College Physics: Memory - Part 1

Attendance and Joining Information

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Course Information

College Physics Overview

  • Chapter Focus: Memory chapter 8 – Part 1

  • Course Code: PBSI 107-511

  • Semester: Fall 2025

  • Instructor Name: Yanai Otero La Porte

Agenda

  • How Memory Functions

  • Parts of the Brain Involved in Memory

Understanding Memory

Definition of Memory

  • Memory: The ability to learn and store information pertaining to what has been learned and remembered. It comprises three core processes:

    • Encoding: Inputting information into the memory system.

    • Storage: Retaining the encoded information.

    • Retrieval: Extracting information from memory and returning it to awareness.

Memory as an Information-Processing System

  • Comparison: Our memory operates similarly to a computer’s information-processing system, functioning through a series of processes over different time frames.

  • Note: Unlike a computer, human memory does not always return unbiased memories; it is a complex entity encapsulating more than just information storage.

Functions of Memory

Encoding

  • Process of Encoding: Initial effortful learning requires attention, particularly evident when acquiring new skills. For example:

    • Learning to drive a car necessitates focused effort to encode the information about driving,

    • Conversely, once driving is learned, additional information encoding about this skill can occur automatically.

  • Key Aspects of Encoding:

    • Information is categorized and organized with relevant connections.

  • Types of Processing in Encoding:

    1. Automatic Processing:

    • Definition: The unconscious encoding of incidental information like time, space, and the frequency of events.

    • Example: Remembering when you studied.

    1. Effortful Processing:

    • Definition: Deliberate encoding that requires time and cognitive effort.

    • Example: Learning new skills or content.

Types of Encoding

  1. Semantic Encoding:

    • Involves encoding meanings and concepts, most effective for recall.

    • Deeper level of processing leads to better retention of information.

  2. Visual Encoding:

    • Focuses on creating mental images; concrete words are easier to recall than abstract ones.

  3. Acoustic Encoding:

    • Involves the encoding of sounds.

  • Self-Reference Effect: Tendency to better remember information when it relates to oneself.

Memory Storage Models

  • Baddeley & Hitch Model:

    • Describes short-term memory as consisting of different systems based on the kind of information:

    1. Visuospatial Sketchpad

    2. Episodic Buffer

    3. Phonological Loop

    • Central executive supervises information flow among these systems, linking short-term memory (STM) to long-term memory (LTM).

Atkinson-Shiffrin Model of Memory

  • Overview: Proposes that information progresses through three stages to be stored in long-term memory.

  • Conceptualization: Memory processing is likened to computer processing.

Sensory Memory

  • Definition: Brief storage of sensory events (e.g., sights, sounds) for a duration of a few seconds.

  • Significance: Initial step in processing stimuli; non-essential information is discarded, whereas important data transitions to short-term memory.

The Stroop Effect

  • Definition: A phenomenon illustrating difficulty in naming a color when the color of the word and the word itself differ.

Short-term Memory (STM)

  • Definition and Characteristics:

    • STM serves as a temporary storage system for processing incoming sensory memory.

    • Duration: Approximately 20 seconds.

    • Capacity: Typically 7 items, with a variance of ±2, as discovered by George Miller.

  • Memory Consolidation: The transition of information from STM to LTM, often facilitated by rehearsal — the conscious repetition of information.

Long-term Memory (LTM)

  • Definition: Ongoing storage of information with no theoretical limits, akin to a computer's hard drive.

  • Components of LTM:

    1. Explicit Memory: Knowledge that can be consciously recalled.

    • Semantic Memory: Knowledge about facts and concepts (e.g., knowing the President).

    • Episodic Memory: Memories of personal experiences and events.

    1. Implicit Memory: Knowledge that manifests through performance rather than conscious recollection.

    • Procedural Memory: Knowledge of how to perform tasks (e.g., riding a bike).

Memory Retrieval

Definition and Types of Retrieval

  • Retrieval: The act of accessing stored information.

  • Methods of Retrieval:

    1. Recall: Accessing information without cues (reminiscent of essay tests).

    2. Recognition: Identifying previously learned information upon re-encountering (similar to multiple-choice tests).

    3. Relearning: The expedited learning of previously learned information.

Cognitive Biases in Memory

Primacy and Recency Effects

  • Recency Effect: Tendency to remember the last few pieces of information more clearly due to presence in short-term memory.

  • Primacy Effect: Tendency to remember the first few pieces of information more clearly, as they benefit from processing and rehearsal.

Exercises for Memory Testing

  • Tests engage the audience in recalling various strings of numbers, testing short-term memory efficacy.
    Examples of number strings:

  1. 9754

  2. 68259

  3. 913825

Parts of the Brain Involved in Memory

Early Investigations into Memory Traces

  • Karl Lashley: Sought to identify memory traces (engrams) through studies on rats navigating mazes.

  • Findings indicated no distinguished engram, suggesting a more complex understanding of memory mechanics, leading to the equipotentiality hypothesis, which stipulates overlapping memory functions across brain areas.

Recent Discoveries and Memory Circuits

  • Eric Kandel: Contribution to understanding synaptic roles in memory formation; revealed that memory is distributed across neural circuits rather than localized to single areas.

Brain Structures Contributing to Memory

  1. Prefrontal Cortex

  2. Cerebellum

  3. Amygdala

  4. Hippocampus

Amygdala's Role in Memory

  • Functionality: Involved in the regulation of emotions, particularly concerning fear and aggression. Emotional experiences influence memory storage through stress hormones.

  • Example: Pavlovian conditioning demonstrates its importance in fear-related memory processing.

Hippocampus and Memory Processing

  • Associative Functions: Critical for explicit, recognition, and spatial memories; facilitates memory consolidation.

  • Case Study of Patient H.M.: Surgical removal leading to significant long-term memory impairment while procedural memory remained intact.

Contributions of the Cerebellum

  • Role: Involved in procedural memory processing, impacting classical conditioning and skill acquisition.

Memory Encoding and Recall in the Prefrontal Cortex

  • Involvement: Engaged in semantic task completion; PET scan findings indicate lateralization during encoding and recollection processes.

Neurotransmitters in Memory

Role of Neurotransmitters

  • Mechanism: Repeated neuronal activity heightens neurotransmitter levels in synapses, strengthening synaptic connections crucial for memory consolidation.

  • Key Neurotransmitters:

    • Epinephrine

    • Dopamine

    • Serotonin

    • Glutamate

    • Acetylcholine

Arousal Theory and Strong Memories

  • Arousal Theory: Intense emotions can cultivate strong memories, while mild experiences yield weaker recollections.

  • Flashbulb Memories: Exceptional clarity associated with emotionally charged events (e.g., 9/11, moon landing).

Flashbulb Memory

Definition

  • Flashbulb Memory: Vivid recollections of unusual events possessing strong emotional connections, often acted as significant reference points within a generation.

  • Examples include major historical events and personal experiences that evoke strong reactions.

Review of Case Study: Patient H.M.

Overview of H.M.'s Condition

  • Procedures to manage epilepsy involved the removal of temporal lobes, leading to anterograde amnesia affecting declarative memory.

  • Demonstrates the hippocampus's role in explicit memory formation, contrasting with intact procedural and earlier memories.

Review of Brain Functions Regarding Memory

Core Findings:

  • Engram: Neuronal groups representing the physical basis of memory.

  • Equipotentiality Hypothesis: Memory damage redistribution across brain areas.

  • Brains areas crucial for memory include the hippocampus and amygdala for their roles in storage/recall and emotional processing, respectively.

Summary Questions

  1. Different stages of memory and types.

  2. Understanding the Three-Stage memory model.

  3. Characteristics of short-term memory.

  4. Variants of long-term memory.

  5. The processes and types of retrieval.

  6. Brain areas critical to memory functions and their descriptive roles.