Download Chapter 7: Memory

Chapter 6: Memory
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Memory

The process by which we
encode, store, and retrieve
information
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Encoding
Refers to the
process by
which
information is
initially recorded
in a form usable
to memory
Storage
The maintenance
of material saved
in the memory
system
Retrieval
Material in
memory storage
is located,
brought into
awareness, and
used
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The Three Systems of Memory:
Sensory Memory

The initial, momentary storage of information, lasting only
an instant


Echoic memory
– Stores
auditory
information
coming from
the ears
Iconic
memory
– Reflects
informatio
n from our
visual
system
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The Three Systems of Memory:
Short-Term Memory


Memory store in which
information first has meaning
May hold approximately 7
(plus or minus 2) chunks of
information
– A chunk is a meaningful
grouping of stimuli that can
be stored as a unit in shortterm memory

Holds information for
approximately 15 to 20
seconds
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The Three Systems of Memory:
Short-Term Memory

Rehearsal
– The repetition of information
that has entered short-term
memory


Mnemonics
– Formal techniques for
organizing information in a
way that makes it more
likely to be remembered
Elaborative rehearsal
– Occurs when information is
considered and organized in
some fashion resulting in a
greater likelihood to be
transferred into long-term
memory
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The Three Systems of Memory:
Long-Term Memory


A storehouse of almost
unlimited capacity
Information in long-term
memory is filed and coded
so that we can retrieve it
when we need it
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Contemporary Approaches To
Memory

Working memory
– View of short-term memory
as an active “workspace” in
which information is
retrieved and manipulated,
and in which information is
held through rehearsal
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Working Memory
Central Executive Processor
(reasoning and decision making)
Visual store
Verbal store
(visual & spatial
information)
(speech, words, &
numbers)
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Models of Memory

Associative model
– Memory consists of mental
representations of clusters
of interconnected
information


Spreading activation
– Activating one memory
triggers the activation of
related memories
Priming
– Phenomenon in which
exposure to a word or
concept later makes it
easier to recall related
information
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Modules of Memory

Explicit memory
– Intentional or conscious
recollection of information

Implicit memory
– Memories of which people
are not consciously aware,
but which can affect
subsequent performance
and behavior
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Recalling Long-Term Memories

Tip-of-the-tongue
phenomenon
– Inability to recall information
that one realizes one knows

Retrieval cue
– Stimulus that allows us to
recall more easily
information that is located in
long-term memory
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Recalling Long-Term Memories

Levels-of-processing theory
– Emphasizes the degree to
which new material is
mentally analyzed

Flashbulb memories
– Memories around a specific,
important, or surprising
event that are so vivid they
represent a virtual snapshot
of the event
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Constructive Process in Memory

Constructive process
– Processes in which
memories are influenced by
the meaning that we give to
events

Schemas
– Organized bodies of
information stored in
memory that bias the way
new information is
interpreted, stored, and
recalled
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Recalling Long-Term Memories

Memory in the courtroom
– Repressed memory
– False memory

Autobiographical memory
– Recollections of
circumstances and episodes
from our own lives
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Forgetting: Herman Ebbinghaus
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Forgetting: When Memory Fails

Decay
– Loss of information through
nonuse
– Assumes that when new
material is learned a
memory trace appears
(actual physical change in
the brain

Interference
– Information in memory
displaces or blocks out
other information,
preventing its recall
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Proactive Interference

Information learned earlier interferes with recall of newer
material
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Retroactive Interference

Difficulty in recall of information because of later exposure
to different material
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Biological Bases of Memory

Long-term potentiation
– Certain neural pathways
become easily excited while
a new response is being
learned

Consolidation
– Changes in the number of
synapses between neurons
as the dendrites branch out
to receive messages and
memories become fixed and
stable in long-term memory
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Memory Dysfunctions

Alzheimer’s disease
– An illness that includes
among its symptoms severe
memory problems

Korsakoff’s syndrome
– A disease afflicting longterm alcoholics
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Memory Dysfunctions

Amnesia
– Memory loss that occurs
without other mental
difficulties

Retrograde amnesia
– Memory is lost for
occurrences prior to a
certain event

Anterograde amnesia
– Loss of memory occurs for
events following an injury
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