Memory

Processes
Kobe Cahigan
John Del Prado
Rejoy Ferrer
 Memory Processes

• Encoding refers to how you transform a

physical, sensory input into a representation
that can be placed into memory.

• Storage refers to how you store (keep)

encoded information in memory.
• Retrieval refers to how you gain access to
information stored in memory.
Short-term storage refers to the temporary
storage of information in the brain, lasting from a
few seconds to several minutes, before it is either
forgotten or transferred to long-term memory.
"Acoustic code plays a significant role in
encoding."
Long-term storage refers to the retention of
information in the brain for an extended period
of time, potentially lasting years or even a
lifetime, and is essential for the formation of
memories and the development of knowledge and
skills.
Semantic encoding Visual encoding
Motor encoding Spatial encoding
Emotional encoding Acoustics encoding
 Memory Techniques (Mnemonic Devices)
1. Categorical clustering: Grouping related items together into categories
to improve memory recall.
2. Interactive Images: Creating vivid and interactive mental images to help
remember information.
3. Pegword system: Uses rhyming words and mental imagery to aid in
remembering lists of information.
4. Method of loci: Associating information with specific locations in a
familiar environment to create a mental map for memory retrieval.
5. Acronym: Creating a memorable word or phrase from the first letter of
each word in a list to aid in memory recall.
6. Acrostic: Creating a memorable phrase where each letter represents the
first letter of a word in a list to aid in memory recall.
7. Key word system: Associating unfamiliar words with familiar words to
improve memory recall.
 Transfer of Information from Short-Term
Memory to Long-Term Memory
Key Problems
Interference: When one memory disrupts the ability to recall or store
another memory due to similarity or competition for resources.
Decay: When the gradual fading or weakening of a memory trace
occurs over time due to lack of use or consolidation.
Section terms:
Consolidation: The process by which memories are stabilized and
strengthened in the brain after initial encoding, often through a process
of synaptic strengthening and reorganization.
1. Metamemory: Knowledge and awareness of one's own memory
processes, including the ability to monitor, evaluate, and regulate
one's own memory performance.
2. Metacognition: Knowledge and awareness of one's own cognitive
processes, including the ability to monitor, evaluate, and regulate
one's own thinking and problem-solving strategies.
Rehearsal is the process of actively repeating or reviewing
information to maintain it in short-term memory or transfer it to
long-term memory.
Elaborative and Maintenance Rehearsal

Elaborative rehearsal is a memory strategy that involves actively

engaging with new information in a meaningful and elaborative way in
order to improve the likelihood of retaining it in long-term memory.
Maintenance rehearsal is a memory strategy that involves repeating
information in order to keep it in short-term memory for immediate
use.

 The spacing effect is the phenomenon where learning

is more effective when spaced out over time, rather than
crammed into a single session. This means that students
can improve their retention and recall of information by
spacing out their study sessions, rather than trying to
learn everything in one sitting. Ebbinghaus, H. (1885)
 Sleep and memory consolidation

During REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, the

brain consolidates and integrates memories
acquired throughout the day, especially those
related to procedural learning and emotional
experiences. Disruption of REM sleep can impair
memory consolidation, leading to difficulty in
retaining and retrieving newly learned information.

 Neuroscience and Memory consolidation

Rat hippocampal cells were found to be activated during sleep, specifically
during a phase of sleep called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Wilson and
McNaughton (1994).
Participants who slept after learning the task performed better in memory tests
the next day compared to those who stayed awake. Peigneux et al. (2004)
Acetylcholine plays a role in the consolidation of declarative memory during
sleep. Gais and Born (2004)
The hippocampus acts as a rapid learning system (McClelland, McNaughton, &
O’Reilly, 1995)
Learning has a direct effect on the cells of your brain (Sisti, Glass, & Shors, 2007).
Reconsolidation process by which existing memories become temporarily
unstable and vulnerable to change or modification, allowing for the formation of
new associations or the updating of existing ones.
 Organization of memories

Free recall: Memory retrieval process where a person

tries to remember information without any external cues
or prompts.
External memory aids: Any tool or device used to help
remember information, such as a calendar or notes.
Forcing functions: Design elements that make it difficult
to proceed without completing a specific action.
Retrospective memory: The ability to remember past
events, facts, and experiences.
Prospective memory: The ability to remember to perform
a planned action or intention in the future.
 Neuroscience
Different types of memories are stored in different parts of the
brain.
Hippocampus and nearby structures are important for explicit or
declarative memory, which is the conscious recollection of past
events and information.
Procedural memory, which is the memory of how to perform
motor or cognitive tasks, is stored in the basal ganglia,
cerebellum, and motor cortex
In terms of memory processes, the amygdala is involved in the
formation and consolidation of emotional memories.
Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a process in the brain that
strengthens the connections between neurons, which leads to
enhanced communication between them.
 Retrieval
Retrieval from Short-Term Memory
Parallel processing
Refers to the simultaneous handling of multiple operations. As
applied to short-term memory, the items stored in short-term
memory would be retrieved all at once, not one at a time.

Serial processing
Are mental tasks that must be carried out in sequence, one after
another, rather than simultaneously.
 Retrieval
Retrieval from Short-Term Memory

Exhaustive processing
Involves the examination of all items or elements in a set in a fixed
order, one at a time.

Self-terminating serial processing

Stops as soon as the target stimulus is identified, regardless of
how many items are left to be examined.
 Retrieval
Retrieval from Long-Term Memory

Free recall condition

Participants merely recalled as many words as they could in any

order they chose.

Cued recall condition

Participants were tested category by category. They were given
each category label as a cue.
 Retrieval
Retrieval from Long-Term Memory

Availability

Is the presence of information stored in long-term memory.

Accessibility
Is the degree to which we can gain access to the available
information.

 Processes of Forgetting and Memory Distortion

Interference theory

Refers to forgetting that occurs because recall of certain words

interferes with recall of other word.

• Proactive interference

occurs when
old information interferes with new information, while retroactive
interference occurs when new information interferes with old information.
• Retroactive interference

occurs when
newly acquired knowledge impedes the recall

of older material.
 Processes of Forgetting and Memory Distortion
Serial Position curve

Representation of the tendency of people to remember the items

from the beginning (primacy effect) and end (recency effect) of a list

more easily than the items from the middle of the list.

Decay theory

Forgetting occurs due to the natural fading of

memories

over time if they are not used or retrieved.
 The Constructive Nature of Memory

Autobiographical Memory
- refers to memory of an individual's history.

• Self-esteem is important in the formation and recall of

autobiographical memory.
• Positive self-esteem: remember more positive events.
• Negative self-esteem: remember more negative events.

• Flashbulb memory = a memory of an event so powerful that the

person remembers the event as vividly as if it were indelibly

preserved on film.
 Memory Distortions
Seven sins of memory
1. Transience: memory fades quickly.
2. bsent-mindedness
3. Blocking: people sometimes have something that they know they
should remember, but can't.
4. Misattribution: people often cannot remember where they heard
what they heard or read what they read; sometimes people think they
saw/ heard something they did not see/ hear.
 Memory Distortions

5. Suggestibility: if one suggests to another person if they

might have seen something they might think they actually did.

6. Bias: People are often biased in their recall.

7. Persistence: people sometimes remember things as consequential

that are inconsequential.
 The Eyewitness Testimony Paradigm
Children as Eyewitnesses
•The younger the child, the less reliable the testimony can be expected
be.
• When a questioner is coercive or even just seems to want a

particular answer, children can be quite susceptible to providing the

answer the questioner wants to hear.

• Children may believe that they recall observing things that others
have said they observed.
Repressed Memory
• Memories that are alleged to have been pushed down into
unconsciousness because of the distress they cause.

The Effect of Context on Memory

• Moods and states of consciousness also my provide a context

for encoding that affects later retrieval of semantic memories.
The Effect of Context on Memory

• Encoding specificity - how information is encoded has a strong

effect both on how, and on how well, information is retrieved.

• Self-reference effect - when people generate their own cues for

retrieval, they are much more potent than when others.
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