Chapter 8: Memory - Notes

Encoding is the input of information into the memory system.
It involves labeling or coding information received from the environment.
Organizing information with similar information and connecting new concepts to existing ones.
Occurs through automatic and effortful processing.
Automatic Processing: Encoding details like time, space, frequency, & meaning of words without conscious awareness.
Effortful Processing: Requires work and attention to encode information.
Material is better encoded when meaningful.

Semantic Encoding: Encoding of word and their meaning.
- William Bousfield's (1935) experiment showed people recall words by categories, indicating attention to meaning.
Visual Encoding: Encoding of images.
Acoustic Encoding: Encoding of sounds, especially words.
Concrete, high-imagery words are easier to recall because they're encoded visually and semantically.
Fergus Craik and Endel Tulving (1975) found semantic encoding leads to better memory than visual or acoustic.
Self-Reference Effect: Better memory for information related to oneself (Rogers, Kuiper & Kirker, 1977).

Storage is the creation of a permanent record of information.
Information must pass through three stages to reach long-term memory: Sensory Memory, Short-Term Memory, & Long-Term Memory.
Atkinson-Shiffrin (A-S) model (1968) proposes this three-stage model.
Sensory Memory: Brief storage of sensory events (sights, sounds, tastes) for up to a couple of seconds.
Short-Term Memory (STM): Temporary storage system that processes incoming sensory memory, also called working memory; lasts about 20 seconds.
- George Miller (1956) found STM capacity is about 7 items plus or minus 2.
- Information goes to long-term memory or is discarded.
- Rehearsal is the conscious repetition of information to move STM into long-term memory; this is called memory consolidation.
Long-Term Memory (LTM): Continuous storage of information with virtually no limits.

Explicit Memory: Consciously try to remember and recall.
Implicit Memory: Not part of our consciousness; formed from behaviors (also called non-declarative memory).
Procedural Memory: Type of implicit memory for how to do things (skilled actions).
Declarative Memory: Storage of facts and events we personally experienced.
- Semantic Memory: Knowledge about words, concepts, and language-based facts.
- Episodic Memory: Information about events we have personally experienced (the what, where, and when).
  - Also called autobiographical memories.
Hyperthymesia: Highly superior autobiographical memory; very few people possess this ability.

Retrieval is the act of getting information out of memory storage and back into conscious awareness.
Three ways to retrieve information: recall, recognition, and relearning.
Recall: Accessing information without cues (e.g., essay test).
Recognition: Identifying previously learned information after encountering it again (e.g., multiple-choice test).
Relearning: Learning information that you previously learned.

Memories are stored in different parts of the brain.
Karl Lashley's research suggested equipotentiality hypothesis: if one part of the brain involved in memory is damaged, another part can take over that memory function.
Key brain parts in memory: amygdala, hippocampus, cerebellum, & prefrontal cortex.

Regulates emotions like fear and aggression.
Involved in how memories are stored due to influence of stress hormones.
Facilitates encoding memories at a deeper level when the event is emotionally arousing.

Involved in memory, specifically recognition and spatial memory.
Projects information to cortical regions for meaning and connections with other memories.
Plays a part in memory consolidation.
Damage can result in an inability to process new declarative memories.

Cerebellum is important for implicit memories
Prefrontal cortex is also heavily involved in formation of memories. During perceptual tasks the letter 'a' in words is identified, during semantic tasks a noun is categorized as either living or non-living.

Neurotransmitters like epinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, & acetylcholine are involved with memory.
Communication among neurons via neurotransmitters is critical for developing new memories.
Strong emotions trigger the formation of strong memories (arousal theory).
Flashbulb Memory: Exceptionally clear recollection of an important event.
Inaccurate and false memories can occur, even with flashbulb memories.

Amnesia is the loss of long-term memory due to disease, trauma, or psychological trauma.
Anterograde Amnesia: Cannot remember new information after injury;
- Inability to consolidate memories.
Retrograde Amnesia: Loss of memory for events prior to trauma.

Formulation of new memories is called construction, and the process of bringing up old memories is called reconstruction.
Retrieved memories can be altered and modified.

Exposure to incorrect information can cause misremembering of the original event.

False autobiographical memories can occur, known as false memory syndrome.
The idea that memories of traumatic events could be repressed has been a theme in the field of psychology