HowDoesMemoryWork?AnInforma4on-ProcessingModelHereisasimplifieddescrip.onofhowmemoryworks:

§  Encoding:theinforma.ongetsintoourbrainsinawaythatallowsittobestored

§  Storage:theinforma.onisheldinawaythatallowsittolaterberetrieved

§  Retrieval:reac.va.ngandrecallingtheinforma.on,producingitinaformsimilartowhatwasencoded

Encoding

Storage

Retrieval

ModelsofMemoryForma4onTheAtkinson-ShiffrinModel(1968)1.  S.muliarerecordedbyoursensesandheldbrieflyinsensorymemory.2.  Someofthisinforma.onisprocessedintoshort-termmemoryandencodedthroughrehearsal.3.  Informa.onthenmovesintolong-termmemorywhereitcanberetrievedlater.

ModifyingtheModel:§ Moregoesoninshort-termmemorybesidesrehearsal;thisisnowcalledworkingmemory.§ Someinforma.onseemstogostraightfromsensoryexperienceintolong-termmemory;thisisautoma4cprocessing.

WorkingMemory:Func4ons

Short-termmemoryintegratesinforma.onfromlong-termmemorywithnewinforma.oncominginfromsensorymemory.

Theshort-termmemoryis“working”inmanyways.§  Itholdsinforma.onnotjusttorehearseit,buttoprocessit(such

ashearingawordprobleminmathanddoingitinyourhead).

Auditoryrehearsal

repea.ngapasswordtomemorizeit

Execu4vefunc4ons

choosingwhattoaOendto,respondto

Visospa4al“sketchpad”

rearrangingroomfurniturein

yourmind

Dual-TrackProcessing:ExplicitandImplicitMemories

SomememoriesareformedwithoutgoingthroughalltheAtkinson-Shiffrinstages.Theseareimplicitmemories,theoneswearenotfullyawareofandthusdon’t“declare”/talkabout.

Ourmindsacquirethisinforma.onthroughefforRulprocessing.Explicitmemoriesareformedthroughstudying,rehearsing,thinking,processing,andthenstoringinforma.oninlong-termmemory.

Thesememoriesaretypicallyformedthroughautoma4cprocessing.Implicitmemoriesareformedwithoutourawarenessthatwearebuildingamemory,andwithoutrehearsalorotherprocessinginworkingmemory.

Sofar,wehavebeentalkingaboutexplicit/“declara4ve”memories.Thesearefactsandexperiencesthatwecanconsciouslyknowandrecall.

Automa4cProcessingSomeexperiencesgodirectlytolong-termimplicitmemory

§  proceduralmemory,suchasknowinghowtorideabike,andwell-prac.cedknowledgesuchaswordmeanings

§  condi4onedassocia4ons,suchasasmellthattriggersthoughtsofafavoriteplace

§  informa.onaboutspace,suchasbeingabletopicturewherethingsareaUerwalkingthrougharoom

§  informa.onabout4me,suchasretracingasequenceofeventsifyoulostsomething

§  informa.onaboutfrequency,suchasthinking,“Ijustno.cedthatthisisthethirdtex.ngdriverI’vepassedtoday.”

Someexperiencesareprocessedautoma.callyintoimplicitmemory,withoutanyefforVul/workingmemoryprocessing:

TheEncodingandProcessingofMemory:SensoryMemory

§  Weverybrieflycaptureasensorymemory,analogoustoanechooranimage,ofallthesensa:onswetakein.

§  Howbrief?Sensorymemoryconsistsofabouta3to4secondecho,ora1/20thofasecondimage.

§  Evidenceofauditorysensorymemory,called“echoic”memory,canoccuraUersomeonesays,“whatdidIjustsay?” Evenifyouweren’tpayinga=en:on,youcanretrieveaboutthelasteightwordsfromechoicmemory.

Sensorymemoryreferstotheimmediate,verybriefrecordingofsensoryinforma.onbeforeitisprocessedintoshort-term,working,orlong-termmemory.

EvidenceofVisualSensory(Iconic)Memory:GeorgeSperling’sExperiments

§  GeorgeSperling(b.1934)exposedpeopletoa1/20thof-a-secondviewofagridofleOers,followedbyatonewhichtoldthemwhichrowofleOerstopullfromiconicmemoryandrecall.

§  Withoutthetone,peoplerecalledabout50percentoftheleOers;withthetone,recallforanyoftherowswastypically100percent.

J Y Q P G S V F M

TosimulateSperling’sexperiment,no.cethethreerowsofleOersbelow.BasedonthecoloroftheleOers,youwillknowthatyoumustrecalloneofthefollowingrows:top, middle or bottom.

EncodingMemoryCapacityofShort-TermandWorkingMemory

§  Ifsomeinforma.onisselectedfromsensorymemorytobesenttoshort-termmemory,howmuchinforma.oncanweholdthere?

§  GeorgeMiller(b.1920)proposedthatwecanhold7+/-2informa.onbits(forexample,astringof5to9leOers).

§  Morerecentresearchsuggeststhattheaverageperson,freefromdistrac.on,canholdabout:

§  7digits,6leXers,or5words.

WorkingMemory,whichusesrehearsal,focus,analysis,linking,andotherprocessing,hasgreatercapacitythanshort-termmemory.Thecapacityofworkingmemoryvaries;somepeoplehavebeOerconcentra.on.Test:seehowmanyoftheseleOersandnumbersyoucanrecallaUertheydisappear.NoneedforahyphenbeforetheV.

Test:

– VM3CAQ9LD

Dura4onofShort-TermMemory(STM)

LloydPetersonandMargaretPetersonwantedtoknowthedura4onofshorttermmemory?Theirexperiment(1959):1. Peopleweregiventripletsofconsonants(e.g.,“VMF”).2. Topreventrehearsing,thesubjectshadtodoadistrac.ngtask.3. Peoplewerethentestedatvarious.mesforrecall.Result:AUer12seconds,mostmemoryoftheconsonantshaddecayedandcouldnotberetrieved.

Encoding:EfforRulProcessingStrategiesIfwehaveshort-termrecallofonly7leOers,butcanremember5words,doesn’tthatmeanwecouldremembermorethan7leOersifwecouldgroupthemintowords?§ ThisisanexampleofanefforRulprocessingstrategy,awaytoencodeinforma:onintomemorytokeepitfromdecayingandmakeiteasiertoretrieve.§ EfforVulprocessingisalsoknownasstudying.

Examples:§  Chunking(grouping)§  Mnemonics:images,

maps,andpeg-words§  Hierarchies/categories§  Rehearsal,especially

distributedprac.ce§  Deepprocessing§  Seman.cprocessing§  Makinginforma.on

personallymeaningful!Canyouremember

thislist?

Effor?ulProcessingStrategiesChunking§  Whyarecreditcardnumbersbrokenintogroupsoffourdigits?Four“chunks”areeasiertoencode(memorize)andrecallthan16individualdigits.

àMemorize:ACPCVSSUVROFLNBAQXIDKKFCFBIANA§  Chunking:organizingdataintomanageableunitsXIDKKFCFBIANAACPCVSSUVROFNBAQ•  ChunkingworksevenbeOerifwecanassembleinforma.onintomeaningfulgroups:

XIDKKFCFBIBANAACPCVSSUVROFLNBAQ XIDKKFCFBIBANAACPCVSSUVROFLNBAQ

Mnemonics§  Read:plane,cigar,due,

shall,candy,vague,pizza,seem,fire,pencil

§  Whichwordsmightbeeasiertoremember?

§  Writedownthewordsyoucanrecall.

§  Lesson:weencodebeOerwiththehelpofimages.

Effor?ulProcessingStrategies

Amnemonicisamemory“trick”thatconnectsinforma.ontoexis.ngmemorystrengthssuchasimageryorstructure.

Apegwordsystemreferstothetechniqueofvisuallyassocia.ngnewwordswithanexis.nglistthatisalreadymemorizedalongwithnumbers.Forexample,“due”canbepicturedwriOenonadoor,anddoor=4.

RehearsalandDistributedPrac4ce

§  ThespacingeffectwasfirstnotedbyHermannEbbinghausinthelate1800s.YouwilldevelopbeOerreten.onandrecall,especiallyinthelongrun,ifyouusethesameamountofstudy.mespreadoutovermanyshortersessions.

§  Thisdoesn’tmeanyouhavetostudyeveryday.MemoryresearcherHarryBahricknotedthatthelongerthe.mebetweenstudysessions,thebeOerthelong-termreten.on,andthefewersessionsyouneed!

Effor<ulProcessingStrategies

Thebestwaytoprac.ce?Considerthetes4ngeffect.HenryRoediger(b.1947)foundthatifyourdistributedprac:ceincludestes:ng(havingtoanswerques:onsaboutthematerial),youwilllearnmoreandretainmorethanifyoumerelyreread.

MassedPrac4cereferstocramminginforma.onallatonce.Itisnot.me-effec.ve.

Whenencodinginforma.on,wearemorelikelytoretainitifwedeeplyprocessevenasimplewordlistbyfocusingontheseman4cs(meaning)ofthewords.

“Shallow,”unsuccessfulprocessingreferstomemorizingtheappearanceorsoundofwords.

Deep/Seman4cProcessingEffor<ulProcessingStrategies

§  Wecanmemorizeasetofinstruc.onsmoreeasilyifwefigureoutwhattheymeanratherthanseeingthemassetofwords.

§  Memorizingmeaningfulmaterialtakesonetenththeeffortofmemorizingnonsensesyllables.

§  Actorsmemorizelines(andstudentsmemorizepoems)moreeasilybydecidingonthefeelingsandmeaningsbehindthewords,soonelineflowsnaturallytothenext.

§  Theself-referenceeffect,rela.ngmaterialtoourselves,aidsencodingandreten.on.

§  Nowtryagain,butthis.me,considerhoweachwordrelatestoyou.

MakingInforma4onPersonallyMeaningful

Effor<ulProcessingStrategies Memorizethefollowingwords:bold truck tempergreen run dramaglue chips knobhard vent rope

MemoryStorage:CapacityandLoca4on§  ThebrainisNOTlikeahard

drive.MemoriesareNOTinisolatedfiles,butareinoverlappingneuralnetworks.

§  Thebrain’slong-termmemorystoragedoesnotgetfull;itgetsmoreelaboratelyrewiredandinterconnected.

§  Partsofeachmemorycanbedistributedthroughoutthebrain.àMemoryofapar.cular‘kitchentable’maybealinkageamongnetworksfor‘kitchen,’ ‘meal,’ ‘wooden,’ ‘home,’ ‘legs,’and‘sit.’

KarlLashley(1890-1958)showedthatratswhohadlearnedamazeretainedpartsofthatmemory,evenwhenvarioussmallpartsoftheirbrainwereremoved.

MemoryProcessinginTheBrain

Ifmemoryisstoredthroughoutthebrain,howdoesitgetinthere,andhowdoweretrieveitanduseit?§ Therearedifferentstorageandretrieval/ac.va.onsystemsinthebrainforexplicit/declara.vememoryandforimplicit/proceduralmemory.§ Whenemo.onsbecomeinvolved,yetanotherpartofthebraincanmark/flagsomememoriesforquickerretrieval.§ Thestorageoccursbychanginghowneuronslinktoeachotherinordertomakesomewell-usedneuralnetworksofneuronseasiertoac.vatetogether.

ExplicitMemoryProcessing

§  Retrievalanduseofexplicitmemories,whichisinpartaworkingmemoryorexecu.vefunc.on,isdirectedbythefrontallobes.

§  Encodingandstorageofexplicitmemoriesisfacilitatedbythehippocampus.Eventsandfactsareheldthereforacoupleofdaysbeforeconsolida4ng,movingtootherpartsofthebrainforlong-termstorage.Muchofthisconsolida.onoccursduringsleep.

Explicit/declara.vememoriesincludefacts,stories,andmeaningsofwordssuchasthefirst.meridingabike,orfactsabouttypesofbicycles.

TheBrainStoresReac4onsandSkillsImplicitMemoryProcessingImplicitmemoriesincludeskills,procedures,andcondi.onedassocia.ons.

§  Thecerebellum(“liOlebrain”)formsandstoresourcondi.onedresponses.Wecanstoreaphobicresponseevenifwecan’trecallhowweacquiredthefear.

§  Thebasalganglia,nexttothethalamus,controlsmovement,andformsandstoresproceduralmemoryandmotorskills.Wecanlearntorideabicycleevenifwecan’trecallhavingthelesson.

Emo4onsandMemory

§  Strongemo.ons,especiallystress,canstrengthenmemoryforma.on.

§  Flashbulbmemoriesrefertoemo.onallyintenseeventsthatbecome“burnedin”asavivid-seemingmemory.

§  Notethatflashbulbmemoriesarenotasaccurateastheyfeel.

§  Vividlystoringinforma.onaboutdangersmayhavehelpedourancestorssurvive.

Emo4ons,StressHormones,theAmygdala,andMemory

Howdoesintenseemo.oncausethebraintoformintensememories?1. Emo.onscantriggerariseinstresshormones.2. Thesehormonestriggerac.vityintheamygdala,locatednexttothememory-forminghippocampus.3. Theamygdalaincreasesmemory-formingac.vityandengagesthefrontallobesandbasalgangliato“tag”thememoriesasimportant.

Asaresult,thememoriesarestoredwithmoresensoryandemo.onaldetails.§ Thesedetailscantriggerarapid,unintendedrecallofthememory.§ Trauma.zedpeoplecanhaveintrusiverecallthatissovividthatitfeelslikere-experiencingtheevent.

MessingwithLong-TermPoten4a4on§  Chemicalsandshocksthatpreventlong-termpoten.a.on(LTP)canpreventlearningandeveneraserecentlearning.

§  Preven.ngLTPkeepsnewmemoriesfromconsolida.ngintolong-termmemories.Forexample,miceforgethowtorunamaze.

§  DrugsthatboostLTPhelpmicelearnamazemorequicklyandwithfewermistakes.

Summary:TypesofMemoryProcessing

Lessonsfromeachofthesedemonstra.ons:1. ourstorageandrecallcapacityisvirtuallyunlimited2. ourcapacityforrecogni4onisgreaterthanourcapacityforrecall3.  relearningcanhighlightthatmemoriesarethereevenifwecan’trecallformingthem

MemoryRetrieval§  Recall:somepeople,through

prac.ce,visualstrategies,orbiologicaldifferences,havetheabilitytostoreandrecallthousandsofwordsordigits,reproducingthemyearslater(“fill-in-the-blank”)

§  Recogni4on:theaveragepersoncanview2500newfacesandplaces,andlatercanno.cewith90percentaccuracywhichonesthey’veseenbefore(“mul.plechoice”)

§  Relearning:somepeopleareunabletoformnewmemories,especiallyofepisodes;althoughtheywouldnotrecallapuzzle-solvinglesson,theymights.llsolvethepuzzlefastereachlesson

RelearningTimeasaMeasureofReten4on

§  Inthelate1800s,HermannEbbinghausstudiedanothermeasureofmemoryfunc.oning:howmuch.medoesittaketorelearnandregainmasteryofmaterial?

§  Hestudiedthememoriza.onofnonsensesyllables(THBYOXKVUEHM)sothatdepthofprocessingorprelearningwouldnotbeafactor.

§  Themore.mesherehearsedoutloudonday1,theless.meheneededtorelearn/memorizethesameleOersonday2.

Priming:RetrievalisAffectedbyAc:va:ngourAssocia:ons§  Primingtriggersathreadofassocia.onsthatbringustoaconcept,justasaspiderfeelsmovementinawebandfollowsittofindthebug.

§  Ourmindsworkbyhavingoneideatriggeranother;thismaintainsaflowofthought.

PrimingExample:Definetheword“bark.”Nowwhatisthedefini.onof“bark”?

Study:peopleprimedwithamissingchildposterthenmisinterpretedambiguousadult-childinterac.onsaskidnapping.

ThePowerofPriming

§  Priminghasbeencalled“invisiblememory”becauseitaffectsusunconsciously.

§  Inthecaseoftree“bark”vs.dog“bark,”thepathwefollowinourthoughtscanbechanneledbypriming.

§  Wemayhavebiasesandassocia.onsstoredinmemorythatalsoinfluenceourchoices.

Study:Peopleprimedwithmoney-relatedwordswerelesslikelytothenhelpanotherperson.

Study:PrimingwithanimageofSantaClausledkidstosharemorecandy.

Context-DependentMemory

§  Partofthewebofassocia.onsofamemoryisthecontext.Whatelsewasgoingonatthe:meweformedthememory?

§  Weretrieveamemorymoreeasilywheninthesamecontextaswhenweformedthememory.àDidyouforgetapsychologyconcept?Justsirngdownandopeningyourbookmightbringthememoryback.

WordslearnedunderwaterarebeXerretrievedunderwater.

State-DependentMemory

§  Ourmemoriesarenotjustlinkedtotheexternalcontextinwhichwelearnedthem.

§  Memoriescanalsobe.edtotheemo4onalstatewewereinwhenweformedthememory.

§  Mood-congruentmemoryreferstothetendencytoselec:velyrecalldetailsthatareconsistentwithone’scurrentmood.àThisbiasedmemorythenreinforcesourcurrentmood!

Memoriescanevenbelinkedtophysiologicalstates:

“Iwonderifyou’dmindgivingmedirec4ons.I’veneverbeensoberinthispartoftownbefore.”

Inwhatsitua.onistherecencyeffectstrongest?

TheSerialPosi4onEffectPrimingandcontextcuesarenottheonlyfactorswhichmakememoryretrievalselec.ve.

Whichwordsofyourna.onalanthemareeasiesttorecall?

Theserialposi4oneffectreferstothetendency,whenlearninginforma.oninalonglist,tomorelikelyrecallthefirstitems(primacyeffect)andthelastitems(recencyeffect).

“ForgeRulnessisaformoffreedom.”

KhalilGibran

§  JillPrice(b.1965)hashyperthymesia;shenotonlyrecallseverything,butisunabletoforgetanything.

§  ForJill,boththeimportantandthemundanearealwaysaccessible,forminga“runningmovie”ofimagesandinforma.onthatrunsimultaneouslywithcurrents.muli.

§  Shehassaid,“I’llbetalkingtosomeoneand[also]seeingsomethingelse….”

JillPrice,pa4ent“A.J.”

Anotherpossibleproblemifwewereunabletoforget:wemightnotfocuswelloncurrents.mulibecauseofintrusivememories.

TheBrainandtheTwo-TrackMind:TheCaseofHenryMolaison(“H.M.”)§  In1953,theremovalof

H.M.’shippocampusatage27endedhisseizures,butalsoendedhisabilitytoformnewexplicitmemories.

§  H.M.couldlearnnewskills,procedures,loca.onsofobjects,andgames,buthadnomemoryofthelessonsortheinstructors.Why?

§  H.M.alsoretainedmemoriesfrombeforethesurgery.Whatishiscondi.oncalled?

H.M.,likeanothersuchpa4ent,“Jimmy,”couldnotunderstandwhyhisfacelookedolderthan27inthemirror.Whynot?

TheTwoTypesofAmnesia

§  Retrogradeamnesiacanbecausedbyheadinjuryoremo.onaltraumaandisoUentemporary.

§  Itcanalsobecausedbymoreseverebraindamage;inthatcase,itmayincludeanterogradeamnesia.

§  H.M.andJimmylivedwithnomemoriesoflifeaUersurgery.

§  SeealsothemovieMemento.Mostothermovieamnesiaisretrogradeamnesia.

Retrogradeamnesiareferstoaninabilitytoretrievememoryofthepast.

Anterogradeamnesiareferstoaninabilitytoformnewlong-termdeclara:ve/explicitmemories.

PennyMemoryTest

Retrievaltest:whatwordsandnumbers,inwhichloca.ons,areonthefrontofaU.S.onecentcoin?Thisshouldbeeasybecauseitwasinthebook.Recogni4ontest:choosethecorrectdesignfromamongthesepictures:

WhichofthesehasthedesignofanactualU.S.cent?

§  Ifwegotthepennyimagewrong,didwefailtoretrievetheinforma.on?

EncodingFailure

§  ItcouldbethatweneverpaidaOen.ontothepennydetailsanddidn’tselectthemfromsensorymemorytoholdinworkingmemory.

§  EvenifweoncelookedatthepennyandpaidaOen.ontoit,wes.lldidn’tbotherrehearsingitandencodingitintolongtermmemory.

StorageDecay§  Materialencodedintolongtermmemorywilldecayifthememoryisneverused,recalled,andre-stored.

§  DecayisLTPinreverse(orlikepruning).Unusedconnec.onsandnetworkswitherwhilewell-usedmemorytracesaremaintained.

§  Decaytendstoleveloff.MemoryforbothnonsensesyllablesandSpanishlessonsdecaysrapidly.

§  However,whathasn’tdecayedquicklytendstostayintactlong-term.

TipoftheTongue:RetrievalFailure§  Some.mes,thememoryitselfdoesnotdecay.Instead,whatdecaysaretheassocia.onsandlinksthathelpusfindourwaytothestoredmemory.

§  Asaresult,somestoredmemoriesseemjustbelowthesurface:“Iknowthename...itstartswithaBmaybe…”

§  Topreventretrievalfailurewhenstoringandrehearsingmemories,youcanbuildmul.pleassocia.ons,linkingimages,rhymes,categories,lists,andcues.

InterferenceandPosi4veTransfer§  Anotherdownsideofnotforgerngisthatoldandnewmemoriescaninterferewitheachother,makingitdifficulttostorenewmemoriesandretrieveoldones.

§  Occasionally,theoppositehappens.Inposi4vetransfer,oldinforma.on(likealgebra)makesiteasiertolearnrelatednewinforma.on(likecalculus).

§  Proac4veinterferenceoccurswhenpastinforma:oninterferes(inaforward-ac:ngway)withlearningnewinforma:on.§  Youhavemanystrongmemoriesofapreviousprincipal,andthismemorymakesitdifficulttolearnthenewprincipal’sname.

§  Youhadtochangeemailpasswords,butyoukeeptypingtheoldoneandcan’tseemtomemorizethenewone.

Retroac4veInterferenceandSleep

§  Inonestudy,studentswhostudiedrightbeforeeighthoursofsleephadbeOerrecallthanthosewhostudiedbeforeeighthoursofdailyac.vi.es.

§  Thedailyac.vi.esretroac4velyinterferedwiththemorning’slearning.

Retroac4veinterferenceoccurswhennews:muli/learninginterfereswiththestorageandretrievalofpreviouslyformedmemories.

Mo4vatedForgecng

§  Memoryisfallibleandchangeable,butcanweprac.cemo4vatedforgecng,thatis,choosingtoforgetortochangeourmemories?

§  SigmundFreudbelievedthatwesome.mesmakeanunconsciousdecisiontoburyouranxiety-provokingmemoriesandhidethemfromconsciousawareness.Hecalledthisrepression.

§  Newtechniquesofpsychotherapyandmedica.oninterven.onsmayallowusto“erase”(preventreconsolida.onof)recalledmemories.

Mo.vatedforgerngisnotcommon.MoreoUen:1. recallisfulloferrors.2. peopletrynottothinkaboutpainfulmemories.Iftheyfailtorehearsethosememories,thememoriescanfade.

Whyisourmemoryfulloferrors?§  MemorynotonlygetsforgoOen,

butitgetsconstructed(imagined,selected,changed,andrebuilt).

§  Memoriesarealteredevery.mewe“recall”(actually,reconstruct)them.Thentheyarealteredagainwhenwereconsolidatethememory(usingworkingmemorytosendthemintolongtermstorage).

§  Laterinforma.onaltersearliermemories.

§  NomaOerhowaccurateandvideo-likeourmemoryseems,itisfullofaltera.ons.

Waysinwhichourmemoryendsup

beinganinaccurateguidetothepast:themisinforma4on

effect

imagina4oninfla4on

sourceamnesia

déjàvu

implantedmemories

TheMisinforma4onEffect:TheMisinforma4onEffect:

In1974,ElizabethLoUusandJohnPalmeraskedpeopletowatchavideoofaminorcaraccident.Thepar.cipantswerethenasked,“Howfastwerecarsgoingwhentheyhiteachother?”

Incorpora:ngmisleadinginforma:onintoone’smemoryofanevent.

Thosewhowereasked,“...whenthecarssmashedintoeachother?”reportedhigherspeedsandrememberedbrokenglassthatwasn’tthere.

Actualaccident Misrememberedaccident

InastudybyElizabethLoius,peoplewereaskedtoprovidedetailsofaincidentinchildhoodwhentheyhadbeenlostinashoppingmall.Eventhoughthereactuallyhadbeennosuchincident,bytryingtopicturedetails,mostpeoplecametobelievethattheincidenthadactuallyhappened.

Inonestudy,studentsweretoldafalsestorythatspoiledeggsaladhadmadethemillinchildhood.Asaresult,manystudentsbecame[even]lesslikelytoeateggsaladsandwichesinthefuture.

ImplantedMemories Imagina4onInfla4on

§ Simplypicturinganeventcanmakeitseemlikearealmemory.§ Oncewehaveaninaccuratememory,wetendtoaddmoreimagineddetails,asperhapswedoforallmemories.§ Whydoesthishappen?Visualizingandactuallyseeinganeventac.vatesimilarbrainareas.

Lessons:1. Bytryingtohelpsomeonerecallamemory,youmayimplantamemory.2. Youcan’ttellhowrealamemoryisbyhowrealitfeels.

SourceAmnesia/MisaXribu4on

Haveyoueverdiscussedachildhoodmemorywithafamilymemberonlytofindthatthememorywas:§ fromamovieyousaw,orbookyouread?§ fromastorysomeonetoldyouaboutyourchildhood,buttheywerekidding?§ fromadreamyouusedtohave?§ fromasibling’sexperience?

Ifso,yourmemoryfortheeventmayhavebeenaccurate,butyouexperiencedsourceamnesia:forgeQngwherethestorycamefrom,anda?ribuAngthesourcetoyourownexperience.

Déjàvu(“Alreadyseen”)

§  Déjàvureferstothefeelingthatyou’reinasitua.onthatyou’veseenorhavebeeninbefore.

§  Inanexperimentinthetext,studentsgotthisfeeling,becausetheyactuallywereshownanimagepreviously.

§  However,wecanfeelverycertainthatwe’veseenasitua.onbeforeevenwhenwehavenot.Thiscanbeseenassourceamnesia:amemory(fromcurrentsensorymemory)thatwemisaOributeasbeingfromlongtermmemory.

§  Whydoesthishappen?Some.mesoursenseoffamiliarityandrecogni.onkicksintoosoon,andourbrainexplainsthisasbeingcausedbypriorexperience.

Applyingwhatwe’velearnedaboutmemoryImprovingMemorytoImproveGradesWaystosaveoverallstudying:me,andbuildmorereliablememory.

Learnthematerialinmorethanoneway,notjustbyrote,butbycrea.ngmanyretrievalcues.

Minimizeinterferencewithrelatedmaterialorfunac.vi.es;studyrightbeforesleeporothermindlessac.vity.Havemul4plestudysessions,spacedfurtherandfurtherapartaUerfirstlearningthematerial.

Spendyourstudysessionsac4va4ngyourretrievalcuesincludingcontext(recallingwhereyouwerewhenlearningthematerial).

Testyourselfinstudysessions:1)toprac.cedoingretrievalasiftakingatest,and2)toovercometheoverconfidenceerror:thematerialseemsfamiliar,butcanyouexplainitinyourownwords?

§  Thinkofexamplesandconnec.ons(meaningfuldepth).

§  Createmnemonics:songs,images,andlists.