Memory

Processes of Memory
(Information Processing Model)
Three Processes: Encoding, Storage, Retrieval

Storage—
like saving information on
your computer’s hard drive. Encoding—
like entering data with the keyboard or
downloading information on your computer.

Retrieval—
like calling up a document or
opening a program to work on.
The three basic processes in
memory are:
A. Encoding, storage, retrieval
B. Sensation, perception, cognition
C. Recall, recognition, relearning
D. Storage, recognition, retrieval
Parts of the brain used in memory
• Two parts of the brain psychologists know for
sure are involved in memory are the
hippocampus and the amygdala.

• In a process called consolidation, information in

the working memory is gradually changed over
to long term memories.

• The amygdala seems to play a role in

strengthening memories that have strong
emotional connections.
 Encoding Demonstration

Divide into 2 groups. Group A will view the following

instructions while Group B closes their eyes. Then, each group
will switch so Group B can read their instructions without Group
A seeing.

Now, Group B, close your eyes so Group A can read their instructions.
Group A Instructions: In a moment you have 30 seconds to
view a list of words. As you read through them, pronounce
each word three times quietly to yourself.

Now, close your eyes so Group B can read their instructions.

Group B Instructions: In a moment you will have 30 seconds
to view a list of words. As you read through them, think of
the first image that comes to mind for each.
Now, both Group A and Group B, follow your instructions as you read this
list of words:
1. Cloud 11. Saddle
2. Horse 12. Feather
3. Peach 13. Tape
4. Egg 14. Banana
5. Key 15. Wrench
6. Ice 16. Paper
7. Flashlight 17. Lake
8. Book 18. Wheel
9. Rag 19. Juice
10. Crow 20. Chalk

After 30 seconds, click to the next slide.

Now, write down as many of the words as you can remember.

1. 11.
2. 12.
3. 13.
4. 14.
5. 15.
6. 16.
7. 17.
8. 18.
9. 19.
10. 20.
 Check your answers with the list.
1. Cloud 11. Saddle
2. Horse 12. Feather
3. Peach 13. Tape
4. Egg 14. Banana
5. Key 15. Wrench
6. Ice 16. Paper
7. Flashlight 17. Lake
8. Book 18. Wheel
9. Rag 19. Juice
10. Crow 20. Chalk

How many did you get correct? How did your group’s results compare
with the other group’s? Why do you think it turned out this way?
Encoding

Enhanced Encoding

Flashbulb Memories

Engram

Mnemonic Devices
 Enhanced Encoding
When we are exposed to stimuli and encode information, we do it in a
few ways:

1. visual/imagery – visualize it or make it tangible. Mental picture

2. semantic – making it meaningful. Includes meaning of words
3. elaborate – reinforcement through overlearning or dual encoding
(multi-sensory)
4. self-referent – make it personal or connect with familiar concepts (a
date that may be similar to your birthday)
5. emotional – emotions to some extent improve encoding (e.g., passion
for sports, history, etc.)
6. acoustic - A sequence. Especially sounds of words. (ex: indubitably)
Encoding-Levels of Processing

Processing a word by its meaning (semantic

encoding) produces better recognition of it
at a later time.
 Proactive & Retroactive
Interference
Proactive vs. Retroactive Interference – Interference is when there is a
conflict between new and old information that is similar causing
difficulty in recall.
Proactive Interference – is when old information interferes with the
retrieval of recently learned information (e.g., Having learned to drive
an automatic and now learning to drive a stick-shift, you keep forgetting
to push clutch or shift).
Retroactive Interference – when newly encoded information interferes
with the retrieval of old information (e.g., You’ve recently gotten a new
phone number and are now having difficulty remembering your older
phone number.)
 If, after learning a new phone
number, you could not remember
your old phone number, you would
be experiencing

A. Proactive interference
B. Amnesia
C. Retroactive interference
D. Repression
 Flashbulb Memories
Of all our forms of memory, a few are exceptionally clear and vivid. We
call these flashbulb memories.
• Flashbulb Memories: emotionally-charged memories
characterized by their personal significance in which many
details surrounding the even may be occurred
• often involves events of national or international
importance (e.g., September 11th attacks or assassination
of JFK).

Encoding is reinforced due to emotion and personal meaning.

 Mnemonic Devices
Memory strategies other than basic rote rehearsal which take advantage of the
above characteristics of encoding:
1. Visual Mnemonics
a. Link System (Interactive Images) – associating items in a series like links in
a chain, visualizing them together (good for learning vocabulary words)
b. Method of Loci – associating items with places in a familiar setting
c. Pegword System – associating a list of items with items in a
pre-memorized system (1 = bun, 2 = shoe, 3 = tree, 4 = door, 5 = dive, 6 =
sticks, 7 = heaven, 8 = gate, 9 = dine, 10 = hen…)
2. Auditory Mnemonics – According to Gestalt psychology, our consciousness is
pattern-seeking, including patterned sound.
a. Songs - jingles for phone numbers advertisers often use)
b. Linguistic Mnemonics – acronyms (PEMDAS) and acrostics (Please Excuse
My Dear Aunt Sally)
 Mnemonic Test

Choose a mnemonic to use for the

following list:
Glass, Dice, Farm, Chair, Elf, Beans,
Carpet, Book, Ladybug, Teeth
 Now can you remember the
list? Write it down on your
notes
 Mnemonic Test 2

Now memorize this list with a mnemonic:

Ideal, describe, anxiety, best, disapprove,
modern, health, free, learning, conquest.
 Now can you remember the
list? Write it down on your
notes:
 Why was this list more
difficult?

It’s more abstract and

requires more work to
visualize or make tangible.
 A vivid imprint of a
significant moment frozen in
time is called:

A. Echoic images
B. Retrieval storage
C. Flashbulb memories
D. Encoding
 The memory technique that
involves repeating
information to keep it from
fading:
A. Rehearsal
B. Remembering
C. Chunking
D. Mnemonic
Which of the following is a
mnemonic device?

A. Relearning
B. Method of Loci
C. Ginkgo Biloba
D. Scheming
 Storage
Short-term Attention
Retrieval
Stimulus
Sensory “Working”
Long-term
Memory Attention Memory
Memory
Storage

Explicit (Declarative) Semantic

Implicit (Procedural) Episodic
 3 basic parts: storage

• Storage: the retention of encoded material over time.

• In terms of storing material, we have three stages of memory

• Sensory Memory
• Working Memory (short-term memory)
• Long-term Memory
 3 Stages of Memory
• We encode information and store it in one of three types of memory,
depending on what we need the information for.

• Our memory works like an assembly line, and before information can
make it to our long-term memory, it must first pass through sensory
memory and working memory.

Attention to important
Sensory input or novel information

Encoding
External Sensory Short-term Long-term
events memory memory memory
Encoding Retrieving
 Sensory Memory

— the shortest of our memories and generally holds sights,

sounds, smells, textures and other sensory information for a
fraction of a second.
— holds a large amount of information, far more than ever
reaches consciousness.
— lasts just long enough to dissolve into the next one, giving us
the impression of a constant flow.
 Sensory Memory

Duration is a split second due to residual neural firing.

Types of Sensory Memory:

Iconic - visual
Acoustic– sound
Eidetic – “photographic memory” could involve either of the
above (as in autistic savants, Mozart, etc.)
 Short Term Memory
AkA “Working” Memory
Duration – about 20 seconds. Rote rehearsal is a means of
extending duration.

Capacity – 7+/-2 digits/bits of information (length of telephone

numbers).
- Like a shelf that can hold 7 to 9 pieces at a time.
 How Good Is Your Short Term
Memory?

Who can remember as many of these numbers without writing them?

1492177618121865
 Now can you remember the
list? Write it down on your
notes:
 Chunking
Some of you may notice that they can be chunked together meaningfully.

Chunking— any memory pattern or meaningful unit of memory

Means of extending capacity -- i.e., even without their being historical
dates (1492, etc.), we still tend to chunk items together so that three bits
become one.
Example: 5036574100 vs. 503-657-4100
 Serial Position Effect

Our memory depends on the position of information in a series;

we tend to remember the first items (primacy effect) and the last
items (recency effect), and forget the middle items.

What can you do to avoid this problem when you study? Take
frequent breaks, review the middle, etc.
Memory that is limited in
capacity to about seven
items

A. Sensory
B. Long term
C. Short term
D. Reactive
 Breaking larger pieces of
info into smaller organized
bits is referred to as:

A. Chunking
B. Semantics
C. Mnemonics
D. Rehearsal
 Long-Term Memory
• As far as anyone knows, there is no limit to the duration or capacity of the
long term memory.

• Long term memory is essentially all of your knowledge of yourself and the
world around you. Unless an injury or illness occurs, this memory is
limitless.
Long-Term Memory

Declarative Procedural

Semantic Episodic Skills Habits

Structure and Function of LTM

Long-Term
Memory

Declarative Memory Procedural Memory

(Explicitly Memory) (Implicit Memory)
(knowing what) (knowing how)

Semantic Memory: Includes:

Episodic Memory
-language -Motor skills
-Events
-Facts -Operant Conditioning
-Personal Experiences
-General Knowledge -Classical Conditioning
 The storage capacity of
long-term memory is best
described as:

A. About 7 units
B. 6 months
C. 5+ or -2 years
D. Unlimited
 Types of Long Term Memory
When dealing with long term memory retrieval, there are two types of memory:

Implicit Explicit:

Declarative Production Declarative Production

Memory Memory Memory Memory
Storage Match Storage Match

Working Executing Working Executing

Retrieval Memory Retrieval Memory

Encoding Performances Encoding Performances

Outside World Outside World

 Implicit Memory

Procedural memory (implicit)—the part of long term memory

where we store memories of how things are done.

Implicit memory: a memory that was not deliberately learned-no

conscious awareness
Ex. Muscle memory—throwing a ball
 Explicit Memory

Declarative memory (explicit)—the part of long term memory

where we store specific information such as facts and events.
• More often than procedural memory, declarative memory
requires some conscious mental effort.
Explicit memory: a memory that had been processed with
attention and can be consciously recalled.
Ex. The three stages of memory

• General rule: a memory is implicit if it can affect behavior or mental

processes without becoming fully conscious. Explicit memories always
involve consciousness.
 Studies: implicit vs. explicit
• People with amnesia who read a story once, will read it faster a second
time, showing implicit memory.
• There is no explicit memory though as they cannot recall having seen the text
before

• People with Alzheimer's who are repeatedly shown the word perfume
will not recall having seen it.
• If asked the first word that comes to mind in response to the letters per, they
say perfume readily displaying learning.
Remembering how to ride a
bicycle is an example of
_________ memory

A. Sensory
B. Explicit
C. Implicit
D. Semantic
 Declarative Memory

Declarative memory has two divisions.

Episodic Memory: stores personal events or “episodes”
• storage of things like time and place.
• “Autobiographic”
• “Remember that time when you… “

Semantic Memory: general knowledge, facts and language meaning

• specifically where all the information you “know” is stored.
• “Encyclopedic”
 Long-Term Memory

• Maintenance Rehearsal
• Elaborative Rehearsal
• Schemas
 Rehearsal
maintenance rehearsal

— another memory technique

— information is repeated to keep it from fading while in
working memory
— does not involve active elaboration-assigning meaning to the
information.
 Parallel Distributed
Processing (PDP)
Connectionism AKA Parallel Distributed Processing: hypothetical
model for understanding how we organize information in our
long-term memory.
Stored information is thought to be arranged in a network that
parallels the connections between neurons, and distributed in a
semantic network or conceptual hierarchy
Ex: animal – mammal – dog – poodle – Fifi

These connections are made up of engrams.

 Retrieval Demonstration
In this demonstration, we need 5 volunteers to leave the classroom.
I will invite the first volunteer in and read them a story. They are to
remember as much of it as they can so they can relay it to the next
volunteer. This process will continue until the last volunteer, who
will relay the story back to the class.

Rest of Class: listen for things that stay the same, things that change,
and things that get lost from the story as it is transmitted from
person to person.
 Retrieval Demonstration
There was a Florida woman with a rare form of memory loss in which she had no recollection of her identity.
All she knew was that her headache and her clothes were full of sand.
Temporarily calling herself Jane Doe, she wandered down busy streets in the hope that someone might
recognize her. She looked in newspapers for stories of missing persons that might fit her description.
Eventually Jane went from doctor to doctor seeking to recover her memory. It seemed no one could help
her.
Then Jane discovered a psychiatrist in Miami named Dr. Fugue who specialized in treating memory loss.
When Jane arrived, however, a Dr. Smith informed her that Dr. Fugue had died and that he had just bought
the office for his dentistry practice.
Sad and disappointed, Jane gave up the search for her lost identity and took on the name Janet Jones. Then
one day, a year after her memory loss, Janet came across a eulogy about Dr. Fugue. It described the
psychiatrist as someone who enjoyed time with family, scuba diving, and fishing for marlin. In fact, the
doctor had fallen from a boat in the Florida Keys and was assumed to have drowned on that day one year
ago. The newspaper said a memorial service was to be held that afternoon at the main pier.
Suddenly, Janet was flooded with memories and, realizing her true identity, she rushed to see her family at
the memorial service.
 Retrieval Demonstration
1. What was lost?
2. What was added?
3. Why?

Memory is not like video recording events as they occurred; the retrieval
of memories is subjective, suggestive, and malleable.
• subjective: it depends on your personal perspective/experience
• suggestive: you can plant memories that never occurred or change the
way people remember them
• malleable: they will continue to change over time as new experiences
are added and as you re-imagine the event
 Retrieval Demonstration
1. What was lost?
2. What was added?
3. Why?

Memory is not like video recording events as they occurred; the retrieval
of memories is subjective, suggestive, and malleable.
• subjective:

• suggestive:

• malleable:
 Retrieval

Reconstruction Retrieval Errors

Recognition Retrieval Cues

Recall
 3 basic parts: retrieval
• Retrieval: The locating and recovering of information from memory.
• While some memories return to us in a split second, other seemed to
be hidden deeper, and still others are never “recovered” correctly.
 Retrieval Clues
• Retrieval clues are the search terms we use to activate memory—think of a Google
search. The more specific you are, the better the results will be.
• Some memories are easily remembered, while others are much harder to bring
up. For example, if you draw a blank on a test, it may be a result of the wording on
the test not being the same as the wording you used while studying.
• State-Dependent Memory – we tend to retrieve information better when the
state our mind/body is in is similar to the state it was in when we encoded the
information
• Ex: chewing strawberry flavored gum while studying, then chewing it when
taking test).
• Context-Dependent Memory – we tend to retrieve information better when the
contextual setting we are in is the same or similar to the setting we were in when
encoding the information
• Ex: walking into a room to do something, forgetting why you’ve gone there,
and so going back into the original room to jog your memory).
 Reconstruction
• Reconstruction – Memories are reconstructed, unlike video
recordings.
• They are malleable, subjective, and suggestive (see Loftus studies)
• What is the difference between these two questions a lawyer
might ask in examining a witness:
“Did you see a knife in his hand?”
vs.
“Did you see the knife in his hand?”
Such framing can change the way the witness or jury remembers.
 Recall

Recall – retrieval method in which one must reproduce previously

presented material
Ex. Essay test, police sketch of a suspect

• Retrieving information “from scratch,”

• Requires more reconstruction of the memory.
 Recognition
• Recognition – retrieval method in which one must identify
information that is provided, which has previously been presented
• retrieving memories of objects/events that have been
encountered before and are presented again among
other objects/events
• Multiple-choice tests or a suspect line-up.
• Requires less reconstruction than recall, but with
repeated exposure to alternatives as in a suspect
line-up, one may begin to “recognize” an individual
that was not the original culprit.
 Memory Construction

• We often construct our memories as we encode them, and we

may also alter our memories as we withdraw them
• We infer our past from stored information and what we assume
• By filtering information and filling in missing pieces, our
schemas (understanding of specific settings) direct our memory
construction
• Pseudo-Memories - “false memory syndrome” is recent
discovery in which people will “remember” events in
psychoanalysis that never occurred
Retrieval Errors & Forgetting

Then why do we forget? It was once thought that our memories

decay with time (decay theory).

Now it is mostly thought that our forgetting is due to retrieval

errors – e.g., “tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon” and interference
from other stored information.

Retrieval Errors – responsible for most of our forgetting

 Forgetting
Not all the information you learn will stick in your brain. According to Daniel
Schacter, this is the result of one of the “seven sins of memory:”
Transience
Absent-mindedness
Blocking
Misattribution
Suggestibility
Bias
Persistence
 Forgetting isn’t all bad
• According to Schacter, the “seven sins” are actually a normal part of human
memory, and are the results of adaptive features in our memories.

• According to Schacter, each of the “sins” is for a reason:

• Transience- to prevent memory overload
• Blocking- to focus on task at hand
• Absent-mindedness- ability to shift attention
• Misattribution/bias/suggestibility- to focus on meaning and not
detail
• Persistence- to remember especially emotional memories
 In memory, the breakdown in
the process of retrieval may
cause:

A. Amnesia
B. Forgetting
C. Repression
D. Remembering
 Repressed Memories

• During the 1990s, the idea of repressing painful

memories became a big topic.

• While some psychoanalysts still support the idea of

repressed memories, most psychologists agree that
events that are traumatic are typically etched on the
mind as vivid, persistent, haunting memories.
 Misinformation
• As memory fades with time following an event, the injection of
misinformation becomes easier.
• Misinformation effect: incorporating misleading information
into one’s memory of an event.
• Imagination inflation occurs because visualizing something and actually
perceiving it activate similar brain areas.
• Example: Loftus study in which two groups watch video of car accident;
later, one group is asked at what speed they estimate the car was going
when it “hit” the other car; the other group is asked at what speed
they estimate the car was going when it “smashed into” the other car;
those in second group estimated faster speed.
 Types of Amnesia and Forgetting
• Retrograde amnesia is a form of amnesia where someone will be unable to
recall events that occurred before the development of amnesia.
• Anterograde amnesia is a loss of the ability to create memories after the
event that caused the amnesia occurs
 Two types of forgetting
•Retrograde Amnesia: The inability to remember information
previously stored in memory.
•Anterograde Amnesia: The inability to form memories from new
material.
• As memories form, neurotransmitters collect at the synapses, (before absolute
threshold is crossed). These are called memory traces. A sharp blow to the head, or
electric shock can prevent these traces from consolidating, making it hard to recall
that information.