Memory Definition and Functions of Memory The process

Memory

Definition and Functions of Memory The process by which we acquire, store, and retrieve information; learning that persists over time Functions: • Gives continuity to consciousness • Helps us adapt by using past skills/experiences • Enriches emotional life

INFORMATION PROCESSING Encoding Human Memory Processing Involves… Storage Retrieval

Types of Memory (Atkinson and Shriffrin) Sensory memory—holds sensory information for a maximum of a few seconds Short-term memory—limited capacity storage that holds non-sensory info for 15 -30 seconds contains Working Memory Rehearsal needed Long-term memory—storage that holds info long-term; no known capacity limits

INFORMATION PROCESSING Encoding: The Two Track Mind Automatic • Produces implicit memories Effortful • Produces explicit memories

• Priming • Classically conditioned Implicit (Non- memories • Procedural Declarative)memories Types of Long-term memory • Semantic memory— knowledge of facts • Episodic Explicit memory— (Declarative) personal experiences

Sensory Memory Stores sensory events in their original form briefly Large capacity, no more than 2 seconds duration Iconic memory —visual: less than 1 second Echoic memory —auditory 2 seconds

Short-term memory Activated memory that holds a few items before storage or forgetting. • Working memory holds and manipulates information in conscious attention. • 7 +/- 2 is capacity.

Getting Info Into LTM Mnemonics Songs Visual images Acronyms

Shallow Levels of Processing during Encoding Intermediate Deep

Getting Info Into LTM Chunking: Organization information into manageable units. Hierarchies: dividing broad concepts into narrower concepts

Getting Info Into LTM Massed Practice: **Distributed • Cramming Practice: VS • Spacing effect – • Speedy shortstudy over time term learning • Testing effect – • Quick forgetting self testing makes a difference

Ebbinghaus’s research Memorized nonsense syllables Huge drop in retention in first few hours More than 60% is lost after 9 hours

Memory Storage

Very large capacity; some say limitless; no known boundaries Long-term memory Rehearsal moved items from STM to LTM. The process of actually storing memories is called consolidation. When we need information, we move it back into LTM.

Responsible forming new memories. The Hippocampus: Explicit Memory Consolidation Processes explicit memories Lack of development could explain infantile amnesia.

Implicit Memory Formation Cerebellum for Classical Conditioning. Basal Ganglia for procedural memory. Knowledge of language not necessary for these memories.

Not in the hippocampus; it acts more as a loading dock for new memories before they’re shipped to the cortex. Where are Memories Stored? Parts of the frontal and temporal lobes are involved No one specific “memory storage” location Some in left hemisphere (verbal); some in right (visual).

Role of Emotion in Memory Stress hormones cue brain to remember. Amygdala boosts activity in hippocampus. Stronger emotional events flashbulb memories

Long-Term Potentiation • Focuses on neurotransmitters at synaptic level; neural basis for learning. • Learning increases the number of synapses.

Retrieval (Finding Memories)

Measuring Retention Recall Recognition Relearning

Retrieval Cues: Priming

Retrieval Cues: State, Mood, and Context State-dependent memory—improved recall when in the same physical or emotional state (sober) as you were in when the info was stored Mood-congruence effects—memory is better for information consistent with your mood This is also true for context.

Serial Position Effect Primacy effect— you remember items at the beginning of the list better Recency effect— remember things at the end of the list

Proactive vs. retroactive interference Proactive— something you learned previously interferes with something new Retroactive— something you learned recently interferes with something old.

Why do we forget? Encoding Failure Retrieval Failure (Cue-Dependent Theory) Storage Decay Repression (Freud)

Anterograde— inability to form new memories Types of Amnesia Retrograde—inability to retrieve memories from the past Source-forgetting how, when, and where memory was learned.

In this country, it is estimated that 75% of wrongly convicted defendants, later cleared by DNA evidence, were convicted based largely on eyewitness testimony

According to Research… • The longer it takes an eyewitness to decide if the perpetrator is in a lineup, the less confident they actually are about their decision • True confidence results in decision in under 10 seconds • Most likely to make mistakes: • Other race • Told the perpetrator is definitely there

Children and False Memories before 4 are unreliable. Memories recovered by hypnosis are unreliable.

Loftus and Palmer

Misinformation Effect (Loftus) Memory is distorted by subsequent exposure to misleading information Memory is reconsolidated incorrectly. Can come from suggestive questions (LEADING), misinformation, exposure to conflicting details

Eyewitness Testimony Part 1 http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v =u-SBTRLo. Puo Eyewitness Testimony Part 2 http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v =I 4 V 6 ao. Yu. Dcg&feature=related