Memory

1. Memory

2. Memory • = any indication that learning has persisted over time • We do not know exactly how memory happens • Use models to help us understand • Three Box (Information Processing) Model • Levels of Processing Model • Neither model is perfect!

3. Models (review) Information Processing Model: • 3 stages information must pass through to become a memory • Sensory Memory • Split-second in time, not much passes through • Short-Term Memory • Information we are working on • Long-Term Memory • Declarative (semantic, episodic) • Non-Declarative (procedural)

5. Short-Term vs Long-Term Memory

6. Mnemonics • How many items can you memorize? • How can we explain the increased ability to remember? • Discuss

7. Mnemonics • By creating more associations between the information we are attempting to recall, and the information already stored, we increase the likelihood that something will cue that memory • Link the new information to existing schemas

8. Forgetting • Remember: the capacity of the long-term memory is unlimited • However, we often have difficulty remembering information we need • Result of failure at one or more of the following stages: • Encoding • Storage • Retrieval

9. Forgetting: Encoding Failure • Information does not enter into our memory properly • We are simply unable to encode all of the information our senses are bombarded with • Somewhat dependent on age • As we get older, the areas of the brain that active during encoding become less responsive

10. Forgetting: Storage Decay • Much of what we learn we quickly forget, but this levels off in time • Example: the ability to remember Spanish • Compared those who learned it recently, and those who had studies Spanish 50 years earlier • Those who learned recently (<3 years ago) remembered much more then the others • Those who studied 50 years ago forgot most of what they knew, but anything remembered after 3 years was remembered for life

11. Storage Decay • graph

12. Forgetting: Retrieval • Even if a memory is encoded, stored, and available, it may be inaccessible to us. • “on the tip of my tongue” • Often, a simple cue is all that is needed to remember something • Example: It starts with the letter ‘M’

13. Forgetting: Retrieval Interference: • Learning some information may get in the way of retrieving other information • Example: the first week of school • when one friend gives you a phone number you can easily recall it. • As you make more friends, it becomes difficult to recall everyone's individual phone number

14. Forgetting: Retrieval Motivated Forgetting • We sometimes unconsciously revise our memories in order to protect or enhance our self-concept • Example: all of the cookies from the jar were eaten, but each family member reported taking fewer then they actually ate • Freud’s repression: we censor painful information in order to decrease the anxiety we feel • BUT the memory still exists, and can be retrieved by cues later (free association)

15. Activity • Read over the assigned pages from the section of the textbook on Memory Construction • Design and perform a short 2 minute skit that embodies the main ideas in your reading • Will be assessed!

16. Levels of Processing Model Craik and Lockhart (‘72) • Rejects the information processing/3-box model = Memory is a function of the depth to which we process information • Memory recall falls on a continuum from shallow to deep • Which will be easier to recall: information we process shallowly or deeply at the time of encoding?

17. Levels of Processing • Shallow processing • Fragile memory • Susceptible to decay • Examples: • Processing the letters contained in a word • Processing the shape of something • Processing how something sounds

18. Levels of Processing • Deep Processing • Durable memory • More likely to last • Examples: • Processing the relationships between information • Processing the meaning of something • Processing the importance of something

19. Levels of Processing • How did Craik and Lockhart arrive at this theory? Incidental Learning Paradigm: • Investigated learning without intent • i.e. learning by accident • Present different groups of participants with the same list of items • Each group performs a different task related to the words • Count the number of letters (shallow) • Form an image of each word, and rate the vividness (deep) • NOT told there will be a memory test • Later asked to recall as many words as possible

20. Levels of Processing • Which condition resulted in greater recall? • Deep processing (form image)

21. Comparing Models • Consider the memory activity we completed at the beginning of class. • How would you explain the improvement in memory according to the principles of each model?

22. Comparing Models • What are the main differences between the two models we have looked at? • Information Processing vs Levels of Processing

23. Comparing Models Information Processing • Focused on the storage of memories • Structured into distinct stages • Distinguishes between STM and LTM • Rehearsal of any kind will improve memory Levels of Processing • Focused on the process of creating memories • A continuum • Does NOT distinguish between STM and LTM • Only deep/elaborate rehearsal will improve memory