Nicole Hicks
Psychology 1101
Class/Chapter Notes Part Three
Memory
Think about the mice at MIT.... a certain medication OR an enriched environment helped them to regain
seemingly lost memories
There are different kinds of memory -- episodic (personal experiences), semantic (all of the events we make an
effort to remember, formal knowledge like when we study for a test), procedural (learned skills, like how to ride
a bike)
o Memory can also be implicit, when you don't explicitly try to remember things but you do b/c it
influenced you (procedural often falls under this category)
o Purposely remembered things = explicit (like semantic)
Fundamental memory processes: You have issues if one of these things isn't working -- amnesia
o 1. Encoding - acoustic, visual, semantic
o 2. Storage - maintaining info, short term or long term
o 3. Retrieval - having access to all this info -- recall
Info processing model = most common way of thinking about memory...info is processed in stages; the sensory
processing/memory, short term proc/memory, and long term proc/memory
o Sensory Memory: auditory, visual, somato-sensory, gustatory and olfactory processes
Info on this level is fleeting and stays no longer than .5 seconds in the memory. We don't pay
attention to it
Iconic = visual memories
Echoic = audio
o Short Term Memory: aka Working Memory
Once you pay attention to stimuli it moves to STM... focus awareness on a narrow range of
events
Used for solving problems from moment to moment, info is stored by rehearsal
Can store 7 (+ or - 2) chunks of info... we can't remember everything because we need the space
for new info!
Needed for communication/reacting with others
Synesthesia = remembering in colors
Info stays here for about 20 seconds
o Long Term Memory:
Info here is permanent -- elaborate rehearsal
Conceptual hierarchy vs. semantic network >> you can add to what you already have
With conceptual hierarchy, you have categories of importance
With semantic networks, you attach meaning to memories, linking them to other
meanings/words in your memory
Memories are reconstructions: we often introduce new elements and twists to events -- you may lead an
individual in the reconstruction of events
Forgetting = a deficiency in encoding, storage, and retrieval o It may just be the issue of never actually having the knowledge to begin with... failure of encoding
(pseudo-forgetting)
o Retrieval failure = mismatch of retrieval cues and encoding used to store info. If encoding had been
semantic, use semantic retrieval cue (like a letter that's the same as your first name)
Cue = time, place, mood, word, sound...
o Motivated forgetting -- repression of bad thoughts. Buried in the unconscious
o "Tip of the tongue phenomenon" = temporary failure to remember something you know you know
o The encoding specificity principle = usefulness of retrieval cue depends on how well it corresponds with
memory code
Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve... he tried to study memory
in a systematic fashion. The Ebbinghaus Curve shows how
quickly we forget. The average human remembers less
than 40% of the knowledge after 9 hours. Rate of
forgetting levels off over time ---------------------------------->
Serial-position effect = primacy (first) effect, recency (last)
effect. You remember the first and last words in a
sequence best. That middle (intermediate) area is out of
luck. The primary items go to long term, the recent items
are still being processed so they're right up front, but the
intermediate area just gets lost
There are THREE ways to measure memory retention:
recall, recognition, and relearning
Decay theory talks about the impermanence of memory storage. Memories fade with time especially true with
sensory memory and STM. Not true with LTM
Interference negatively impacts retention (people who learn something and then go to sleep are more likely to
remember it because no other ideas are being presented to distract them)
o Retroactive interference = difficulty retaining old material because of what you are presently learning
o Proactive interference = difficulty retaining new material because of what you already know (like already
knowing French makes it hard for me to learn Spanish)
Retrograde amnesia -- info enters short term memory but is not rehearsed (due to head trauma) and is lost.
Never gets to LTM. Like whatever happened right before the accident
Anterograde amnesia -- loss of ability to retain new info after the trauma (forgetting that you asked the nurse to
make a phone call after the accident...and asking h
More
Less
