PS 101: General

Psychology
Memory
(Part 3)
Section DD
Fall 2024
 Reminders &
Announcements
• Reading this week:
• Chapter 6: Memory
• Chapter 7: Sleep, Dreaming, and
Consciousness

• Discussion this week:

• No Quiz
• Review of Topic Form for Critique Project
• Form due on Blackboard on November 1st
• Quiz #4 in Discussion next week
• All content since Exam #1 (from avoidance learning
Forgetting
• If our brains have almost limitless storage space in
long-term memory, why do we forget things?
• Psychologists have developed five major
explanations for why we forget things:
1. Decay of the memory trace
2. Interference
3. Retrieval failure
4. Motivated forgetting
5. Organic amnesia/neurological disorders
Decay of the memory trace
• Memory Trace: The neurochemical and
anatomical changes that happen in our brain
when we learn and remember things is called
• Decay of the memory trace is one reason why
we forget things
• Breakdown of the physical codes of short-term
and/or long-term memory with the passage of
time
• The older the memory, the more prone to
Curves of Forgetting
• Forgetting is strongly
influenced by the passage of
time
• Curves of forgetting illustrate
memory retention over time
• At first, forgetting occurs very rapidly
(up to 40% of information lost within
20 minutes)
• Later, the rate of forgetting slows
down

• We can further delay

forgetting using mnemonic
Interference
• Forgetting is influenced by what we do before and after
learning
• Retroactive interference: When a later event interferes with
remembering earlier information
• You start dialing a phone number, but then someone asks you what
time it is
• Proactive interference: When earlier learning disrupts
memory for later learning
• You have French class right after English class and it is hard to
remember French
Experimental Designs for Studying
Interference
• Some days you
might have two
exams
• Better to study
these topics on
different days, or
choose to study
topics as different
as possible to
reduce
The Serial Position Effect: Experiment
• Remember this list of words:
The Serial Position Effect: Experiment
• Remember this list of words:
CANDLE CEILING SOFA
MAPLE LAWYER MOUNTAIN
SUBWAY OCEAN DOLLAR
POISON PAPER WAGON
TIGER GARBAGE THUNDER
The Serial Position Effect: Experiment
• Remember this list of words:
CANDLE CEILING SOFA
MAPLE LAWYER MOUNTAIN
SUBWAY OCEAN DOLLAR
POISON PAPER WAGON
TIGER GARBAGE THUNDER
The Serial Position Effect: Experiment
• Remember this list of words:
CANDLE CEILING SOFA
MAPLE LAWYER MOUNTAIN
SUBWAY OCEAN DOLLAR
POISON PAPER WAGON
TIGER GARBAGE THUNDER
The Serial Position Effect: Experiment
• Which words did you remember?
The Serial Position Effect: Interference
• Why is it easier to
remember the beginning
and end of a long list?
• Primacy: Items at the
beginning have less
proactive interference
• Recency: Items at the end
of the list have less
retroactive interference
Retrieval Failure
• Failure to remember
information does not
mean it is not stored in
our brains
• Sometimes forgetting
reflects a failure of
retrieval cues
• Memories that seem
impossible to retrieve
Review: Retrieval from Long-Term
Memory
• Why do you think
elaborative rehearsal works
well?
• Memory strategies are
effective when they create
cues or “handles” to help
us grab and access
information
• The more retrieval cues we
Motivated Forgetting
• Motivated forgetting:
Sometimes we forget things
because we don’t want to
remember them
• Repression: One type of
motivated forgetting
(described by Freud) where
feelings and experiences are
too painful to consciously
process
Organic Amnesia & Neurological
Disorders
• Physical deterioration of the
brain can also lead to forgetting:
• Stroke: Limits oxygen to the
brain Alzheimer’s Disease: Loss
of acetylcholine & other
neurons
• Trauma: Head injuries
• Amnesia:
1. Retrograde
Retrograde Amnesia
• Loss of memory for details or events before a
trauma is called retrograde amnesia
• Sometimes, the lost memories return slowly
• Temporary loss of retrieval access, not destruction of the memory
trace
• Usually impairs declarative types of memory, not procedural
memory
Anterograde Amnesia
• An inability to form new memories is called
anterograde amnesia
• Usually caused by damage to the brain from trauma
or severe alcohol use disorder
• Unlike retrograde amnesia, usually irreversible
Case Studies in Memory: Patient H.M.
• Patient H.M. had severe epilepsy
and underwent surgery to remove
the parts of his brain where the
seizures originated
• Surgeons removed large parts of his
medial temporal lobe and
hippocampus
• H.M. could no longer store new
experiences in his memory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrmU8P3k
afterwards (anterograde amnesia)
• Could remember experiences from
Case Studies in Memory: Patient C.W.
• Clive Wearing: Contracted herpesviral
encephalitis
• A very rare infection by herpes simplex virus
that attacks the central nervous system
• HSV caused damage to the hippocampus
• Wearing experiences “waking up” every 20
seconds or so
• Both retrograde and anterograde (past and
present) amnesia (episodic memories)
• Can acquire new procedural (motor) memories
due to preservation of the parietal cortex
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO-3Ruw61Sg
The Seven Sins of Memory
• Daniel Schacter has summarized the main causes of
memory failure:
The Biology of Memory
• Most memory research focuses on
the prefrontal cortex and
hippocampus
• The term “engram” was introduced
in the early 1900’s to describe the
neural substrates for memory
• Engrams for memory storage and
retrieval may exist in several
brain areas
• Memories are encoded across
The Hebbian Rule An engram cell alongside a
nonengram cell in the
hippocampus:
• When we learn and remember things,
there are lasting changes in our brains
• The Hebbian Rule (paraphrased by Carl
Shatz) states that “cells that fire
together wire together”:
• Short-term memory is short because it is
dependent on brief electrical activity
(action potentials)
• Long-term memory is due to the
DOI:10.1126/science.aaw4325
formation of new connections between
Review: Neurons that Fire Together Wire
Together
This is the
biological
• Synaptic facilitation mechanism
(aka long-term underlying
classical
potentiation) is an conditioning!
increase in synaptic
strength following high
frequency stimulation of
a synapse
• The synapse between
the siphon and gill
neurons becomes
stronger when these
Review: Neurons that Fire Together Wire
Together
• Glutamate NMDA Weak Strong Stimulus
receptors are involved Stimulus

in learning and memory

• Strong stimulation of a
synapse activates two
types of glutamate
receptors:
• AMPA
• NMDA
Review: How Long-Term Potentiation
Works
• Strong stimulation leads
to the insertion of more
glutamate receptors into
the post-synaptic
membrane
• So, the post-synaptic cell
will have an even bigger
response the next time
an action potential comes
its way from the- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mHgPfXHzJE
Long-Term Memory: Long-Term
Potentiation
• Long-term potentiation (LTP) is
thought to underlie how long-
term memories are formed
• Right: A high-magnification photo
of dendrites on a neuron 0, 5,
and 45 minutes after LTP
occurred
• Note the growth of dendritic buds
at each arrow after LTP!
How to Make Memories Last

• There are many strategies we can use to improve our

efficiency learning and remembering things:
1. Reduce the material to a manageable amount
• Pick central themes
2. Learn the whole instead of piecemeal learning
• Spend 1-2 hours reviewing a chapter rather than 5-
minute chunks
3. Use recitation to check recall
• Avoid simply reading material passively
How to Make Memories Last

4. Overlearn
• Review material 1-2 times per day when
possible
5. Take study breaks and use
immediate rewards
• Use pomodoros and reward yourself
during breaks
6. Space your study sessions
• Review 2-3 hours twice > one 6 hour
How to Make Memories Last

6. Avoid interference
• Avoiding studying for more than one test, or make the
material as different as possible
• Take naps between study topics to consolidate
memories into storage
7. Manage your time
• Develop a formal schedule and take it as a
commitment to yourself
• Use mnemonic devices and elaborative rehearsal!
Questions?