Memory Notes

In real life, information that has just entered iconic memory will be pushed out very quickly
by new information, a process called masking (Cowan, 1988).

Although it is rare, some people do have what is properly called eidetic imagery, or the ability
to access a visual sensory memory over a long period of time.

Working memory is more correctly thought of as an active system that processes the
information present in short-term memory.

PDP

This model of memory, derived from work in the development of artificial intelligence (AI), is
called the parallel distributed processing (PDP) model. In the AI world, PDP is related to
connectionism (the use of artificial neural networks to explain the mental abilities of humans
(Bechtel & Abrahamsen, 2002; Clark, 1991; Marcus, 2001; Schapiro & McClelland,
2009).parallel distributed processing (PDP) model a model of memory in which memory
processes are proposed to take place at the same time over a large net work of neural
connections.

level of processing model

levels-of-processing model model of memory that assumes information that is more “deeply
processed,” or processed according to its meaning rather than just the sound or physical
characteristics of the word or words, will be remembered more efficiently and for a longer
period of time. Numerous experiments have shown that thinking about the meaning of
something is a deeper level of processing and results in longer retention of the word

Neural Network Models: Models of memory that describe parallel (simultaneous) processing
of information by numerous neural modules in the brain; each of these processing units is
dedicated to a specific task, and all are [Link] network models suggest that it
is the rich interconnectedness of our neural units that accounts for our ability to process
information so quickly (see McClelland & Rumelhart, 1981). These models also propose that
information in memory is not located in a specific place within the brain; rather, it is
represented by patterns of activation that spread over many processing units and by the
strength of the activation across these various units. Perhaps the following analogy, offered
by Lindsay and Reed (1995), will help: Think of neural networks as being like a spider web with
millions of strands connecting various units. The tighter these strands, the stronger the
connections among various units. Incoming information “pulls” on certain strands, thus
activating other units, just as a fly that lands on a spider’s web sends vibrations along the
strands to other locations—including the center, where the spider is located. No analogy is
perfect, and this one certainly isn’t, but it may help you to grasp the nature of this model of
memory

semantic network model model of memory organization that assumes information is stored
in the brain in a con nected fashion, with concepts that are related stored physically closer to
each other than concepts that are not highly related.

types of LT info

Memory for skills is called procedural (nondeclarative) memory because it usually involves a
series of steps or procedures; memory for facts is called declarative memory because facts
are things that are known and can be declared (stated outright).

Tulving

didvided memory into 3 procedural ,sematic,episodic

Procedural (Nondeclarative) LTM Memories for skills that people know how to do, like tying
shoes and riding a bicycle, are a kind of LTM called procedural (nondeclar ative) memory.
Procedural memories also include emotional associations, habits, and sim ple conditioned
reflexes that may or may not be in conscious awareness, which are often very strong
memories.

Procedural memory is similar to the concept of implicit memory because mem ories for
these skills, habits, and learned reflexes are not easily retrieved into conscious awareness
(i.e., nondeclarative).Although procedural memories are very often implicit, not all implicit
memories are necessarily procedural. A memory from one’s early childhood of being
frightened by a dog, for example, may not be a conscious memory in later childhood but may
still be the cause of that older child’s fear of dogs. Conscious memories for events in
childhood, on the other hand, are usually considered to be a different kind of long-term
memory called declarative memory.

Declarative LTM Procedural memory is about the things that people can do, but declarative
memory is about all the things that people can know—the facts and infor mation that make up
[Link] adding 2 and 2 makes 4, and that a noun is the name of a per son, place, or
[Link] are general facts, but people also know about the things that have happened to
them personally.. There are two types of declarative long-term mem ories, semantic and
episodic (Nyberg & Tulving, 1996).

Episodic Memory: Memory for factual information that we acquired at a specific time.
Semantic Memory: A memory system that stores general, abstract knowledge about the
world information we cannot remember acquiring at a specific time and place.

One type of declarative memory is general knowledge that anyone has the ability to know.
Most of this information is what is learned in school or by reading. This kind of LTM is called
semantic memory. The word semantic refers to mean ing, so this kind of knowledge is the
awareness of the meanings of words, concepts, and terms as well as names of objects, math
skills, and so on.(using facts and figures)

episodic memory type of declarative memory containing personal information not readily
available to others, such as daily activities and events. The other kind of factual memory is
the personal knowledge that each person has of his or her daily life and personal history, a
kind of autobiographical* memory. In gen eral, episodic memories are more easily forgotten
than semantic memories. In fact, it is the forgetting of episodic information that results in the
formation of semantic memories. Memories of what has happened to people each day,
certain birthdays, anniversaries that were particularly special, childhood events, and so on
are called episodic memory, because they represent episodes from their lives. Unlike
procedural and semantic long-term memories, episodic memories tend to be updated and
revised more or less constantly. The updating process is a kind of survival mechanism,
because although semantic and procedural memories are useful and necessary on an ongoing
basis, no one really needs to remember every little detail of every day. As becomes obvious
later, the ability to forget some kinds of information is very necessary. Episodic and semantic
memories are examples of declarative or explicit memory, memories that are easily made
conscious and brought from long-term stor age into short-term memory.
AUTOBIROGRAPHICAL MEMORY

DIAGRAM

Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) state The feeling that a memory is available but not quite
retrievable.

Feeling of knowing A feeling that allows people to predict beforehand whether they will be
able to remember something.

encoding specificity, the tendency for memory of any kind of information to be improved if
the physical sur roundings available when the memory is first formed are also available when
the memory is being retrieved (Reder et al., 1974; Tulving & Thomson, 1973; Vaidya et al.,
2002).

Context-Dependent Memory: Refers to the fact that information entered into memory in one
context or setting is easier to recall in that context than in others.

Concept: A mental category for objects or events that are similar to one another in certain
ways.

STATE DEPENDENT RETRIEVAL : Occurs when aspects of our physical states serve as
retrieval cues for information stored in long-term memory.

Levels of Processing View: A view of memory suggesting that the greater the effort expended
in processing information, the more readily the information will be recalled later.

Retrieval Cues: Stimuli associated with information stored in memory that can aid in its
retrieval.
the more retrieval cues we have, the better our ability to remember information entered into
episodic memory (e.g., Tulving & Watking, 1973)—although even a large number of retrieval
cues is no guarantee that we’ll remember something we should remember! Perhaps the most
intriguing research on this topic involves what is known as context-dependent memory:

The most general term for this kind of effect is state-dependent retrieval, which refers to the
fact that it is often easier to recall information stored in long-term memory when our internal
state is similar to that which existed when the information was first entered into memory. The
basic principle that underlies all these effects is sometimes described as the encoding
specificity principle