Memory

Quizlet: http://quizlet.com/71935267/memory-flash-cards/

memory= any indication that learning has persisted over time; ability to store and retrieve info

flashbulb memory= unique and emotional moment that is strong and persistent

information processing:

• atkinson-shiffrin: 3-stage model

1. sensory memory: photographic memory every split second
2. short-term memory: 20 seconds, then lost permanently unless encoded
3. long-term memory: isolate most important details

• problems with this model:

1. some information skips first stages
2. how we select important stuff depends on what we are looking for
3. short term memory is much more complex

• Alan Baddely model: sensory → working → long-term
• working memory contains auditory and visual processing
• central executive directs focus
• we can do visual and auditory at the same time, but can’t do 2 auditories at the same time

sensory memory: whole report testing sensory memory (sperling)

• short exposure time, people can’t remember what they saw
• if they are told what to remember after seeing the image, 100% recall
• we have a fleeting but perfect recall
• longer delay of instruction lowers accuracy of recall
• durations: iconic (seeing)-0.5 sec, echoic (hearing)-3-4 sec, haptic (touch)-0.5 sec

working memory: (aka short-term)

• 7+-2 pieces of information
• 20 second duration
• increased by chunking but decays rapidly without rehearsal

long-term memory:

• unlimited capacity, as far as we know: we don’t live long enough to find out capacity

Feats of memory

Russian Journalist Shereshevskii didn’t have to take notes like other reporters

• could repeat 70 random digits forwards and backwards (for 15 years)
• ended up in asylum- couldn’t distinguish between present and past

Rajan Mahadevan

• recited 31,811 digits of π, memorized license plates for fun as a child
• doesn’t use mnemonics- “there is something about the way the numbers sound”

Kim Peek- inspired “rain man” movie

• 98% recall for 9000 books, memorized telephone books
• each eye reads separate page simultaneously
• instantaneous calendar dates- tells you your 90th bday will be on a tuesday
• developmentally disabled- needed full-time care
• brain not divided into 2 hemispheres: no corpus callosum

Encoding= getting the info into your brain

1. some information is automatically processed
2. new or unusual information requires attention and effort

automatic processing

1. space: we remember where things are in space
2. time: remember order of events
3. frequency: keep track of number of times something happens to you

effortful processing= memorization that requires effort

• requires rehearsal or conscious repetition
• ebbinghaus: studied rehearsal using nonsense words--as rehearsal increases, relearning time decreases

next-in-line effect: when you are anxious about being next you can’t remember what the person right before you said

spacing effect: we retain information better when we rehearse over time

• what is learned quickly is forgotten quickly

serial position effect: recall is good for first and last items on a list, middle terms are more easily forgotten

• Semantic encoding (encoding by meaning) is strongest for memory
• visual and acoustic encoding are weaker
• Self-reference effect: learning meaningful material requires 1/10 the effort

mnemonics= shortcuts or strategies that boost our memory

1. method of loci- imagine locations of things
1. simonides (poet in 500 BC) identified bodies after earthquake by remembering their location
2. link method- make mental image of items, create story that includes them all
3. peg-word system- one gun, two shoe, three tree, four door
1. associate list of items with these predetermined peg-words
2. first letter technique: make acronym
3. key word method: vocab terms like “Broca’s” area means mouth is “broken”

Organizing information

• chunking: organize items into a familiar, manageable unit
• hierarchy: subdivide into smaller points

Storage: retaining memory

1. Wilder Penfield (1967) memories are etched all over the brain
2. Lashley (1950) found that one memory is spread out all over
3. Ralph Gerard (1953) memories remain intact even if brain activity stops

• long-term potentiation: synaptic enhancement after learning
• nerves that fire together wire together
• specific neural pathways for each memory
• keep memories that we continuously access because neural pathways are strong
• stress hormones affect memory: heightened emotions make for stronger memories
• prolonged stress decreases memory ability

Implicit v. Explicit memories

HM remembered everything from life, up until his surgery where he lost his hippocampus

• implicit memory is intact, can still learn new tasks

Retrieval=getting the info out of your brain

• recognition: identify item amongst other choices
• recall: fill-in-the-blank, effortful retrieval
• relearning: show how much time/effort is saved when learning material second time
• retrieval cues: memories connected by association
• priming= activating a strand of association that leads to a memory
• shown pic of rabbit, asked to spell hair, people spell hare instead
• context effects= greater memory when learning and testing contexts the same
• scuba divers learn words underwater, remember them better underwater
• déja vu: cues from present unconsciously retrieve similar experience
• emotion context: can easily recall memories that are mood-congruent

Forgetting--inability to retrieve information due to one of the 3 processes

1. absentmindedness: inattention to details
2. transience: storage decay over time (ebbinghaus forgetting curve)
3. blocking: inaccessibility of stored info

• retrieval failure: tip of the tongue phenomenon
• interference- learning new info disrupts retrieval of other material
• proactive: prior learning disrupts new info
• retroactive: new info disrupts previous learning
• sleep prevents retroactive interference
• hyperthymesia: super biographical memory-- related to OCD (Jill Price)

Memory Construction

while tapping our memories, we filter or fill in info to make it coherent

misinformation effect= incorporating misleading info into memory of an event

imagination effects:

• students remember events that they imagined
• people with outlandish memories score high on imagination tests
• tape recorder experiment: theif robs nothing but people think he is stealing a tape recorder, so they tell the police what it looked like
• source amnesia= attributing an event to the wrong source
• true and false memories can both feel very real
• false memories are usually limited: can only get gist, start out vague
• police can’t give leading questions: trained in cognitive interview techniques
• false memory syndrome= life centered around false, traumatic memories
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