Memory and Learning Notes

Memory Processes

• Memory Definition: The ability to retain knowledge and use it for thinking and problem-solving.
• Key Processes: Attention, sensation, perception, and learning are essential for forming a memory.
• Information Processing: Memory is part of an information processing continuum that includes attention through problem-solving.

Atkinson-Shiffrin Model of Memory

• Three Steps:
• Storage
• Retrieval
• Encoding

Types of Memory

• Sensory Memory: Holds sensory information for a brief period.
• Types: Visual, Acoustic, Haptic
• Short-Term Memory (STM): Stores limited information for a short duration (7±2 bits, 30 seconds or less).
• Chunking: Organizing information into meaningful chunks to improve memory capacity.
• Working Memory: Similar to STM but allows manipulation of various types of information.
• Components:
  • Visuospatial Sketchpad: Visual manipulation.
  • Phonological Loop: Rehearsal of auditory information.
  • Central Executive: Directs attention, integrates information.
  • Episodic Buffer: Connects various information sources with long-term memory.
• Long-Term Memory: Allocates permanent memories.
• Levels of Processing Theory: Deeper processing (meaning) is likely to lead to better retention than shallow processing (visual/auditory).

Memory Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval

• Encoding: Process of taking information and putting it into memory.
• Storage: The act of holding information in memory.
• Retrieval: Recovering stored information.
• Comparison: Human memory is often less accurate compared to computers.

Forgetting and Memory Retrieval

• Forgetting: Decreases ability to retrieve memories but is not the same as failure to encode.
• Interference: Old and new information competing can distort memories.
• Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon: Partial retrieval of memory, related to spreading activation in the brain.

Biological Basis of Memory

• Long-Term Potentiation (LTP): Neurons that fire together become more efficient at communication.
• Engrams: Biological changes in the brain that correspond to memory formation.
• Neurotransmitters: Acetylcholine is important for memory, with drugs affecting ACh impacting memory retention and formation.

Improving Memory

• Context Dependency: Information is better recalled in the context it was learned (e.g., same environment).
• Distributed Practice vs. Massed Practice: Distributed practice (spacing out study sessions) is more effective for learning.
• Pomodoro Technique: Study in intervals (25 mins study, 5 mins break) to enhance focus.
• Metacognition: Thinking about one’s own thought processes can improve learning outcomes.
• Mnemonics: Aids memory by linking new information to known concepts.

Learning

• Learning Definition: A relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience. Types include associative, nonassociative, and observational learning.
• Classical Conditioning: Learning through association (Pavlov’s dogs). Components include unconditioned stimulus (UCS), unconditioned response (UCR), conditioned stimulus (CS), and conditioned response (CR).
• Operant Conditioning: Behavior is modified through rewards (reinforcement) or punishments.
• Reinforcement: Increases behavior.
• Punishment: Decreases behavior.
• The Premack Principle: Using a preferred activity to reinforce a less preferred one.

Observational Learning

• Observation Learning: Learning by watching others.
• Albert Bandura's Bobo doll experiment showed that children imitate aggressive behaviors observed in adults.
• Includes attention, memory, reproduction, and motivation for effective learning.

Cognition and Problem Solving

• Cognition: Internal manipulation of information for problem-solving and decision-making.
• Heuristics: Mental shortcuts to simplify decision-making, with techniques like availability, representative, and recognition heuristics influencing judgments.
• Evolutionary Psychology: Examines how evolution has shaped behaviors that provided survival advantages.