Psychology Test 2: Mod 24 - Studying and Encoding Memories

What are two basic functions of working memory?

1. Active processing of incoming visual-spatial and auditory information 2. Focusing our spotlight of attention.

Multiple-choice questions test our ____________. Fill-in-the-blank questions test our _________.

1. Recognition 2. Recall

What two new concepts update the classic Atkinson-Shiffrin three-stage information-processing model?

1. We form some memories through automatic processing, without our awareness. The Atkinson-Shiffrin model focused only on conscious memories. 2. The newer concept of a working memory emphasizes the active processing that we now know takes place in Atkinson-Shiffrin's shortterm memory stage.

Get the information back out

Retrieval

We first record to-be-remembered information as a fleeting

Sensory Memory

At which of Atkinson-Shiffrin's three memory stages would iconic and echoic memory occur?

Sensory memory

Encodes on a very basic level, such as a word's letters or, at a more intermediate level, a word's sound.

Shallow processing

From there, we process information into

Short term memory

Unless rehearsed, verbal information may be quickly forgotten. (Data from Peterson & Peterson, 1959; see also Brown, 1958.)

Short-term memory decay

We retain information better when our encoding is distributed over time.

Spacing effect

Behind the scenes, other information skips the conscious encoding track and barges directly into storage.

Automatic processing

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units

Chunking

Which strategies are better for long-term retention: cramming and rereading material, or spreading out learning over time and repeatedly testing yourself?

Which strategies are better for long-term retention: cramming and rereading material, or spreading out learning over time and repeatedly testing yourself?

To focus on the active processing that takes place in this middle stage, psychologists use the term

Working memory

The facts and experiences that we can consciously know and declare

Explicit memories

A fleeting sensory memory of visual stimuli

Iconic memory

Automatic processing produces

Implicit memories

Identifying items previously learned. A multiple-choice question tests your recognition.

Recognition

How we encode short-term memory

Rehearsal

Learning something more quickly when you learn it a second or later time. When you study for a final exam or engage a language used in early childhood, you will relearn the material more easily than you did initially.

Relearning

What is the difference between automatic and effortful processing, and what are some examples of each?

Automatic processing occurs unconsciously (automatically) for such things as the sequence and frequency of a day's events, and reading and comprehending words in our own language. Effortful processing requires attention and awareness and happens, for example, when we work hard to learn new material in class, or new lines for a play.

Encodes semantically, based on the meaning of the words. The deeper (more meaningful) the processing, the better our retention.

Deeper processing

Ebbinghaus found that the more times he practiced a list of nonsense syllables on Day 1, the less time he required to relearn it on Day 2. Speed of relearning is one measure of memory retention. (From Baddeley, 1982.)

Ebbinghaus' retention curve

We also have an impeccable, though fleeting, memory for auditory stimuli

Echoic memory

When Doug Hintzman (1978) showed people information similar to this, they recalled it more easily when it was organized into meaningful units, such as letters, words, and phrases.

Effects of chunking memory

We encode explicit memories through conscious

Effortful processing

Get information into our brain, a process

Encoding

If you want to be sure to remember what you're learning for an upcoming test, would it be better to use recall or recognition to check your memory? Why?

It would be better to test your memory with recall (such as with short-answer or fill-in-the-blank self-test questions) rather than recognition (such as with multiple-choice questions). Recalling information is harder than recognizing it. So if you can recall it, that means your retention of the material is better than if you could only recognize it. Your chances of test success are therefore greater.

Memory that can be retrieved later

Long-term memory

If you try to make the material you are learning personally meaningful, are you processing at a shallow or a deep level? Which level leads to greater retention?

Making material personally meaningful involves processing at a deep level, because you are processing semantically—based on the meaning of the words. Deep processing leads to greater retention.

To help them encode lengthy passages and speeches, ancient Greek scholars and orators developed

Mnemonics

*******Processes many things simultaneously

Parallel Processing

Retrieving information that is not currently in your conscious awareness but that was learned at an earlier time. A fill-in-the-blank question tests your recall.

Recall

Retain that information

Storage

One effective way to distribute practice is repeated self-testing

Testing effect

When George Sperling (1960) flashed a group of letters similar to this for one-twentieth of a second, people could recall only about half the letters. But when signaled to recall a particular row immediately after the letters had disappeared, they could do so with near-perfect accuracy.

Total recall—briefly