Memory

Definition of Memory

• Memory: The capacity to retain and retrieve information.

Measuring Memory

• Recall: Ability to retrieve previously learned information.

• Recognition: Ability to identify previously encountered information.

• Relearning: The process where effort is saved in having learned something before.

Models of Memory

Information Processing Model

• Compares the mind to a computer.

• Encoding: The process of putting information in, retaining, storing, and retrieving.

Levels of Processing

• Different levels of processing impact encoding

  • Shallow Processing (Structural): Focus on physical structure (e.g., Is the word written in capital letters?).

  • Intermediate Processing (Phonemic): Focus on sounds (e.g., Does the word rhyme with 'weight'?).

  • Deep Processing (Semantic): Focus on meaning (e.g., Would the word fit in the sentence: "He met a ___ on the street?").

Three Box Model of Memory

• Sensory Memory

• Short Term Memory

• Long Term Memory

• Processes: Sensory input, attention, rehearsal, storage, retrieval.

Sensory Memory

• Retains information for 1-2 seconds.

  • ~1/2 second in visual system, longer in the auditory system.

  • Determines worth of processing.

• Types:

  • Iconic Memory: Fast-decaying store of visual information.

  • Echoic Memory: Fast-decaying store of auditory information.

Short Term Memory

• Holds limited amounts of information for 15-20 seconds.

• Pattern Recognition: Compares new information with existing long-term memories.

Magic Number

• Historically 7 +/- 2 items in short-term memory; recent studies suggest around 4 items.

• Digit Span Test: Measures short-term memory capacity.

• Chunking: A strategy to help hold more information by grouping.

Long Term Memory

• Stores information for minutes to decades.

• Storage depends on synaptic connections, enhanced by long-term potentiation.

• Organization: Typically organized by schemas and semantic networks.

Contents of Long-Term Memory

• Explicit Memory: Consciously or intentionally retrieving past experiences.

• Implicit Memory: Past experiences influence behavior and performance without conscious recall.

Memory and the Brain

• Different memory types stored in interconnected brain regions.

  • Explicit: Hippocampus, neocortex, amygdala.

  • Implicit: Basal ganglia and cerebellum.

  • Short-term: Prefrontal cortex.

• Types of Memory under Long-term Memory:

  • Explicit (Declarative):

    • Semantic Memories: Facts, rules, concepts.

    • Episodic Memories: Personal recollections of events.

  • Implicit:

    • Procedural Memory: Skills and activities (knowing "how").

    • Priming: Enhanced identification based on recent exposure.

Memory Phenomena

Serial Position Effect

• More likely to remember items at the start and end rather than the middle.

• Primacy Effect: Better recall of first items.

• Recency Effect: Better recall of last items.

Factors Influencing Memory

• Frequency: Repeated mentions can enhance memory.

• Distinctiveness: Unique information can improve recall.

• Chunking: Organizing information can boost retention.

Memory Techniques

• Maintenance Rehearsal: Simple repetition (e.g., repeating a phone number).

• Elaborative Rehearsal: Involves reviewing and giving meaning.

• Visual Imagery: Creating visual representations of information.

• Method of Loci: Associating concepts with visual locations.

• Mnemonics: Memory aids like acronyms (e.g., ROY G BIV).

• Dual-Coding Theory: Memory is enhanced by using both verbal and visual information.

Research Examples

• Chase and Simon’s Chess Study: Expert players remember relevant chess positions better than novices.

Flashbulb Memories

• Vivid recollections of significant events, often influenced by emotion.

• Distortion: Details can fade over time.

Eyewitness Testimony

• Memories can be highly suggestible and prone to inaccuracies.

• Errors: Increased when there are ethnic differences between subjects and witnesses.

Age and Recall

• Both children and adults can report accurately, yet influenced by external factors.

Reality Monitoring

• Source Memory: Recall of when, where, and how information was obtained.

• Memory Misattribution: Confusion over the source of a memory.

Forgetting

• Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve: A rapid decline in memory retention for nonsensical syllables.

• Decay Theories: Memories fade over time.

Interference

• Retroactive Interference: New information disrupts old memories.

• Proactive Interference: Old information disrupts new learning.

Motivated Forgetting

• Painful memories can be blocked from consciousness (Freudian perspective).

• Retrieval Cues: External stimuli aid memory recall.

Amnesia

• Refers to memory deficits.

• Retrograde Amnesia: Loss of memory for events occurring before the amnesia.

• Anterograde Amnesia: Inability to learn new information after the onset of amnesia.

Case Study: Clive Wearing

• Application of memory concepts to Clive’s experiences highlights explicit and implicit memory abilities and deficits.

• Implications of studying cases like Clive’s provide insights into memory functioning.