UNIT 8 - MEMORY PPT 11.15.12.pptx

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Phenomenon of Memory

• _{Memory – the persistence}

of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information

Phenomenon of Memory

• _{Information Processing}

Model – like a computer, our brain encodes (gets info into brain), stores (retains info there), and retrieves (later gets info out)

information from memory

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Information Processing Models

• _{Connectionism – a modern}

model of info processing, it views memories as

emerging from

interconnected neural networks

– Specific memories result from different activation patterns within these networks

• _{Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)}

had the following (somewhat limited)model:

– _{1. Sensory Memory: contains}

“soon-to-be-remembered” info

– _{2. Short-Term Memory: next}

step where info is encoded through rehearsal

– _{3. Long-Term Memory: info is}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

• _{Modifications to earlier}

model:

– 1. Some information is

processed directly into long-term memory

– 2. Working Memory (Short-Term Memory) concentrates on the active processing of information; it associates new and old information and

solves problems

Encoding: Getting Info In

• _{Automatic Processing –}

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and

frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

• _{Effortful Processing –}

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

– _{Often produces durable and}

accessible memories

• _{Rehearsal – conscious}

repetition of information, either to maintain it in

consciousness or to encode it for storage

• _{Hermann Ebbinghaus}

(1850-1909) – German philosopher who discovered the amount of information remembered depends on the time spent learning;

– _{over learning increases}

retention

– _{practice makes perfect}

• _{“Ebbinghaus Retention}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

• _{“Those who learn quickly}

also forget quickly.”

– Hermann Ebbinghaus

• _{Spacing Effect – distributed}

study or practice yields better results than does massed study or practice

• _{Testing Effect – repeated}

quizzing of previously studied material helps in retaining information longer

• _{Serial Position Effect – our}

tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

– Primacy Effect – first items

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

What We Encode

• _{When encoding, our}

working memories interact with our long-term

memories

• _{Visual Encoding – images} • _{Acoustic Encoding – sounds} • _{Semantic Encoding –}

meanings (*best type of

encoding to help remember words later)

What We Encode

• _{Compared with learning}

nonsense syllables, learning meaningful material

required 1/10 the effort according to Ebbinghaus

• _{Amount of information}

remembered depends on:

– Time spent learning

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

What We Encode

• _{Self-Reference Effect –}

information deemed “relevant to me” is

processed more deeply and remains more accessible

What We Encode

• _{Our earliest memories}

(from age 3-4) involved visual imagery

• _{When we encode things}

both semantically and visually we tend to

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

What We Encode

• _{Rosy Retrospection: recalling}

the high points while forgetting the mundane

• _{Mnemonics – memory aids,}

especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

– Peg word system pairs a

number with a rhyming name: one is bun, two is shoe, etc.

What We Encode

• _{Chunking – organizing items}

into familiar, manageable units; often occurs

automatically (usually seen as letters, words, or

phrases)

• _{We all remember}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

What We Encode

• _{Chunking (acronyms)}

– ROYGBIV = red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet

– HOMES = Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior

• _{Hierarchies also help to}

organize information

– _{Hierarchies = layered}

information

What We Encode

• _{Organize and group what}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Storage: Retaining Information

• _{George Sperling (1960) –}

showed that we all have a temporary photographic

memory called iconic memory

• _{Iconic Memory – a}

momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a

photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second

Storage: Retaining Information

• _{Echoic Memory – a}

momentary sensory

memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Working/Short-Term Memory

• _{Unless working memory}

meaningfully encodes or rehearses information, it is quickly lost

• _{Without active processing,}

short-term memories have a limited life

Working/Short-Term Memory

• _{George Miller’s (1956)}

Magical Number Seven (plus or minus two) – number of bits of

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Working/Short-Term Memory – _{Our short term recall is better}

for random digits than for letters

– _{Better for what we hear than}

what we see

• _{Recall as many words as we can}

speak in 2 seconds

– _{Short-term memory can hold}

fewer signs (sign language) than spoken words

– _{We can only retain about 4}

information chunks without rehearsal

Long-Term Memory

• _{Our capacity for storing}

long-term memories is essentially limitless

• _{Memories DO NOT reside in}

single, specific spots

• _{Elizabeth Loftus (1980) –}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Storing Memories in the Brain

• Increased synaptic efficiency makes for more efficient neural circuits

– Sea Slug releases more serotonin at synapses, making signal

transmission efficient

• Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) – an increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid

stimulation. Believed to be a

neural basis for learning and memory.

Memory Boosting Drugs

• _{Boost protein CREB, which}

can switch genes off or on

• _{With repeated neural firing,}

a nerve cell’s genes produce synapse-strengthening

proteins enabling LTP

• _{Sea slugs, mice, fruit flies}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Memory Boosting Drugs

• _{Glutamate – a}

neurotransmitter that enhances synaptic

communication (LTP)

• _{Sleep is still a great memory}

enhancer (Study followed by sleep is best)

Memory

• ECT – Electroconvulsive

Therapy – biomedical therapy for severely depressed

patients where a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient

– _{Most recent memories are lost;}

working memory had no time to consolidate information into long-term memory

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Stress Hormones

• _{When excited or stressed,}

emotion-triggered stress hormones make more glucose available to fuel brain activity, signaling the brain that something

important has happened.

Stress Hormones

• _{Amygdala boosts activity}

and available proteins in brain’s memory-forming areas.

• _{Memory of neutral events}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Stress Hormones

• _Stronger_emotional

experiences make for stronger, more reliable memories

• _Weaker_{emotions mean} weaker memories

Stress Hormones

• _{Flashbulb memories – a clear}

memory of an emotionally significant moment or event

– _{Very vivid; usually recalled}

with great detail

– _{Misinformation may seep into}

them

• _{Hippocampus – brain area}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Stress Hormones

• _{When stress hormones are}

flowing, older memories may be blocked

– Ex. – public speaking

• _{Amnesia – the loss of}

memory

Memory

• _{H.M. – famous case of 1953}

man who had brain area

responsible for laying down new memories surgically removed

– Still had access to older memories – No ability to remember new things – Still have a capacity to learn;

although they demonstrate

learned things with no awareness of having learned them (Ex.

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Implicit vs Explicit Memory

• _{Implicit Memory (}_{Nondeclarative}

Memory)– retention independent of conscious recollection

– “Without conscious recall”

– _{Processed by other brain areas,}

including cerebellum

– Skills (cognitive & motor)

– Classical Conditioning

– _{Patients with amnesia may learn}

“how” to do something, but may not know how they know, or may not be able to “declare” what they know

Implicit vs Explicit Memory

• _{Explicit Memory}

(Declarative Memory) –

memory of facts and

experiences that one can consciously know and “declare”

– _{“With conscious recall”} – _{Processed in hippocampus} – _{Facts (general knowledge)}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Forming New Memories

• _{Even Alzheimer’s patients}

have the ability to form new implicit memories

• _{Hippocampus – found in}

temporal lobe, part of limbic system; where

explicit memories of names, images, and events are laid down

Forming New Memories

• _{Hippocampus is lateralized}

– you have two of them

• _{Damage to Right Hipp.}

– _{No trouble with verbal info} – Trouble with visual designs

and locations

• _{Damage to Left Hipp.}

– Trouble with verbal info

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Memory

• _{Hippocampus is active}

during slow wave sleep

• _{The greater the}

hippocampus activity during sleep after a training

experience, the better the next day’s memory

• _{Sleep supports memory}

consolidation

Memory

• _{During sleep, both the}

hippocampus and cortex display activity

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Cerebellum

• _{Cerebellum – extends out}

from the rear of the brainstem

– Plays a key role in forming and storing implicit memories

– Certain conditioned reflexes may not be learned with damage to cerebellum

Memory

• _{Infantile Amnesia – as adults}

we recall nothing (explicitly) of our first three years of life

– _{We index much of our explicit}

memory in words, many of which aren’t yet learned by age 3

– The hippocampus is NOT fully developed at age 3, and is one of last brain structures to

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Retrieval: Getting Information Out

• _{Recall – a measure of}

memory in which the person must retrieve

information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test

• _{Recognition – a measure of}

memory in which the

person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple choice test

Retrieval: Getting Information Out

• _{Relearning – a measure of}

memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a

second time

– _{If you once learned}

something and then forgot it, it will be learned more quickly the second time

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Retrieval Cues

• _{Memories are held in}

storage by a web of associations

• _{Retrieval Cues are anchor}

points used to help recall information later

• _{Priming – the activation,}

often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

Priming Example

• _{Ask a friend two rapid-fire}

questions:

• _{a)How do you pronounce}

the word spelled by the letters s-h-o-p?

• _{b)What do you do at a}

green light?

• _{*If your friend answers}

“stop”, you have

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Context Effects

• _{Putting yourself back in the}

context where you

experienced something can prime your memory retrieval

• _{Déjà Vu – the eerie sense that}

“I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from the current

situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.

Context Effects

• _{Another theory on déjà vu:}

– Information processing occurs on multiple tracks; if one of the tracks lags behind

another it may create an illusion that we are now

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Moods and Memories

• _{Specific emotions may prime}

us to recall events associated with that emotion

• _{What we learn in one state –}

drunk or sober - is more

easily recalled when again in that state (state-dependent memory); although alcohol significantly disrupts storage

• _{Mood-Congruent Memory –}

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s

current good or bad mood

– _{Currently depressed people –}

recall being parented in a negative light

– _{Formerly depressed people –}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

• _{Our moods effect on}

retrieval helps explain why our moods persist; we tend to go in a positive or

negative cycle for a while

Forgetting

• _{William James – said if we}

remembered “everything” we would be in trouble

– We need to discard the clutter of useless information

• _{Jill Price (aka A.J.) – woman}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Forgetting

• _{Daniel Schacter – memory}

researcher who explains the “Seven Sins of Memory”

Forgetting

• Three Sins of Forgetting

– _{Absent Mindedness}

• Inattention to details leads to encoding failure

– Transience

• Storage decay over time (unused information fades)

– _Blocking

• Inaccessibility of stored

information (someone’s name is at the tip of our tongue, but we can’t get it)

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Forgetting

• Three Sins of Distortion

– _{Misattribution}

• Confusing the source of

information (putting words in someone else’s mouth or remembering dream as real)

– Suggestibility

• Lingering effects of information creates fake memory (sex abuse cases)

– _Bias

• Belief-colored recollections (current feelings toward a friend color recalled initial feelings)

Forgetting

• _{One Sin of Intrusion}

– Persistence

• _{Unwanted memories (being}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Encoding Failure

• _{Slower encoding helps}

explain age-related memory decline

• _{Automatic Processing =}

where we had dinner yesterday

• _{Effortful Processing = terms}

for this chapter

Encoding Failure

• _{Encoding Failure leads to}

Forgetting prior to

information reaching the long-term memory

• _{Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting}

Curve- the course of

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Retrieval Failure: Forgetting

• _{Proactive Interference}

(forward-acting) – the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

• _{Retroactive Interference}

(backward-acting) – the disruptive effect of new

learning on the recall of old information

Retrieval Failure: Forgetting

• _{Information attained in the}

hour prior to sleep is

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Forgetting

• _{The hour prior to a night’s}

sleep is a good time to commit things to memory

• _{The seconds just before sleep}

show information seldom remembered

• _{Positive Transfer – when old}

information can facilitate learning of new information (knowing Latin helps you learn French)

Motivated Forgetting

• _{People unknowingly revise}

their own histories

– We may recall doing things more than we actually did once we find out that activity was “good”

– We may recall ourselves being more “bold” in a

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Repression

Repression – in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense

mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories -Freud’s term

-Most people believe that repression occurs; “it makes sense”

-Memory researchers feel it rarely, if ever, occurs;

Repression

• _{We can intentionally forget}

neutral information, but it’s difficult to forget emotional information.

• _{Forgetting can occur at any}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Memory Construction

• _{When trying to remember,}

we infer our past from our stored information PLUS what we later imagined, expected, saw, and heard.

• _{We don’t just retrieve}

memories, we reweave them.

• _{Elizabeth Loftus – filmed}

traffic accident, showed to participants, then asked questions about what they had seen:

– _{Used leading words such as}

“hit” and “smashed” to

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

• _{Misinformation Effect:}

incorporating misleading information into one’s

memory of an event; leads many people to

“misremember”

• _{Imagination Inflation:}

repeatedly imagining an event may create a false memory not easily distinguished from truth

• _{Visualizing something and}

actually perceiving

something activate the same brain areas

• _{Source Amnesia: attributing}

to the wrong source an

event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined (aka Source

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

• _{We can’t be sure whether a}

memory is real by how real it feels

• _{We can’t judge reality of a}

memory on its persistence

• _{Memories of REAL events}

have more detail

• _{Memories of FALSE events}

usually contain gist of story

• _{Hypnotically refreshed}

memories easily incorporate

errors

• _{Cognitive Interview}

Technique

– _{Trained police interviewers}

ask witnesses to visualize and tell about the scene of crime

– _{Witness tells in detail}

– _{Only then does interviewer}

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

• _{Example of False Memory:}

– Rape victim identified man of closely resembling the

perpetrator. Only later did victim realize the man was on a live T.V. interview in the

background of her crime scene. (source amnesia)

• Children’s Eyewitness Recall – _{Interviewers who ask leading}

questions can plant false memories

– _{Children often confuse stories}

they have heard with actual memories of REAL events

– _{Children are most accurate when}

they haven’t spoken with

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Repressed or Constructed Memories of Abuse?

• _{Trauma survivors are}

sometimes disbelieved when telling their secret

• _{Innocent people are}

sometimes falsely accused

• _{Families are sometimes}

cruelly ripped apart by

accusations based on falsely reconstructed memories

(also happens to clergy)

Both Sides Agree on the Following: • _{Sexual abuse happens}

• _{Injustice happens} • Forgetting happens

• _{Recovered Memories are commonplace}

– _{Ones that surface naturally are more}

reliable

• _{Memories of events prior to age 3 are} unreliable

• _{Memories retrieved under hypnosis or} influence of drugs are especially

unreliable

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Memory Reconstruction

• _{People remember clearly}

and vividly being abducted by aliens

• _{Elizabeth Loftus}

“remembered” finding her mother drowned in pool

(actually her aunt had made the discovery)

On Repression…

• _{The most common response}

to traumatic experience is NOT banishment of the experience to the

unconscious. Rather, such experiences are typically etched on the mind as vivid, persistent, haunting

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

Improving Memory

• _{SQ3R Method: Survey,}

Question, Read, Rehearse, Review

• _{Study Repeatedly}

• _{Make Material Meaningful} • _{Activate Retrieval Cues}

• _{Use Mnemonic Devices} • _{Minimize Interference} • _{Sleep More}

• _(continued)

• _{Test your knowledge, both}

to rehearse it and to help determine what you do not yet know

– Don’t by lulled into

overconfidence by your ability to recognize information

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UNIT 8: MEMORY

• _{Actively thinking as we}

read, by rehearsing and relating ideas, yields the best retention.

• _{End of Unit 8 Memory}

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