Chapter 6 - Summary

What is memory?

Memory is the ability to store and retrieve information over time.

Encoding: Transforming Perceptions Into Memories

What is encoding?

Encoding is the process of transforming the information received through our senses into a lasting memory.

How is a new memory made?

A new memory is made and automatically semantically encoded when new information mixes with old information that already has meaning to us.

What is semantic encoding?

relating new information to previous knowledge in a meaningful way

What is visual imagery encoding?

relates new information to previous knowledge, but features both a visual and a verbal placeholder

What is organizational encoding?

a process of finding relationships between items to make them easier to retrieve.

What is a method for increasing recall?

we remember especially well information that is relevant to our survival

Storage: Maintaining Memories Over Time

What is the purpose of rehearsal and chunking?

“Rehearsal” helps keep memories in short-term storage, and “chunking” combines information into a single, meaningful item.

What is working memory?

the active maintenance of information in short-term storage, where information is retained for about 15 to 20 seconds

What is the purpose of the hippocampus?

an index to put information into long-term memory

evidence from amnesiacs indicates that it is not the site of long-term memory storage.

What acts lead to consolidation?

The act of recalling, thinking, and talking about a memory leads to consolidation. Sleep.

What does memory storage depend on?

Memory storage depends on changes in synapses, and long-term potentiation (LTP) increases synaptic connections.

Retrieval: Bringing Memories to Mind

What are retrieval cues?

Whether or not we remember a past experience depends on whether retrieval cues are available to trigger recall

What are the consequences of retrieving information from memory?

Retrieval improves subsequent memory of the retrieved information, as the benefits of testing on later recall show.

information that is not retrieved is suppressed by the frontal lobe

What makes memory vulnerable to disruption?

retrieving and vividly re-experiencing memories of objects that were seen makes memory vulnerable to disruption, such that unseen objects may be wrongly incorporated into the memory

What are the two components of retrieval?

the effort we make while trying to remember what happened in the past, and the successful recovery of stored information.

trying to remember activates the left frontal lobe, whereas successful recovery of stored information activates the hippocampus and regions in the brain related to the sensory aspects of an experience.

Forms of Long-Term Memory: More Than One Kind

Long-term memory form 1: What is implicit memory?

Implicit memory refers to the unconscious influence of past experiences on later behavior and performance, such as procedural memory (skills learned from practice) and priming (knowing what an object is because you’ve already seen it.

amnesia: are able to retain implicit memory, lack explicit memory

Long-term memory form 2: What is explicit memory?

Explicit memory is the act of consciously or intentionally retrieving past experiences.

Semantic memory is a networked, general, impersonal knowledge of facts, associations, and concepts.

Long-term memory form 3: What is collaborative memory?

Collaborative memory refers to remembering in groups. Collaborative remembering can both impair memory (collaborative inhibition) and enhance it by exposing people to new information and helping to correct errors.

Memory Failures: The Seven “Sins” of Memory

Sin 1: Transience

Transience is reflected by a rapid decline in memory, followed by more gradual forgetting. With the passing of time, memory switches from detailed to general. Both decay and interference contribute to transience.

Sin 2: Absentmindedness

Absentmindedness results from failures of attention, shallow encoding, and the influence of automatic behaviors; it is often associated with forgetting to do things in the future.

Sin 3: Blocking

Blocking occurs when stored information is temporarily inaccessible, as when information is on the “tip of the tongue.”

Sin 4: Misattribution

Memory misattribution happens when we experience a sense of familiarity but don’t recall, or we mistakenly recall, the specifics of when and where an experience occurred. Misattribution can result in eyewitness misidentification or false recognition. Individuals suffering from frontal lobe damage are especially susceptible to false recognition.

Sin 5: Suggestibility

Suggestibility gives rise to implanted memories of small details or entire episodes. Suggestive techniques such as hypnosis or visualization can promote vivid recall of suggested events.

Sin 6: Bias

Bias can lead us to make the past consistent with the present, to exaggerate changes between past and present, or to remember the past in a way that makes us look good.

Sin 7: Persistence

Persistence reflects the fact that emotional arousal generally leads to enhanced memory, whether we want to remember an experience or not. Persistence is partly attributable to the operation of hormonal systems influenced by the amygdala.

What are the seven sins?

You can think of the seven “sins” as costs we pay for benefits that allow memory to work as well as it does most of the time.