5. Memory II

Overview

  • Encoding and Transfer of Information

    • Forms of Encoding

  • Short-Term Storage

  • Long-Term Storage

    • Transfer of Information from STM to LTM

  • Rehearsal

  • Organization of Information

  • Retrieval

    • Retrieval from STM

      • Parallel or Serial Processing?

      • Exhaustive or Self-Terminating Processing?

    • Retrieval from LTM

  • Process of Forgetting and Memory Distortion

    • Distortion

    • Interference Theory

    • Decay Theory

    • The Constructive Nature of Memory

      • Autobiographical Memory

      • Memory Distortion

      • The Eyewitness Testimony

Encoding and Transfer of Information

Form of Encoding

  • Short-Term Storage

    • Primarily acoustic encoding

  • Long-Term Storage

    • Primarily semantic encoding

Additional Information

  • Participants in a letter substitution experiment confused auditory stimuli (e.g., F for S, B for V) showing that visual letters are encoded acoustically.

  • A study using a list of 41 words found participants falsely recognized more semantically related words (1.83) compared to unrelated words (1.05), indicating semantic confusion.

Transfer of Information From STM to LTM

  • Key problems include:

    • Interference

    • Decay

  • Nondeclarative Memory:

    • Involves repeated practice or conditioning

  • Long-Term Declarative Memory:

    • Achieved through:

      1. Deliberately attending to information

      2. Making connections with prior knowledge

Rehearsal in Memory Transfer

  • Rehearsal: the repeated recitation of an item.

    • Types of Rehearsal:

      • Overt: loud and obvious

      • Covert: silent and hidden

    • Maintenance Rehearsal: simple repetition of information.

Elaborative Rehearsal

  • Involves meaningful integration and connection into existing knowledge

The Spacing Effect

  • Ebbinghaus (1985): Learning distributed over time leads to better retention than cramming.

  • Sleep and Memory: Sleep plays a significant role in memory consolidation.

  • Mnemonic Strategies: Techniques used to improve memory retention.

Retrieval from Short-Term Memory

  • Retrieval Models:

    • Parallel Processing

    • Serial Processing (Exhaustive vs. Self-terminating)

      • Exhaustive Processing: In this approach, all items in a memory set are checked before a response is made, regardless of whether the target item has been found or not.

      • Self-Terminating Processing: In this process, the search stops as soon as the target item is found, without checking the remaining items.

    • Response times influenced by the number of symbols in list and their position.

Retrieval from Long-Term Memory

  • Cued (hint) Recall vs. Free Recall:

    • Cued recall typically yields better results than free recall.

Processes of Forgetting and Memory Distortion

  • Interference Theory: Competing information can disrupt memory.

    • Retroactive Interference: New learning disrupts recall of old memories.

    • Proactive Interference: Old memories interfere with new learning.

Distortion in Memory

  • Recency effect (better recall for end items) and primacy effect (better recall for initial items) observed in word lists.

  • Interference accounts for the majority of forgetfulness, especially in short-term memory.

The Constructive Nature of Memory

  • Importance of prior experiences in recall and the impact of self-esteem on autobiographical memory retention.

Autobiographical Memory

  • Typically consists of personal, significant, and emotional events.

  • Research by Neisser and Harsch (1992): College students' recollections often inaccurate, highlighting the fallibility of memory.

Memory Distortion Issues

  1. Transience: Memory fades quickly over time

  2. Absent-mindedness: Inattentiveness leading to memory failures

  3. Blocking: Temporary inability to retrieve known information (e.g., tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon)

  4. Misattribution: Confusing details of different memories

  5. Suggestibility: The impact of external suggestions on memory

  6. Bias: Current experiences shape past recollections

  7. Persistence: Ineffectual focus on specific negative memories despite many positive ones.

The Eyewitness Paradigm

  • Example cases: Eyewitness testimony can lead to wrongful convictions and highlight the importance of memory reliability.