Transcript Griggs Chapter 5: Memory

Memory
Quiz next Friday!
(December 7, before POL’s)
Prepared by
J. W. Taylor V
 Three-Stage
 Encoding
Model of Memory
Information into
Memory
 Retrieving
Memory
 Forgetting
Information from
Three-Stage
Model of Memory
Sensory Memory
Short-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory
The Three-Stage Model


Developed late 1960s
Views memory as composed of three
relatively distinct stages, or three “types” of
memory
Sensory
Short-Term
Long-Term
The Three-Stage Model
Sensory Memory

Consists of a set of five registers (temporary
storage places, one from each sense)

We take a “snapshot” of all incoming sensory
information from the physical environment

Sensory memory holds all input temporarily (few
seconds) till we attend to it

After a quick interpretation, important info that
merits further attention proceeds to short term
memory (STM)
My T shirt…





What color is it?
Round or V neck?
Fitted or loose?
If you can answer these questions, you saw
and thought about what you saw.
If not, you saw but did not pay much attention
Sensory memory of eyes and ears

Visual sensory memory – ICONIC MEMORY




1 second duration
Large capacity – your entire field of vision
You pay attention (transfer to STM) to small part
Hearing sensory memory – ECHOIC MEMORY



3 – 4 second duration
Large capacity – all the sounds around you that are
detectable
You only pay attention to one thing (right now, my
voice… hopefully)
Iconic Memory – sensory
memory registered by the eyes

We briefly store an exact copy of visual
information


Less than a second in duration
Very large capacity
Iconic memory has large
capacity but short duration




Your mind sees each page individually, and
as the page images change, you integrate
them into a flowing image
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVsSroq9_
WU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcPx9bi9d
0c
Test your iconic memory with this online
game (iPad – flash issue?)

http://playwithyourmind.com/memory-workoutprogram/iconic-memory-game/
Testing Iconic Memory

The temporal integration procedure
involves giving two random meaningless dot
patterns sequentially at the same visual
location with a brief time delay between the
two presentations

When the two patterns
are integrated, a
meaningful pattern is
produced
An Example of the
Temporal Integration Procedure
Testing Iconic Memory

For a meaningful pattern to be perceived,
the two patterns must be integrated
somewhere in the memory system

However, if the time delay between the two
presentations is greater than one second, no
meaningful pattern can be perceived because
the image from the first pattern has faded from
iconic memory
Testing Iconic Memory


Sperling’s full- and partial-report
procedures present participants with a
different 3 x 3 matrix of unrelated consonants
(a total of 9) for 50 ms across numerous
experimental trials
Here is an example:
L
Z
Q
R
B
P
S
K
N
Testing Iconic Memory

In the full-report procedure participants had
to report the entire matrix

Participants said they sensed the entire matrix but
that it had faded from memory before they could
report all 9 letters
Testing Iconic Memory

In the partial-report procedure, the
participants had to report only one row
of the matrix, a row indicated by an
auditory cue on each trial


When the auditory cue was given
immediately after the brief presentation of
the letter matrix, participants recalled the
indicated row 100% of the time
When there was a one second delay
between presentation of the matrix and
the auditory cue, participants’ recall of
the cued row worsened
The Three-Stage Model
Short-Term Memory

Information from sensory memory that you pay
attention to, so it enters consciousness

Also called “working memory”

A place to rehearse information

From STM it can be transferred to
long-term memory (stored)

From long-term memory, it can be
retrieved (back to STM) when you
need it
Capacity of Short-Term Memory


Humans have the capacity to manage and remember
7+/- 2 (5 to 9) chunks of information in their short term memory
A chunk is a meaningful
unit of information


Experts in a given domain tend
to have larger chunks for
information in their area of
expertise, ex chess players
Many numbers (credit card, phone numbers)
Are chunked for easier managment
Students who correctly
remembered number of dots
What happened to your STM
during this activity?

What is the average capacity of STM for the
class?

Which image were easiest to remember? Why?

What is chunking?

What variables or sources of error might affect
results in this experiment?

Give an example in real life where short term
memory is used.
Duration of Short-Term Memory

Must concentrate on information in short-term memory or it will
be lost in 30 seconds




Remember this phone number: 917 673 8221
After 10 seconds I will ask you to write it down
How did you keep it in working memory?
maintenance rehearsal - rehearsing information to keep
it in working memory (STM)

Remember this sequence:


CQ ZHB
HWS6P9
Now, starting at 90 count backwards in
3’s…
90, 87, 84…. Go till I stop you
Now what was the sequence of 5 letters?
distractor task – a task that diverts mental attention from information
in STM, resulting in loss of info from STM
Describe what happened in your memory systems during this activity.
Use the following terms (they are not in correct order):
Attention
Sensory memory
Distractor task
Working memory (STM)
Maintenance rehearsal
Forgetting
Results for the Short-Term
Memory Distractor Task
Name that memory component

A guy/girl you like is on a moving train, being
pulled away from you. As they move, they
shout their phone number to you… it’s
3106832491, but you have no pen or phone
to store it in. Arrgghh! You try to remember it
while running to a nearby store to ask for a
pen. Just as you open the door to the store,
Ms P grabs your arm and says “Hey you! So
great to see you here!! Have you done your
homework? Where were you for
thanksgiving? I like your jacket. How’s your
mom?.... (and on and on).
Describe….
Sensory memory:
Attention:
Working memory (STM):
Maintenance rehearsal:
Distractor:
What do you think happened?
Long-Term Memory
Allows storage of
information for a long
period of time
(perhaps permanently)
capacity is essentially
unlimited
LTM
Think of an early memory… furthest back you can
remember with any clarity
 Emotions associated with the memory?
 Who else is in the memory besides you?
 Can you remember a complete sequence of
events, or just fragments?
 Can you remember what you wore? What the
environment looked like?
 Do you remember what happened during the
time before and after the memory?
 How certain are you that this memory is
accurate?
Types of Long-Term Memory
Types of Long-Term Memory

Explicit memory (also called declarative memory) is




long-term memory of
factual knowledge and personal experiences
requires conscious recall (you have to “think” about it)
Two types of explicit memories:


Semantic memories factual knowledge, true for
everyone (ex: Obama is president)
Episodic memories personal life experiences (ex: what
you did last Saturday night)
Explicit memory – episodic or
semantic?










What you ate for breakfast
Current president of the USA
Your first kiss
Brand of sneakers with this symbol
Capitol of England
Your last trip to the movies
The name of 2 movies starring Denzel Washington
The time you ate something that made you sick
Retriever dogs are often smelly
Come up with one more example of each
Types of Long-Term Memory

Implicit memory (also called non-declarative
memory)
 long-term memory that influences our behavior,
but
 does not require conscious awareness
 “automatic” memory, stuff you know but don’t
consciously think about
 Ex:, driving a car; walking
Procedural vs conditioned
implicit memory

procedural memories because they have a physical
procedural aspect to them
 For a tennis expert, such as Serena
Williams, the movements to play the
game are implicit, procedural memories


What about for a person learning to play
tennis?
(such movements might require
conscious recall, and are more semantic
memories)
Conditioning



Classical conditioning (like Pavlov’s dogs) is
a type of implicit memory.
The learned response does not require
conscious recall.
The learned response is like a reflex (implicit,
not “conscious”).
Implicit memory – procedural
or conditioning?








Feeling tense when police car lights are flashing
behind you
Tying your shoelaces
Writing your name on paper
Making toast
Feeling scared when you walk past your
neighbors yard where her big scary dog often
comes running out at you
Skipping
Playing a video game that you’re really good at
* Playing a video game for the first time
Types of Long-Term Memory
Read p 180 – 184 and answer the following
questions






What is amnesia?
Who was H.M.?
Describe the difference between anterograde and
retrograde amnesia, giving an example of each
and labeling them on this line
_______________ trauma ______________
What type of memory is damaged in amnesia?
What type remains intact?
Describe the mirror-drawing task undergone by
H.M.
Which two brain areas are used in LTM
formation?
Amnesia, the Loss
of Long-Term Memories


Amnesics are people with severe memory deficits following
brain surgery or injury
H. M. had his hippocampus and surrounding temporal lobe
area removed at age 27 (to reduce epileptic seizures)




Before the operation, both his short- and long-term memories
were normal
After the operation, he didn’t seem to be able to store any new
information in long-term memory
H.M. suffered from anterograde amnesia – the inability to
form long-term memories for events following brain surgery
or trauma
By contrast, retrograde amnesia is the inability to remember
events before, especially just before, the surgery or trauma
Infantile Amnesia


The cerebellum seems to be important for
formation of implicit memories, whereas the
hippocampus seems to be important for
formation of explicit memories
Because the hippocampus does not fully develop
until about the age of 3, this explains why we
cannot remember as adults events that occurred
prior to this age (i.e., infantile/ child amnesia)
Free recall task



Listen to the list of words I read and try to
remember as many as you can WITHOUT
WRITING
When I finish speaking, I will instruct you to
write
Write as many words as you recall
Free recall task answers










hip
mouth
chain
loop
wish
dog
five
Brain
Fish
even










rice
light
wine
rain
line
Wait
Paper
Slip
Fruit
cry
Evidence for the Short-Term
vs. Long-Term Distinction

The free recall task is an experimental procedure in
which participants are given a list of words one at a
time, then asked to recall them in any order they wish

Compared with the middle of such lists, the recall
of the items at the start of the list is superior
(the primacy effect)

Compared with the middle of such lists, the recall
of the items at the end of the list is superior
(the recency effect)
Which words did you
remember most? Why?
Serial Position Effects
for the Free Recall Task
Evidence for the Short-Term
vs. Long-Term Distinction

The recency effect is caused by recall from short-term
memory, whereas the primacy effect is the result of
superior recall from long-term memory of the first few
words in the list




The first few words enter an empty long-term memory and get
proportionately more attention than the words in the middle of
the list and can thus be transferred into long-term memory
The last few words are still in short-term memory at the time of
recall
If recall is delayed by having participants count rapidly
backward by 3’s for 30 seconds, the recency effect is
eliminated, but the primacy effect remains
To eliminate the primacy effect, simply rehearse each of the
items on the list equally
Recall challenge




I will read you a list of words and then follow
them with the letter A or B
If a word is followed by A – count how many
syllables it contains
If a word is followed by B – think about
whether is pleasant or unpleasant
Ex:


Table A
Flower B
Concrete abstract or nonsense
Concrete Words
 alligator - apple - arrow - baby - bird - book - butterfly - car
- corn - flower - hammer - house - money - microscope ocean - pencil - rock - shoes - table – window
Abstract Words
 anger - belief - boredom - chance - concept - effort - fate freedom - glory - happiness - honor - hope - idea - interest
- knowledge - mercy - mood - moral - theory – truth
Nonsense Words
 ator - botam - crov - difim - firap - glimoc - ricul- hilnim jolib - kepwin - leptav - lumal - mib - natpem - peyrim rispaw - stiwin - tubiv - vopec - yapib
Encoding Information
into Memory
How We Encode Information
How to Improve Encoding
Memory System Processes
Encoding
The process of
transferring
information from
one memory
stage to the next
Storage
The process of
maintaining
information in a
particular
stage
Retrieval
The process of
bringing stored
information from
long-term
memory to the
conscious level
in short-term
memory
How We Encode Information



Automatic processing is processing that
occurs subconsciously and does not require
attention
Effortful processing is
processing that occurs
consciously and requires
attention
For a particular type of
processing, much
practice is needed
Levels-of-Processing Theory


Describes what types of
encoding lead to better
retrieval
Three levels of processing




Physical: How information
appears
Acoustic: How the information sounds
Semantic: What the information means
Long-term memory is best for information encoded
semantically, next best for information encoded
acoustically, and worst of information encoded
physically
Elaborative Rehearsal

Rehearsing information by relating new information
to information already in long-term memory



Contrasts with maintenance rehearsal (i.e., the
repetitive cycling of information in short-term memory)
Elaborative rehearsal provides more retrieval cues to
facilitate retrieval
A good way to elaborate on new material is to relate
the material to yourself

The self-reference effect says it is easier to remember
information that you have related to yourself because
such connections provide more retrieval cues and lend
more meaning to the new information
Environmental
Effects on Encoding

Encoding specificity principle proposed
that the cues present during encoding serve
as the best cues for retrieval


This is why the various concepts and examples
that you relate to a new concept during
elaborative rehearsal help you remember the
concept
State-dependent memory is memory that
depends upon the relationship of one’s
physiological state at the time of encoding
and at the time of retrieval
Environmental
Effects on Encoding

Mood-dependent memory effects attest to the fact
that memory is better when a person’s mood is the
same during encoding and retrieval


For example, if you are happy during encoding
information, it is easier to retrieve that information if you
are happy at the time of retrieval
Mood-congruence effect is the fact that memory is
better for experiences that are congruent with a
person’s current mood

For example, when we are sad it is easier to retrieve
negative events in our lives
How to Improve Encoding

Mnemonics are memory aids that require elaborative
rehearsal


In the method of loci, the sequential pieces of
information to be remembered are first associated
with sequential locations in a very familiar room or
location
 When retrieving the information, you merely
mentally go around the room (or location) and
retrieve the item stored at each sequential
location; uses elaborative mental imagery
In the peg-word system, you visually associate
the items to be remembered in a jingle that you
first memorize
The Peg-Word Method
Term
Medulla
Pituitary
glands
Keyword Meaning
Medal
Controls
heart rate,
respiration,
and blood
pressure
Pit
Regulates
growth
Mental Picture
Imagine the winner of a
race (i.e., heart pounding
and breathing heavily),
while a medal is hung
round the winner’s neck.
Imagine a young child
down in a pit. The child
grows and grows until
he’s finally big enough to
climb out!
The Peg-Word Method
Term
Parasympathetic
nervous
system
Sympathetic
nervous
system
Keyword Meaning
Mental Picture
Parachute
Calms the Imagine the peace and
body
calming effect of
watching a parachute
drift slowly downward.
Symphony
Excites
the body
Imagine a symphony
playing loudly in the
room next door! The
music excites you and
you can’t sit still.
The Peg-Word Method
Term
Keyword Meaning
Reticular Retickle Attention
formation
Cerebellum
Cereal
bell
Mental Picture
Imagine tickling
someone to get her
attention. Then, she
loses interest so you
have to retickle her!
Facilitates Imagine hearing the
movement cereal bell. That’s the
signal to move to the
table and begin
spooning cereal.
Other Tips for
Improving Encoding


The spacing effect (or distributed study effect)
contends that your memory will improve if you
study for an exam over an extended time interval
rather than just a few days before the exam
Overlearning is studying material past the point
of initial learning, and has been demonstrated to
aid in retrieval of that information
Retrieving Information
from Memory
How to Measure Retrieval
Why We Forget
The Reconstructive
Nature of Retrieval
How to Measure Retrieval



Recall is a measure of retrieval that requires the
reproduction of the information with essentially
no retrieval cues
Recognition is a measure of retrieval that only
requires the identification of the information in
the presence of retrieval cues
Relearning, also called the savings method, is
a measure of the amount of time saved when
learning the information for a second time
An Early Study




Ebbinhaus conducted the first experimental
studies on human memory more than 100 years
ago using the relearning method.
He would study a list of nonsense syllables until
he could correctly recite the complete list
without any hesitations. He then put the list
aside and waited some period of time and then
relearned the list to the same criterion.
To get a measure of learning, he computed a
savings score – the reduction in the number of
trials it took him to reach criterion.
Result? The “forgetting curve” reveals that most
forgetting occurs in the first two days after
learning material.
Forgetting Curve for
Long-Term Memory
Why We Forget


Encoding failure theory says that sometimes
forgetting is not really forgetting, but rather that the
information never entered long-term memory in the
first place
Storage decay theory suggests that forgetting
occurs because of a problem in the storage of the
information

The biological trace of the memory gradually decays over
time and the periodic usage of the information will help to
maintain it in storage
An Example of
Encoding Failure
Why We Forget

Cue-dependent theory says we
forget because the cues necessary for
retrieval are not available



The information is in memory, but we
cannot access it
This theory is analogous to knowing a book
is in the library but you cannot access it
because the library lacks call numbers
Interference theory proposes that
other similar information interferes and
makes the forgotten information
inaccessible
Types of Interference


Proactive interference occurs when
information you already know makes it hard to
retrieve newly learned information
Retroactive interference occurs when
information you just learned makes it hard to
retrieve old information
Types of Interference
Types of Interference

Think about changing phone numbers after having a
certain number for many years. When asked for your
new phone number, remembering the old one
interferes with retrieving the new one.


This is proactive interference
Now think about being at a party with many people you
don’t know. You meet someone whom you want to talk
to later, but after meeting her, you are introduced to
many more people. Now, you cannot remember her
name.

This is retroactive interference
The Reconstructive
Nature of Retrieval

When reading a newspaper article, for instance, we
usually code the gist or main theme of the story, along
with some of the some of the story’s highlights


Then, when we retrieve the information from our memory,
we re-construct a memory of the story using the theme and
highlights
Retrieval re-construction is guided by schemas –
organized frameworks of knowledge about people,
objects, and events that tell us what normally happens
in a given situation

They allow us to encode and retrieve information more
efficiently
The Reconstructive
Nature of Retrieval

Schemas, however, can lead us to
“misremember” information so that it is
more consistent with our schemas


Frederick Bartlett (1932) had people read
unusual stories and subsequently recall details
from the stories
When the participants recalled the stories, they
made them more consist with their schemas
about the world
Source Misattribution



Occurs when we do not remember the true source
of a memory and attribute the memory to the
wrong source
Source misattribution results in false memories,
which are inaccurate memories that feel as real as
accurate memories.
False memories can also occur because of the
misinformation effect, which occurs when a
memory is distorted by subsequent exposure to
misleading information
A Study of False Memories



Loftus and Palmer (1974) showed people film of a traffic
accident and later tested their memory for the accident
Some people were asked “How fast were the cars going
when they smashed into each other?”
and others were asked “How fast were
the cars going when they hit each other?”
Participants asked the first
question estimated a higher
speed at impact and
reported seeing broken
glass when in fact there
was none
Memory and Testimony


False memories suggest that eyewitness
testimony is subject to error and manipulated
by misleading information
Likewise, false memories
suggest that recovered
memories are not
necessarily accurate