Chapter 5: Memory

Backward masking

- Ulrich Neisser - new pattern will erase a first pattern (briefness of SM)

easier to remember and retrieve

- acoustic dissimilarity - semantic dissimilarity - brevity (in length of term + length of list terms) - familiarity - concreteness - meaning - importance to subject

Retroactive inhibition

retroactive interference is problematic and thus causes this.

Partial report

shows that sensory memory exists but only for a few seconds. (Sperling)

zeigamik effect

the tendency to recall uncompleted tasks better than completed ones.

decay + interference

two main theories that suggest the *origin of forgetting*

Rehearsal

(repeating or practicing) this is the key to keeping items in the STM and to transferring items to the LTM.

LTM

*not* subject to primary and recency effects *is* subject to the same interference effects as STM

Serial learning

A list - such as the presidents of the USA, is learned and recall in order (serial recall). Feedback on the correct responses in the correct order is given after the entire list is recalled. This type of learning is subject to primary and recency effects.

Dual code hypothesis

Allan Paivio States that items will be better remembered if they are encoded both *visually* (with icons or imagery) and *semantically* (with understanding)

Neisser

Coined the term *icon* for brief visual memory and found that an icon lasts for about one second. In addition, he found that when subjects are exposed to a bright flash of light or anew pattern before the iconic image fades, the first image will be erased. This is *backward masking* and it works for the auditory system as well. A mask is more successful if it is similar to the original concept.

Forgetting curve

Ebbinghaus depicts sharp drop in savings immediately after learning and then levels off, with a slight downward trend.

Sensory memory

Lasts only for seconds, forms the connection between *perception* and *memory*. Involves iconic memory. Its concept explains why, if you wiggle a pen back and forth, you see trails or a ghost pen in all positions. The information remains briefly in your awareness and then pen moves quickly, so the information runs together.

Depth of processing

Fergus Craik + Robert Lockhart asserted that learning and recall depend on this. Different levels of processing exist from the most superficial phonological (*pronunciation*) to the deep semantic (*meaning*) level. The deeper an item is processed, the easier it is to learn and recall.

George Miller

Found that short term memory has the capacity of about seven items (+ or - two items)

Interference

How other information or distractions cause one to forget items in STM. STM is susceptible to this.

Cued recall

LTM begins the task; fill in the blank tests are an example.

recall

LTM requires subjects to generate information on their own.

Recognition

LTM simply requires subjects to recognize things learned in the past. multiple-choice tests tap this.

recognition, recall, savings

LTM retention is measured by these 3 things

Working memory

STM The temporary memory that is needed to perform the task that someone is working on at the moment.

Phonologically

STM is thought to be largely *auditory*, and items are coded ____________________

Short term memory

Temporary; lasts for seconds or minutes

Echoic memory

The sensory memory for *auditory* sensations

Sensory, short term, long term

The stages of memory

Chunking

This is grouping items, such as putting chairs and sofas under furniture category. can increase the capacity of STM

Iconic memory

This is the *sensory memory* for vision studied by Sperling. He found that people could see more than they can remember. In his classic experiment, subjects were shown something like this for a fraction of a section: GRPZ ILTH TBAE Then they were instructed to write down the letters of a particular line. Although subjects were able to do this, they invariably forgot the other letters in the time that it took to write the first ones down. This *partial report* shows that sensory memory exists but only for a few seconds.

Serial anticipation learning

This type of learning is similar to serial learning; however, instead of being asked to recal the entire list at once, the *subject is asked to recall one item at a time*. For example, when learning the order for the US presidents, the subject would be presented with George Washington then be expected to say John Adams. A few seconds later the subject will be presented with John Adams (and would then know that her previous of John adams was correct) and be expected to say Thomas Jefferson.

Serial position curve

U-shaped curve on graph. Shows savings effect. Remembering things in the start and end, but not the middle

Ebbinghaus

Was the first to study memory *systematically*. he presented subjects with lists of nonesense syllables to study *STM*. he also proposed a forgetting curve. However, some psychologists doubt that results obtained from having subjects memorize lists of nonesense syllabels (which were convenient) generalize to other types of memory.

Free call learning

a list of items is learned, and then must be recalled in any order with *no cue*

tachtiscope

an instrument often used in cognitive or memory experiments. presents *visual material* (words or images) to subjects for a fraction of a second.

tip of the tongue phenomenon

being on the verge of retrieval but not successfully doing so

clustering

brain's tendency to group together similar items in memory whether they're learned together or not. most often, they're grouped into conceptual or semantic hierarchies. (e.g. sofa banana apple bat you will probably group the fruit together)

Long term memory

capable of permanent retention most items are learned *semantically* for meaning

interference theory

competing information blocks retrieval e.g. if one group sleeps and one doesn't, the one that sleeps is more likely to remember more from the word list.

Episodic memory

consists of details, events, and discrete knowledge

Semantic memory

consists of general knowledge of the *world*

Retroactive interference

disrupting information that was learned after new items were presented

Proactive interference

disrupting information that was learned before new items were presented, such as a list of similar words. (old interferes with new)

Behaviorists

explain memory through *paired-associate learning*.

Paired associate learning

explained by *behaviorists* one item is learned with, and then cues the recall of, another we use this type of learning when we study foreign languages. for example, when studying Spanish, we remember that coche means "car" and hombre means "man". we pair the spanish word with the english word.

Lashley

found that memories are stored diffusely in the brain.

Loftus

found that memory of traumatic events is altered by the event itself and by the way that questions about the events were phrased. "How fast were the cars going when they crashed?" will elicit higher speed estimates than "what was the rate of the cars upon impact?" This finding is particularly important for the law-psychology issues, such as questioning of witnesses.

Bartlett

found that meomry is *reconstructive* rather than rote. Using the story "War of the Ghosts" he discovered that people are more likely to remember the *ideas* or *semantics* of a story rather than the*detail* or *grammar* of it.

Kandel

had similar ideas of memory involving synapses + neural pathways (Hebbian) from studying the sea slug Aplysia. Also, brain studies of young chicks show that their brains are altered with learning and memory.

primary + recency effects

how the first and last few items are easiest to remember, whereas the ones in the *middle* are often forgotten.

order of items

in a recall task involving this on a list, subjects can more quickly state the order of two items that are far apart on the list than two items that are closed together. e.g. subjects can more easily recognize 7 is before 590 more quickly than 133 occurs before 135.

Secondary (elaborative) rehearsal

involves organizing and understanding material in order to transfer it to LTM.

Primary (maintenance) rehearsal

involves repeating material in order to hold it in STM.

Procedural memory

knowing "how to" do something

Declarative memory

knowing a fact

Explicit memory

knowing something and being consciously aware of it, such as knowing a fact

Implicit memory

knowing something without being aware of knowing it. For example, HM's performance on a mirror-drawing task increased after several days of practice; however, each day he would report that he had never completed the task before.

Serial recall

learning and recalling something in order (e.g. presidents of USA)

Encoding specifity principle

material is more likely to be remembered if it is retrieved in the same *context* of which it was stored (LTM)

incidental learning

measured through presenting subjects with items they are not supposed to try to memorize and then testing for learning

Savings

measures how much information about a subject remains in LTM by assessing how long it takes to learn something the second time as opposed to the first time.

mnemonics

memory cues that help learning and recall. e.g. OCEAN can help remember the big 5.

eidetie imagery

photographic memory. more common in children + rural cultures.

Hebb

posited that a memory involves change of *synapses and neural pathways*, making it a "memory tree"

decay theory (trace theory)

posits that memories fade with time. this theory has been called too simplistic because other activities are known to interfere with retrieval.

Proactive inhibition

proactive interference is problematic for recall and causes this.

flashbuld memories

recollections seem burned into the brain, e.g. "what is your memory of 9/11"?

last items

remembered because there has been less time for decay

First items

remembered because they benefit from the most rehearsal/exposure

Free recall

remembering with no cue. LTM

state dependent memory

retrieval is more successful if it occurs in the same emotional state or physical state in which encoding occurred. this explains why depressed people cannot easily recall happy memories and why alcoholics often remember details of their last drinking session only when under the influence of alcohol.

generation recognition model

suggests that anything one might recall should be easily recognized. this is why a multiple choice (or recognition) test is easier than an essay (ore recall) test

Brenda Miller

wrote about HM who was given a lesion of the *hippocampus* to treat severe epilepsy. While he remembered things from before his surgery, and his short term memory was still intact, he could not store any new long term memories.