Memory and psychology

1. What do you remember? Memory and psychology

2. Attention facilitates encoding (it is a selective filter) • Levels of processing theory: • Memory codes depends on which aspects of stimulus are emphasized Information into memory-Encoding

3. Deeper processing results in better recall-how to recall? • Structural-shallow processing [physical structure] ie: remembering words written in capital letters • Phonemic-intermediate processing [sounds like] ie: remembering words that rhyme Both these types of processing involve imagery and visuals INFormation into memory-encoding

4. Semantic-deep processing [emphasizes meaning] ie: fit words into sentence context or past experience • Elaboration is a form of semantic processing-linking stimulus to other information • Personal self-reference, how you relate to the info is a type of deep processing (encoding) Information into memory-encoding

5. Sensory Memory: remembering information in original form (fraction of a second) • Short Term Memory-limited capacity 7 “chunks” of information at a time-this is your “working” memory • Long Term Memory-unlimited capacity-holds information indefinitely • Information is organized in simple clusters, conceptual hierarchies, or semantic networks • Schema-organized cluster of knowledge about objects or sequence of events (shapes memory + new interactions) Storage-keeping info in the memory

6. Psychologist associated with memory studies-Ebbinghaus Decay theory: forgetting occurs spontaneously; passage of time can’t prove if LTM is effected Interference theory: people forget information because of competition from other information Repression (Freud): motivated forgetting of painful or unpleasant memories Forgetting-memory lapses

7. Reinstating the context of an event can facilitate recall. Memories are not exact replicas of past experiences-they are partially reconstructive Misinformation Effect: information learned after an event can alter one’s memory of it. Source monitoring and Reality monitoring errors often explain why people “recall” something that never happened but that was suggested or imagined ReTReiVAL-Getting info out of memory

8. Memory traces reflect alterations in neurotransmitter release at specific locations in the brain Memory traces-localized neural circuits that undergo long-term potentiation Amnesia: hippocampal region key to memory processes Memory trace: physiology of memory

9. Implicit/Explicit memory suggests people may have separate memory systems • Declarative memory-facts • Episodic memory-personal facts • Semantic memory-general facts • Procedural memory-actions/skills • Retrospective memory-past events, people, activities, experiences • Prospective memory-ability to carry out a planned intention of a future time Multiple memory system

10. Rehearsal: overlearning facilitates retention (serial position effect) • Distributed practice vs. Massed practice • Processing during rehearsal should be deep. • Meaningfulness can be enhanced through mnemonics, acrostics, acronyms, narrative methods. • Mnemonics that depend on visual: • Keyword Method • Method of Loci • Link Method Improving our memories

11. Re-affirm why people’s experiences of the world are subjective-vary from person to person. Behavior governed by multiple experiences Attention and memory