Memory Chapter 7 Memory Studying Memory An InformationProcessing
- Slides: 30
Memory Chapter 7
Memory Studying Memory § An Information-Processing Model § Two Memory Tracks Building Memories § Encoding: Getting Information In § Storage: Retaining Information § Retrieval: Getting Information Out
Memory Forgetting § Encoding Failure § Storage Decay § Retrieval Failure Improving Memory
Memory is the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage and retrieval of information 7 Dwarfs
Building a Memory To remember any information or experience requires: • Encoding: getting information into our brain • Storage: retaining the encoded information • Retrieval: getting the information back out of memory storage
An Information-Processing Model A model of memory based on a computer (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968) 1. Experience is first recorded, for just a moment, as a sensory memory 2. Information is processed into short-term memory, encoded through rehearsal – Holds a few items briefly 3. Information moves to long-term memory for later retrieval
Updates to the I-P Model • Some memories are formed through unconscious processing, without our awareness • Working memory: a view of short-term memory that stresses conscious, active processes – Working memory is not just a storage shelf, but an active desktop for linking new and old information
An Information-Processing Model
Two-Track Processing: Automatic vs. Effortful • We automatically process vast amounts of everyday information • We remember new and important information through effortful processing
Automatic Processing • We automatically process information about – Space • “The definition was at the top of the right page” – Time • “I went to the store before lunch” – Frequency • “This is the third time I’ve seen her today!”
Effortful Processing • Requires close attention and effort • Memory can be improved through rehearsal, the conscious repetition of information • Rehearsal was the subject of one of many studies of memory by Hermann Ebbinghaus
Effortful Processing • Spacing effect: we remember better if study or practice is spread over time – Cramming is less effective! • Testing effect: repeated quizzing of previously studied material also helps
Building Memories • Encoding: Getting Information In • Storage: Retaining Information • Retrieval: Getting Information Out
Encoding Meaning • We may encode meaning rather than raw information • When asked to recall text, we often report the meaning, or gist, rather than the raw text • It can be difficult to remember things without a meaningful context – You will more easily remember what you read and hear if you translate it into personally meaningful information – Encoding ex. 7 a-4
Encoding Images • We can more easily remember things we can process visually as well as meaningfully • Memorable sentences often evoke powerful imagery, or mental pictures – High-imagery words are more easily remembered than low-imagery words – Visual vs auditory encoded exercise
Sensory Memory • Storage is extremely short, especially for visual sensory memory - sparklers • Study: Sperling (1960) flashed nine letters for 1/20 th of a second. • Sensory memory made the letters momentarily available for encoding. • Exercise - capacity
Storage Capacities • Short-term memory capacity is limited – The Magical Number Seven, plus or minus two (George Miller, 1956) – Exercise - capacity • Long-term memory seems to have no limit and can endure for a lifetime • Jill Price – the woman who never forgets
Serial Position • Serial position effect: We remember the first and last items in a list best • After a delay, we only remember the first items best Exercise – capacity and position effect
How Does the Brain Store Memory? • Memory is not stored like books in a library, in neat, precise locations. • Rather, different aspects of a memory are assigned to various groups of neurons. • Thus, to understand how memory works, we must study the brain • Clive Wearing video
Flashbulb Memories • Emotion-triggered hormone changes help explain flashbulb memories, unusually clear memories of an emotionally significant moment or event E. g. , many people remember exactly where they were on September 11, 2001
Retrieval: Getting Information Out Evidence that something has been remembered: • The item can be recalled, as on a fill-in-theblank test • The item can be recognized, as on a multiplechoice test – Recognition memory is quick and vast • Relearning the item may be easier than it was the first time
Retrieval Cues • Memories are linked together in the brain, in a storage web of associations. • These associations can serve as retrieval cues, any stimuli (events, feelings, places, etc. ) linked to a specific memory • The more retrieval cues you’ve encoded, the better chance of finding a path to retrieve the memory • Retrieval exercise
Context Effects • Returning to the context where you experienced something can prime your memory of it • Godden and Baddeley (1975) had scuba divers learn lists of words on land or underwater, and then attempt to recall them in the same or different context
Context Effects • Sometimes being in a similar context to one previously experienced can trigger the eerie feeling of déjà vu (I’ve seen this before) • This can happen when the current situation is loaded with retrieval cues that remind us of earlier, similar experiences • déjà vu exercise • Crash course video #13
Memory failure Forgetting § Encoding Failure § Storage Decay § Retrieval Failure –Improving Memory
Encoding Failure • We cannot remember what we have not encoded
Storage Decay • Forgetting is initially rapid, and then levels off • People who had studied Spanish in high school but not after were tested on vocabulary recall • One explanation may be a gradual fading of the memory trace, the physical changes in the brain as a memory forms
Retrieval Failure • We can sometimes fail to retrieve a memory because we don’t have enough information to access the pathway to it
Forgetting, the loss of information in between sensation and retrieval, can occur at any stage Eye Witness Testimony video part 1 Part II
Tips for Improving Memory • Study repeatedly • Space study sessions apart • Spend more time rehearsing or actively thinking about the material • Make the material personally meaningful • Activate retrieval cues • Minimize interference • Sleep more • Test your knowledge, both to rehearse it and to find out what you don’t know
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