AP Psychology Ehret - Memory

for that test on memory none of us studied for..

Memory is:

the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)

• pioneered the scientific study of memory

• discovered the Learning Curve and the Forgetting Curve of memory

LEARNING CURVE:

the quick accumulation of knowledge, and rapid progress in learning expressed through recall from memory

The 3 ways of testing recall:

1. Recall (must retrieve info from memory)

2. Cued (given hints)

3. Recognition (multiple choice)

Memory for Lists:

• primacy effect (remembering the first pieces of info in a list easier than the last)

• recency effect (remembering the most recent items listed easier than the first)

• von restorff effect (most likely to remember the item that stands out in a list)

• serial positioning effect (easier to remember the beginning and end of a list rather than the middle)

Multi Store Model:

3 types of memory:

• sensory

• short term

• long term

Sensory memory is:

a split second holding tank for ALL sensory information

2 main types of sensory memory:

• Iconic memory — vision

• Echoic memory — hearing

Short Term memory is:

the temporary storage of recent events

Short Term memory holds:

about 7 (+ or - 2) items for about 20 seconds

How to increase short term memory:

Chunking:

• organizing items into familiar, manageable units

Long Term memory is:

PERMANENT

Type of long term memory:

Explicit — with conscious recall

Implicit — without conscious recall

Explicit long term memory:

Semantic memory — fact & knowledge

Episodic memory — personally experienced events (alibi)

Implicit long term memory:

• motor & cognitive skills

• classical operant conditioning

ways to encode long term memory:

• mnemonic devices (memory aid)

• acronyms

• method of loci (location)

• Peg method

• memory palace

Retrieval:

levels of processing

• how easy you can retrieve a memory

Retrieval Cues:

→context dependent theory — recall improves when you are in the same state (condition) as when you learned the information/event

→encoding specification — associations you form at the time of learning will be the most effective retrieval cues

Encoding Specificity principle (1973)

• associations you form at the time of learning will be the most effective

Retrieval mistakes:

Reconstructive memory — during an original experience, we construct a memory that we retrieve and reconstruct based on expectations

Studying Tips!!:

→draw pictures!

→make those associations!

→study a little bit at 

→if you study all at once, you overestimate how well you will remember it

→to improve memory, retrieve it!

→study in different rooms

Forgetting:

• interference is the #1 reason for forgetting

• →proactive (forward acting) interference — previous material learned blocks the ability to retrieve the newer material

• →retroactive (backward-acting) interference — new material blocks the ability to retrieve the older material

Amnesia:

the loss of memory

Retrograde amnesia:

memory loss of information presented before the trauma

Anterograde amnesia:

memory loss of information presented after the trauma

Source amnesia:

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, or read about

Biological perspectives to memory:

• Cerebellum — procedural memory (knowing “how to”)

• Hippocampus — declarative memory (knowing “that”)

• Thalamus — the “librarian”     (retrieval of memories)

• Amygdala — emotional memories (esp. fear & anxiety)