MEMORY PROCESS
PSYCH 37 CHAPTER 6
similar words, thus indicating that the acoustic
code plays a significant role in encoding.
TOPIC OVERVIEW
A. Encoding and Transfer of Information CONRAD EXPERIMENT
B. Retrieval
C. Processes of Forgetting and Memory ● Participants were visually presented with
Distortion several series of six letters
D. The Constructive Nature of Memory ● Despite letters being presented visually, errors
tended to reflect acoustic confusability.
Another group of participants simply listened
to single letters in a setting that had noise in
A Encoding and Transfer of Information
the background, and showed the same pattern
of confusability in the listening task as in the
ENCODING visual memory task.
● refers to how you transform a physical,
sensory input into a representation that can be
placed into memory. LONG-TERM STORAGE
STORAGE ● How is information encoded into a form
● refers to how you store (keep) encoded that can be transferred into long term
information in memory. storage and available for subsequent
retrieval?
RETRIEVAL
● refers to how you gain access to information
stored in memory.
EXPERIMENT 1
A1 FORMS OF ENCODING ● Participants studied 41 words, then were
tested with distractor words. They were more
likely to falsely recognize synonyms (1.83 on
average) than unrelated words (1.05),
ACOUSTIC ENCODING
● Showed a higher chance of semantic
● Sound
confusion.
SEMANTIC ENCODING
● Meaning
EXPERIMENT 2
VISUAL ENCODING ● Participants learned a list of 60 words that
● Look included 15 animals, 15 professions, 15
vegetables, and 15 names of people.
SHORT-TERM STORAGE ● Finding: successive recalls from the
● When encoding information for temporary same category occurred much more
storage and use, what type of code do you often than would be expected by chance
use? occurrence
BADDELEY EXPERIMENT
A2 TRANSFER OF INFORMATION FROM
● He gave his participants lists of words to read SHORT-TERM TO LONG-TERM
and compared recall performance for lists of MEMORY
acoustically confusable words—words with
similar sounds—with lists of acoustically
distinct words—words that do not sound INTERFERENCE
similar. ● When competing information interferes with
● He found that performance was much worse our storing of information
for the visual presentation of acoustically
DECAY
MEMORY PROCESS
PSYCH 37 CHAPTER 6
● When we forget facts just because time passes
2 TYPES OF PRACTICE SCHEDULE
DECLARATIVE MEMORY
● refers to facts and knowledge DISTRIBUTED Learning in which various
PRACTICE sessions are spaced over time.
NONDECLARATIVE MEMORY
● refers to procedural memories, such as skills MASSED Learning in which sessions are
PRACTICE crammed together in a very
CONSOLIDATION short space of time.
● A process where we make connections by
integrating the new data into our existing
schemas of stored information
SLEEP AND MEMORY CONSOLIDATION
A3 ELABORATIVE AND MAINTENANCE ● The process by which your brain transforms
REHEARSAL
new, fragile memories into a more stable,
long-term state.
REHEARSAL NEUROSCIENCE AND MEMORY
CONSOLIDATION
PRACTICE Effects of rehearsal ● Memory consolidation is supported by neural
EFFECTS processes, particularly in the hippocampus and
other brain structures.
OVERT Usually loud and obvious
● Over time, memories become less dependent
to anyone watching
on the hippocampus and more distributed
across the cerebral cortex.
COVERT Silent and hidden
ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION
ELABORATIVE REHEARSAL
● When we forget facts just because time passes.
● Involves deeply processing information by ● Information that is logically structured and
connecting it to things you already know. This meaningfully organized is easier to encode and
creates a stronger, more lasting memory. retrieve.
● Chunking, categorization, and hierarchical
MAINTENANCE REHEARSEL organization help reduce cognitive load and
improve memory performance.
● When the individual simply repeats the items
● Mnemonic devices: these are specific
to be remembered.
techniques to help you organize and memorize
● Repeating information over and over to keep it
information.
in your short-term memory.
○ Categorical clustering (hierarchy
technique) - Organize a list of items
SPACING EFFECT
● It is the finding that you remember into a set of categories
information better if you study it over several ○ Interactive Images - Create
short sessions spaced out over time, rather interactive images that link the
than in one long, intensive cramming session. isolated words in a list.
○ Pegword system - Associate each
new word with a word on a previously
memorized list and form an interactive
image between the two words
○ Method of loci - Visualize walking
around an area with distinctive
MEMORY PROCESS
PSYCH 37 CHAPTER 6
landmarks that you know well, and
then link the various landmarks to
specific items to be remembered. PARALLEL PROCESSING
● Refers to the simultaneous handling of
○ Acronym (first letter technique) -
multiple operations. The items stored in the
Devise a word or expression in which
short term memory would be retrieved all at
each of its letters stands for a certain
once, not one at a time.
other word or concept
○ Acrostic - Form a sentence rather
SERIAL PROCESSING
than a single word to help you
● Refers to operations being done one after
remember the new words
another. The items stored in short term
○ Keyword system - Form an
memory would be retrieved in succession,
interactive image that links the sound
rather than all at once.
and meaning of a foreign word with
the sound and meaning of a familiar
EXHAUSTIVE PARALLEL PROCESSING
word
● Implies that the participant always checks the
test digit against all digits in the positive set,
HOW ARE MEMORIES STORED? even if a match were found partway through
● Memory is distributed across the brain; the list
sensory details are stored in different areas
of the cerebral cortex for long-term storage. SELF TERMINATING SERIAL PROCESSING
● The hippocampus encodes, integrates, and ● Implies that the participant would check the
consolidates new information, handles test digit against only those digits needed to
spatial memory, and transfers memories to make a response.
long-term storage.
● Basal ganglia → procedural memory;
cerebellum → conditioned responses; B2 RETRIEVAL FROM LONG TERM
MEMORY
amygdala → emotional memories (stronger
recall for emotional events).
● Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) strengthens FREE RECALL CONDITION
● Wherein participants merely recalled as many
neural connections; learning creates new
words as they could in any order of they chose.
synapses and removes old ones.
● Neurotransmitters (serotonin,
CUED RECALL CONDITION
acetylcholine, norepinephrine) boost
● Wherein participants were tested category by
memory; low acetylcholine is linked to
category. They were given each category label
Alzheimer’s; alcohol abuse can cause
as a cue
Korsakoff syndrome.
● Hormones from emotional events boost
glucose in the brain, improving memory for
significant experiences. Availability – the presence of information stored in
long term memory.
Accessibility – the degree to which we can gain
access to the available information.
B RETRIEVAL
B2 RETRIEVAL FROM SHORT-TERM
MEMORY
MEMORY PROCESS
PSYCH 37 CHAPTER 6
The primacy effect – refers to superior recall of
C PROCESS OF FORGETTING AND
words at and near the beginning of a list.
MEMORY DISTORTION
C2 DECAY THEORY
C1 INTERFERENCE THEORY
DECAY THEORY
● Asserts that information is forgotten because
INTERFERENCE THEORY
of the gradual disappearance, rather than
● Refers to forgetting that occurs because recall
displacement, of the memory trace.
of certain words interferes with recall of other
words.
D THE CONSTRUCTIVE NATURE OF
RETROACTIVE INTERFERENCE MEMORY
● Occurs when newly acquired knowledge
impedes the recall of older material. Memory is not simply a reconstructive process of
retrieving and rebuilding original experiences. Instead,
PROACTIVE INTERFERENCE it is a constructive process, meaning that our existing
● Occurs when material that was learned in the knowledge and prior experiences actively shape what
past impedes the learning of new material. and how we remember.
SCHEMAS D1 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
● Mental frameworks that represent knowledge
in a meaningful way. These are actually mental
This memory is a constructive process, meaning we
templates built from the past or our prior
remember our reconstruction of past events rather
knowledge to fill in gaps or adjust details.
than a flawless recording.
PROACTIVE INTERFERENCE
FLASHBULB MEMORIES
● Occurs when material that was learned in the
● Are vivid and emotionally charged memories
past impedes the learning of new material.
of significant public or personal events.
SERIAL POSITION CURVE
The medial temporal lobe plays a crucial role in
recalling autobiographical memories. If this area of
the brain gets damaged, an individual’s ability to
remember events from their recent past will be
impaired, while leaving older and remote memories
intact.
D2 MEMORY DISTORTION
Represents the probability of recall of a given word,
Memory is not like a recording device that records all
given its serial position (order of presentation) in a list.
of your memories, and you can access them anytime,
replaying each scene of it. Our memory is prone to
The recency effect – refers to superior recall of
various distortions.
words at and near the end of a list.
THE SEVEN SINS OF MEMORY
MEMORY PROCESS
PSYCH 37 CHAPTER 6
Transience: Memory fades quickly. The natural Suggestability: Post-event information from the
decay of memory over time. environment or leading questions can alter a witness’s
memory of an event.
Absent-mindedness: People sometimes brush their
teeth after already having brushed them or enter a Lineup Procedure: The way a police lineup is
room looking for something, only to discover that they conducted can introduce bias.
have forgotten what they were seeking.
External Influences: Confession from the suspect,
Blocking: People sometimes have something that feedback from a law enforcer, or a statement from an
they know they should remember, but they can’t. Often audience of the crime can dramatically change a
described as the “tip of the tongue” witness’s identification.
Misattribution: People often cannot remember Cross-Race Effect: Eyewitness identification is less
where they heard what they heard or read what they accurate when the eyewitness is asked to identify
read. Sometimes people think they saw things they did someone from a different racial or ethnic group than
not see or heard things they did not hear. their own.
Suggestibility: People are susceptible to suggestion, Stress: High stress levels occur commonly during a
so if it is suggested to them that they saw something, crime, so it can impair a witness’s ability to accurately
they may think they remember seeing it. recall events or identify individuals.
Bias: The influence of our current beliefs, feelings, or CHILDREN AS EYEWITNESSES
knowledge on our past recollections. ● First, the younger the child is, the less reliable
Persistence: The inability to forget unwanted the testimony of that child can be expected to
memories, such as a single failure, even when many be.
successes have occurred. ● Second, when a questioner and coercive or
even just seems to want a particular answer,
Numerous studies emphasized the fragility and children can be quite susceptible to providing
malleability nature of memory, demonstrating that the adult with what they want.
what we recall is not always a perfect reflection of ● Third, children may believe that they recall
what happened. This just shows that memory observing things that others have said they
distortions often focus on how external suggestions observed.
and internal biases shape our recollection.
D4 REPRESSED MEMORIES
D3 THE EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY Memories that are alleged to have been pushed down
into unconsciousness because of the distress they
The eyewitness testimony paradigm refers to the use of cause. Such memories are inaccessible, but they can be
eyewitness accounts in legal proceedings. dredged up.
A practice that is a common source of wrongful SOURCE MONITORING
conviction because research indicates that memory is ● A source-monitoring error occurs when
constructive. someone misattributes a memory from one
source to another.
FACTORS INFLUENCING EYEWITNESS
ACCURACY SPREADING ACTIVATION
● Occurs when thinking about one concept
triggers related concepts, like a spider web of
associations.
MEMORY PROCESS
PSYCH 37 CHAPTER 6
D5 THE EFFECTS OF CONTEXT AND
MEMORY
A number of factors, such as emotions, moods, states
of consciousness, schemas, and other features of our
internal context, clearly affect memory retrieval.
SCHEMAS AS COGNITIVE FRAMEWORKS
● Mental frameworks built from prior
knowledge.
MOODS AND STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
● When we encode semantic information during
a particular mood or state of consciousness, we
may more readily retrieve that information
when in the same state again.
LANGUAGE’S EFFECTS ON MEMORY
● Memory accuracy improves when the language
of retrieval matches the language of learning.
ENCODING SPECIFICITY
● Information that was encoded only at a
shallow level still may be recalled easily when
the context in which it was learned is similar to
the context in which it is being retrieved.
SELF-REFERENCE EFFECT
● We remember information better when we
relate it to ourselves.
Retrieval interacts strongly with encoding.
Suppose you are studying for a test and want to
recall well at the time of testing. Organize the
information you are studying in a way that
appropriately matches the way in which you will be
expected to recall it. Similarly, you will recall
information better if the level of processing for
encoding matches the level of processing for
retrieval