Memory & Forgetting (Introduction to Psychology) PDF

Memory & Forgetting Introduction to Psychology  Outline O Types of memory O Formation of memory O Strategies to improve memory O Theories of Forgetting O Recovered memory  Nature of Memory O Memory: the retention of information or experience over time as the result of three key p...

Memory & Forgetting Introduction to Psychology  Outline O Types of memory O Formation of memory O Strategies to improve memory O Theories of Forgetting O Recovered memory  Nature of Memory O Memory: the retention of information or experience over time as the result of three key processes; 1. Encoding 2. Storage 3. Retrieval  Memory Encoding: Attention O Encoding: is the first step in memory; the process by which information gets into memory storage O The encoding process requires great effort including; O Paying attention O Processing deeply O Elaborating O Using mental imagery  Memory Encoding: Attention O To begin the process of memory encoding, we have to pay attention to information O Selective Attention: involves focusing on a specific aspect of experience while ignoring others O Attention is selective because the brain’s resources are limited- they cannot attend to everything  Memory Encoding: Attention O Psychologists have described 2 other ways that attention may be allocated; O Divided Attention: involves concentrating on more than one activity at the same time (for several activities at a time is called multitasking) O Sustained Attention: (also called vigilance) is the ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus for a prolonged period of time Memory Encoding: Levels of Processing O Another factor that influences memory is whether we engage with information superficially or really get into it O Levels of processing: a continuum of memory processing from shallow to intermediate to deep, with deeper processing producing better memory  Memory Encoding: Levels of Processing Shallow Physical & Lines, angles, and processing perceptual contour that make features are up the physical analyzed appearance of an object are detected Intermediate Stimulus is The object is processing recognized and recognized labeled Deep Semantic, Associations with the processing meaningful, object are brought to symbolic mind characteristics are used  Memory Encoding: Elaboration O Elaboration: the formation of a number of different connections around a stimulus at a given level of memory encoding O Self- reference: relating material to your own experience- is another effective way to elaborate on information, drawing mental links between aspects of your own life and new information  Memory Encoding: Imagery O One of the most powerful ways to make memories distinctive is to use mental imagery Memory Storage Storage: the retention of information over time and how this information is represented in memory  Memory Storage O Atkinson- Shiffrin Theory (1968) formulated an early popular theory of memory that acknowledged the varying life span of memories. It theorized that memory storage involved 3 separate systems;  Sensory memory (time frames of a fraction of a second to several seconds)  Short-term memory (time frames up to 30 seconds)  Long-term memory (time frames up to a lifetime) Memory Storage  Memory Storage: Sensory Memory O Sensory memory: memory system that involves holding information from the world in its original sensory form only an instant, not much longer than the brief time it is exposed to the visual, auditory and other senses O In general, you process many more stimuli at the sensory level then you consciously notice O Echoic memory- refers to auditory sensory memory O Iconic memory- refers to visual sensory memory Memory Storage: Sensory Memory  Memory Storage: Short Term Memory O Short term memory: limited capacity memory system in which information is usually retained for only as long as 30 seconds unless we use strategies to retain it longer O Compared to sensory memory, short term memory is limited in capacity, but it can store information for a longer time  Memory Storage: Tips on Improving Short-term Memory Chunking Rehearsal O Involves grouping or O The conscious “packing” information repetition of into higher order units information O Info stored in short- that can be remembered as single term memory lasts half a minute or less units without rehearsal O Chunking works by O However, if rehearsal making large amounts is not interrupted, it of information more can be retained manageable indefinitely  Memory storage: Working memory O Working Memory: a three part system that allows us to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks; a kind of mental workbench on which the brain manipulates and assembles information to help us understand, make decisions and solve problems O Baddeley’s model (2000) has 3 components; 1. Phonological loop 2. Visuospatial working memory 3. Central executive  Memory storage: Working memory Baddeley’s model (2000) has 3 components; 1. Phonological loop – is specialized to briefly store speech- based information about the sounds of language 2. Visuospatial working memory- stores visual and spatial information, including visual imagery 3. Central executive- integrates information not only from the phonological loop and visuospatial but also from long term memory  Long Term Memory A relatively permanent type of memory that stores huge amounts of information for a long time  Memory Storage: Long Term Memory  Memory Storage: Long Term Memory O Explicit Memory (declarative memory): is the conscious recollection of information, such as specific facts or events and, at least in humans, information that can be verbally communicated O Episodic Memory: the retention of information about the where, when, and what of life’s happenings- that is, how individuals remember life’s episodes O Semantic Memory: a person’s knowledge about the world, including his/her areas of expertise; general knowledge, such as of things learned in school; and everyday knowledge  Memory Storage: Long Term Memory Characteristic Episodic Semantic Memory Memory Units Events, facts, ideas, episodes concepts Organization Time Concepts Emotion More important Less important Retrieval Deliberate Automatic Process Retrieval Report “I remember” “I know” Education Irrelevant Relevant Intelligence Irrelevant Relevant Legal testimony Admissible in Inadmissible in court court  Memory Storage: Long Term Memory O Implicit Memory (nondeclarative memory): memory in which behavior is affected by prior experience without a conscious recollection of the experience O Procedural memory (skills): memory of skills O Priming: the activation of information that people already have in storage to help them remember new information better and faster O Classical Conditioning How is memory stored? O Schemas: a preexisting mental concept or framework that helps people to organize and interpret information. Schemas from prior encounters with the environment influence the way we encode, make inferences about and retrieve information O Script: a schema or event, often containing info about physical features, people and typical occurrences How is memory stored? O Connectionism or Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP), O the theory that memory is stored throughout the brain in connections among neurons, several of which may work together to process a single memory.  Memory Retrieval O Retrieval: the memory process that occurs when information that was retained in memory comes out of storage O Serial Position Effect: the tendency to recall the items at the beginning and end of a list more readily than those in the middle 2 factors are involved in retrieval: 1. The nature of the cues that can prompt your memory 2. The retrieval task that you set for yourself  Memory Retrieval Recall Recognition O Is a memory task O Is a memory task in which the in which the individual has to individual only retrieve has to identify previously (recognize) learned learned items information O Such as a O Such as for multiple choice writing an essay test  Memory Retrieval Special Cases Autobiographical Memory Flashbulb Memory O A special form of O The memory of episodic memory, is emotionally a person’s recollections of significant events his/her life that people often experiences recall with more O Seems to contain accuracy and vivid unending strings of stories and imagery than snapshots everyday events  Memory Retrieval Special cases Childhood Repressed Amnesia: Memories O is the inability of adults to O Is a defense retrieve episodic memories (memories of mechanism by situations or events) which a person is before the age of two to four years, as well as the too traumatized by period before the age of an event that he or ten of which adults retain fewer memories than she forgets it and might otherwise be then forgets the expected given the passage of time. act of forgetting  Special Types of Memory O Exceptional Memory: O Eyewitness Testimony: O Recovered Memories:  Forgetting or disremembering is the apparent loss or modification of information already encoded and stored in an individual's long-term memory. It is a spontaneous or gradual process in which old memories are unable to be recalled from memory storage.  Forgetting: Encoding Failure O Sometimes when people say they have forgotten something, they have not really forgotten. O Encoding Failure: This occurs when the information was never entered into long term memory O Psychologists have theorized that the causes of retrieval failure include problems with the information in storage, the effects of time, personal reasons for remembering or forgetting, and the brain’s condition  Forgetting: Interference O Interference is one reason that people forget O Interference Theory: the theory that people forget not because memories are lost from storage but because other information gets in the way of what they want to remember O Positive Interference: situation in which material that was learned earlier disrupts the recall of material that was learned earlier O Retroactive Inference: situation in which material that was learned later disrupts the retrieval of information that was learned earlier  Forgetting: Decay O Decay theory: theory stating that when we learn something new, a neurochemical memory trace forms, O but over time this trace disintegrates; O suggests that the passage of time always increases forgetting O “If you don’t use it, you lose it”  Forgetting: Tip-of-the- Tongue Phenomenon O This a type of effortful retrieval that occurs when we are confident that we know something but cannot quite pull it out of memory O This reveals some interesting aspects of memory; it demonstrates that we do not store all of the information about a particular topic or experience in oneway  Forgetting Retrospective Prospective Memory Memory O Remembering O Remembering information about information from doing something the past in the future; O Includes memory for intentions Forgetting: Amnesia O Amnesia: Loss of memory O Anterograde Amnesia: a memory disorder that affects the retention of new information and events O Retrograde Amnesia: memory loss for a segment of the past but not for new events  Study Tips for Memory: Organize O Review your course notes routinely and catch potential errors and ambiguities early O Organize the material in a way that will allow you to commit it to memory effectively O Experiment with different organizational techniques  Study Tips for Memory: Encode O Pay attention O Process information at an appropriate level O Elaborate on the points to be remembered O Use imagery O Understand that encoding is not simply something that you can do before a test  Study Tips for Memory: Rehearsing O Rewrite, type or retype your notes O Talk to people about what you have learned and how it is important to real life in order to reinforce memory O Test yourself O While reading and studying, ask yourself questions O Treat your brain kindly  Study Tips for Memory: Retrieve O Use retrieval cues O Sit comfortably, take a deep breath, and stay calm