Unit 7: Memory
Unit #7: Memory
Memory is fallible
Memory is more like a wiki page, memory fills in the gap through ourselves or other people
Memory is 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)
Three stages: encoding, storing, and retrieving
Not all memories go through this process
Memory must encompass three stages in order for us to remember it.
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
Transferring to stm to ltm.
Two types of rehearsal: repetition of information entered through stm
Maintenance rehearsal: repeating the same stimuli in the same form
Elaborative rehearsal: considering and organizing information in meaningful ways (connecting to personal experiences and understanding it). Much more effective
For instance, connecting a person’s name to something meaningful (Jane from psych)
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)
Remembering certain things
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
Henry Molasion: had hippocampus removed, causing the removal to form new memories
Was not able to store memories but could learn new skills,
Declarative memories:
Explicit memory: consciously recall information (like general knowledge; who the prime minister)
Episodic memory: recalling events in our lives (first video game console)
Non declarative memories:
Non-explicit memory: memory where behaviour is affected by a prior experience without conscious recollection of the previous experience
Procedural memory: memory for how to do things
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: part of the limbic system; plays a role in emotions. Heavily involved in emotions involving emotions like fear or things, traumatic experiences.
What happens for the formation of memories:
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:
In order to encode a memory, we must be paying attention
A lot of events we experience, we forget as we dont play attention to it
Next-in-line effect: pressure in line, anxiety for being next in line. Not paying attention to other answers, you are not encoding information around as you are thinking about your own thoughts.
Self-reference effect: relating information to ourselves makes us remember things better (for instance, password, pin numbers, security questions; they all relate to us)
Stress and encoding failure
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
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: why do we forget
Decay: information fads over time
Interference: lose information due to competition with other information
Retroactive: new information hampers information previously learned (password for new debt card, old atm card is hindered)
Proactive: Something we learned earlier (old information) interferes with new information (old conceptions of psychology interferes with new information about psychology)
Amnesia: memory loss because of disease, physical/psychological trauma
Two types:
Anterograde amnesia: inability to remember new information after trauma, typically after brain trauma
Hippocampus is usually affected, inability to transfer short term memory to long term memories
Retrograde amnesia: partial or complete loss of memories prior to the traumatic event
Case study: anterograde and retrograde amnesia; still was able to play piano (implicit memories)
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
Context dependent learning: recalling information better in the same context (scuba divers in water, learning in water, better retrieveall in water)
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.
Flashbulb memory: record of atypical memory which invokes an emotional association (easy to retrieve, like 9/11, COVID)
Reconstructive nature of memory
Memory is fallible, we forget over time and can be influenced by…
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 is 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 of study: what happens during a robbery; your script: they break in, steal, and leave (typically ideas).
Study gathered common scripts about robbery. Second part used a mock trial, but they omitted certain aspects in the scripts like not threatening individual and no goods stolen.
Results showed that individuals used their scripts in the trial (their own expections filled the situation which was not true/accurate)
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.
Open ended questions elicit more accurate responses while something suggestive like did you see the car past the yield sign alters the response
False memories: Individuals were asked about events from their past, 3 were true, 1 was false. 25% of individuals believed the false event (implanted memory of being lost in the mall)
Mandela effect: a type of false memory that occurs when many different people incorrectly remember the same thing
Shaw: most comprehensive false memory; implanting false memories of a crime. Conflated real events (like location and names) to false crimes