PSYC 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Kim Peek, Memory Span, Implicit Memory
Chapter 8: Memory
Memory
●The retention of information over time
●Our memories are surprisingly good in some situations, and surprisingly bad in others
○The paradox of memory
●Amazing feats of memory
○Kim Peek, the real “Rain Man”
○Rajan and pi
Paradox of Memory
●Our brains will often go beyond the available information to make sense of the world
○Generally adaptive, but makes us prone to errors
Reconstructive Memory
●When remembering, we actively reconstruct memories, not passively reproduce them
●Remembering yourself taking a walk--observer memory vs. field memory
Three Processes of Memory
●Encoding is getting information into memory
●Storage is keeping information in memory
●Retrieval is the reactivation or reconstruction of information from memory
Encoding
●To encode it, we must first attend to it
●Most events we experience are never encoded in the first place
●The next-in-line effect
○In a classroom, and they're going down the line, and you have to introduce
yourself, and since you're so focused on yourself, you don’t even really hear the
others talking
Storage
●How we store our experiences in memory depends on our interpretations and
expectations of them
●Schemas are organized knowledge structures or mental models that we’ve stored in
memory
○What happens when you go into a restaurant?
■You think “they greet me and take me to my table”
●Schemas give us frames of reference and allow is to interpret new situations
●Useful, but tend to oversimplify information
●Strong example of why the paradox of memory exists
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Three Systems of Memory
●Sensory, short-term, and long-term memory
●Differ in terms of span and duration
●Moves from sensory to STM to LTM, and then back to STM
Sensory Memory
●Brief storage of perceptual information before it is passed to short-term memory
●Each sense has it’s own form of memory
●Iconic (visual) lasts only 2 second; echoic (auditory) can last 5-10 seconds
Short-term Memory
●Memory system that retains information for limited durations
●Related to working memory
●Very brief in duration, 5-20 seconds
●The span of STM in adults is 7 (+/-) 2 pieces of information [Magic Number]
●Elaborative rehearsal is usually more effective
●Consistent with levels-of-processing model
●Three levels:
○Visual (shallow)
○Phonological (sound-related; somewhat less shallow)
○Semantic (meaning-related; deepest)
Long-term Memory
●Relatively enduring store of information
●Includes facts, experiences, and skills we’ve developed over a lifetime
●Differs from STM in several ways
Predicting What We Remember
●Primacy effect- tendency to remember stimuli that were presented first
○Reflects LTM
●Recency effect- tendency to remember stimuli that were presented most recently
○Reflects STM
●Also more likely to remember stimuli that are odd or distinct le
Types of LTM
●Explicit memory (declarative memory) is the process of recalling information
intentionally
○Semantic memory (knowledge of facts)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Our memories are surprisingly good in some situations, and surprisingly bad in others. Our brains will often go beyond the available information to make sense of the world. Generally adaptive, but makes us prone to errors. When remembering, we actively reconstruct memories, not passively reproduce them. Remembering yourself taking a walk--observer memory vs. field memory. Retrieval is the reactivation or reconstruction of information from memory. To encode it, we must first attend to it. Most events we experience are never encoded in the first place. In a classroom, and they"re going down the line, and you have to introduce yourself, and since you"re so focused on yourself, you don"t even really hear the others talking. How we store our experiences in memory depends on our interpretations and expectations of them. Schemas are organized knowledge structures or mental models that we"ve stored in memory. You think they greet me and take me to my table .
