jimtrue.com : school : PSY1012 : Chapter Nine: Memory

Posted by Jim True on March 20, 2006 5:21 PM. Last Updated October 22, 2006 9:23 PM

Disclaimer for all material noted here is at the bottom of this web page.

Chapter Nine: Memory

• Memory
• persistence of learning over time via the storage and retrieval of information
• All of our memory is very highly and logically organized
• short term deals with storing; long-term deals with retrieval
• Flashbulb memory
• a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
• Simplified Memory Model - External events -> sensory input -> sensory memory -> attention to important or novel information (encoding) -> short-term memory -> encoding/retrieving -> long-term memory
• storage - the retention of encoded information over time
• retrieval - process of getting information out of memory
• eidetic - photographic memory; very rare
• Short Term Memory
• activated memory that holds a few items briefly
• look up a phone number, then quickly dial before the information is forgotten
• Long-Term Memory
• the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

• Short-term memory
• limited in duration and capacity
• magical number 7 +/- 2

Encoding

• Chunking
• Organizing items into familiar, manageable units
• like horizontal organization
• often occurs automatically
• Use of acronyms
• HOMES - Huron, Ontario, Michicagan, Erie, superior
• Semantic encoding - encodin of meaning, including meanings of words
• Acoustic encoding - encoding of sound, especially sound of words
• Visual encoding - encoding of picture images
• iconic Memory
• a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli
• a photographic or picture image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
• Echoic Memory
• momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli
• Neural linguistic programming
• Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables
• TUV ZOF GEK WAV
• the more times practiced on Day 1, the fewer repetitions to relearn on Day 2
• Spacing Effect
• distributed practice yields better long-term retention than massed practice "cramming"
• Imagery
• mental pictures
• a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding
• Mnemonics
• memory aids
• especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
• Serial Position Effect - tendency to recall best the last items in a list

Storage - Long Term Memory Subsystems

• types of long-term memories
• Explicit (declarative) with conscious recall
• Facts - gernal knowledge ("semantic memory")
• Personally Experience Events ("episodic memory")
• Implicit - (nondeclarative) without conscious recall
• skills-motor and cognitive
• dispositions - classical and operant conditioning effects

Retrieval : Getting Information Out

• Recall
• measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier
• as on a fill-in-the blank test
• Recognition
• Measure of memory in which the person has only to identify items previously learned
• as on a multiple-choice test

Retrieval Cues

• Retrieval Cues - where you study and how you feel when you study can serve as memory cues. Godden & Badly: practised word list while underwater in scuba gear and then asked to recall on dry land; some groups practised on land and recalled underwater. Practing and recalling in the 'same context' made it much easier to recall.
• Deja Vu(French - already seen
• cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier similar expereience
• "I've experienced this before."
• Mood-congruent memory
• tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current mood
• memory, emotions, or moods serve as retrieval cues
• State-dependent memory
• what is learned in one state (while one is high, drunk, or depressed) can more easily be remembered when in same state

Forgetting

• forgetting as encoding failure
• information never enters the long-term memory; a failure to encode; usually not paying attention when going from sensory memory to short term memory or from short term to long-term
• Ebbinghaus - forgetting curve over 30 days -- initially rapid, then levels off with time
• Forgetting as interference
• Learning some items may disrupt retrieval of other information
• Proactive (forward acting) interference - disruptive effect of prior learning on recall of new information
• Retroactive (backwards-acting) Interference - disruptive efect of new learning on recall of old information; trying to remember your last home addresses
• Pay attention, actively listen; learn something new; everytime you learn something new, you your memory. Change your routine. Read, read, and read some more. Play games. Social interaction. Practice memorizing stuff. When all else fails, make a list.
• Motivated Forgetting - people unknowingly revise memories
• Repression - defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories
• Memory Construction - eyewitnesses reconstruct memories when questioned; the questions were asked in a specific way to lead the eyewitness to reconstruct their memory. "counsel you are leading the witness"

Memories of Abuse

• Repressed or Constructed?
• child sexual abuse does aoccur
• some adults do actually forget such episodes
• False Memory Syndrome
• condition in which a person's identity and relationships center around a false but strongly believed memory of traumatic experience
• sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists
• Most people can agree on the following:
• injustice happens
• incest happens
• forgetting happens
• recovered memories are commonplace
• memories recovered under hypnosis or drugs are especially unreliable
• memories of things happening before age 3 are unreliable
• memories, whether false or rela, are upsetting

Disclaimer: These are MY notes taken from classroom lectures while I'm in the classroom. While I'm perfectly happy to share my notes with my classmates and I know I take very good notes, you should still make every effort to attend the class and TAKE YOUR OWN NOTES. I will not transcribe everything the instructor says in the classroom, and I will NEVER post pre-exam reviews. My notes will not replace the value of actually attending class and taking your own class notes.I also cannot attest to their accuracy, other than they are what was provided in the lecture; you should not reference my notes as "expert opionion" by any means, and if you notice an error or omission, please do me the favor of e-mailing me with the correction and I will re-post my notes. End of Disclaimer.