Chapter 10: Memory Components, Forgetting, and Strategies

Memory

Our capacity to remember

What are the two memory structures (functional systems)

Working memory and long-term memory

What are the functions of memory

• Storage of information

• Retrieval of information

• System specific functions

Working memory

Function system in the structure of memory that’s associated with sensory, perceptual, attentional, and short-term memory processes

• Operates in all situations requiring the temporary use and storage of information and execution of memory and responses processes (to store and use the memory)

Working memory sub-systems

• phonological loop

• Visuospatial sketchpad

• Central executive

Working memory functions

Enables people to respond according to the demands of a “right now” situation

• Decision making, problem solving, movement planning and execution

• Interacts with long-term memory

• Serves as an interactive workspace

Interactive workspace

Where various memory processing activities can occur, like integrating working memory with information retrieved from a long-term memory

Phonological loop

Responsible for the short0term storage of verbal information

Visuospatial sketchpad

Stores visually detected spatial information for short periods of time

Central executive

Coordinates the information in working memory

• includes information retrieved from long-term memory

Duration of working memory

Tend to lose information/forget from working memory after 20-30 seconds

Adams and Dijkstra duration experiment

Experiment was to have the participant move an object to a wooden block blind folded. After returning to starting position and waiting a period of time, the participant performed a recall test and moved the object to the same spot but without the wooden block. Recorded that after 20 seconds success rate began to decline.

• Indicated that arm positions in space that are experienced one time each are lost from working memory at a rate comparable to that of words

Capacity of working memory

Can hold about 7 items give or take 2 such as words or digits in short-term storage.

Increasing capacity

True. You can increase the “size” of an item in memory through organization or chunking which can enable people to recall more than 5 to 9 individual items at a time, but capacity remains constant around 7

capacity of 7 ± 2 example

12 -13 year old gymnast asked to perform a sequence after only seeing it once

• The more experienced gymnasts demonstrated a 6-movement capacity limit

• The less experienced gymnasts demonstrated a 5-movement capacity limit

• Higher skilled have a larger capacity in addition to long term memory that aids in secondary tasks

Working memory processing of information

Information processed to allow a person to achieve action goal or goal of problem at hand

• Remember how to perform an action after instructed

• Solving a specific movement problem like throwing a ball to someone or putting puzzle pieces together

Why would placing a puzzle piece into its spot during therapy require working memory?

Working memory is actively involved because you carried out several activities requiring several different perception, remembering, and performance characteristics that must be done virtually simultaneously

Long-term memory

A more permanent storage repository of information.

• allows people to have information about specific past events as well as general knowledge

Duration of long-term memory

Generally accepted that information resides in a relatively permanent state in long-term memory and “forgotten” memories are just difficult to locate

• aka unknown since we can’t actually measure it

Capacity of long-term memory

Relatively unlimited

• Not much is known

Long-term memory sub-systems

• Procedural memory

• Semantic memory

• Episodic memory

Procedural memory

Memory system that enables us to know “how to do” something vs knowing “what to do”

• Knowing how to ride a bike but not knowing how to verbally tell someone what to do in order to ride a bike

Helps us to respond to the environment through learned procedures to achieve specific action goals (motor skills)

Semantic memory

Stores general knowledge about the world developed from our many experiences

• from “tallest building in America” to “concepts of a dog or love”

Episodic memory

Stores knowledge about personally experienced events

• Allows us to “travel back in time/relive memories”

• for motor skills allows you to prepare for upcoming performance or reference what you're doing wrong that you once did correctly

Declarative knowledge

Knowledge about what to do in a situation, typically verbalized

• information from episodic and semantic memory

Procedural knowledge

Knowledge that enables a person to know how to do a skill, typically difficult to verbalize/not verbalized

• 
  

Distinction between verbally describing how to tie your shoes and actually tying them

Declarative knowledge vs. procedural knowledge

Encoding

The transformation of information into a form that can be stored in memory

Consolidation/storage

The process by which memories become stable and more resistant to decay or interference over time in long-term memory

Rehearsal

Process that enables the individual to transfer information from working memory to long-term memory

Retrieval

Involves the search through long-term memory for information that’s needed to perform the task at hand

Explicit memory tests

Tests that ask people to remember or to consciously call something to mind

• “tests of memory”

• Recall tests

• Recognition tests

Recall tests

requires a person to produce a required response with few if any cues or aids

• recalling information that has been presented

Recall test example

Verbal domain = tests in a form of essay or fill-in-the blank

• “name the bones in the hand”

• “Show me how to tie your shoe”

Recognition test

Provides some cues or information on whivh to base a response

• Persons task is to recognize the correct response by distinguishing it from several alternatives

Recognition test example

Verbal domain = multiple choice or matching tests

• “which of these is a bone in the hand?”

• Movement recognition test involving a person to determine which movement is best for a specific situation

How is recall and recognition used at the same time?

In terms of learning and performing motor skills

• A baseball batter must deciede whether to swing or not. To produce the appropriate swing, the batter must recall what to do to carry out the action and then recognize if the swing initiates is appropriate for the pitch

Important benefits of recall and recognition tests

Each provide different information about what has been remembered or forgotten

• person can fail a recall test (essay) but pass with recognition test (multiple choice)

  • use of aids/cues to help remember

Implicit memory tests

Assess info in memory that is difficult to verbalize or may not be verbalized (info that would not be access on an explitcit memory test)

Impicit memory test where you can’t verbalize but can perform?

Call back to declarative vs procedural knowledge. Just can’t verbalize how to tie shoes doesn’t mean that you cant because your able to physically show people you can.

Is it possible to know what to do (declarative) but not be able to actually do what you know you should (procedural)?

Yes

• Basketball player writing out what play should happen during a game, but then not doing said play in the game even though he knew it should have been done

Trace decay

When forgetting occurs with the passing of time

• Can be effectively tested as a cause of forgetting only in working memory though

Trace decay in long-term memory complications

Impossible of maintaining a no-intereference test situation

• Try to recall a tennis serves after years of not playing. You’ve undoubtedly experienced the potentially interfering influences of cognitive and motor abilites performed since. Because of this researchers dont know the influence of time on forgetting information stored in long-term memory

Proactive interference

Activity that occurs prior to the presentation of information that is to be remembered and negatively affects the remembering of that information

• Cause of forgetting

Proactive intereference in working memory

A reason for forgetting movement information held in working memory

• Suggestion that when proactive interference takes the form of other movements especially if similar, confusion occurs

  • Similarity between whar is to be remembered and the interdering activity

Attribute similarity and proactive interference (working memory)

If the information to be remembered and the interfering activity relate to the same movement attribute/characteristic, the proactive interference will build up as the number of similar movements preceeding increases.

• Gymnasts judges seeing clips of the routine before hand and judging the live routine based on the clips (if they improved or not)

Proactive interference in long-term memory

Little is known but, you can overcome proactive interference effects by atively rehearsing information

• Motor skills or/= practicing, strengthening its representation in memory and reducing proactive interference

Proactive interference in long-term memory example

Group of people using a keyboard under specific instructions and restrictions. At some point they was a reduction in proactive interference after practicing under certain conditions

Retroactive interference

A cause of forgetting because of activity occuring during the retention interval

• Like a professor moving on to unit 2 before testing on unit 1

Retroactive interference and long-term memory

Certain types of motor skills are remembered better over long periods than are other types.

• Able to ride a bike after years of not, but not able to put a puzzle together even though you learned how to ride the bike and put the puzzle together at the same time

What deteriates faster, verbal component skills or motor components?

Verbal component skills, because it’s a discrete skill and motor components is a continous skill so they are “practiced more”

Movement end-point location is remembered better than movement distance means that

They are better at reproducing the final position of the arm vs how far the arm moved (outside the body space)

What happens when location information is totally unreliable and only distance is available to recall?

people will use a nonkinesthetuc strategy like counting, lists, pictures, to help remember the distance

With characteristics of location and distance, what are th implications for teaching motor skills? example

Trying to teach a gold swing? Teach the critical points of a swing (location point of a backswing)

Meaningfulness of the movement

Movement becomes meaningful if they can relate the movement to something they know.

• If the movment is similar to a triangle vs an abstract pattern its more likely to be remembered

Visual metaphoric imagery that increases a movements meaningfulness

Person thinks of producing a metaphoric image related to the movement

• Teaching someone to squat and telling them to visualize a chair

Verbal label that increases a movements meaningfulness

Attach a specific label to the movement

Intentional memory

Conscious attention to remember and leads to better remembering

Incidental memory

Not consciously paying attention but aids in better results for retention tests, if no previous experience with the test movements had occured

Subjective organization

Organizing sequences of movements that must be remembered in a way that is meaningful to the individual

• organizing into smaller chunks (list, or monologue, etc.)

Subjective organization novice vs expert example

Learning to row and learning in sections and then being able to row without even thinking

Encoding Specificity Principle

The more the test context resembles the practice context, the better the retention performance will be.

• Refers to the relationship between memory encoding and retrieval process

• Study with paper and pencil in class for a in class paper test