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Geri Lavrov / Photographer's Choice / Getty Images Studying Memory Building : Memory Retrieval: Getting Information Out Memory Construction Errors Improving Memory Studying Memory

An information-processing model Studying Memory

Memory Persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information

Information-processing models Used to help us think about how the brain forms and retrieves memories Encoding Process of getting information into the memory system Storage Process of retaining encoded information over time Retrieval Process of getting information out of memory storage An Information-Processing Model

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968): Three stages 1. We first record to-be-remembered information as a fleeting . 2. From there, we process information into short-term memory, where we encode it through rehearsal. 3. Finally, information moves into long-term memory for later retrieval.

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s classic three-step model helps us to think about how memories are processed, but today’s researchers recognize other ways long- term memories form. For example, some information slips into long-term memory via a “back door,” without our consciously attending to it (automatic processing). And so much active processing occurs in the short- term memory stage that many now prefer to call that stage .

A MODIFIED THREE-STAGE INFORMATION-PROCESSING MODEL OF MEMORY Information-Processing

• Working memory • Processes important, focused information • Makes sense of new input • Links with long-term memory • Uses a central executive (Baddeley) WORKING MEMORY

Alan Baddeley’s (2002) model of working memory, simplified here, includes visual and auditory rehearsal of new information. Part of the brain functions like a manager, a central executive focusing and pulling information from long-term memory to help make sense of new information.

What two new concepts update the classic Atkinson-Shiffrin three-stage information processing model? What are two basic functions of working memory? Building Memories: Encoding

Our two-track memory system Automatic processing and implicit memories Effortful processing and explicit memories

Building Memories: Encoding

Our two-track memory system Explicit memories (declarative memories) of conscious facts and experiences encoded through conscious, effortful processing Implicit memories (nondeclarative memories)that form through automatic processes and bypass the conscious encoding track Building Memories: Encoding Automatic processing and implicit memories Implicit memories include automatic skills and classically conditioned associations Information is automatically processed about Space Time Frequency Effortful processing and explicit memories With experience and practice, explicit memories become automatic Sensory memory

What is sensory memory? • First stage in forming explicit memories • Immediate, very brief recording of sensory TOTAL —BRIEFLY When information in the George Sperling (1960) flashed a memory system group of letters similar to this for one- • : Picture- twentieth of a second, people could recall only about half the letters. But image memory when signaled to recall any one row • : Sound immediately after the letters had memory disappeared, they could do so with near-perfect accuracy. Capacity of Short-Term and Working Memory

Short-term memory Activated memory that holds a few items briefly (such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing) before the information is stored or forgotten Working memory Newer understanding of short-term memory that stresses conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory Capacity of Short-Term and Working Memory

Short-term memory George Miller (1956) Magical Number Seven: People can store about seven bits of information (give or take two) Baddeley and colleagues ( 1975) Without distraction, about seven digits or about six letters or five words Working memory Capacity varies by age and distractions at the time of memory tasks SHORT-TERM MEMORY DECAY

Unless rehearsed, verbal information may be quickly forgotten (From Peterson & Peterson, 1959; see also Brown, 1958.) Building Memories: Encoding

Effortful processing strategies Chunking: Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically : Memory aids, especially techniques that use vivid imagery and (From Hintzman, 1978.) organizational devices Peg-word system Building Memories: Encoding

Spaced study and self-assessment Spacing effect: Encoding is more effective when it is spread over time Distributed practice: Produces better long-term recall Massive practice: Produces speedy short term learning and feelings of confidence Repeated self-testing (testing effect) effect: Encoding is very effective

Building Memories: Encoding

Making new information meaningful Spaced practice is most effective when new information is meaningful Ebbinghaus Estimated that, compared with learning nonsense material, learning meaningful material required one- tenth the effort Which strategies are better for long term retention: cramming and rereading material, or spreading out learning over time and repeatedly testing yourself? Memory Storage

Retaining information in the brain Synaptic changes

Memory Storage: Retaining Information in the Brain Past research Whole past is contained in memory—waiting to be relived Newer findings Flashbacks during surgery are new creations of a stressed brain Information is not stored in a single, specific spot , language, and more require brain networks

Explicit- Memory System: and Frontal Lobes The brain registers and temporarily stores event aspects in the hippocampus

Memories then migrate for storage in process

Roger Harris / Science Source Right and left frontal lobes store different information THE HIPPOCAMPUS Explicit The hippocampus and the memories for facts and episodes are brain cortex display processed in the hippocampus and fed rhythmic patterns of to other brain regions for storage. activity during sleep Retaining Information in the Brain

system: Cerebellum and basal ganglia The cerebellum plays an important role in forming and storing memories created by Memories of physical skills are also implicit memories Basal ganglia help form memories for these skills

Infantile Conscious memory of the first three years is blank Command of language and a well-developed hippocampus are needed Review Key Memory Structures in the Brain

Frontal lobes and hippocampus: formation Cerebellum and basal ganglia: implicit memory formation Amygdala: -related memory formation

Which parts of the brain are important for implicit memory processing, and which parts play a key role in explicit memory processing?

Your friend has experienced brain damage in an accident. He can’t remember anything told to him during a conversation. What’s going on here? Retaining Information in the Brain

Excitement or stress trigger hormone production and provoke the amygdala to engage memory Emotions often persist with or without conscious awareness Flashback memories occur via emotion-triggered hormonal changes and rehearsal Synaptic Changes

Long-term potentiation (LTP) Increase in a synapse’s firing potential After LTP, the brain will not erase memories Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory Kandel and Schwartz (1982) Pinpointed changes in sea slugs’ neural connections With learning more serotonin is released and cell efficiency increased—number of synapses increase Our Two Memory Systems Which brain area responds to stress hormones by helping to create stronger memories?

The neural basis for learning and memory, found at the synapses in the brain’s memory connections, results from brief, rapid . It is called ______.

Retrieval: Getting Information Out

Measuring retention Retrieval cues Retrieval: Getting Information Out

Three types of evidence indicate memory retention Recall Recognition Relearning EBBINGHAUS’ RETENTION CURVE

The more times Ebbinghaus practiced a list of nonsense syllables on day 1, the less practice he needed to relearn it on day 2 Speed of relearning is one way to measure whether something was learned and retained (From Baddeley, 1982.) Multiple-choice questions test our a. recall. c. relearning. b. recognition. d. sensory memory.

Fill-in-the blank questions test our ______.

If you want to be sure to remember what you’re learning for an upcoming test, would it be better to use recall or recognition to check your memory? Why? Retrieval: Getting Information Out

Memory retrieval Memories are held in storage by a web of associations Retrieval cues serve as anchor points for pathways to memories suspended in this web Activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory Retrieval Cues

PRIMING—AWAKENING ASSOCIATIONS After seeing or hearing rabbit, we are later more likely to spell the spoken word as h-a-r-e

Associations unconsciously activate related associations

This process is called priming (Adapted from Bower, 1986.) Retrieval Cues

Context effects Priming memory is often helped by returning to the context of the experience State-dependent memory There is a tendency to recall events consistent with current good or bad mood (mood-congruent memory) Serial position effect There is a tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list The Effects of Context on Memory

Alexis Rosenfeld / Science Source

Words heard underwater were best recalled underwater; words heard on land were best recalled on land. (Adapted from Godden & Baddeley, 1975.) What is priming?

When we are tested immediately after viewing a list of words, we tend to recall the first and last items best, which is known as the ______effect. Forgetting

Forgetting and the two-track mind Encoding failure Storage decay Retrieval failure

Forgetting and the Two-track Mind

Humans have two distinct memory systems, controlled by different parts of the brain

Forgetting has several causes Newscom / Encoding failure ZUMApress / Storage decay

Gibbins Retrieval failure John STUDYING A FAMOUS BRAIN Jacopo Interference Annese and of California are preserving ’s brain for the benefit of future generations. Their careful work will result in a freely available online Let’s look more closely at these brain atlas. causes. Forgetting: Encoding and Storage Decay

Encoding failure Age: Encoding lag is linked to age-related memory decline Attention: Failure to notice or encode contributes to memory failure Storage decay Course of forgetting is initially rapid, and then levels off with time Physical change in the brain occur as memory forms (memory trace)

We cannot remember what we have not encoded.

FORGETTING AS ENCODING FAILURE The For Spanish Learned In School

/ Photo Edit Aron Bill

Compared with others just completing a Spanish language-learning course, people 3 years out of the course remember much less. Compared with the 3- year group, however, those who studied Spanish even longer ago did not forget much more. (Adapted from Bahrick, 1984.) Forgetting: Retrieval Failure

Reason for failure Events and memories are not available because they were never acquired Memories have been discarded due to stored memory decay Insufficient information to access memories make these out of reach Reason for failure • Events and memories are not available because they were never acquired • Memories have been discarded due to stored memory decay • Insufficient information to access memories make these out of reach

RETRIEVAL FAILURE Forgetting

Interference Proactive: Occurs when older memory makes it more difficult to remember new information Retroactive: Occurs when new learning disrupts memory for older information

Motivated forgetting Freud: Repressed memories protect self-concept and minimize anxiety Today: Attempts to forget are more likely when information is neutral, not emotional People forgot more when they RETROACTIVE stayed awake and experienced other new material. (From INTERFERENCE Jenkins & Dallenbach, 1924.) WHEN DO WE FORGET?

• Forgetting can occur at any memory stage

• As we process information, we filter, alter, or lose much of it What are three ways we forget, and how does each of these happen? Memory Construction Errors

Misinformation and imagination effects Source amnesia Recognizing false memories Children’s eyewitness recall Repressed or constructed memories of abuse? Memory Construction Errors

Memory is not exact Proactive interference: Disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information Retroactive interference: Disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

7-17 How do misinformation, imagination, and source amnesia influence our memory construction? How do we decide whether a memory is real or false?

Memory Construction Errors

Misinformation and imagination effects occurs when a memory has been corrupted by misleading information Imagination effect occurs when repeatedly imaging fake actions and events can create false memories MEMORY CONSTRUCTION

In this experiment, people viewed a film of a car accident (left). Those who later were asked a leading question recalled a more serious accident than they had witnessed. (From Loftus, 1979.)

Memory Construction Errors

Source amnesia Involves faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined Déjà vu Sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Suggests cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience Recognizing False Memories

Children’s eyewitness recall Ceci and Bruck Researchers studied the effect of suggestive interviewing techniques 58 percent of preschoolers produced false stories about one or more unexperienced events Children often accurately recall events and actors Neutral person Nonleading questions soon after event containing words children can understand

Repressed or Constructed Memories of Abuse?

Challenges related to adult recognition of childhood abuse: People do not believe abuse survivors Innocent people are falsely accused Repressed or Constructed Memories of Abuse?

Those committed to protecting abused children and those committed to protecting wrongly accused adults have agreed on the following: Sexual abuse happens Injustice happens Forgetting happens Recovered memories are commonplace Memories of things happening before age 3 are unreliable Memories “recovered” under hypnosis are especially unreliable Memories, whether real or false, can be emotionally upsetting Improving Memory

What do you do to improve your memory and increase your success in this course?