Memory

Memory

Active system that stores, organizes, alters, and retrieves information

Three Processes of Memory

Encoding: Converting information into a useable form

Storage: Holding information in memory for later use

Retrieval: Taking memories out of storage

Memory

Information is stored:

Sensory MemoryShort Term MemoryLong Term Memory

Sensory Memory

The first stage of memory

Sensory Register (most temporary stage)Uses 5 sensesTurn off the lights and whisper. What senses are evoked?

Stores an exact copy of incoming information for a few seconds

Selective attention – goes to Short Term Memory

Ignore it … goes away

Short-Term Memory (STM)

Holds small amounts of information briefly in consciousness Telephone numbers, dates

Can be stored as images

Most stored as sound (Introduced to Tim – call him Jim later – not Bob)

Very sensitive to interruption or interference

Short-Term Memory Capacity

Magic Number 7 (Plus or Minus 2): Limited to holding seven (plus or minus two)

information bits at once

Information Bits: Meaningful units of information 342-27-9762 Social Security Number248-739-8123Telephone Number

Rehearsal Needed to Store STM

Maintenance Rehearsal:Repeating information silently to prolong its presence

After 18 seconds without rehearsal – the memory is gone!

Elaborative Rehearsal:

Rehearse new information and link it with old information (i.e. new recipe, new route)

Good way to transfer STM » LTM

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

Stores information relatively permanently

Stored on basis of meaning and importance

Unlimited storage capacityYou will never fill your brain!

To keep it in long term memory must rehearseLook – 20 xDo - 20 xRecite - 20 x

Best way to keep it in LTM – tell it to someone!

Long Term Memory

To remain in LTM – must regularly rehearse!

Read these words once…

Bed, dream, blanket, doze, pillow, nap, snore, mattress, alarm, clock, rest, slumber, nod, sheet, bunk, cot, cradle, groggy

Types of Long-Term Memories

Skill MemoryProcedural:

Long-term memories of conditioned responses and learned skills How are you? Fine Riding a bike; driving; recipe

Fact Memory:Declarative:

Long-term memory that contains factual information Steven Spielberg directed Jurassic Park

Let’s Review

Three Processes of MemorySensory MemoryShort Term MemoryLong Term Memory

Measuring Memory

Serial Position Effect Difficult to recall items in the middle of a list

Easiest to remember last items – still in STM!

How to study

Tests are designed to “catch the middle”

What is the 2nd line of our National Anthem?

Measuring Memory

Sometimes we think we know but are caught by distractors

Distractors: False items included with a correct item

Type of Memory –

Flashbulb Memories Memories created during times of personal

tragedy, accident, or other emotionally significant events

September 11, 2001

Includes positive and negative events

Great confidence is placed in them

May be inaccurate

Let’s look back …

Thinking back at the list of words you read earlier, state whether each word is new or old:

Sofa, sleep, lamp, kitchen

Type of Memory

Re-integrative Memory

Memories that are reconstructed or expanded Starting with one memory and then triggering

another memory: Look through old photos

Smell an odor from the past:Grandma’s kitchen, fragrance from a former lover

An entire experience can be reconstructed from one very small recollection

Not All Memories are Alike

Side-by-side – you still may have a different memory than your sibling!What we pay attention to What is important to us

Memories are active, creative and highly personal

Colored by emotion, judgment and quirks of our personality

Let’s ReviewMeasuring Memory

Serial Position EffectDistractors

Type of MemoryFlashbulb MemoryRe-integrative Memory

Not all memories are alikePersonal, emotional, judgemental

Why do we forget?

Why Do Memories Weaken or Fade?

Memory Decay: When memory traces become weak or fadeMemory traces are physical changes in nerve cells and

brain activity when memories are stored

Disuse: When memories are not used or retrieved – lose it!“Use it or lose it”

We “lose it” …. Soon!

After age 15 our brain is losing neurons associated with memory loss

Memory loss is not just in the elderly

Forgetting

Most forgetting occurs right after memorization

Ebbinghaus’ Curve of Forgetting: Graph shows amount of information

remembered after varying lengths of time

Forgetting

Repression: Unconsciously pushing painful, embarrassing, or

threatening memories out of awareness/consciousness

Suppression: Consciously putting something painful or threatening

out of mind or trying to keep it from entering awareness

Amnesia

Infantile Amnesia:No memory before age 1-3Unless it was a dramatic memory

Retrograde Amnesia: Forgetting events that occurred before an injury or

traumaKorsakoff Syndrome – alcoholics (“Smirnoff”)

Anterograde Amnesia: Forgetting events that follow an injury or trauma

Memory Structures

Hippocampus: Brain structure Associated with information passing from short-term

memory into long-term memory

If damaged – no longer “create” long-term memories Always live in the present

Memories prior to damage will remain intact

Is there a way to remember?

Let’s Review Why do memories fade or weaken?

Memory decayUse it or lose it

ForgettingEbinghaus CurveSuppressionRepression

AmnesiaInfantileRetrograde vs. Anterograde

Hippocampus

Mnemonics: Memory “Tricks”

Any kind of memory system or aid:Using mental picturesMaking things meaningfulMaking information familiarForming bizarre, unusual, or exaggerated mental

associations

Exercise: Name the “Great Lakes”

Using Mnemonics to Remember Things in Order

Form a Chain: Remember lists in order, forming an exaggerated

association connecting item one to two, and so on

Take a Mental Walk: Mentally walk along a familiar path, placing objects or

ideas along the path

Use a systemEGBDF: Every good boy does fine HOMES: Huron, Erie, Michigan, Ontario, Erie, Superior

State-Dependent Learning

Memory retrieval is influenced by mood or body state

If your body state is the same at the time of learning AND the time of retrieval, retrieval will be improved

If Robert is drunk when he parks his car and forgets where his car is parked once he is sober, it will be easier to recall the location if he gets drunk again. – YIKES!!!

Let’s Review

Ways to remember:

MnemonicsMental walkChainDevelop a system

State Dependent Learning