Memory Assembly Memory and Forgetting What does your
Memory Assembly
Memory and Forgetting: What does your memory look like? Why is it you can remember the time when you split your trousers in front of the whole class but not the facts needed to complete an essay in an exam? Do you experience Tip of the Tongue?
Memory flows through the stores. If attended to information enters STM. Information only transferred to LTM if rehearsed. No rehearsal – information is forgotten.
Type of Memory Capacity Duration Coding STM 7 (+ or – 2) 18 seconds Acoustic (Miller, (Peterson (Baddeley, 1956) & Peterson, 1966) 1959) LTM Unlimited Infinite Semantic (Baddeley, 1966)
Look at the following images. You must not write anything down until the instruction to do so. © Hodder Education 2008
Now write down as many of the items from the sequence that you have just seen as you can. They do not have to be in the correct order. Click the mouse to move on. © Hodder Education 2008
Click mouse to view the complete list. © Hodder Education 2008
1. Apple 2. Ruler 3. Key 4. Book 5. Calculator 6. Teabag 7. Cotton reel 8. Plug 9. Scissors 10. Tape © Hodder Education 2008 11. Fork 12. Watch 13. Button 14. Leaf 15. Glasses 16. Screw 17. Jug 18. Pen 19. Carrot 20. Knife
Recency and Primacy Effect Murdock (1962) Primacy – better recall for items at the beginning. (LTM) Recency – better recall for items at the end. (STM) Words in the middle have been DISPLACED from STM and not yet CONSOLIDATED in LTM.
What are the consequences for your study schedule?
Clinical studies of amnesiacs Case Study: HM (1957) Epileptic patient who underwent surgery to stop seizures. Left with ANTEROGRADE amnesia. STM was normal but was unable to keep new information in his LTM. They have removed his ability to make long term memories. STM and LTM are separate stores! Henry Gustav Molaison. HM lost approximately two-thirds of his hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and amygdala.
Multi-store model Evaluation Too simplistic – HM suggests LTM is more complex. • More than 1 type of LTM
Long-term memory Procedural implicit. Not usually conscious Declarative explicit. Can be inspected consciously. Knowing how Knowing that Episodic Personal events. Autobiographical - episodic memory Flash bulb memory Semantic knowledge, etc. Experimental episodic memory
1. What was the last thing that you ate? 2. How do you generally travel home? 3. What were you wearing yesterday? 4. Who was the last person you sent an email to? 5. Why did you last go into a shop? 6. What colour are train tickets? 7. When is the extra day in a leap year? 8. What noise do cows make? 9. Why don’t we fall off the surface of the earth? 10. Think of a word that rhymes with bubble. © Hodder Education 2008
Episodic 1. What was the last thing that you ate? 2. How do you generally travel home? 3. What were you wearing yesterday? 4. Who was the last person you sent an email to? 5. Why did you last go into a shop? Semantic 1. What colour are train tickets? 2. When is the extra day in a leap year? 3. What noise do cows make? 4. Why don’t we fall off the surface of the earth? 5. Think of a word that rhymes with bubble. © Hodder Education 2008
Levels of processing: Craik and Lockhart (1972) • An alternative to the multi-store model – Emphasises memory process rather than structure – Based on the idea that the strength of a memory trace is determined by how the original info was processed.
Levels of processing Shallow processing Structural Weak memory trace Deep processing Phonological Semantic Strong memory trace
Levels of processing • Strength of memory trace depends on: – Attention paid to stimulus – Depth of processing carried out – Connections with existing knowledge
Levels of processing • Different levels of processing: – Structural – appearance – Phonological – auditory/sound – Semantic – meaning • Structural is the shallowest, semantic is the deepest
Levels of processing • Many different variables involved in determining how a stimulus is processed: – Depth – Spread – Elaboration – Distinctiveness Activity: What consequences does this theory have for your revision?
LOP and revision • You will recall more if you use… – Depth – make sure you understand & make connections between the topics & ideas – Spread – use several different techniques on the material – Elaboration – mental effort is required to store material effectively – Distinctiveness – make the material your own
How Memory Works: Key Ideas Rehearsal Repetition Recency & Primacy Levels of Processing Semantic connections Forgetting curve
Forgetting • The inability to recall or recognise something that was previously learned. Why do we forget. . .
- Slides: 26
