M 23-25 Memory PowerPoint - student copy

Memory Overview

• Memory: The persistence of learning over time through encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

• Students will not need to know specific brain structures associated with memory.

Types of Memory Measurement

Recall

• The retrieval of information not currently in conscious awareness but learned earlier.

• Example: Write down the names of the 7 dwarfs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Recognition

• The identification of previously learned items.

• Example: Identify names from a provided list of the 7 dwarfs: Grouchy, Droopy, Sleepy, Gabby, Dopey, Jumpy, Sniffy, Grumpy, Lazy, Sneezy, Shorty, Happy, Wheezy, Fearful, Doc, Wishful, Cheerful, Shy, Bashful.

Memory Models

A. The Information Processing Model

1. Encoding: The process of getting information into memory system.

2. Storage: The process of retaining encoded information over time.

3. Retrieval: The process of accessing information from memory storage.

B. The Three Stage Model of Memory (Atkinson and Shiffrin)

• Stages:

  1. Sensory Memory

     • Initial sensory experience (iconic and echoic memory).

  2. Short-Term/Working Memory

     • Active thinking and manipulation of information; holds 7 +/- 2 items.

  3. Long-Term Memory

     • Almost unlimited capacity, ranging from minutes to a lifetime.

• Information loss can occur via:

  • Decay

  • Displacement

  • Interference

  • Encoding failure

Types of Memory Explained

1. Sensory Memory

• Lasts a few seconds for visual stimuli (4 seconds) and auditory stimuli (3-4 seconds).

2. Short-Term/Working Memory

• Holds meaningful information; can decay quickly without rehearsal.

3. Long-Term Memory

• Includes explicit (declarative) and implicit (non-declarative) memories:

  • Explicit: Facts and events, requires conscious recall, processed in hippocampus.

  • Implicit: Skills and conditioning, without conscious recall, processed in cerebellum.

Levels of Processing Model

• Cognitive Processing affects memory retention:

  • Shallow Processing: Basic encoding with poor retention.

  • Deep Processing: Encoding based on meaning, enhances retention.

Memory Retrieval

Priming

• Unconscious activation of related associations in memory.

• Retrieval Cues: Stimuli that help recover memory; can be conscious or unconscious.

Context-Dependent Memory

• Recall improved when external environment matches where encoding occurred.

State-Dependent Memory

• Recall better when internal state matches during encoding (mood-congruent).

Serial Position Effect

• Tendency to recall best the last (recency effect) and first (primacy effect) items in a list.

Forgetting Mechanisms

A. Encoding Failure

• Information was never encoded into long-term memory (e.g., common details like the number of eyelets on shoes).

B. Storage Decay

• Gradual memory decay if not used; rapid forgetting in the first 48 hours.

C. Retrieval Failure

• Interference can prevent successful retrieval of stored information.

Types of Interference

1. Proactive Interference

• Prior learning disrupts recall of new information.

2. Retroactive Interference

• New learning disrupts recall of old information.

Motivated Forgetting

• Repression: An unconscious defense mechanism to forget anxiety-producing memories.

Memory Construction Errors

A. Reconsolidation

• Recalled memories can be altered each time they are retrieved.

B. Misinformation Effect

• Post-event information can change the original memory.

C. Imagination Effect

• Imagining events can create false memories; susceptibility varies.

D. Source Amnesia

• Retaining a memory without recalling the context; confusion about sources.

Further Reading on Memory Errors

• Innocence Project and related resources for false eyewitness identification related to memory errors.