9 - Encoding(Getting information in)

Levels of Processing

Incoming information processed at different levels. According to Craik and Lockhart, whether or not we will be able to remember something depends on how deeply we processed the information. Deeper processing = longer lasting memory codes

Distributed Rehearsal

Also known as Spacing Effect. It's when you retain information better by rehearsing(studying or practicing) over time.

2 types of rehearsal

- Distributed Rehearsal(also known as Spacing Effect) - Massed Rehearsal

Types of Encoding:

- Semantic encoding - Acoustic encoding - Visual encoding

Encoding levels:

- Structural(Visual encoding) = Shallow - Phonemic(Acoustic encoding) = intermediate - Semantic = deep

The von Restorff Effect

A unique item embedded in an otherwise homogeneous list is recalled better than the average homogeneous items. Often items immediately around the distinctive one are also remembered better.

Primacy Effect

Ability to remember first items

Recency Effect

Ability to remember last items

Two ways to encode information:

Automatic vs. Effortful Processing

Effortful Processing

Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort. Committing novel(new or unusual) information to memory(like a friend's new cell phone number) requires effort just like learning a concept from a textbook. Such process leads to durable and accessible memories

Rehearsal

Effortful learning that requires rehearsal or conscious repetition. It's the most common effortful processing technique. Through enough rehearsal, what was effortful becomes automatic

Semantic encoding

Focusing on/Encoding meaning, like the meaning of words(most effective) Ex: Would the word fit in the sentence: "He met a ______ on the street" ?

Visual Encoding

Focusing on/Encoding picture images(aids effortful processing if we can visualize an image) Ex: Is the word written in capital letters?

Acoustic Encoding

Focusing on/Encoding sound, especially the sounds of words(a memorable rhyme) Ex: Does the word rhyme with "weight"?

Encoding

Getting information in our heads

Pegword System

Hang items we want to remember from mental "pegs" that are actually parts of a previously memorized rhyme or list "Mary Very Easily Makes Jam Saturday Unless No Plums" (Mars, Venus, Earth, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto)

Serial Position Effect

How an item's position in a list influences our memory item. We most easily remember the first and last items in a list. The middle items require more rehearsal

Mnemonic Devices

Memory tricks or techniques

Massed Rehearsal

Method of rehearsal by cramming. People tire during long periods of rehearsal. *Additional hours of practice or review become less and less productive!

Hermann Ebbinghaus

One of the first scientists to study memory(in the late 1880's). He concluded that people quickly forget about 90% of the information that they have learned within a month. He also studied rehearsal by using nonsense syllables: TUV YOF GEK XOZ. The more times the nonsense syllables were practiced on Day 1, the fewer repetitions were required to remember them on Day 2.

Hierarchy

Organizing information into major concepts, minor related ideas, and the relationships among all these items. Complex information is broken down into broad concepts and further subdivided into categories and subcategories Ex: Taking lecture notes in outline format

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, meaningful, manageable units; such as words, sentences, or groups of numbers. It would often occur automatically Ex: 1-4-9-2-1-7-7-6-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1 1492, 1776, 1812, 1941 Acronyms are another way of chunking information to remember it. HOMES = Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior ROY G. BIV = Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

Automatic Processing

Unconscious encoding of incidental information, capturing information with no conscious effort. Things can become automatic with practice!

Tricks to Encode

Use imagery, which are mental pictures. Imagery is at the heart of many memory aids. Mnemonic techniques use vivid imagery and organizational devices in aiding memory

Loci Method

Using our imagination or place items we want to remember in locations that we are familiar with(items on a grocery list spread around your living room)