Chapter 8 Memory an active system that receives

Chapter 8

§ Memory: an active system that receives information from the senses, organizes and alters that information as it stores it away, and then retrieves the information from storage

Encoding • Converting stimuli into a form that is usable within memory system. Storage • Holding on to information for a period of time. Retrieval • Getting information out of storage into a usable form.

§ According to the Atkinson-Shiffrin model of memory, information passes through three distinct stages in order for it to be stored in long-term memory. This Open. Stax ancillary resource is © Rice University under a CC-BY 4. 0 International license; it may be reproduced or modified but must be attributed to Open. Stax, Rice University and any changes must be noted. Any images credited to other sources are similarly available for reproduction, but must be attributed to their sources.

1. Sensory Memory • First stage of memory where information is held for a second or so until your brain has a chance to process. • The memory system in which information is held for brief periods of time while being used (15 -30 2. Short. Term seconds unless rehearsed). Memory -STM 3. Long Term Memory-LTM • The memory system into which all the information is placed to be kept more or less permanently

icons- visual information that is held for less than a second. echoes- auditory information that is held 3 -4 seconds.

• Magical number – 7 plus or minus 2 bits of information at a time (5 to 9 bits) § 15 -30 seconds (unless rehearsed- maintenance rehearsal). § Chunking- organizing information into manageable bits or chunks

• Maintenance rehearsal: saying bits of information to be remembered over and over in one’s head in order to maintain it in shortterm memory

• Elaborative rehearsal: a method of transferring information from STM into LTM by making that information meaningful in some way.

§ Nondeclarative (implicit)§ Motor skills, habits, classically conditioned reflexes (procedures) § Declarative (explicit) memory: § Semantic memory: Facts, general knowledge § Episodic memory: Events experienced by a person

• Recall: memory retrieval in which the information to be retrieved must be “pulled” from memory with very few external cues • Retrieval failure: recall has failed (at least temporarily) – Tip of the tongue (TOT) phenomenon •

FIGURE 8. 16 § Blocking is also known as tip-of-the- tongue (TOT) phenomenon. The memory is right there, but you can’t seem to recall it, just like not being able to remember the name of that very famous actor, Morgan Freeman. (credit: modification of work by D. Miller) This Open. Stax ancillary resource is © Rice University under a CC-BY 4. 0 International license; it may be reproduced or modified but must be attributed to Open. Stax, Rice University and any changes must be noted. Any images credited to other sources are similarly available for reproduction, but must be attributed to their sources.

§ Encoding failure - The information is not attended to and fails to be encoded. § Decay or Disuse - Information that is not accessed decays from the storage system over time. § Proactive Interference- Older information already in memory interferes with the learning of newer information. § -Retroactive Interference -Newer information interferes with the retrieval of older information.

§ Can you tell which coin, (a) , (b) , (c), or (d) is the accurate depiction of a US nickel? This Open. Stax ancillary resource is © Rice University under a CC-BY 4. 0 International license; it may be reproduced or modified but must be attributed to Open. Stax, Rice University and any changes must be noted. Any images credited to other sources are similarly available for reproduction, but must be attributed to their sources.

• Recognition: ability to match a piece of information or a stimulus to a stored image or fact • False positive: error of recognition in which people think that they recognize a stimulus that is not actually in memory – Case of Father Bernard Pagano

• Elizabeth Loftus and Eyewitnesses – Showed that what people see and hear about an event afterwards can affect accuracy of their memories – Demonstrated that eyewitness testimony is not always reliable

• Automatic encoding: tendency of certain kinds of information to enter long-term memory with little or no effortful encoding • Flashbulb memories: automatic encoding that occurs because an unexpected event has strong emotional associations for person remembering it

• Constructive processing: memory retrieval process in which memories are “built, ” or reconstructed, from information stored during encoding – With each retrieval, memories may be altered, revised, or influenced by newer information

§ In studying cases where DNA evidence has exonerated people from crimes, the Innocence Project discovered that eyewitness misidentification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, 2009). This Open. Stax ancillary resource is © Rice University under a CC-BY 4. 0 International license; it may be reproduced or modified but must be attributed to Open. Stax, Rice University and any changes must be noted. Any images credited to other sources are similarly available for reproduction, but must be attributed to their sources.

• Hindsight bias: the tendency to falsely believe, through revision of older memories to include newer information, that one could have correctly predicted the outcome of an event

§ Misinformation effect: tendency of misleading information presented after an event to alter the memories of the event itself § False memory syndrome- recall of false autobiographical memories

§ When people are asked leading questions about an event, their memory of the event may be altered. (credit a: modification of work by Rob Young) This Open. Stax ancillary resource is © Rice University under a CC-BY 4. 0 International license; it may be reproduced or modified but must be attributed to Open. Stax, Rice University and any changes must be noted. Any images credited to other sources are similarly available for reproduction, but must be attributed to their sources.

• False memory syndrome: creation of inaccurate or false memories through the suggestion of others, often while the person is under hypnosis

• Retrograde amnesia: loss of memory from the point of some injury or trauma backwards, or loss of memory for the past • Anterograde amnesia: loss of memory from the point of injury or trauma forward, or the inability to form new long-term memories – Senile dementia – Case of Henry Molaison we discussed in chapter 3.

The amygdala is involved in fear and fear memories. The hippocampus is associated with declarative and episodic memory as well as recognition memory. The cerebellum plays a role in processing procedural memories, such as how to play the piano. The prefrontal cortex appears to be involved in remembering semantic tasks.

§ This diagram illustrates the timeline of retrograde and anterograde amnesia. Memory problems that extend back in time before the injury and prevent retrieval of information previously stored in long-term memory are known as retrograde amnesia. Conversely, memory problems that extend forward in time from the point of injury and prevent the formation of new memories are called anterograde amnesia. This Open. Stax ancillary resource is © Rice University under a CC-BY 4. 0 International license; it may be reproduced or modified but must be attributed to Open. Stax, Rice University and any changes must be noted. Any images credited to other sources are similarly available for reproduction, but must be attributed to their sources.

• Alzheimer’s Disease – 5. 3 million cases in U. S. – Most common type of dementia in adults and elderly – Primarily anterograde amnesia – Various drugs to slow or stop progression, but no cure • Risk factors ✓High cholesterol ✓High blood pressure ✓Smoking ✓Obesity ✓Type II diabetes ✓Lack of exercise

• Infantile amnesia: the inability to retrieve memories from much before age three • Autobiographical memory: the memory for events and facts related to one’s personal life story (usually after age three)

• Sleep important in forming memories – Memory consolidation • Sleep deprivation interferes with hippocampal functioning • Even brief exercise good for memory • Fish is brain food? – Omega-3 fatty acid called dha helps memory cells communicate