MEMORY

Memory is the means by which we retain and draw on our past experiences to use that
information in the present (Tulving, 2000b; Tulving & Craik, 2000). As a process,
memory refers to the dynamic mechanisms associated with storing, retaining, and
retrieving information about past experience (Bjorklund, Schneider, & Hernández Blasi,
2003; Crowder, 1976). Specifically, cognitive psychologists have identified three
common operations of memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval (Baddeley, 2002;
Brebion, 2007; Brown & Craik, 2000). Each operation represents a stage in memory
processing.

The three key processes involved in memory;

1. ENCODING

Encoding (getting information in), storage (maintaining it), and retrieval (getting it
out).
Encoding involves forming a memory code .For example, when you form a memory
code for a word, you might emphasize how it looks, how it sounds, or what it means.
Encoding usually requires attention, which is why you may not be able to recall exactly
what a penny looks like—most people don’t pay much attention to the appearance of
a penny.

Automatic vs. Effortful Encoding

➢ Automatic processing
Unconscious encoding of information
Examples:
• What did you eat for lunch today?
• Was the last time you studied during the day or night?
• You know the meanings of these very words you are reading. Are you
actively trying to process the definition of the words?
➢ Effortful processing
Requires attention and conscious effort
Examples:
• Memorizing your notes for your upcoming Introduction to
Psychology exams
• Repeating a phone number in your head until you can write it down

There are 3 ways in which information can be encoded

➢ Structural encoding is relatively shallow processing that emphasizes the
physical structure of the stimulus. For example, if words are flashed on a
screen, structural encoding registers such things as how the words are printed
(capital, lowercase, and so on) or their length (how many letters).
➢ Phonemic encoding, which emphasizes what a word sounds like. Phonemic
encoding involves naming or saying (perhaps silently) the words.
➢ Semantic encoding emphasizes the meaning of verbal input; it involves
thinking about the objects and actions the words represent.

2. SRTORAGE

Storage involves maintaining encoded information in memory over time.

Psychologists have focused much of their memory research on trying to identify just
what factors help or hinder memory storage. But, as the tip-of-the-tongue
phenomenon shows, information storage isn’t enough to guarantee that you’ll
remember something. You need to be able to get information out of storage.

This concerns the nature of memory stores, i.e., where the information is stored, how
long the memory lasts for (duration), how much can be stored at any time (capacity)
and what kind of information is held.
 3. RETRIEVAL

Retrieval involves recovering information from memory stores. Research issues

concerned with retrieval include the study of how people search memory and why
some retrieval strategies are more effective than others.

STM is stored and retrieved sequentially. For example, if a group of participants are
given a list of words to remember, and then asked to recall the fourth word on the list,
participants go through the list in the order they heard it in order to retrieve the
information.
LTM is stored and retrieved by association. This is why you can remember what you
went upstairs for if you go back to the room where you first thought about it.

Two most common method of retrieval

1) Recall: independently reproducing the information that have been previously
exposed to. Example: Short answer, fill in the blanks question

• 2) Recognition: involves realizing that a certain stimulus event is the one that
have been seen or heard before. Example: Multiple choice question

Generation-recognition model

This model suggest that, we can usually recognize more than we can recall; because
recall involves the same mental process involved in recognition plus another process
not required for recognition.
We have to generate information rather than simply recognize the information
presented.
STAGES OF MEMORY

Maintenance Rehearsal

Sensory Encodi
Input Attention ng
Sensory Working or Long-term
Memory Short-term memory
Memory
 1. SENSORY MEMORY

Function —process for basic physical characteristics

Capacity—large
• can hold many items at once
Sensory
Duration—very brief retention
• .3 sec for visual info Input
Sensory
• 2 sec for auditory info
Divided into two types:
Memory
• iconic memory–visual information
• echoic memory– auditory information
Attention is needed to transfer information to working memory

Sensory memory preserves information in its original sensory form for a brief time,
usually only a fraction of a second. Sensory memory allows the sensation of a visual
pattern, sound, or touch to linger for a brief moment after the sensory stimulation is
over. In the case of vision, people really perceive an afterimage rather than the actual
stimulus.
The brief preservation of sensations in sensory memory gives you additional time to
try to recognize stimuli. However, you’d better take advantage of sensory storage
immediately because it doesn’t last long. In a classic experiment, George Sperling
(1960) demonstrated that the memory trace in the visual sensory store decays in about
one-quarter of a second. There is some debate about whether stimulus persistence
really involves memory storage (Nairne & Neath, 2013). Some theorists view it as an
artefact of the perceptual processing of incoming stimuli that is attributable to
excitatory feedback in specific N neural circuits (Francis, 1999). In other words, stimulus
persistence may be more like an echo than a memory.

Types of sensory memory

1) Visual sensory memory—brief memory of an image or icon. Also called

iconic memory
2) Auditory sensory memory—brief memory of a sound or echo. Also called
echoic memory .Auditory sensory memories may last a bit longer than
visual sensory memories
George Sperling

✓ To find out how much information could be retained in sensory memory, early
researchers used a method called the Whole report procedure. In this method,
subjects looked for a fraction of a second at a visual display of nine items as the
one shown below.
B X O
R T P
W Q L
✓ They were then asked to recall as many of the items as they could. On average
subjects could remember only about four of the nine items. Researchers
interpreted this as evidence that the capacity of sensory memory was only four
items.
✓ Anyway, Sperling devised a method called the Partial report procedure. Like the
earlier researchers, he used a 3×3 matrix of letters and flashed the array for a
fraction of a second. However, unlike earlier researchers, he asked the subjects
to report only one row of the array. Immediately after the presentation of the
array of letters, a high, medium, or low tone was presented, indicating to the
subjects which row to recall.
✓ Therefore the subjects could not focus on just one row. It turned out that,
regardless of which row Sperling asked for, the subjects recall was nearly
perfect, thus suggesting that the capacity of sensory memory was about nine
items.
✓ Other experiments with larger arrays confirmed the nine item limit. So in the
whole report method, as the subjects were reporting what they saw, their
sensory memory of the array was decaying. By the time the subjects reported
about four of the stimuli, the memory had already decayed. Sperling’s
procedure, however, avoided this problem.

• SHORT TERM OR WORKING MEMORY

Sensory Attention
Input
Sensory Working or
Memory Short-term
Memory
Short-term memory (STM) is a limited-capacity store that can maintain unrehearsed
information for up to about 20 seconds. In contrast, information stored in long-term
memory may last weeks, months, or years. You can maintain information in your
short-term store for longer than 20 seconds. By engaging in rehearsal—the process
of repetitively verbalizing or thinking about information.

Durability of Storage
Without rehearsal, information in short-term memory is lost in 15 to 30 seconds
(Nairne, 2003). This rapid loss was demonstrated in a study by Peterson and Peterson
(1959). They measured how long undergraduates could remember three consonants if
they couldn’t rehearse them. To prevent rehearsal, the Petersons required the students
to count backward by threes from the time the consonants were presented until they
saw a light that signalled the recall test. Participants’ recall accuracy was pretty dismal
after only 15 seconds. Other approaches to the issue have suggested that the typical
duration of short-term memory storage may even be shorter (Baddeley, 1986).
Theorists originally believed that the loss of information from short-term memory was
attributable purely to time-related decay of memory traces, but follow-up research
showed that interference from competing material also contributes (Oberauer &
Lewandowsky, 2014; Nairne & Neath, 2013).

Capacity of Storage

Short-term memory is also limited in the number of items it can hold. The small
capacity of short-term memory was pointed out by George Miller (1956) in a
famous paper called “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits
on Our Capacity for Processing Information.” Miller noticed that people could recall
only about seven items in tasks that required the use of short-term memory. When
short-term memory is filled to capacity, the insertion of new information “bumps out”
some of the information currently in short-term memory. The limited capacity of short-
term memory constrains people’s ability to perform tasks in which they need to
mentally juggle various pieces of information (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974).

The capacity of short-term memory may even be less than widely assumed. Nelson
Cowan (2005, 2010) cites evidence indicating that the capacity of short-term memory
is 4 plus or minus 1. The consensus on the capacity of short-term memory seems to
be moving toward this smaller estimate (Lustig et al., 2009).
According to Cowan, the capacity of short-term memory has historically been
overestimated because researchers have often failed to take steps to prevent covert
rehearsal, or chunking, by participants. It has long been known that people can
increase the capacity of their short-term memory by combining

stimuli into larger, possibly higher-order units, called chunks (Simon, 1974). A chunk
is a group of familiar stimuli stored as a single unit. You can demonstrate the effect
of chunkinby asking someone to recall a sequence of twelve letters grouped in the
following way:

FB - INB - CC - IAIB - M

As you read the letters aloud, pause at the hyphens. Your subject will probably attempt
to remember each letter separately because there are no obvious groups or chunks.
But a string of twelve letters is too long for STM, so errors are likely. Now present the
same string of letters to another person, but place the pauses in the following
locations:

FBI - NBC - CIA - IBM

The letters now form four familiar chunks that should occupy only four slots in short-
term memory, resulting in successful recall (Bower & Springston, 1970).
To successfully chunk the letters I B M, a subject must first recognize these letters as a
familiar unit. This familiarity has to be stored somewhere in long-term memory. Thus,
in this case, information was transferred from long-term into short-term memory. This
type of transfer is not unusual. People routinely draw information out of their long-
term memory banks to evaluate and understand information that they are working
with in short-term memory.

Short-Term Memory as “Working Memory”

Research eventually suggested that short-term memory involves more than a simple
rehearsal buffer, as originally believed. The findings prompted Alan Baddeley (1992,
2001,2012) to propose a more complex model of short-term memory that
characterizes it as working memory—a modular system for temporary storage and
manipulation of information. Baddeley’s model of working memory consists of four
components. The first component is the phonological loop, which represented all of
short-term memory in earlier models. This component is at work when you use
recitation to temporarily hold onto a phone number.
Baddeley (2003) believes that the phonological loop evolved to foster the acquisition
of language. The second component in working memory is a visuospatial sketchpad
that permits people to temporarily hold and manipulate visual images.
This component is at work when you try to mentally rearrange the furniture in your
bedroom. The third component is the central executive system. It controls the
deployment of attention, switching the focus of attention and dividing attention, as
needed. The fourth component is the episodic buffer, a temporary, limited capacity
store that allows the various components of working memory to integrate information
and that serves as an interface between working memory and long-term memory.

Baddeley’s model of working memory has generated an enormous volume of research.

For example, research has shown that people vary in how well they can juggle
information in their working memory while fending off distractions (Wiley & Jarosz,
2012). Working memory capacity (WMC) refers to one’s ability to hold and
manipulate information in conscious attention. Working memory capacity is a
stable personal trait (Unsworth et al., 2005) that appears to be influenced to a
considerable degree by heredity (Kremen et al., 2007).

• LONG TERM MEMORY

Long-term memory (LTM) is an unlimited capacity store that can hold
information over lengthy periods of time. Unlike sensory and short-term memory,
which decay rapidly, long-term memory can store information indefinitely. Long-term
memories are durable. Some information may remain in long-term memory across an
entire lifetime.

One point of view is that all information stored in long-term memory is stored there
permanently. According to this view, forgetting occurs only because people sometimes
cannot retrieve needed information. To draw an analogy, imagine that memories are
stored in long-term memory like marbles in a barrel. According to this view, none of
the marbles ever leak out. When you forget, you just aren’t able to dig out the right
marble, but it’s there—somewhere. In a survey of the general public’s views on
memory, 48% of the respondents endorsed the idea that long-term memory storage
is permanent (Simons & Chabris, 2011). An alternative point of view assumes that some
memories stored in long-term memory do vanish forever. According to this view, the
barrel is leaky and some of the marbles roll out, never to return.

The existence of flashbulb memories is one piece of evidence that has been cited to
support the notion that long-term memory storage may be permanent. At first glance,
flashbulb memories, which are thought to be unusually vivid and detailed
recollections of momentous events, provide striking examples of seemingly
permanent storage (Brown & Kulik, 1977). Research eventually showed that flashbulb
memories are neither as accurate nor as special as once believed (Hirst et al., 2009;
Schmolck, Buffalo, & Squire, 2000). Like other memories, they become less detailed
and complete with time and are often inaccurate (Talarico & Rubin, 2009). Research
suggests that it is not extraordinary accuracy or longevity that distinguish flashbulb
memories. Rather, what makes them special is that people subjectively feel that these
memories are exceptionally vivid, that they have exceptional confidence (albeit
misplaced) in their memories’ accuracy, and that more emotional intensity is attached
to these recollections (Talarico & Rubin, 2003, 2007). So, perhaps flashbulb memories
are “special,” but not in the way originally envisioned.
 MODELS OF MEMORY

Multi Store Model of Memory

The multistore model of memory (also known as the modal model/stage model) was
proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) and is a structural model. They proposed
that memory consisted of three stores: a sensory register, short-term memory (STM)
and long-term memory (LTM). Information passes from store to store in a linear way,
and has been described as an information processing model (like a computer) with an
input, process and output.

Information is detected by the sense organs and enters the sensory memory. If
attended to this information enters the short term memory. Information from the
short-term memory is transferred to the long-term memory only if that information is
rehearsed (i.e. repeated). If maintenance rehearsal (repetition) does not occur, then
information is forgotten, and lost from short term memory through the processes of
displacement or decay. Each store is a unitary structure and has its own characteristics
in terms of encoding, capacity and duration.

Encoding is the way information is changed so that it can be stored in the memory.
There are three main ways in which information can be encoded:
1. Visual (picture),
2. Acoustic (sound),
3. Semantic (meaning).

Capacity concerns how much information can be stored. Duration refers to the period
of time information can last in the memory stores.

Sensory Memory
 • Duration: ¼ to ½ second
• Capacity: all sensory experience (v. larger capacity)
• Encoding: sense specific (e.g. different stores for each sense)

Short Term Memory

• Duration: 0-30 seconds
• Duration: 0-30 seconds
• Encoding: mainly auditory

Long Term Memory

• Duration: Unlimited
• Capacity: Unlimited
• Encoding: Mainly Semantic (but can be visual and auditory)

WORKING MEMORY MODEL

It has now become apparent that both short-term and long-term memory are more
complicated than previously thought. Working Model of Memory proposed by
Baddeley and Hitch (1974) showed that short term memory is more than just one
simple unitary store and comprises different components (e.g. central executive,
Visuospatial etc.). Baddeley and Hitch (1974) argue that the picture of short-term
memory (STM) provided by the Multi-Store Model is far too simple.
According to the Multi-Store Model STM holds limited amounts of information for
short periods of time with relatively little processing. It is a unitary system. This means
it is a single system (or store) without any subsystems. Working Memory is not a
unitary store.

Working memory has replaced STM

Working memory is short-term memory However, instead of all information going into
one single store, there are different systems for different types of information

CENTRAL EXECUTIVE

Drives the whole system (e.g., the boss of working memory) and allocates data to the
subsystems: the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad. It also deals with
cognitive tasks such as mental arithmetic and problem-solving. The central executive
decides which information is attended to and which parts of the working memory to
send that information to be dealt with.
For example, two activities sometimes come into conflict, such as driving a car and
talking. Rather than hitting a cyclist who is wobbling all over the road, it is preferable
to stop talking and concentrate on driving. The central executive directs attention
and gives priority to particular activities.

Baddeley suggests that the central executive acts more like a system which
controls attentional processes rather than as a memory store.
This is unlike the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad, which are
specialized storage systems. The central executive enables the working memory
system to selectively attend to some stimuli and ignore others.

▪ Visuo-spatial Sketchpad (inner eye)

Stores and processes information in a visual or spatial form. The VSS is used for
navigation. It is likely that the visuo spatial sketchpad plays an important role in
helping us keep track of where we are in relation to other objects as we move
through our environment (Baddeley, 1997).

▪ Phonological Loop
Part of working memory that deals with spoken and written material. It can be used
to remember a phone number. It consists of two parts
Phonological Store (inner ear) – Linked to speech perception. Holds information
in a speech-based form (i.e., spoken words) for 1-2 seconds.
Articulatory control process (inner voice) – Linked to speech production. Used to
rehearse and store verbal information from the phonological store.
Levels of Processing Model of Memory
The levels of processing model (Craik and Lockhart, 1972) focuses on the depth of
processing involved in memory, and predicts the deeper information is processed, the
longer a memory trace will last. Unlike the multi-store model it is a non-structured
approach. The basic idea is that memory is really just what happens as a result of
processing information. Memory is just a by-product of the depth of processing of
information, and there is no clear distinction between short term and long term
memory.

Craik and Lockhart propose that incoming information can be processed at different
levels. For instance, they maintain that in dealing with verbal information, people
engage in three progressively deeper levels of processing: structural, phonemic, and
semantic encoding. Structural encoding is relatively shallow processing that
emphasizes the physical structure of the stimulus. For example, if words are flashed on
a screen, structural encoding registers such things as how the words are printed
(capital, lowercase, and so on) or their length (how many letters). Further analysis may
result in phonemic encoding, which emphasizes what a word sounds like. Phonemic
encoding involves naming or saying (perhaps silently) the words. Finally, semantic
encoding emphasizes the meaning of verbal input; it involves thinking about the
objects and actions the words represent. Levels-of-processing theory proposes that
deeper levels of processing result in longer-lasting memory codes.
In one experimental test of levels-of-processing theory, Craik and Tulving (1975)
compared the durability of structural, phonemic, and semantic encoding. They directed
subjects’ attention to particular aspects of briefly presented stimulus words by asking
them questions about various characteristics of the words.
The questions were designed to engage the participants in different levels of
processing. After responding to sixty words, the participants received an unexpected
test of their memory for the words. As predicted, the subjects’ recall was low after
structural encoding, notably better after phonemic encoding, and highest after
semantic encoding.
The hypothesis that deeper processing leads to enhanced memory has been replicated
in many studies (Craik, 2002; Lockhart & Craik, 1990). Levels-of-processing theory has
been enormously influential; it has shown that memory involves more than just storage
and has inspired a great deal of research on how processing considerations affect
memory (Roediger, Gallo, & Geraci, 2002).

TULVING’S MODEL OF MEMORY

One of the earliest and most influential distinctions of long-term memory was
proposed by Tulving (1972). He proposed a distinction between episodic, semantic
and procedural memory.

Explicit memory—memory with awareness; information can be consciously

recollected; also called declarative memory
Implicit memory—memory without awareness; memory that affects behavior but
cannot consciously be recalled; also called non declarative memory

➢ Explicit Memory
Explicit memory also called declarative or conscious memory, memory consciously
recalled or declared. Explicit memory can use to directly respond to a question.
 Two subtypes of explicit memory
Episodic information—information about events or “episodes”
Semantic information—information about facts, general knowledge, school
work

▪ Episodic Memory
• Episodic memory is a part of the long-term memory responsible
for storing information about events (i.e. episodes) that we have
experienced in our lives.
• It involves conscious thought and is declarative. An example
would be a memory of our 1st day at school.
• The knowledge that we hold in episodic memory focuses on
“knowing that” something is the case (i.e. declarative). For
example, we might have an episodic memory for knowing that we
caught the bus to college today.

▪ Semantic Memory
• Semantic memory is a part of the long-term memory responsible for
storing information about the world. This includes knowledge about
the meaning of words, as well as general knowledge.
• For example, New Delhi is the capital of India. It involves
conscious thought and is declarative.
• The knowledge that we hold in semantic memory focuses on
“knowing that” something is the case (i.e. declarative). For
example, we might have a semantic memory for knowing that
Paris is the capital of France.

➢ Implicit Memory
Also known as non-declarative memory. It influences your thoughts or behavior,
but does not enter consciousness.

▪ Procedural Memory
• Procedural memory is a part of the long-term memory which is
responsible for “knowing how” to do things, i.e. memory of motor skills.
• It does not involve conscious (i.e. it’s unconscious - automatic)
thought and is not declarative. For example, procedural memory
would involve knowledge of how to ride a bicycle.

How are Semantic memories organized

• Clustering--organizing items into related groups during recall from long-term
memory
 • Semantic Verification Task: Subjects are asked to indicate whether or not a
simple statement presented is true or false. The experimenter measures the
time it takes the subject to respond, or the response latency. The idea is that,
the pattern of response latencies will provide information on how semantic
knowledge is stored in memory.

Spreading Activation Model

• Also known as Semantic Network Model. Mental links between concepts

common properties provide basis for mental link
Shorter path between two concepts = stronger association in memory
• Activation of a concept starts spread of activity to nearby concepts

Not all information fits neatly into conceptual hierarchies or schemas. Much
knowledge seems to be organized into less systematic frameworks, called semantic
networks (Collins & Loftus, 1975). A semantic network consists of nodes
representing concepts, joined together by pathways that link related concepts.
The ovals are the nodes, and the words inside the ovals are the interlinked concepts.
The lines connecting the nodes are the pathways. The length of each pathway
represents the degree of association between two concepts. Shorter pathways imply
stronger associations.
Semantic networks have proven useful in explaining why thinking about one word
(such as butter) can make a closely related word (such as bread) easier to remember.
According to Collins and Loftus (1975), when people think about a word, their thoughts
naturally go to related words. They call this process spreading activation within a
semantic network. They assume that activation spreads out along the pathways of the
semantic network surrounding the word. They also theorize that the strength of this
activation decreases as it travels outward, much as ripples decrease in size as they
radiate outward from a rock tossed into a pond.

Why do we forget ?

Forgetting can occur at any memory stage

Sensory memory
The senses momentarily register
amazing detail

Short-term memory
A few items are both noticed
and encoded

Long-term storage
Some items are altered or lost

Forgetting as retrieval
Retrieval from failure
long-term memory
Depending on interference, retrieval
Retrieval—process of accessing stored information .Sometimes info IS encoded into
cues, moods, and motives, some
LTM, but we can’t retrieve it

Encoding
Short-term Long-term
memory memory
X
Retrie

Retrieval
Measures of Retrieval
failure
 ▪ Recall: test of LTM that involves retrieving memories without cues, also termed
free recall.
▪ Cued recall: test of LTM that involves remembering an item of information in
response to a retrial cue.
▪ Recognition: test of LTM that involves identifying correct information from a
series of possible.

Encoding Specificity Model (Tulving & Thomson)

• When conditions of retrieval are similar to conditions of encoding, retrieval is

more likely to be successful
• You are more likely to remember things if the conditions under which you recall
them are similar to the conditions under which you learned them

Encoding Specificity

➢ Context dependent memory—environmental cues to recall

Improved recall of information when the context present at encoding and retrieval
are the same.

➢ State dependent memory—physical, internal factors

Memory retrieval is most efficient when an individual is in the same state of
consciousness as they were when the memory was formed.

➢ Mood Congruent Memory:

Stimulus being encoded by an individual matches the mood state of the

individual performing the encoding

Example: A person reading a tragic love story in a depressed mood state.

➢ Mood Dependent Memory:

Memory for a specific stimulus is much better if there is a match between the
mood state at the time of experiencing the stimulus and the mood state when
trying to recall the stimulus.

MEMORY DISTORTION

Serial Position Effect

 ▪ Murdock, Glanzer and Cunitz showed that when participants are
presented with a list of words, they tend to remember the first few and
last few words and are more likely to forget those in the middle of the
list, i.e. the serial position effect.
▪ This supports the existence of separate LTM and STM stores because
they observed a primacy and recency effect.
▪ Words early on in the list were put into long term memory (primacy
effect) because the person has time to rehearse the word, and words
from the end went into short term memory (recency effect).

FORGETTING

Why do we forget? There are two simple answers to this question. First, the memory has
disappeared - it is no longer available. Second, the memory is still stored in the memory
system but, for some reason, it cannot be retrieved. Forgetting information from short
term memory (STM) can be explained using the theories of trace decay and displacement.
Forgetting from long term memory (LTM) can be explained using the theories
of interference, retrieval failure and lack of consolidation.
The Forgetting Curve

Hermann Ebbinghaus first began to study forgetting using nonsense syllables. Nonsense
syllables are three-letter combinations that look like words but are meaningless (ROH,
KUF).

Forgetting theories
➢ Interference Theories
Memories interfering with memories”. Forgetting NOT caused by mere passage
of time, caused by one memory competing with or replacing another memory.
Two types of interference

1. Retroactive Interference
When new memory interferes with remembering old information.
Eg: when new phone number interferes with ability to remember old
phone number.
 2. Proactive Interference
Opposite of retroactive interference. When an OLD memory interferes with
remembering NEW information
Example: Memories of where you parked your car on campus the past
week interferes with ability find car today

➢ Motivated Forgetting
Undesired memory is held back form awareness
• Suppression—conscious forgetting
• Repression—unconscious forgetting (Freudian)
Motivated forgetting is what Freud referred to as repressing
memories. According to Freud, there are times when an event or an
action is so painful that we can't deal with the memory of it, so we
repress the memory completely.
By pushing the memory into the subconscious and actively
repressing it, we are unable to recall the memory.
So in essence, motivated forgetting is purposeful forgetting.

➢ Trace Decay Theories

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in this. Ability to retrieve info declines with time after
and memory test original encoding.

This explanation of forgetting in short term memory assumes

that memories leave a trace in the brain. A trace is some form of physical
and/or chemical change in the nervous system.
Trace decay theory states that forgetting occurs as a result of the
automatic decay or fading of the memory trace. Trace decay theory
focuses on time and the limited duration of short term memory.
This theory suggests short term memory can only hold information for
between 15 and 30 seconds unless it is rehearsed. After this time the
information / trace decays and fades away.

➢ Retrieval Failure

Retrieval failure is where the information is in long term memory,

but cannot be accessed. Such information is said to be available (i.e.
it is still stored) but not accessible (i.e. it cannot be retrieved). It
cannot be accessed because the retrieval cues are not present.
When we store a new memory we also store information about the
situation and these are known as retrieval cues. When we come into
the same situation again, these retrieval cues can trigger the
memory of the situation. Retrieval cues can be:
External / Context - in the environment, e.g. smell, place etc.
Internal / State- inside of us, e.g. physical, emotional, mood, drunk
etc.
There is considerable evidence that information is more likely to be
retrieved from long-term memory if appropriate retrieval cues are
present. This evidence comes from both laboratory experiments
and everyday experience. A retrieval cue is a hint or clue that can
help retrieval.
This theory is often referred to as cue-dependent forgetting and is
a useful explanation of why we sometimes fail to retrieve
information even when we’re sure we know the information.

Forgetting in STM

Trace Decay: Unless information is refreshed or rehearsed will spontaneously fade or

decay over time.
Displacement: Only a fixed number of slots in memory capacity. New information will
displace old when capacity is reached.
Encoding failure: Because of displacement, this information never reaches the LTM.

Forgetting in LTM
 Interference: More information will be stored and become
confused together.
 Retrieval Failure: Information may be available but temporarily
inaccessible
 Motivated forgetting: we may actively work to forget memories.
Two basic forms are
 suppression- a conscious form of forgetting.
 Repression- and unconscious form of forgetting

AMNESIA
Amnesia is a form of memory loss. Some people with amnesia have difficulty forming
new memories. Others can’t recall facts or past experiences. People with amnesia
usually retain knowledge of their own identity, as well as motor skills.

➢ Retrograde amnesia
When you have retrograde amnesia, you lose existing, previously made
memories. This type of amnesia tends to affect recently formed memories first.
Older memories, such as memories from childhood, are usually affected more
slowly. Diseases such as dementia cause gradual retrograde amnesia.
➢ Anterograde amnesia
When you have anterograde amnesia, you can’t form new memories. This
effect can be temporary. For example, you can experience it during a blackout
caused by too much alcohol. It can also be permanent. You can experience it if
the area of your brain known as your hippocampus is damaged. Your
hippocampus plays an important role in forming memories.
➢ Transient global amnesia
Transient global amnesia (TGA) is a poorly understood condition. If you
develop it, you will experience confusion or agitation that comes and goes
repeatedly over the course of several hours. You may experience memory loss
in the hours before the attack, and you will probably have no lasting memory
 of the experience. Scientists think that TGA occurs as the result of seizure-like
activity or a brief blockage of the blood vessels supplying your brain. It occurs
more frequently in middle-aged and older adults.
➢ Infantile amnesia
Most people can’t remember the first three to five years of life. This common
phenomenon is called infantile or childhood amnesia.