PSY 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Forgetting Curve, Major Trauma, Anterograde Amnesia
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
Chapter 7: Memory
At the end of this Chapter you should be able to:
• Understand what memory is
• Learn about working memory
• Learn about three aspects of memory; acquisition, storage and retrieval
• Understand what happens when memory fails
Without memory....
• No recollection of events
• No knowledge
• No reflection of past events; no giving advice to others
• No basis for self-esteem and mood
• No idea about past achievements
Acquisition, Storage, Retrieval
•Any act of memory requires success at three aspects:
•Input, or the acquisition of knowledge - Acquisiton
•Creation of a memory trace, or the storage of knowledge - Storage
•Ability to use the knowledge - Retrieval
Acquisition
•Includes any instance of new intentional (like memorizing) or incidental learning
• Incidental: What did you have for dinner yesterday? You didn’t memorize, but you know
•Attention and engagement with to-be-remembered material is crucial; acquisition is not
passive or “camera-like”
•Raw input: translated first into a form that can be “acquired” by the brain
• This is a complex process itself!
The Stage Theory of Memory
• Different types of memory, each with different properties
• Working memory (Short-term): Instantly accessible information
• Long-term memory: Less instantly accessible
Working Memory / Long Term Memory
•When we are actively working, we want information to be immediately available to us. In our
brain, this happens in Working (short-term) Memory.
•Long Term Memory is for extra information. It contains everything you know. It is storage for
information that is not used right now but may be needed later.
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Storage Capacity of Working and Long-term memory
•Long term capacity: huge
•Working capacity: more modest
•Memory span: way of measuring working memory capacity
• Random, unrelated info: we can store about 7 + 2, items (5-9 items)’
• Referred to as “the magic number 7”
Working Memory
•“Loading platform” analogy
•Long term memory must be “loaded” or “pass through” WM
•How does it move? How is it transformed into Long term memory?
●Rehearsed
●Chunked
• Athough people see 10 TL many many times, they seem to have little recollection of it’s
layout
• Chunking
• Working memory can only handle a small number of items at one time. However what these
packages contain can be up to us.
• Now you only have to remember the relationship between these items. So working memory’s
capacity is dependent on these chunks, not independent items.
Active memory and organization:
•A changed emphasis
•“Architecture” of memory: Storage labels (long term, short term) & analogies of loading docs
•BUT: Learner’s activities must be considered when examining memory
●Maintenance rehearsal
●Processing and organizing information: the “Royal Road into Memory”
Depth of processing
●Deep processing:
●Meaning-based attention
●Anything that connects new information to already-learned material
●Material that “makes sense” will be encoded more efficiently
●Results in superior recall
●Memory connections:
●Links among ideas
●Abstract similarities
●When the time comes to recall something, these connections, established during initial
learning or acquisition, can be used as retrieval paths.
●Mnemonics
●“Method of loci”
●Based on rhythm/rhyme/melody/visualization
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
At the end of this chapter you should be able to: understand what memory is, learn about working memory, learn about three aspects of memory; acquisition, storage and retrieval, understand what happens when memory fails. Without memory: no recollection of events, no knowledge, no reflection of past events; no giving advice to others, no basis for self-esteem and mood, no idea about past achievements. Acquisition, storage, retrieval: any act of memory requires success at three aspects: Input, or the acquisition of knowledge - acquisiton: creation of a memory trace, or the storage of knowledge - storage, ability to use the knowledge - retrieval. Includes any instance of new intentional (like memorizing) or incidental learning. The stage theory of memory: different types of memory, each with different properties, working memory (short-term): instantly accessible information, long-term memory: less instantly accessible. Working memory / long term memory: when we are actively working, we want information to be immediately available to us.
