Module 2: MEMORY
The term memory comes from the Latin term “memoria” which means historical account or
remembrance.
According to Sternberg(1999), memory is the means by which we draw on our past experiences in
order to use this information in the present.
Key processes in memory
Memory includes three processes: encoding the information, storing the information and retrieving
the information.
Encoding
Encoding is the first step of the memory process where various pieces of information received by the
sense organs “encodes” it into something manageable and accessible for late. Information is
encoded in different ways like semantic, visual, echoing, mnemonic etc.
Hassan (2005) described two types of attempts or process in which we encode information from our
environment- automatic processing and effortful processing.
Automatic processing is the encoding of information with little conscious awareness or effort and
effortful processing is the encoding of information through careful attention and conscious effort.
Encoding requires attention- that is we can encode only what we focus on or notice.
Storage
Among the three memory processes, storage is the most important one where the information is
stored for future purposes.
Retrieval
It refers to the recovery of information stored in memory when we need it later.
Levels of processing model
Proposed by Fergus Craik and Robert Lockhart (1972). According to them, incoming information can
be processed at three progressively deeper levels- structural, phonetic and semantic encoding
Structural encoding
The first level of processing is shallowest it is simply a sensory level of processing through which we
merely become aware of the incoming information. It is the level in which input is registered into our
sensory memory and the physical structural aspects of information are processed. This is the
shallowest level of processing.
Phonetic encoding
Second level is intermediate level in which one might consider and attend to the phonetic sounds
that are attached to the input. In this level the structural features are transferred into at least one
meaningful word- the word rat which has three specific letters.
Semantic encoding
The third level of processing is the deepest level. In order to ensure that the input is retained for a
longer period, it is important that it gets analysed and understood in terms of meaning that it
carries. Therefore it is called semantic level of processing.
It suggests that it is the depth of processing that leads to stronger memories and occur as a result of
a deep memory trace which happens through elaborative rehearsal.
Atkinson –Shiffrin model of memory
One of the popular models of memory is proposed by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin(1968),
who is influenced by information processing approach and conceptualised memory in terms of three
memory stores- sensory store, short term store and long term store.
As a process, the information from the environment detected by the sense organs and enters the
sensory memory and held for a second or two. Information selected by attention is then transferred
to temporary storage in short term memory (STM). If nee information is not rapidly encoded or
rehearsed, it is forgotten. If it is transferred to long term memory (LTM), it becomes relatively
permanent.
Sensory Memory
Sensory input, i.e. the incoming information first enters the sensory memory (SM), where the
information is registered. Sensory memory has a large capacity but it is of very short duration, less
than a second.
This system registers information from each of the senses with reasonable accuracy.
The visual and auditory memories are also called iconic memory and echoic memory respectively.
Iconic memory or visual sensory memory
This kind of memory is most widely known as pictorial memory. When a visual stimulus impinges on
retina , an image of the stimulus is formed which we call retinal image. This image persists on the
retina for a fraction of seconds even after removal of the visual stimulus. So these memories
typically stored for about a half second.
Echoic or auditory sensory memory
This is widely known as echoic memory. It refers to persistence or lingering of sound impression for
sometimes even when the sound ceases. The duration of echoic memory in sensory memory is
approximately 2 to 3 seconds ( longer than iconic memory).
SHORT TERM MEMORY
This is the second level store of memory. It is limited in capacity and storage time. It selects some
parts of ever changing information in sensory memory and transfers the same to short term
memory.
The capacity or storage limit is limited. In experiments, it has been found that STM can hold a very
small amount of information. Experiments on memory span for numbers have shown that the
numerical span of memory of STM is roughly 7 plus or minus 2.
The encoding of information in STM can be enhanced through two different processes- rehearsal
and chunking.
Chunking
A chunk is a meaningful unit of information which can be a single letter or number, a group of letters
or other items, or even a group of words or an entire sentence. Remembering the phone number by
dividing into different chunks( E.g: 9633- 015- 733) is one of the best chunking methods we use in
our daily lives.
Rehearsal
By engaging in rehearsal, we can maintain information in short term store indefinitely
Maintenance rehearsal
Maintenance rehearsal is the process of silently repeating or mentally reviewing information to hold
it in short term memory. For example, to keep a mobile phone number active in your mind, you have
probably used maintenance rehearsal.
Rote rehearsal or rote learning
The process in which learning happens by simple repetition
Elaborative processing or elaborative rehearsal
The process in which rehearsing the material more meaningfully is known as elaborative rehearsal.
WORKING MEMORY
In recent years , psychologists seem to hold that STM is not unitary rather it consists of many
components. This is known as multi component view of short term memory(STM) Baddeley (1996)
was the first to propose this view of STM. Baddeley holds that STM is not a passive chamber of
storage rather it holds a wider variety of memory materials that are constantly handled,
manipulated and transformed as people perform various cognitive tasks. This system is called
working memory.
Working memory has three levels or components
1. The first component is phonological loop which holds a limited number of sounds and unless
rehearsed, they decay within 2 seconds.
2. Second component is visuospatial sketch pad. It stores visual and spatial information and like
phonological loop, the capacity of this sketch pad too is limited.
3. The third component is called the episodic buffer. It organises information from
phonological loop, visuospatial sketch pad as well as from the long term memory into a
unitary episodic representations. The episodic buffer allows to retrieve information from
long term memory and combine it with information from the current situation.
4. The central executive-this component is critical to working memory because it is the gating
mechanism that decides what information to process further and how to process this
information that is received from the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad
LONG TERM MEMORY
Long term memory is the third store of memory where the information can be kept for a longer
period of time. It has an unlimited capacity to store information and elaborate rehearsal is
needed for information to be send to long term storage.
Types of long term memory
According to Tulving, there are three types of long term memories- episodic, semantic and
procedural. The episodic and semantic memories taken together are also called declarative
memory.
Procedural memory
Memory system that retains information we cannot readily express verbally but involved in
performing skilled activities like swimming, riding a bike etc. Thus procedural memory is the
store house of memory for actions, skills, conditioned responses, and emotional responses.
Declarative memory
Declarative memory is the memory for facts, data and events which can be consciously recalled.
Endel Tulving has further subdivided declarative memory into episodic and semantic memory
based on the materials that we store in the memory.
Episodic memory
In this type of memories, the personal experiences of the individual are stored. It is called
episodic because it stores not only the experiences but also the relevant contextual references
of the experiences. These contextual aspects or references include the temporal ( eg: references
of time and date or days ) and the spatial references i.e. what, where and for whom the event
concern.
The episodic memories have certain important characteristics. One such characteristics is that
such memories are affective ( emotional) in nature. It has been observed that the pleasant and
unpleasant kinds of life events are remembered for longer period than the neutral or non
emotional events.
Another important feature of episodic memory is that remote distant past events take relatively
longer time to retrieve and recall.
Semantic memory
Semantic memory includes general knowledge and facts about the world as well as memory for
the rules of logic that are used to deduse other facts. Semantic memory is not related to time
and place and is not emotional in nature and such memories are relatively less forgotten.
Semantic memory is also easily retrievable and recallable.
FLASH BULB MEMORY
These are memories of events that are very arousing or surprising. Such memories are very
detailed. Flash bulb memories are like images frozen in memories and tied to particular places,
dates and times. People put greater efforts in the formation of these memories and highlighting
details might lead to deeper levels of processing as well as offer more cues for retrieval.
FALSE MEMORY
It refers to a pattern of thought and actions which are distorted and mistaken form of memory.
The person claims such memories are true and accurate but in fact it is not. Owing to distortion,
people not only report false memory but also believe them as complete.
Examples of this phenomenon can be displayed from the everyday life ( incorrectly recalling that
you locked the front door) to the much more serious events such as falsely remembering details
of a crime you witnesses.
False memory is mixing up of details of things that we experienced and about remembering
things that we never experienced in the first place, it shows the constructive nature of memory.
META MEMORY
Meta memory is a subarea of meta cognition ( self monitoring and self control of our own
cognitive processes). Thus meta memory refers to self monitoring and self control of our own
memory processes.
This phenomenon is related to cognitions about memory such as – thinking about how, why and
whether memory works.
Specific aspects of meta memory include knowledge of memory functioning, insight into
memory changes or impairment, awareness of current memory processes, beliefs about and
interpretations of memory skills and demands and even memory related affect.
EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT MEMORY
Explicit memory consist of the types of memories that you can consciously bring to mind or even
say intentional effort to bring the information suc as recalling ones date of birth, recalling or
recognising words , facts or pictures from a particular prior set of items. There are two types of
explicit memories: semantic memories and episodic memories.
Implicit memory refers to memories of which people are not consciously aware, but that can
affect the performance and behaviour of an individual. The procedural knowledge related to
skills that operate automatically and without thinking, such as learned motor behaviours and
habits and perceptual information reflects the implicit memory.
TIP OF THE TONGUE PHENOMENON
Tip of the tongue phenomenon is the temporary inability to remember something we know,
accompanied by a feeling that it’s just out of reach.
The word or name seems to be on the tip of our tongue, but one feels unable to recall or
express. It is very common and universal.
MEASURING MEMORY
Usually three principal methods are used for measuring memory. These are recall, recognition
and relearning.
Recall
Recall means calling back. Thus, bringing into consciousness and producing the same in absence
of the original material which one has learnt or experienced in the past is called recall. Writing
an essays type exam, by providing facts and ideas is an example of tests of recall.
There are three main types of recall tasks which are used in experiments- serial recall, free
recall and cued recall. Suppose you are asked to recall the names of districts in Kerala in the
exact order, you are in a serial recall task. If you are asked to recall it in any order, whatever
comes into your mind, then you are engaging in a free recall task. But if you asked to learn some
pairings ( eg: tree- table, teacher- student etc) and during recall your are cued with only one
member of each pair and are asked to recall each mate, then you are in a cued recall task.
Recognition
In this method , originally learnt or familiar materials are mixed with unfamiliar or unlearned
materials and subjects are asked to identify correctly the familiar ones from amongst the
unfamiliar [Link] this way the correct recognition indicate the amount of memory.
Eg: multiple choice, matching questions etc.
Relearning
This includes the number of trials it takes to learn once again, items that were learned in the
past.
For example, suppose you studied Sanskrit in college years but not studied after college or not
used it afterwards. However when you need to relearn it you will experience a savings in time
relative to what you experienced the first time you learned it.
PRIMING
Commonly used task for measuring implicit memory.
Priming is a phenomenon in which exposure to a word or concept ( called a prime ) influences a
response to a subsequent stimulus even without a conscious guidance of the original word or
concept.
Thus priming activates one piece of information which in turns leads to the activation of another
piece and ultimately to the retrieval of a specific memory.
In the laboratory, priming effect is sometimes examined by having people perform word
completion tasks.
RETRIEVAL CUES
A retrieval cue is a stimulus that permits us to recall information more easily, which is stored in
long term memory. Retrieval cues are stimuli associated with memory thus when these are
missing , we may be unable to recall the exact information we needed.
The retrieval cues may be a word, an emotion, or a sound whatever a memory brings to the
mind when the retrieval cue is present.
Encoding specificity principle
Encoding specificity principle state that the retrieval of an item fro memory dependent on the
availability of retrieval cues which matched up with some aspects of original input which is
stored in memory.
Context dependent memory
It refers to an increase in retrieval when the external situation in which information is learned
matches the situation in which it is remembered.
State dependent memory
The physiological state that exists during learning can be a strong retrieval cue for later memory.
This effect is known as state dependent memory/learning.
In a study it is found that people who learned a list of words while in a happy mood recalled that
words better when they were again happy and people who learned while they felt sad
remembered best when they were sad.
Serial position effect
When we give people a list of words one at a time and then ask them to recall them,
People are able to retrieve more words that are presented to them at the beginning and the end
of the list than the words that were presented in the middle of the list. This phenomenon is
known as serial position effect.
The serial position effect shows both the primacy and recency effect. Primacy effect occurs when
the items presented early in a list are remembered better and the recency effect occurs when
the items presented late in a list are remembered best.
Source monitoring
Source monitoring refers to the ability to accurately identify the source of a memory. Perhaps
you have had the experience of wondering whether you really experienced an event or only
dreamed or imagined it.
Studies suggest that people who are fantasy prone are more likely to experience source
monitoring errors.
RECONSTRUCTIVE MEMORY
Memory appears to be reconstructive- a reproduction of what was learned, based on recalled
data. Remembering itself is a reconstructive process.
But our memory retrieval is not just reconstructive but a constructive process in some occasions.
The constructive nature of memory holds that when we retrieve information, then the memory
that is produced is affected not just by the prior experience we have had with the stimulus but
also by our guesses and inferences about its meaning.
EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY
Eyewitness testimony is a legal term.
It refers to an account given by people of an event when they have witnessed.
Juries tend to pay close attention to eyewitness testimony and generally find it a reliable
source of information .
Since the nature of memory is constructive or reconstructive, the eyewitness accounts are
likely to be misrepresented and possibilities of distortions exist.
FORGETTING
Forgetting is also an important cognitive function of mind that influences our behaviour in a
significant way.
Forgetting refers to failure either to recall or to retain, I.e, it is a failure to revive the learnt or
acquired information into present consciousness.
Curve of forgetting
One of the first to study the mechanisms of forgetting was the German psychologist Herman
Ebbinghaus (1850-1909).
Using himself as the experimental subject, Ebbinghaus carried out a number of experiments in
which he attempted to measure memory performance in a scientific and quantified manner.
Ebbinghaus used lists of test items known as nonsense syllables ( meaningless sets of two
consonants with a vowel in between such as FIW, BEZ, XES) in his studies.
After memorizing it in correct order, he distracted himself from rehearsing the original list.
After this interval, Ebbinghaus measured his own memory by memorizing lists of three – letter
nonsense syllables after varying periods of time.
He recorded the memory, retained after different time intervals and formed a curve which
represented the forgetting rate. The curve is popularly known as “Ebbinghaus forgetting curve”.
On the horizontal axis of the curve are the units of time representing learning and the vertical
axis represents the degree of retention in terms of percentage.
The curve shows a rapid initial drop in retention. This initial period of rapid loss was followed by
a plateau of little change even after many days.
He also find that the most rapid forgetting occurs in the first nine hours after an exposure to the
new material, partition the first hour.
However the rate of forgetting then slows down and declines very little even after many days.
Reasons of forgetting
Decay theory
This theory is the outcome of extensive experimental work of Ebbinghaus.
The Ebbinghaus curve shows that forgetting is a passive process which is caused by the time
factor. The longer the experiences, the poorer is the memory.
The decay theory assumes that the physical changes that take place in the brain when a new
material is learned, simply fades away over time and forgetting occurs.
Interference
A similarity in the two materials learned will affect the interference of one material over the
other and may cause forgetting. The process is known as interference which refers to the view
that forgetting occurs because recall of certain words interferes with recall of other words.
Thus the interference that influences forgetting can be divided into two- proactive and
retroactive.
Retroactive interference: if the new memory impairs retrieval of older memories, then it is
known as retroactive interference.
Proactive interference: if older memories or prior learning inhibits recalling of later learning or
new information, then it is known as proactive interference.
Retrieval failure
An explanation for forgetting from long term memory , refers to difficulties in recall that are due
to the absence of correct retrieval cues or triggers.
Motivated forgetting
Motivated forgetting refers to the process in which we are motivated to forget the unpleasant or
painful events from our memory and will actively work for it.
Repression
Repression is the core concept in Freudian theory. It is a proven in which we unconsciously
prevent some traumatic events from entering our awareness.
The repressed material is not lost, but rather hidden from consciousness. Thus the hidden
material may influence later decisions or interpretations of events, although we are not aware of
its impact in such cases.