MEMORY
 Memory is a constructive process through which we actively
organize and shape information.
 Thinking and memory are flexible and capable of constant
change…this can lead to errors.
Information-Processing Model of Memory
 A model of memory in which information must pass through
discrete stages via the processes of attention, encoding, storage,
and retrieval.
The Study of Memory
 How does information get into memory?
‐ ENCODING
 How is information maintained in memory?
‐ STORAGE
 How is information pulled back out of memory?
‐ RETRIEVAL
Encoding is the organizing of sensory information so the brain can
process it.
 This is the first step in the flow of memory
 Learners must encode information to store it.
If encoding is successful we are able to retrieve the information from
storage.
What did you say?
 Encoding requires attention
 Divided attention during encoding hurts performance on
memory tasks, especially during retrieval.
Divided Attention Exercise
 Listen to the following recipe…
Do You Know the Answers?
1. How many times should you shake the shaker when making a
Cosmopolitan? Shake twice
2. What type of garnish is used to finish a Cosmopolitan? Lime
twist
3. What type (s) of alcohol are used to make a Long Island Ice
Tea? gin, rum, tequila, triple sec, vodka
4. What type of glass is a Long Island Ice Tea served in? Highball
glass
*Information Processing Model suggests that memory is very similar
to a computer
Limitations of the information processing model
 Memories are described as literal, “hard” data stored on a
computer disk or hard drive.
 But human memories are often fuzzy and fragile.
 Also, computers process one piece of data at a time, while
human memory can process a lot of information at the same
time.
Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP)
 The brain performs multiple, parallel operations all at once,
allowing memory is spread (distributed) throughout a network
of processing units
It suggests that memory relies on how deeply we process information.
 By adding meaning, developing organizations and associations,
or relating it to things we already know, it can be stored for a
lifetime.
Maintaining Information in Memory
Three-Stage Memory Model
Storage
 Storage involves maintaining the information available in
memory.
 Whenever people have access to information they no longer
sense, memory is involved.
It’s a memory when…
Example: If you look up a phone number, go to the telephone, and  Material can enter conscious workspace from senses or from
dial the number then memory is involved- even if for only seconds. long-term memory
There are 3 Separate Memory Stores
 Sensory Memory performs the initial encoding of sensory
information for a brief time, usually only a fraction of a
second.
o The sensory memory recodes a complete memory of the
image, but it fades too rapidly for people to “read”
People have a special capacity for briefly retaining relatively large
amounts of information. This capacity is called the Sensory Memory.
Sensory Memory
 Preserves information in its original sensory form for a brief
time – usually only a fraction of second
The working memory has many limitations
 Iconic Memory is a visual icon of the original visual stimulus
 Short-term (working) memory is a limited-capacity store that
o Capacity: 4  2 bits of info.
can maintain unrehearsed information up to 30 seconds
 Echoic Memory is the auditory sensory memory
 Capacity:
o Capacity: about 6 bits of info.
o “The magic number” (George Miller)
Test Your Sensory Memory!
o Humans have the ability to retain 7  2 items of
F P W J
information (in adults).
Y K M A
Why is it that…?
R Z O F
 Phone numbers are 7 digits?
E A B Q
X C S N  Social security numbers are 9 digits?
Working memory is where active thinking occurs.  Commercials use words in the phone numbers?
 Computing solutions to math problems The Serial-Position Effect
 Allows you to comprehend what you are reading  Serial Position Curve
o Indicates the tendency to recall more items from the
 Figure out the meaning of what has just been said to you in a
beginning and end of a list than from the middle.
conversation.
 Both groups of subjects showed primacy effects, good recall of
Functions of Short-Term Memory Working Memory
Term used to describe short-term memory as an active workspace where first items on list.
information is accessible for current use.  Only the no-delay group showed recency effects, good recall
 Baddeley’s model of working memory contains three elements: for last items.
o A “central executive”
o Auditory working memory
o Visuo-spatial working memory
 o Duration: Relatively permanent
 Information can be stored in separate units and some
information can be retrieved without retrieving others
o Tip of the tongue phenomenon (temporarily
inaccessible).
Long-Term Memory Storage
 Procedural Memory
o Stored long-term knowledge of learned habits and
skills.
o Examples are how to drive, ride a bike, tie one’s shoes,
etc.
 People can group information in ways to expand their short-
term memory capacity called “Chunking.”  Declarative Memory
o “Chunking” allows for easier encoding. o Stored long-term knowledge of facts about ourselves
How could you chunk these examples? and the world.
o 18002255288 o Includes both semantic (non-personal) and episodic
o 1 -8 0 0- 2 2 5- 5 2 8 8 (personal) memories.
o 1-800-CALL-ATT Long-Term Memory (Encoding)
o CBSIRSMTVPBSDMV  Subjects were shown lists of words and asked to use one of
o CBS IRS MTV PBS DMV three strategies:
o 1-4-9-2-1-7-7-6-1-9-9-9-2-0-0-5 o Visual: Is the word printed in capital letters?
o 1492-1776-1999-2005 o Acoustic: Does the word rhyme with _____?
How long can this information stay in STM? o Semantic: Does the word fit the sentence _________?
 The more thought involved (elaborative rehearsal), the better
 Memories disappear unless:
was their memory.
o You continually rehearse them.
Elaborative Rehearsal
o They are really meaningful so they get stored quickly
into long-term memory.
 Rehearsal:
o The process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking
about information.
*What do you remember?
Long Term Memory
 An unlimited capacity store that can hold information over
length periods of time
o Capacity: Unlimited
Long-Term Memory (Storage)  The false-fame effect
 Hippocampus: Part of the limbic system that plays a key role o Names presented only once, familiarity but no real
in encoding and transferring new information into long-term memory, assume person is famous
memory.  Eyewitness transference
 Anterograde amnesia o Face is familiar, but situation in which they
o Inability to store new information remembering seeing face is incorrect
 Retrograde amnesia  Unintentional plagiarism
o Inability to retrieve memories from the past. o Take credit for someone else’s ideas without awareness
The Hippocampal Region Forgetting Theories
 Encoding failure
 Interference theories
 Motivated forgetting
 Decay
Forgetting as encoding failure
Info never encoded into LTM

Long-Term Memory (Retrieval)

 Explicit Memory
o The types of memory elicited through the conscious
retrieval of recollections in response to direct questions.
o Conscious retention, direct tests, disrupted by amnesia,
encoded in the hippocampus.
 Implicit Memory
o A nonconscious recollection of a prior experience that
is revealed indirectly, by its effects on performance.
o Nonconscious retention, indirect tests, intact with
amnesia, encoded elsewhere.
Long-Term Memory (Retrieval)
Implicit Memory in Everyday Life
 Déjà vu
o A sense of familiarity but no real memory
Which is the real penny? Types of Interference
 Proactive Interference
The tendency for previously learned material to disrupt the recall of
new information
 Retroactive Interference
The tendency for new information to disrupt the memory of previously
learned material
Motivated Forgetting
Undesired memory is held back form awareness
 Suppression—conscious forgetting
 Repression—unconscious forgetting (Freudian)
Decay Theories
 Memories fade away or decay gradually if unused
Answer
 Time plays critical role
 Ability to retrieve info declines with time after original
encoding

Encoding Failures
Even though you’ve seen thousands of pennies, you’ve probably never
looked at one closely to encode specific features.
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
Amnesia
 Amnesia—severe memory loss
 Retrograde amnesia—inability to remember past episodic
information; common after head injury; need for consolidation
 Anterograde amnesia—inability to form new memories; related
to hippocampus damage