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Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY

(7th Ed)

Chapter 9

Memory

James A. McCubbin, PhDClemson University

Worth Publishers

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Which is a penny

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Memory: Persistence of learning over time using

3 pillars of memory: 1. Encoding2. Storage3. Retrieval of info

Flashbulb Memory: Where were you when…? a clear memory of an intense emotional

moment or event Pictures, others’ retelling, etc., can affect so

“remember” things we didn’t really experience

Memory as Information Processing How it is similar to a computer:

1. write to file (encoding)2. save to disk (storage)3. read from disk (retrieve)

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1 way it is NOT similar:

We___ process…computers ___ processEncoding: placing info into memory systems

i.e., extracting meaning (comprehend it so can process…)

EX: New word suddenly appears everywhere?

Storage retention of encoded info over time… putting it into neural networks…making

connections, etc.

Retrieval: accessing the info:

process of getting info out of memory

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Memory: 4 different types: Sensory Memory

immediate, 1st recording of sensory info in memory systems In bits, quick…& most NOT stored EX: ppl walking down the hallway…do you

see all of them? Hear all? Or just “flashes”? What do you keep (retain)?

Short-Term Memory (STM) activated memory that holds a few items

briefly look up a phone #, then quickly dial b4 the

info is forgotten

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Memory: 4 types continued… Working Memory

Newer term…extension of STM processing of briefly stored info: What’s on

your “desktop” at a given moment to work w/

What about working on a paper/essay? Longer time on “desk-top” : beginning to

make connections to enable storage Long-Term Memory (LTM)

the relatively permanent & limitless storehouse of the memory system

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A Simplified Memory Model: Where would working memory fit in here?

Externalevents

Sensorymemory

Short-termmemory

Long-termmemory

Sensory inputAttention to importantor novel information

Encoding

Encoding

Retrieving

NEWER VERSION: Modified Three-stage Processing Model of Memory

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Encoding: Getting Info In: 2 ways 1. Effortful: rehearsing to try to encode… EX’s? 2. Automatic: just sorta’ happens that we recall EX’s? EBBINGHAUS: study of memory

Encoding

Effortful Automatic

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Encoding Automatic Processing

unconscious encoding of incidental info Space Frequency Time Daily events

well-learned info: hard to shut off word meanings…someone calls you a name?

Using effortful, we can change it into automatic processing Ex: reading backwards: do it enough, begins to be automatic; typing

Mere Exposure Effect & recognizing/liking ppl

The mere exposure effect, also known as the familiarity principle, describes a phenomenon that causes humans to rate or feel positively about things to which they are frequently and consistently exposed, including other people.  

All else equal, you will buy products, invest in stocks, frequent establishments, and engage in behaviors that are familiar to you based on past exposure.  This can lead to suboptimal decisions and results and has no basis in rationality.  It can also pin you in to situations that repeat past outcomes, which may not be desirable.

Ppl who are in your classes?Advertizing & choosing products?

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Example of how the mere exposure effect influences your behavior: Imagine you live in NY City, are in Central Park, & spot a drowning child, splashing in a lake after having fallen off one of the small bridges.  There are 2 people standing next to you on the bank as you chuck aside your shoes and rip off your shirt.  You have a split second to make a decision about which of the 2 people you’ll entrust with your wallet, cash, phone, & keys.  1 = a man you see a few times a month on the jogging trail.  You don’t know his name.  You have no idea if he is trustworthy.  You don’t know where he lives.  There’s no logical reason for you to trust him more than the other person.  He could steal your stuff & change jogging trails.  Odds are, you’d never see him again.

Yet, the probability is overwhelming the mere exposure effect is going to cause your subconscious brain to rate the jogger “good”, or at least “better” than the stranger, simply b/c you are already familiar with his face.  He’s going to be handed your valuables, even though he could be a con artist or identity thief.

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Effortful (putting effort into it) Processing

requires attention & conscious effort… …& often requires…

Rehearsal conscious repetition of information

to maintain it in consciousness to encode it for storage

Over-learning: Even after have learned it, still practice & rehearse = v. good retention …know it backwards & forwards…

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Ebbinghaus (348): used nonsense syllables TUV ZOF GEK WAV more times practiced Day 1, the less repetitions to

relearn on Day 2…i.e., amt. remembered depends on amt. of time spent learning

Found nonsense syllables less effective in remembering than meaningful info WHY? connections in networks

Created “forgetting curve” (aka retention curve)Spacing Effect: Massed vs. distributed practice: Distributed practice gives better long- term retention than massed

i.e., shorter but more frequent sessions = better learning than long, cramming sessions!

This is a VERY important piece of info 4 U !!!!

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Encoding: Ebbinghaus’s retention curve

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08 16 24 32 42 53 64

Time in minutestaken to relearnlist on day 2

Number of repetitions of list on day 1

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Encoding: Serial Position Effect(Place in a series…) How could you use this info?

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Percentage of words

recalled

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Position of word in list

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Serial Position Effect:

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

Those in the middle tend to blend (or blur) together…ALSO..

*Availability *Frequency

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What We Encode: 3 types:

1. Semantic Encoding encoding of meaning including meaning of words + how it

relates to other things Tends to create deeper levels of processing

2. Acoustic Encoding encoding of sound, especially sound of

words EX: Rhymes easily remembered (“If the

glove don’t fit…!”)3. Visual Encoding

encoding of picture images Creates more shallow processing

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Encoding: See p. 350: Sample ?’s: Visual often = shallow processingBut semantic tends to be deeper processing

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Imagery: “A picture is worth…” Mental pictures: seeing w/ words Can be powerful aid to effortful

processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding

“wreck” vs. “crash”? Creating visual images in your head, not w/ real pics

Mnemonics: “stupid memory tricks…” Greek, Mnemos (goddess of memory) memory aids, espec. techniques using

vivid imagery & organizational devices Names of the Great Lakes? Planets?

In 10 seconds, memorize the #’s next SL

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Take 10 seconds to memorize this series of #’s

1812 1492 1941 1776

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Method of Loci: Chunking: a type of Mnemonic

organizing items into familiar, manageable units Like horizontal organization

We often do this automatically Phone #’s or SSN’s: Not 8645551212 but 864-555-12 12 use of acronyms: word or sentences to

rememberEX: HOMES: Huron, Ontar., Michig., Erie,

Superi. Colors of the rainbow in order of

wavelengths? Planets?Which is easier to remember?4 8 3 7 9 2 5 1 6 OR 483 792 516

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Encoding: Chunking Organized info is more easily recalled 2 better than 1… 4 better than 3, etc.

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Hierarchies: Categorizing related items Listed items remembered better in categories -poorer recall if randomlyEven if list is random, ppl still organize info

into some logical pattern*Break complex info down into broad

concepts & subdivide more into categories & subcategories

Encoding(automatic or effortful)

Imagery(visualEncoding)

Meaning(semanticEncoding)

Organization

Chunks Hierarchies

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Storage: Retaining Info Iconic Memory

momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli…EX?

photographic or pic. image memory lasting few tenths of a second

Echoic Memory momentary sensory memory of

auditory stimuli

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Storage:Short-Term Memory

STM: limited in

duration & capacity

“Magical” number:

7 (+/-) 2(5 or 6 7 8 or

9)

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3 6 9 12 15 18

Time in seconds between presentationof contestants and recall request

(no rehearsal allowed)

Percentagewho recalledconsonants

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Storage: Long-Term Memory

How storage works: Karl Lashley (1950): cut out part of rats’

brains1. rats learn maze2. lesion in cortex 3. test memory

**Synaptic changes Long-term Potentiation (remember action

potentials??) increase in synapse’s firing potential

after brief, rapid stimulation Strong emotions = stronger memories

some stress hormones boost learning & retention

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Long-Term Memory (LTM)

Amnesia--the loss of memory Explicit Memory (aka “declarative”)

memory of facts & experiences we can consciously know & declare

hippocampus--neural center in limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage

Implicit Memory (aka procedural): retention independent of conscious recollection EX: a skill…typing

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LTM Subsystems (B., p. 359):

(Chart = EX of what mnemonic??)

Types oflong-termmemories

Explicit(declarative)With conscious

recall

Implicit(nondeclarative or procedural)

W/o conscious recall

Facts-generalknowledge

(“semanticmemory”)

Personally experienced

events(“episodic memory”)

Skills-motor& cognitive

Dispositions-classical &

operant conditioning

effects

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LTM Storage: MRI scan of hippocampus (in red) Hippocampus = brain area that converts info from

STM & WM into LTM…works in conjunction w/ areas of frontal lobe

Hippocampus, just like hemispheres, is lateralized (left & right side w/ differ. functions for each)

Hippocampus

Various categories of memory

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Another memory model including the “Central Executive”

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Retrieval: Getting Information Out (Use EX’s for each!) (R = 3 R’s + a P!) Recall

measure of memory in which the person must retrieve info learned earlier EX’s?

Recognition Measure of memory in which the person

has only to ID items previously learned EX’s?

Relearning: Looking at how much time saved when learning material 2nd time EX’s?

Priming: using cues (or clues) to activate, often unconsciously, particular associations in memory…

i.e., connections to networks… EX’s?

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Retrieval Cues (X)

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Water/land

Land/water

Water/water

Different contexts for hearing & recall

Same contexts for hearing & recall

Land/land

Percentage ofwords recalled

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Deja Vu (French: already seen) cues from current situation may

subconsciously trigger retrieval of earlier similar experience

"I've experienced this before.“ However, ppl resist believing this answer… b/c

= “it’s so real!” Mood-congruent Memory: We recall experiences

consistent w/ our current mood memory, emotion, & moods become retrieval

cues -sad? remember things you felt when sad b4 -angry? recall memories when last angryState-dependent Memory: What’s learned in

one state [condition] (like high, drunk, or depressed) is remembered more easily later in same situation

EX: If practice on field rather than gym, will remember new skill better --SAT at GHS?

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State Dependent Learning: After learning to

move a mobile by kicking, learning reactivated most strongly when retested in the same rather than a different context EX: If we move kid to playpen, less likely to show this activity as quickly.

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State Dependent Learning…?

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7 Sins of memory: Ways memory fails us (365-6):

a) 3 of forgetting: 1. Absent-mindedness: inattention2. Transience: unused fades3. Blocking: interference…tip-of-the-tongueb) 3 of distortion: We mislead selves or

others mislead1. Misattribution: confusing the source2. Suggestibility: effects of mis-info (false

mem.)

3. Bias: pre-conceived ideas control mem.c) 1 of intrusion: Persistence: unwanted

mem.’s are just not “filed” (motivated forgetting)

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Forgetting: (365) 1. Encoding failure 2. Storage decay 3. Retrieval

failure

1. Forgetting as encoding failure: Info doesn’t go to LTM b/c of inattention…or bias…or misattribution, etc. EX: Which is the Penny?

2… Storage decay: Use it or loose it… EX: foreign lang. use?3… Retrieval failure (368) Can’t retrieve info

from LTM b/c of blocking, interference, etc. Motivated Forgetting (370)

ppl unknowingly revise memories b/c it is what you would rather believe (denial?)

Repression: Freud’s term for “defense mechanism” that removes from consciousness upsetting thoughts, feelings, & memories

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Externalevents

Attention

Encoding

Encoding

Retrieval failureleads to forgetting

Retrieval

Sensorymemory

Short-term& working Memory

Long-termmemory

Externalevents

Sensorymemory

Short-term

memory

Long-term

memory

Attention

Encoding

Encoding

OR Encoding failure leadsto forgetting

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Forgetting

Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve over 30 days–

Initially rapid, then levels off with time

12345 10 15 20 25 30

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Time in days since learning list

% of list retainedwhen relearning

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Forgetting The forgetting curve for Spanish

learned in school

Retentiondrops,

then levels off

1 3 5 9½ 14½ 25 35½ 49½

Time in yrs after completion of Spanish course

100%

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% oforiginalVocab.

retained

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Forgetting as Interference (369) Learning some items may disrupt retrieval of other

info

Can go 1 of 2 ways…1) Proactive (forward acting) Interference

disruptive effect of prior learning on recall of new information…old interrupts ne

EX: Knew Judy…meet Julie… …keep calling her Judy

2) Retroactive (backwards acting) Interference

Learning new info interrupts recall of oldEX: Knew Judy…meet Julie… but now if you see Judy, you call her Julie

Retrieval FailureInterference

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Forgetting as Interference 2nd example: Learn French…then Spanish

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Forgetting: Going for a walk or sleeping can limit retro interference-new info makes old info hard to retrieve

Retroactive Interference

Without interferingevents, recall isbetter

After sleep

After remaining awake

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Hours elapsed after learning syllables

90%

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Percentageof syllables

recalled

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Positive transfer: Opposite of interference …b/c old

info can often HELP (or facilitate) remembering

EX: Latin helps us learn French…or advanced English words

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Why might advertisers NOT want to advertise during violent TV shows? (b-369)

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Memory Construction We filter info & fill in missing pieces Misinformation Effect: incorporating

misleading info into our memory of an event (wreck/crash?)

Source Amnesia (misattribution): attributing to the wrong source an event that we experienced, heard about, read about, …or even imagined

Eyewitness testimony Eyewitnesses reconstruct memories when

questioned …..?’s can affect mem. E-W memory CAN be unreliable Emotion can affectEX: Priest & Gentleman Bank Robber? “Evil Salsa

man?”

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Forgetting

Forgetting can occur at any memory stage

As we process info, we filter, alter, or lose much of it

Meta-cognition: what we know about what we know or can remember…Most ppl. over-estimate ability in this!!

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Eyewitness testimony?

“…When they hit =14%” “…When they smashed = __?_%”

Depiction of actual accident

Leading question:“About how fast were the carsgoing when they smashed intoeach other?”

Memoryconstruction

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2 Types of amnesia:A) Retrograde: Forget your past: Who am I? Where am I from?B) Anterograde: Forget the present …can’t form new memories: No STM gets to LTM Damage to what part of limbic system?

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Memory Construction Memories of Abuse: Motivated

Forgetting?

Repressed or Constructed? Child sexual abuse does occur Some adults do actually forget such episodes “repressed” = Freud’s term for it…aka

“blocked”

False Memory Syndrome Condition where a person’s identity &

relationships center around a false but strongly believed memory of traumatic experience

Sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists Guidelines are now set to try to stop or limit these

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Memory Construction: Mem. of abuse: RE: the ? of recovered (repressed) memories:

Injustice happens…. Incest happens Forgetting happens Recovered memories are commonplace Unpleasant memories…false OR real…are

upsettingBut most ppl. (& psy.) do agree on the

following: Memories recovered under hypnosis or

drugs are especially unreliable …meaning they must be looked at carefully

Memories of things happening b4 age 3 are unreliable

Repressed or Constructed Memories of Abuse?

Loftus studies with children

ADD in or Accentuate!

1) 2 brain areas that especially help memory…and WHICH area for which??

2) The way our memory of past episodes in life can sometimes be remembered as better than the original events….or better than we remember shortly after the event.

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Answers:

1) cerebellum: implicit memory hippocampus: explicit mem. (LTM

STM)

2) rosy retrospection

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9 Ways to Improve Your Memory

1. Study repeatedly to boost recall2. Make material personally meaningful

(relate to things you already know)3. Activate retrieval cues--mentally

recreate situation & mood4. Recall events while they are fresh--

before you encounter misinformation5. Minimize interference 6. Use mnemonic devices

a) associate w/ “peg” words—something you’ve already stored

b) make up story about the info…or tell someone about the info

c) Use chunking & acronyms

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7. Spend more time rehearsing or actively thinking about the material…

8. Take a break!9. Test your own knowledge

rehearse determine what you do not yet know

And be sure to Use Elaboration: Ways… -Actively question new information -Think about its implications -Relate information to things you already

know -Generate your own examples of concepts -Don’t just highlight passage as you read

-Focus on the main or big ideas in the text-Organize these ideas hierarchically

? Activity NEXT…. STOP!

Point 1: Thalamus: Should describe the role of the thalamus in the

process, specifically that the neural message from the retina first passes through the thalamus, and that the thalamus routes the impulse elsewhere in the brain.

Point 2: Retina: Should explain that the light that passes through the

pupil, eventually reflected on the pupil, activating neurons in the retina.

May use the terms rods and/or cones to describe these neurons, but they do not have to use these specific terms to earn this point.

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Point 3: Pupil: Should describe how light reflects off the object, and

some of the light passes thru pupil into the eye.

Point 4: Transduction: Should explain that light waves that were reflected off object

are changed into neural impulses (transduction) at the point of the retina, where neurons fire in response to light waves.

Again, may use the terms rods and/or cones to describe these neurons, but they do not have to use these specific terms to earn this point.

Point 5: Action potential: Should explain that action potentials are released when

neurons fire, sending an electrical charge thru the neuron. Students can go on to explain this process in more detail

(describing the role of neural structures such as dendrites & the axon) but they nt have to explain those details to earn the point.

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Point 6: Feature detector: Should discuss the role of feature detectors in their

visual perception. Should mention it comes from the thalamus, which

routed the neural impulse to the feature detectors, and these groups of neurons organize the neural firings into a conscious visual perception of the object.

Students can identify the specific location of the feature detectors (visual cortex in the occipital lobe), but they do not have to provide this detail to earn the point.

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CH 8/9 FRQ’s

Continuous: (Define!) When someone gives one response, they get

something each time. An example would be putting $1 into a drink machine

and getting a drink out (a reinforcer). But if you give the required response and do not

get the reinforcer, then you quit immediately giving the response.

Fixed: In this situation, you give a specific number of

responses will take you longer to consistently give desired response, but if reinforcer does not come subject is more likely to keep giving the response at least for awhile.

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