PSY1012 6.1: Memory

Encoding specificity principle

We are more likely to be able to retrieve items from memory when conditions at retrieval are similar to the conditions under which we encoded them

Interference theory

We can forget information because one memory interferes or competes with another memory

First key process of memory: Encode

We encode or "put" information into memory by use of memory codes. The memory codes translate information from our senses into "mental representations" or thoughts about that information.

Four main memory codes

We have four main memory codes: 1. Acoustic codes refer to representing information as sequences of sound (like a song, rhyme, or voice). 2. Visual codes refer to representing stimuli as pictures (like someone's face). 3.Semantic codes refer to representing information as its general meaning (like knowing a penny is worth one cent). 4. Kinesthetic codes refer to encoding stimuli by movement (like American Sign Language).

Elaborative rehearsal

We process new information in ways that make it more relevant or meaningful.

Mood congruence

When a given mood state will evoke memories that are consistent with that mood.

Context-dependent learning

Which is also called context effect, refers to an increase in retrieval when the external situation in which information is learned matches the situation in which it is remembered.

Memory and cognition

Are intricately related. They work together to help us interpret and understand our environment. Memory and cognition represent the two major interests of cognitive psychologists. Psychologists use behavioral responses (such as memory tests and reaction times) to draw inferences about what and how people remember.

Memory conceptualized as processes

Encoding Storage Retrieval

Memory conceptualized as types

Explicit Memory Implicit Memory

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

In which we are certain that we know something that we are trying to recall but cannot quite come up with it.

Memory duration diagram

Information begins in sensory memory, moves to short-term memory, and eventually moves to long-term memory. But not all information makes it through all three stages; most of it is forgotten. Whether the information moves from shorter-duration memory into longer-duration memory or whether it is lost from memory entirely depends on how the information is attended to and processed.

Recall memory test

Is a measure of explicit memory that involves bringing from memory information that has previously been remembered.

Sensory memory

Is a memory buffer that lasts only very briefly (usually less than three seconds) and then, unless it is attended to and passed on for more processing, it is forgotten. The purpose of sensory memory is to give the brain some time to process the incoming sensations, and to allow us to see the world as an unbroken stream of events rather than as individual pieces.

Overlearning

Is continuing to practice and study even when we think that we have mastered the material.

Memory

Is defined as the ability to acquire, store, and retrieve information over time. The definition of memory is divided into three key processes: Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval.

Cognition

Is defined as the processes of acquiring and using knowledge.

Long-term memory (LTM)

Is memory storage that can hold information for days, months, and years. The capacity of long-term memory is large with no known limit to what we can remember. Although we may forget at least some information after we learn it, other memories will stay with us forever.

Massed practice

Is practice that comes in one block.

Distributed practice

Is practice that is spread out over time.

Phonological loop (PL)

Is specialized for verbal material. We use this part of working memory when we are trying to recall lists of words or numbers.

Visuospatial sketchpad

Is specialized for visual or spatial material. For example, one might activate the visuospatial sketchpad when trying to recall the way to an old friend's house that you haven't seen for a several years.

Encoding failure

Is the inability to recall specific information because we never actually encoded the information in the first place. In other words, we did not pay attention, so the information never passed from sensory memory to short term or working memory. In order to recall information, we must pay attention to that information.

Short-term memory (STM)

Is the place where small amounts of information can be temporarily kept for more than a few seconds but usually for less than one minute and often times less than 20 seconds.

Chunking

Is the process of organizing information into smaller groupings (chunks), thereby increasing the number of items that can be held in STM.

Maintenance rehearsal

Is the process of repeating information mentally or out loud with the goal of keeping it in memory. We engage in maintenance rehearsal to keep something that we want to remember (e.g., a person's name, email address, or phone number) in mind long enough to write it down, use it, or potentially transfer it to long-term memory.

Echoic memory (auditory sensory memory)

Is your sensory register for auditory information. Echoic memories can last as long as 4 seconds.

Iconic memory (visual sensory memory)

Is your sensory register for visual information. First studied by the psychologist George Sperling (1960). these memories decay very rapidly.

Proactive interference

Occurs when earlier learning impairs our ability to encode information that we try to learn later.

Retroactive interference

Occurs when learning something new impairs our ability to retrieve information that was learned earlier.

Third key process of memory: Retrieval

Occurs when you bring information you have stored in memory into consciousness. Refers to the process of reactivating information that has been stored in memory. The two basic methods of retrieval are: Recall and Recognition.

Implicit Memory (Does not require conscious awareness)

Procedural Memory (Motor and cognitive tasks) Refers to the influence of an experience on behavior, even if the individual is not aware of those influences.

Stage model

Provides us with another way of understanding memory by thinking about it in terms of stages (sensory, short-term, long-term memory)

The primacy effect

Refers to a tendency to better remember stimuli that are presented early in a list.

Repression

Refers to an unconscious motivated forgetting.

Misinformation effect

Refers to errors in memory that occur when new information influences existing memories.

Explicit memory (Requires conscious awareness)

Refers to knowledge or experiences that can be consciously remembered. Semantic Memory (Facts and general knowledge) Episodic Memory (Personally experienced events)

Procedural memory

Refers to our often unexplainable knowledge of how to do things, and is an example of implicit memory. When we walk from one place to another, speak to another person in English, dial a cell phone, or play a video game, we are using procedural memory. Procedural memory allows us to perform complex tasks, even though we may not be able to explain to others how we do them.

Second basic method of retrieval: Recognition

Refers to retrieval that is aided by retrieval cues or clues. Think of a multiple choice test. Choices are provided, and you need to "recognize" the best choice.

First basic method of retrieval: Recall

Refers to retrieving information that you have stored without use of retrieval cues. In other words, you recall it without any help. Think of an essay test. You recall the information without hints or choices.

State-dependent learning

Refers to superior retrieval of memories when the individual is in the same physiological or psychological state as during encoding.

Suppression

Refers to the deliberate and conscious effort to forget information.

Spacing effect

Refers to the fact that learning is better when the same amount of study is spread out over periods of time than when it occurs closer together or at the same time.

Serial position effect

Refers to the fact that people are able to retrieve more words that were presented to them at the beginning and at the end of the list than they are words that were presented in the middle of the list. Caused by two retrieval phenomenon: The primacy effect & the recency effect.

Working memory

Refers to the processes that we use to make sense of, modify, interpret, and store information in STM.

The recency effect

Refers to the tendency to better remember stimuli that are presented later in a list.

First basic type of stored memories: Episodic memory

Refers to your memory of an event that happened while you were present. In other words, episodic memory is a memory of an episode in your life, such as when you begin a sentence with "I remember when....."

Second basic type of stored memories: Semantic memory

Refers to your memory of generalized knowledge, such as the rules of basketball or that 12 eggs are in a dozen. When recalling semantic memories, we might say, "I know that...."

Third basic type of stored memories: Procedural memory

Refers to your memory of how to do things or how to perform a skill. Think of this as your "how to" memory. Procedural memory tends to consist of complicated sequences of movements that are very difficult to describe in words. For instance, if you do martial arts, try to explain to a friend all of the sequences of movements necessary to complete one of your basic forms. If you play the piano, try to tell a friend exactly "how to" play a song effectively, describing each movement.

Memory conceptualized as stages

Sensory memory Short-term memory Long-term memory

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

Shows us that memory decays rapidly at first, but the amount of decay levels off with time.

Central executive

The part of working memory that directs attention and processing. The central executive will make use of whatever strategies seem to be best for the given task. For instance, the central executive will direct the rehearsal process, and at the same time direct the visual cortex to form an image of the list of letters in memory.

Second key process of memory: Storage

The three basic types of stored memories are: Episodic Memory, Semantic Memory, and Procedural Memory.

Helpful Memory Techniques Based on Psychological Research

1. Use elaborative rehearsal - Material is better remembered if it is processed more fully. 2. Make use of the self-reference effect - Material is better remembered if it is linked to thoughts about the self. 3. Be aware of the forgetting curve - Information that we have learned drops off rapidly with time. 4. Make use of the spacing effect - Information is learned better when it is studied in shorter periods spaced over time. 5. Rely on overlearning - We can continue to learn even after we think we know the information perfectly. 6. Use context-dependent retrieval - We have better retrieval when it occurs in the same situation in which we learned the material. 7. Use state-dependent retrieval - We have better retrieval when we are in the same psychological state as we were when we learned the material.

Recognition memory test

A measure of explicit memory that involves determining whether information has been seen or learned before.

Eidetic imagery & memory(photographic memory)

A rare condition in which people can report details of an image over long periods of time.