Mental Aspects of Being

• Includes all the mental processes that are used to obtain knowledge or to become aware of the environment

• Cognition encompasses perception, imagination, judgement, memory, and language- the processes people use to think, decide and learn

What role & function does memory serve?

• Memories are encoded as they are stored. Normally this happens in forms dictated by people’s assumptions and attention. Remembering is an active process in which these assumptions in the memory are retrieved. A memory of a person, for example, will include both:

a) Memories of specific things that the person has said or done, and

b) Memories of “what the person is like” such as personality traits, physical characteristics, and disposition.Our memory of past events can be influenced by our expectations or “theory” about what should have happened.

Activity• Look at the image for 30 seconds • After 30 seconds, write down all 12

objects in the image

Take out a piece of paper

Name the seven dwarfs

Difficulty of Task

• Was the exercise easy or difficult.

It depends on what factors?

•Whether you like Disney movies•how long ago you watched the movie•how loud the people are around you when you are trying to remember

Memory:The persistence of learning over

time through the storage and retrieval of information.

As you might have guessed, the next topic we are going to examine is…….

So what was the point of the seven dwarves exercise?

The Memory process

• Encoding• Storage• Retrieval

Encoding

• The processing of information into the long-term storage.

Typing info into a computer Getting a girls name at a party

Storage

• The retention of encoded material over time.

Pressing Ctrl S and saving the info.

Trying to remember her name when you leave the party.

Retrieval• The process of getting the information out

of memory storage.

Finding your document and opening it up.

Seeing her the next day and calling her the wrong name (retrieval failure).

Now pick out the seven dwarves.

Turn your paper over.

Grouchy Gabby Fearful Sleepy Smiley Jumpy Hopeful Goofy Sleazy Shy Droopy Moody Hoppy Dopey Sniffy Wishful Puffy Ren Dumpy Sneezy Pop Grumpy Cheesy Bashful Cheerful Teach Snorty Nifty Itchy Happy Doc Wheezy Stubby Poopy Diddy Stimpy

Seven Dwarves

Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy, Sneezy, Happy, Doc and Bashful

Recall v. Recognition• With recall- you must retrieve the

information from your memory (fill-in-the blank tests).

• With recognition- you must identify the target from possible targets (multiple-choice tests).

• Which is easier?

Did you do better on the first or second dwarf memory exercise?

Types of Memory

• Sensory Memory• Short-Term Memory

Long-Term Memory

EncodingRetrieval

Short-Term Memory

• Memory that holds a few items briefly.• Seven digits (plus or minus two).• The info will be stored into long-term or forgotten.• Ie. Phone number to the dentist office – you look it

up, dial it, then forget it.How do you store things from short-term to long-term?

RehearsalYou must repeat things over and over to put them into your long-term memory.

Long Term Memory• Unlimited storehouse of

information. Info can be easily

recalled Must be practiced &

rehearsed extensively to go from short to long term.

Ie. Your elementary school name or your home phone number

Tricks to Encoding

Mnemonic Devices = memory tricks

Links to examples of mnemonic devices.

Give me some more examples….

Chunking• Organizing items

into familiar, manageable units.

• Often it will occur automatically.

Chunk- from Goonies1-4-9-2-1-7-7-6-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1

Take 10 seconds to try to remember this number list:

Now, try again:1492, 1776, 1812, 1941

What are some other examples of chunking?

Other Examples of Chunking

• ROY G. BIV

Self-Reference Effect

• The idea that we remember things when they relate to ourselves.

• What do we do in class to take advantage of this?

Rhymes

• Thirty days have September, April, June and November

• All the rest have thirty one, Except February alone:

• Which has but twenty-eight, in fine, till leap year gives you twenty-nine

Acronyms

• BECAUSE = Bob Eats Casseroles And Uses Soft Eggs

• The Planets: My very earnest mother just served us nine pizzas

• AM/PM (ante meridiem, post meridiem)• “Call 1-800-CAT HELP” is easier to remember

than “Call 1-800-228-4357”

What if you had a “perfect” Memory?

The Woman Who Could Not Forget• http://www.youtube.com/watch?

NR=1&v=SoxsMMV538U&feature=endscreen

Anterograde Amnesia• Loss of memory for events immediately following a trauma• Korsakoff's Syndrome:• Caused by a deficiency of vitamin B1, also called thiamine. • Most common cause of thiamine deficiency is alcoholism.• The main area of memory affected is the ability to learn new information. • Usually, intelligence and memory for past events is relatively unaffected, so that

an individual may remember what occurred 20 years previously, but is unable to remember what occurred 20 minutes ago.

• One of the hallmarks of Korsakoff's is the person's complete unawareness of the memory defect, and complete lack of worry or concern when it is pointed out.

• Example: 50 First Dates

Retrograde Amnesia

• loss of memory for events immediately preceding a trauma

Flashbulb Memory

• Dramatic events or tragedies which are engraved into your memory forever, never to be forgotten. They ‘flash’ into your mind if triggered.

• Example: 9/11 Flashbulb Memories

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evj6q0eCdd8

Repression

• Unconscious exclusion of painful memories, impulses, desires, fears of the conscious mind.

• Ie. Don’t remember being sexually assaulted at a young age

Alzheimer’s Disorder

• An illness in which the first symptoms are impaired memory. This leads to impaired though patterns, then impaired speech, then complete helplessness. -Someone who has the disease may not be able to remember who they are, loved ones, and may begin to act like a child again. -Usually age 65 +