Unit 7: Memory

Memory

The process where we encode, store and retrieve information

Not static; changes overtime

Can be “filled” (adaptive, we dont remember everything, we fill in the gap, however we can be incorrect). It is faillable

Three stages

encoding, storing, and retrieving: Memory must encompass three stages in order for us to remember it.

Lowest form of memory to highest

Sensory->Short Term Memory->Long Term Memory  

Sensory

Storage of brief information (light, sound). Very short but precise. Iconic=Visual system: last <1 sec. Echoic system=sound: last <3 secs.

• If not transferred to another memory (short term) it will not be stored

Short term memory

limited capacity memory system so we stored information less than 30 seconds

• Magic #7: around 7 chunks of information (+- 2)

• Increase short term memory by chunking: sorting large information into smaller chunks through meaning groups

• For instance, common acronyms

Two types of rehearsal: repetition of information entered through stm

Maintenance rehearsal and Elaborative rehearsal

Elaborative rehearsal

considering and organizing information in meaningful ways (connecting to personal experiences and understanding it). Much more

Maintenance rehearsal

repeating the same stimuli in the same form

Working memory

active workplace where memory stores which is received and manipulated 

Thoughts in relation to decision making; maintaining information so we can do something with it

Long term memory

continuous storage of information (has no limit, can last a lifetime)

Primary effect

able to recall stimuli presented first (first word on list

Recency effect

able to recall stimuli presented recently (if you seen hat last on a list, you will be able to recall that)

Stimuli which is odd

for instance, a distinguished word on a list like xylophone

Declarative Memory

Explicit memory: conscious recollection of information, such as facts & events

Semantic: general knowledge • Knowing who the prime minister is

Episodic: recollection of events in our lives (The Christmas you finally got a CD player)

Non-declarative memory

Implicit: memory in which behaviour is affected by a prior experience without a conscious recollection of that experience

Non-declarative memory: Procedural memory

memory for how to do things (e.g., tie your shoes)

Non-declarative: Priming

activation of information you already have to help identify new information (using previous information to understand new information better)

Neuroscience: Karl Lashley and Engram;

thought you can locate memory in one part of the brain, if you remove that system, no more memories; Had rats do mazes, then damaged parts of brain for the rats but they still knew the routes. Revealed that memory has traces in the brain

Hippocampus

plays a role in memory consolidation (saving memories)

• Destruction of this results in a the lack of declarative memory

Amygdala

heavily involved with memories involving emotion (e.g., traumatic experiences, phobias)

Long term potentiation

neural pathways which get excited/fired, they wired together

Synapses are activated, reaching out to dendrites (branch out). 

Why do we forget

To encode it, we must first attend to it

Most events we experience are never encoded!

The next-in-line effect: Stress

Stress and encoding

Stress causes encoding failure (focusing on wrong things)

• Stress influencing encoding in a negative way

• Integrations: less stress individuals were able to identify the right person while stressed individuals were not as likely to identify the right person

• Stress focuses our attention on something else

Self-reference

relating information to ourselves makes us remember things better (for instance, password, pin numbers, security questions; they all relate to us)

Encoding failure through bias

Own age bias: able to recogize more own ages

• Cross race bias: able to recognize more faces from people in the same race (white, more difficult to differentiate black faces

Retrieval failure: Decay, Retroactive interference, Proactive interference: earlier learning gets in the way of learning something new

why do we forget:

Interference

lose information due to competition with other information

Decay

Information just fads over time

Retroactive interference

learning new info hampers something previously learned (new info worsen old)

Proactive interference

earlier learning gets in the way of learning something new (old info gets in place of new)

Amnesia

memory loss because of disease, physical/psychological trauma

Anterograde amnesia:

inability to remember new info after point of trauma

• Commonly caused by brain trauma

• Hippocampus is usually affected –

• inability to transfer info from STM to LTM

Retrograde amnesia

loss of memory (partial or complete) for events that occurred prior to trauma

Retrieving memories

getting informations out of memory storage and back into conscious awareness

Recall

being able to access information without cues (short answer tests)

Recognition

being able to identify information that you have previously learned after encountering it again; has cues (e.g. multiple choice questions)

Tip of the tongue

you have the information but you are not able to access it; can be retrieved through a hit (a cue)

Level of processing theory

the depth of information during exposure to material is critical. More depthness results in more likelihood of remembering (high intensity initial exposure)

Shallow

processing in terms of physical and sensory exposure (memorization through vision

Deepest

analyzing information in terms of meaning; think about the meaning and reflectng on how they relate to information we already know

Encoding specificity

The conditions we remember things are better if they are consistent with when we encoded them (studying and taking the test in the same conditions 

State dependent learning

easier to learn things in the certain state; drunk people cannot find things when sober, need to be drunk to find it.

Context dependent learning

recalling information better in the same context (scuba divers in water, learning in water, better retrieveall in water)

Flashbulb memory

record of atypical memory which invokes an emotional association (easy to retrieve, like 9/11, where were you at)

Memory is fallible

we forget over time and can be influenced

Cognitive hardware

organised models we stored to fill in the gaps

Schema:

how things are, a model of what things are like a school

A script

a type of schema of what things are (events like what happens during a doctor visiting; signing into reception, waiting, etc).

Sometimes, we distort our memories to conform with our scripts (our ideas distort what happened). Example: what happens during a robbery; your script: they break in, steal, and leave (typically ideas)

Memories are very suggestable

misinformation from external sources that lead to the creation of false memories

• People can claim to remember something that was a suggestion from someone

• Memories are fragile, vulnerable to suggestion

Misinformation effect

Information given after an event alters or becomes incorporated into the original memory (did you see the car past the stop sign , introduction of information). Condition of words like bump/past alters the answers.

Shaw: most comprehensive false memory

implanting false memories of a crime. Conflated real events (like location and names) to false crimes