memory - anoka-hennepin school district 11 · 2014-10-27 · forgetting and memory construction ....

Memory

Information

Processing

Information Processing Model

• Encoding - getting information into the

memory system

• Storage - the retaining of encoded

information over time

• Retrieval - getting encoded information

out of memory storage

Encoding:

Automatic and

Effortful Processing

Automatic Processing

• The unconscious encoding of some

information without effort

• Usually information on space, time and

frequency

Effortful Processing

• Encoding that requires attention and a

conscious deliberate effort

• The best processing is through rehearsal

or practice.

Rehearsal

• The conscious repetition of information

in order to encode it

• The more time spent on rehearsal, the

more information one tends to

remember.

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)

• German philosopher who did early

memory studies with nonsense syllables

• Developed the forgetting curve, also

called the “retention curve” or

“Ebbinghaus curve”

Overlearning

• Continuing to rehearse after the point

the information has been learned

• Rehearsing past the point of mastery

• Helps ensure information will be

available even under stress

Encoding:

Serial Position Effect

Serial Position Effect

• The tendency to recall the first and last

items in a list

• Primacy effect – the ability to recall

information near the beginning of a list

• Recency effect – the ability to recall

information near the end of a list

Encoding:

Spacing Effect

Spacing Effect

• The tendency for distributed practice to

yield better retention than is achieved

through massed practice

Distributed Practice

• Spreading rehearsal out in several

sessions separated by period of time

• Usually enhances the recalling of the

information

Massed Practice

• Putting all rehearsal together in one long

session (cramming)

• Not as effective as distributed practice

Encoding:

Encoding Meaning

Semantic Encoding

• The encoding of meaning

• Encoding information that is meaningful

enhances recall

Acoustic Encoding

• Encoding information based on the

sounds of the information

Visual Encoding

• Encoding information based on the

images of the information

Self-Reference Effect

• The enhanced semantic encoding of

information that is personally relevant

• Making information meaningful to a

person by making it relevant to one’s

life

Encoding:

Encoding Imagery

Encoding:

Mnemonic Devices

Mnemonic Device

• A memory trick or technique for remembering specific facts

• “Every good boy does fine” to remember the notes on the lines of the scale

• “People say you could have odd lots of good years” as a way to remember how to spell “psychology”

Method of Loci

• A mnemonic device in which the person

associates items to be remembered with

imaginary places

Peg-Word System

• A mnemonic device in which the person

associates items to remember with a list

of peg words already memorized

• Goal is to visualize the items to

remember with the items on the pegs

Peg Word System

Encoding:

Organizing

Information

Chunking

• Organizing information into meaningful

units

• More information can be encoded if

organized into meaningful chunks.

Storage

Three Storage Systems

• Three distinct storage systems :

– Sensory Memory

– Short-Term Memory (includes

Working Memory)

– Long-Term Memory

Storage:

Sensory Memory

Sensory Memory

• The brief, initial coding of sensory

information in the memory system

– Iconic store – visual information

– Echoic store – sound information

• Information held just long enough to

make a decision on its importance

Storage:

Short-Term Memory

Short-Term Memory

• Conscious, activated memory which holds information briefly before it is stored or forgotten

• Holds approximately seven, plus or minus two, chunks of information

• Can retain the information as long as it is rehearsed

• Also called “working memory”

Storage:

Long-Term Memory

Long-Term Memory

• The relatively permanent and limitless

storehouse of the memory system

• Holds memories without conscious

effort

Flashbulb Memory

• A vivid, clear memory of an

emotionally significant moment or event

• Can be personal memories or centered

around a shared event

Storage:

Memory and the

Brain

Long-Term Potentiation

• An increase in a synapse’s firing

efficiency

• Believed to be the neural basis of

learning and memory

Storage:

Explicit and Implicit

Memories

Explicit Memory

• Memory of facts and experiences that

one must consciously retrieve and

declare

• Processed through the hippocampus

Implicit Memory

• Memory of skills and procedures that

are retrieved without conscious

recollection

• Processed through the cerebellum

Memory and the Hippocampus

• Damage to the hippocampus would

result in the inability to form new

explicit memories, but the ability to

remember the skills of implicit

memories

Memory and the Hippocampus

Retrieval

Retrieval

• The process of getting information out

of memory storage

• Two forms of retrieval

– Recall

– Recognition

Recall

• A measure of memory in which the

person must retrieve information learned

earlier

• Essay, fill-in-the-blank, and short

answer test questions test recall

Recognition

• A measure of memory in which a person

must identify items learned earlier

• Multiple choice and matching test

questions test recognition

Retrieval: Context

Context Effect

• The enhanced ability to retrieve

information when you are in an

environment similar to the one in which

you encoded the information

Retrieval:

State Dependency

State Dependent Memory

• The enhanced ability to retrieve

information when the person is in the

same physical and emotional state they

were in when they encoded the

information

• The retrieval state is congruent with the

encoding state

Forgetting and

Memory Construction

Information Processing Model

• Encoding - getting information into the

memory system

• Storage - the retaining of encoded

information over time

• Retrieval - getting encoded information

out of memory storage

Forgetting as

Encoding Failure

Encoding Failures

• People fail to encode information

because:

– It is unimportant to them

– It is not necessary to know the

information

– A decrease in the brain’s ability to

encode

Which is the Right Penny? (From Nickerson & Adams, 1979)

Which is the Right Penny?

(From Nickerson & Adams, 1979)

Forgetting as Storage

Failure

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)

• German philosopher who did early

memory studies with nonsense syllables

• Developed the forgetting curve, also

called the “retention curve” or

“Ebbinghaus curve”

The Forgetting Curve (Adapted from Ebbinghaus, 1885)

Permastore Memory

• Long-term memories that are especially

resistant to forgetting and are likely to

last a lifetime

Forgetting as

Retrieval Failure:

Interference

Interference

• A retrieval problem when one memory

gets in the way of remembering another

• Two types of interference:

– Proactive interference

– Retroactive interference

Proactive Interference

• The disruptive effect of earlier learning

on the recall of recently stored

information

• An older memory disrupts a newer

memory

Retroactive Interference

• The disruptive effect of new learning on

the recall of previously stored

information

• A newer memory disrupts an older

memory

Forgetting as

Retrieval Failure:

Motivated Forgetting

Repression

• Part of Freud’s psychoanalysis

• Process of moving anxiety-producing

memories to the unconscious

• Supposed means of protecting oneself

from painful memories

• Not well-supported by research;

stressful incidents are actually more

likely to be encoded

Memory Construction

Memory Jigsaw Analogy

• Memories, rather than being like a video

tape, are formed as bits and pieces.

• People may retrieve only some of the

pieces of the memory

Elizabeth Loftus (1944- )

• Does research in memory construction

• Has found that subjects’ memories vary

based on the wording of questions

• Demonstrated the misinformation effect

Misinformation Effect

• Incorporating misleading information

into one’s memory of an event

• Affects eyewitness testimony

Memory

Construction:

Children’s Recall

Children’s Testimony on Abuse

• Research has shown children’s

testimony to be unreliable

• Children are very open to suggestions

• As children mature their memories

improve

Accurate Interviewing Methods

• To promote accuracy with children’s

testimony the interviewer should:

– Phrase questions in a way the child

can understand

– Have no prior contact with the child

– Use neutral language and do not lead

or suggest answers

The End