How Can I Remember Everything?

1. Neurodevelopment “Short Lessons” Carol Landa Sept,2013 ND 5050 Metacognition Lesson How Can I Remember Everything? Understanding Memory Strategies for Learning

2. Objectives • You will be able to… • Explain how your brain processes and stores key facts • Identify strategies to increase long-term memory (storage)and retrieval

3. Key Vocabulary/Concepts • Stimuli (Sensory inputs) • Sensory Register • Attention (how does it influence memory) • Short Term Memory (STM) - Immediate and Active Working Memory • Chunking • Encoding • Long-term memory • Learning Strategies - Rote vs. Elaborative

4. Why Is This Important to YOU? • This year, your brain is going to receive LOTS of new information. • Your performance in this class (your grade) will depend on your ability to: • understand and link this new information to previous learnings and to your own life experiences. • Use new and past information to problem-solve

5. Visualizing Brain Processing • The brain goes through many steps before information is put into long-term memory. • At each step, information can be lost • We can’t “see” the brain process information • BUT…we can create a visual (a model) that can represent the process • Look at the next slide (you have a handout) • Can you understand the diagram ? Identify some key concepts you can understand, and some you cannot

6. Sousa, D. (2011). How the Brain Learns Information Processing Model

7. Sousa, D. (2011). How the Brain Learns Information Processing Model To make sense of this diagram we need to understand the vocabulary used on the diagram and the how the diagram relates to you. Lets break the diagram down into steps!

8. Sousa, D. (2011). How the Brain Learns Breaking the model down into steps What does the highlighted area represent? What are two (separate) words you could use to describe sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste?

9. Sousa, D. (2011). How the Brain Learns Information Processing Model What does the highlighted area represent? You SENSORY REGISTER filters incoming stimuli (the lines represent a side-view of venetian blinds) It allows some stimuli to enter immediate memory

10. Sousa, D. (2011). How the Brain Learns Short term memory (STM) - Immediate IMMEDIATE MEMORY –lasts for 30 seconds. Info is passed on to working memory or discarded. 1. What good is a 30 second memory? Past experience (bad/ good) can affect information transfer to immediate memory Present environment affects your attention (and therefore movement of information into STM.

11. Sousa, D. (2011). How the Brain Learns STM – Active Working Memory ACTIVE WORKING MEMORY (AWM) is a temporary, limited space where you can combine previously learned information with new information. Ideas are built, taken apart, or reworked for eventually storage. Info in AWM must be linked and stored in < 25 min or it is lost.

12. Practice: STM Task • I am going to quickly read a list of 10 things you might find carry in your book bag. I will only read the list ONCE! • After I have read the list you will write down as many of the names as you can. You won’t be able to SEE the list. You will only be able to hear the list. Don’t write until I tell you!

13. How many words or concepts fit on your Working Memory Table? Where (in the list) were the words located that you remembered? How did you remember the words? (did you use a trick, did you associate the words with each other?) Does “seeing the words” help? Could you create a story to remember the words? • Paper clips • Stapler • Marker • Sticky notes • Notepad • Pencil • Ruler • Calculator • White-out • Glue

14. Capacity of Working Memory • Did you remember at least 5 items? • Average for adolescents is 7. • varies with age, and type of input (visual, just facts, etc.) • What happens if your working memory space isn’t big enough? • Information is lost, unless we can put the same amount of information in less space. Paper clip Marker Notepad Stapler Sticky notes White out

15. The Limits of Working Memory • Random sequences of numbers can also be hard to remember. Can you remember a 10-digit number? • READY….

16. Five seconds…don’t write it yet 4915082637

17. What was the number? • What was your strategy for remembering the number? • Would looking at the same sequence of numbers divided into three groups make a difference?

18. Five seconds…don’t write it yet 491-508-2637

19. Chunking • Did it help to separate the number into “three groups”? • Could you associate any of the groups of numbers with a memory or meaning that made them easier to remember? • Sometimes, chunking takes the form of a mnemonic or a picture. A mnemonic translates information into a form that is easier to remember that the original form. • What mnemonic identifies the colors of the rainbow? • In what order do you know them?

20. Rehearsal – Vocabulary definitions • Before we move to the topic of long-term memory - let’s take time to “rehearse” (or review) new information • Identify a single word that can be used to identify an input that comes in through one of your five senses • What is the sensory register? • Identify and define the two components of short term memory • What is a mnemonic? • We discussed the word attention, but never defined it. Define attention (based on today’s class). In order to answer questions that use vocabulary, be sure you understand the meaning of each word.

21. Application and Inference Questions (Typical 9th grade questions) • What is an example of a STIMULUS? • How are IMMEDIATE and WORKING MEMORY different? • Why might the SENSORY REGISTER “drop” the wrong information? • How is ATTENTION linked to IMMEDIATE and WORKING MEMORY? • Provide one mnemonic (besides ROYGBIV) that you learned in middle school. The questions are quite difficult, if you don’t know the meaning of the vocabulary in the questions!

22. Sousa, D. (2011). How the Brain Learns Long Term Memory (LTM) Can you store/retrieve information? LONG-TERM STORAGE occurs when information is encoded (linked to memories or similar facts) during deep sleep. Information must be in working memory to be transferred to LTM LTM is influenced by your experiences and views (cognitive belief system) and self-concept (your feelings about yourselves)

23. Encoding • Storing information in small chunks that are connected by neurons (a pathway) • The more connections the easier it is to retrieve information and apply it to a variety of situations. • Must use the pathway repeatedly or it is lost Newborn 3 mo 15 mo 24 mo

24. Does this new learning make sense? Does this new learning have meaning (relevance to me)? Storing Information (Encoding) Working memory asks two questions before it stores info.

25. Makes Sense Has Meaning High Chance of LT Storage Makes Sense Little Meaning Low to Moderate Chance of LT Storage Makes Sense Has Meaning Little Sense Moderate Chance of LT Storage Little Sense Little Meaning Little Chance of LT Storage Has Meaning (Is it relevant to YOU) You can best store and remember information that is relevant and make sense!

26. Demonstration - Encoding Assume the dry oatmeal is previous knowledge (stored information and memories) and the water is new knowledge. If I put energy (heat) into the water, connections between the new information and previous information are made ( . Energy (study) + Time  new information links to (and can change) stored information.

27. Importance of Time, Sense, and Relevance • The brain needs time and rehearsal to identify/create connections and pathways long term memories. • Elaborative rehearsal – make associations and relationships between new and past experiences (attach sense and relevance) • Rote rehearsal – memorizing the material exactly as taught 3 -24 – 7 3 -24 - 7 3 -24 - 7

28. Types of elaborative rehearsal Passive What you remember if you learn or study using each learning strategy (by itself) 5% (only words) Active

29. Closure • Explain encoding. • What types of elaborative rehearsal were used in this presentation? • How does elaborative rehearsal help to get information that is in AWM into LTM? • To check your understanding, teach the information processing model to a classmate (using correct vocabulary)