibility: memories are highly influenced by the way you are asked to remember them. False Memory Syndrome: recall of false autobiographical events that never happened Mandela Effect: Confabulation: the spontaneous narrative report of events that never happened. It consists of the creation of false memories, perceptions, or beliefs about self or the environment.