Chapter 7

Human Memory

Figure 7.1 Nickerson & Adams (1979)

Which is the correct penny?

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Human Memory: Basic Questions

How does information get into memory?

How is information maintained in memory?
How is information pulled back out of memory?
Memory timeline
Short term recent?
Long term remote?
Operational definitions

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Encoding: Getting Information Into

Memory

The role of attention

Focusing awareness
Selective attention = selection of input
Filtering: early or late? F 7.3

Multitasking issues of driving performance and cell

phone use study by Strayer and Johnson (2001)
F 7.4

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Figure 7.4 Divided attention and driving performance Strayer & Johnson (2001)

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Levels of Processing: Craik and

Lockhart (1972)

Incoming information processed at different levels:

Figure 7.5
Deeper processing = longer lasting memory codes
Encoding levels:

Structural = shallow
Phonemic = intermediate
Semantic = deep
Study results Figure 7.6

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XX 7.5

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Figure 7.6 Retention at three levels of processing

Craik & Tulving (1975)

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Enriching Encoding: Improving

Memory

Elaboration = linking a
stimulus to other information at
the time of encoding
Thinking of examples

Visual Imagery = creation of

visual images to represent
words to be remembered
Easier for concrete objects: Dualcoding theory Figure 7.7, Paivio
et al. (1968) >>>>>>>>>>>

Self-Referent Encoding
Making information personally
meaningful

Figure 7.7
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Storage: Maintaining Information in

Memory

Analogy: information storage in computers ~

information storage in human memory
Information-processing theories Atkinson &
Shiffrin (1977)
Subdivide memory into 3 different stores
Sensory, Short-term, Long-term
xx 7.8

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Information-Processing Model of Memory

Computer as a model for our memory

Three types of memory
Sensory memory
Short-term memory (STM)
Long-term memory (LTM)
Can hold vast quantities of information for
many years

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Information-Processing Model of Memory

Retrieval

Stimulus

Sensory
memory

Attention

Forgetting

Short-term
memory

Encoding

Forgetting

Long-term
memory

Forgetting

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Sensory Memory

Stores all the stimuli that register on

the senses
Lasts up to three seconds

Two types

Iconic memory

Sensory
Input

Visual
Usually lasts about 0.3 seconds
Sperlings tests (1960s)

Sensory
Memory

Echoic memory (well come back to

this)

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Sensory Memory

We will take a closer look at the Sperling experiment

Figure 7.9 summarizes his experiment

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Sperlings Experiment

Presented matrix of letters for 1/20 seconds

Report as many letters as possible

Subjects recalled only half of the letters

Was this because subjects didnt have enough time to

view entire matrix?
No

How did Sperling know this?

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Sperlings Iconic Memory Experiment

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Sperlings Iconic Memory Experiment

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Sperlings Iconic Memory

Experiment

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Sperlings Iconic Memory Experiment

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Sperlings Experiment

Sounded low, medium or high tone immediately after

matrix disappeared
Tone signaled 1 row to report
Recall was almost perfect

Memory for images fades after 1/3 seconds or so,

making report of entire display hard to do

High
Medium
Low
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xx 7.9

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We are going to try it on the next

slide.Are you ready

5
4
3
2
1
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What was the last row..

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Sensory Memory

Echoic memory
Sensory memory for auditory input that lasts only 2 to 3
seconds

Why do we need sensory memory?

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Short Term Memory (STM)

Limited capacity magical number 7 plus or minus

2
Limited duration about 20 seconds without
rehearsal
Peterson and Peterson (1959) F 7.10
Rehearsal the process of repetitively verbalizing or
thinking about the information

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Memorize the following list of numbers:

18121941177614922001

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Write down the numbers in order.

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Now, try again

1812

1941

1776

1492

2001

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Short-term Memory

Limited capacity
Can hold 7 2 items for about 20 seconds
Maintenance rehearsal
The use of repetition to keep info in short-term
memory
CHUNK
Meaningful unit of information
Without rehearsal, we remember 4 2 chunks
With rehearsal, we remember 7 2 chunks
Ericsson & Chase (1982)
893194434925021578416685061209488885687727
31418610546297480129497496592280
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xx 7.9

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Short-Term Memory as Working

Memory

STM not limited to phonemic encoding

Loss of information not only due to decay
Baddeley (2001) 4 components of working memory
F 7.11

Phonological rehearsal loop

Visuospatial sketchpad
Executive control system
Episodic buffer

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xxx 7.11

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Long-term Memory

Once information passes from sensory to short-term

memory, it can be encoded into long-term memory

Retrieval

Sensory
Input

Attention
Sensory
Memory

Working or
Short-term
Memory

Encoding
Long-term
memory

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Long-Term Memory: Unlimited

Capacity

Penfields neural
stimulation p. 284
data was reinterpreted
Permanent storage?
Flashbulb memories
Brown and Kulick
(1977) study of
assassinations
Talarico & Rubin
(2003) page 285286 data in F 7.12
9-11 study
Recall through
hypnosis

Debate: are STM and

LTM really different?
Phonemic vs.
Semantic encoding
Decay vs.
Interference based
forgetting

Figure 7.12

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Long-term memory - Encoding

Elaborative rehearsal
A technique for transferring information into long-term
memory by thinking about it in a deeper way

Levels of processing
Semantic is more effective than visual or acoustic
processing
Craik & Tulving (1975)

Self-referent effect
By viewing new info as relevant to the self, we consider that
info more fully and are better able to recall it

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Long-term memory

Procedural (Implicit)
Memories of behaviors, skills, etc.
Demonstrated through behavior

Declarative (Explicit)
Memories of facts
Episodic personal experiences tied to places & time
Semantic general knowledge
Semantic network
Figure 7.14

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How is Knowledge Represented and

Organized
in Memory?
Clustering and Conceptual
Hierarchies F 7.13

Schemas and Scripts Shank & Abelson (1977)

Semantic Networks Collins & Loftus (1975) Figure 7.14

Connectionist Networks and PDP Models McClelland and

colleagues - pattern of activity neuron based model

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Figure 7.14 A semantic network..

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Connectionist Networks and PDP

Models

Parallel distributed processing model

Assumes cognitive processes depend on patterns of
activation in highly interconnected networks

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Retrieval: Getting Information Out of

Memory

The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon a failure in

retrieval
Retrieval cues Brown & McNeil (1966) study resolve
block 57% of the time with first letter of failed to retrieve word

Recalling an event
Context cues Godden & Baddeley (1975) contextdependent memory study with scuba divers
Bartlett memory research War of the Ghosts F 7.15

Reconstructing memories Loftus studies

Loftus & Palmer (1974) Figure 7.16 I: smashed (40.8);
(39.3); bumped (38.1); hit (34.0); contacted (31.8)
control (12%) (broken glass?)

II:

collided
smashed (32%) hit (14%)

Misinformation effect
Source monitoring, reality monitoring
cryptomnesia

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Retrieval

Retrieval

Process that controls flow of information from longterm to working memory store

Explicit memory

The types of memory elicited through the conscious

retrieval of recollections in response to direct
questions

Implicit memory

A nonconscious recollection of a prior experience

that is revealed indirectly, by its effects on
performance

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Retrieval Explicit Memory

Free-recall test

A type of explicit memory task in which a person must

reproduce information without the benefit of external cues

Recognition task

A form of explicit memory retrieval in which items are

presented to a person who must determine if they were
previously encountered

Retrieval failure

Tip-of-the-tongue (Brown & McNeill)

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Forgetting: When Memory Lapses

Ebbinghauss Forgetting Curve F 7.17

Retention the proportion of material retained
F 7.18
Recall
Recognition
Relearning

Hill of reminiscence time frame of remembering

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Seven Sins of Memory Daniel L.

Schacter

Transience loss of
memory over time
Absent Mindedness
breakdown of interface
between attention & memory
Blocking thwarted search
for information to retrieve
Bias influence of current
knowledge and belief on how
we remember our past

Misattribution assigning a
memory to the wrong source
Suggestibility memories
implanted as a result of
leading questions, comments
or suggestions when a
person is trying to recall a
past experience
Persistence repeated
recall of disturbing
information or events that
one may want to forget

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xxx 7.17

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xxx 7.18

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Why Do We Forget?

Ineffective Encoding
Decay theory
Interference theory
Type of material

Figure 7.19
Proactive
Retroactive
Figure 7.20

Figure 7.19

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Forgetting
If we remembered everything, we should on most occasions be
as ill off as if we remembered nothing.
William James
Lack of encoding
Often, we dont even encode the features necessary to
remember an object/event

Decay

Memory traces erode with the passage of time

No longer a valid theory of forgetting
Jenkins & Dallenbach (1924)

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Interference theory

Forgetting is a result of some memories

interfering with others
Proactive interference
Old memories interfere with ability to
remember new memories
Retroactive interference
New memories interfere with ability to
remember old memories
Interference is stronger when material is
similar

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xxx 7.20

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Retrieval Failure

Encoding Specificity
Transfer-Appropriate Processing
Repression and the memory wards - F 7.21
Authenticity of repressed memories?
Memory illusions
Controversy

False memories Roediger & McDermott (1995)

procedure Figure 7.22
Loftus & Pickrells (1995) lost-in-the-mall study

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Forgetting

Repression
There are times when we are unable to
remember painful past events
While there is no laboratory evidence for
this, case studies suggest that memories
can be repressed for a
number of years and
recovered in therapy

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xxx 7.22

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The Physiology of Memory

Biochemistry
Alteration in synaptic transmission
Hormones modulating neurotransmitter systems
Protein synthesis

Neural circuitry
Localized neural circuits
Reusable pathways in the brain
Long-term potentiation changes in postsynaptic neuron

Anatomy

Anterograde and Retrograde Amnesia F 7.24

case of H.M. resection in 1953
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7584970
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/us/05hm.html
Clive Wearing
Figure 7.23 - Cerebral cortex, Prefrontal Cortex, Hippocampus,
Dentate gyrus, Amygdala, Cerebellum
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xxx 7.23

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xxx 7.24

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Are There Multiple Memory Systems?

Figure 7.25
Implicit vs. Explicit
Declarative vs. Procedural
Semantic vs. Episodic
Prospective vs. Retrospective Figure 7.26

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xxx 7.25

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Figure 7.26 Retrospective versus prospective memory

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Improving Everyday Memory

Engage in adequate rehearsal overlearning

Testing effect F 7.27 Roediger & Karpick
(2006)
Serial position effects F 7.28
Distribute practice and minimize interference F 7.29
Emphasize deep processing and transferappropriate processing
Organize information
Encoding specificity vary location of studying
Use verbal mnemonics narrative stories
Figure 7.30 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Use visual mnemonics method of Loci
Figure 7.31
Akira Haraguchi, 60, needed more than
(10/3/2006) 16 hours to recite pi () to 100,000
decimal places, breaking his personal best of
83,431 digits set in 2005.
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Improving Memory

Practice time
Distribute your studying over time

Depth of processing
Spend quality time studying

Verbal mnemonics
Use rhyming or acronyms to reduce the amount of info
to be stored

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Improving Memory
Method of loci
Items to be recalled are mentally placed in familiar
locations
Interference
Study right before sleeping & review all the material
right before the exam
Allocate an uninterrupted chunk of time to one course
Context reinstatement
Try to study in the same environment & mood in which
you will be taking the exam

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Eyewitness Accounts

Use of Eyewitness in court cases Cutler & Penrod

(1995), Loftus (1993)
What did Jennifer See?
Post information distortion
Source confusion
Hindsight bias
Overconfidence

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Your Homework

Read the Chapter

Do the quizzes online
Make sure you are doing you Dream Blog
5 dreams with interpretations

Work on your Dream Collage

Chapter 7 Vocab Cards
Remember that Chapter 7 Test is on Monday(1st
period) and Tuesday(4th period).
If you have questions, please post them on
ORHS AP Psychology
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