Unit 7 Mod 31 AP Psych Notes

Memory- the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information

Alzheimer’s disease: a progressive neurodegeneration and fatal condition

Memory degeneration- Alzheimer’s begins as difficulty remembering new information and progresses into an inability to do everyday tasks

Recall- receiving information not currently in your conscious awareness but was learned at the earliest time (fill in the blank, short answer)

Recognition- identifying items previously learned (options)(multiple choice)

Relearn- learning something more quickly when you learn it a second or later time

*Hermann Ebbinghous randomly selected a sample of syllables practiced them, and tested himself on his ability to accurately recall the items.

Information-processing model which likens human memory to computer operations

Parallel processing considers many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions

• Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin proposed a three-stage model of memory

  • Sensory memory- the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

  • short term memory- memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten

  • long term memory- the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

  • Prospective memory- the ability to learn to remember to do something in the future

AUtomatie processing is when memorys slip into the long term without trying

Working memory- a newer understanding of short-term memory that adds coucious active processing of incoming auditory (phonological loop) and visual

The central executive coordinates focused processing without which, information often fades.

explicit memory- retention of facts and experiences from long-term memory that one can consciously know and “declare”(conscious)

implicit memory- retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations in long-term memory independent of conscious recollection(automatic)

Procedural memory- and CC associations

Space- can you remember the page or side of the book where certain charts, graphs or material are located

Time- Have you ever retraced your steps through the sequence of your way to find a lost item

Frequency- Can you recall how many times today you have run into a good friend?

When George Sperling (1960) flashed a group of letters similar to this for 1/20th of a second, people could recall only about half the letters.

echoic memory: We also have an impeccable, though fleeting, sensory memory for auditory stimuli

Sperling’s sensory memory experiment demonstrated iconic memory, a fleeting sensory memory of visual stimuli.

Short term we can briefly retain, the related idea working memory includes active processing, as the brain makes sense of incoming info and links it with stored memories

*George Miller said we can store between 5-9 pieces of info in short-term memory. (Let me get them 7 digits!!!!) Can vary by task

Working memory varies between ages

Having a large working memory capacity—the ability to juggle multiple items while processing information-sleep

Maintenance rehearsal- the process of repeating info to keep it in short-term memory.

Elaborate rehearsal- the process by which new info is actively reviewed and related info already stored in long-term memory

• Effortful processing strategies that can

  help us encode and retrieve

  • Chunking- organizing items into familiar, manageable units

  • Mnemonics- memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational

    devices, like acronyms or acrostics

  • Hierarchies- When words were grouped together, instead of random, the recall was 2 to 3x better

  • method of loci-memory journey

• Spacing and testing effect

  • The spacing effect is the tendency for distributed study/practice to yield better long-term retention than massed study.

  • Testing does more than assess learning and memory: it improves them. One effective way to distribute practice is repeated self-testing, called the testing effect.

• “retrieval practice (or testing) is a powerful and general strategy for learning.”

  -Spaced study and self-assessment beat cramming and rereading.

• two levels of processing-

  • Shallow processing- encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words

  • Deep processing- encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention

• Self-refernece effect

  • Most people excel at remembering personally relevant information

  • Asked how well certain adjectives describe someone else, we often forget them; asked how well the adjectives describe us, we often remember them.

  • This tendency, called the self-reference effect, is especially strong in members of individualist Western cultures.