UNIT -4

MEMORY
4.1 Nature of memory
Definition: Memory is the retention of information over time through
encoding, storage and retrieval.

Three phases of memory

Encoding: Getting information into memory is called encoding.

Storage: Retaining information over time and how it is represented in

memory

Retrieval: Taking information out of storage

4.2 Memory encoding

How are memories encoded? Encoding is the way in which information is
processed for storage in memory. For example: When you are listening to a
lecture, watching a movie you are encoding information into memory. Some
information gets into memory virtually automatically, whereas getting other
information in takes effort.

Attention:
To begin the process of memory encoding, we have to attend to
information. Focusing on a specific aspect of experience while ignoring the
others is called selective attention. Attention is selective because the
brain’s resources are limited. All though our brains are efficient, they cannot
attend to everything.

Divided attention also affects memory encoding. It occurs when a person

attends to several things simultaneously. Divided attention can be
detrimental to encoding. Multitasking, which in some cases involves dividing
attention not just between two activities but among three or more may be
the ultimate in divided attention.
 Sustained attention (also called vigilance) is the ability to maintain
attention to a selected stimulus for a prolonged period of time.

Levels of processing

This model of the encoding process, proposed by Fergus Craik and Robert
Lokhart [1972], states that encoding is a continuum from shallow to deep,
with deeper processing producing better memory.

 Shallow processing: The sensory or physical features of stimuli are

analyzed. For instance, we might detect the lines, angles, and counters of
printed word’s letters or detects a sound’s frequency, duration, and
loudness - This takes two forms:

a. Structural processing (appearance) which is when we encode only

the physical qualities of something. E.g. the typeface of a word or how
the letters look.
b. Phonemic processing – This is when we encode its sound.

 Intermediate processing: The stimulus is recognized and given a label.

For example, we identify a four legged, barking object as a dog.
 Deepest processing: Information is processed semantically, in terms of its
meaning. At this deepest level, we make associations, symbolic
characteristics are used. For example: We might associate the barking dog
with a warning of danger or with a good time such as playing fetch with a
pet. The more associations, deeper the processing.

Elaboration:
Elaboration is the extensiveness of processing at any given level. Thinking of
examples of a concept is a good way to elaborate it. Self reference is
another effective way to elaborate information. For example, if the word ‘win’
is on a list of words to remember you might think of last time you won a
 bicycle race. One reason elaboration produces good memory is that it adds
to the distinctiveness of the ‘memory codes’.

Imagery

One of the most powerful ways to make memory distinctive is to use mental
imagery. For many years, psychologists ignored the role of imagery in
memory because behaviour is believed it to be too mentalistic but the studies
of Allan Pavio documented how imagery can improve memory. According to
Paivio’s dual code hypothesis, memory is stored in one of two ways: as a
verbal code [a word or a label] or as an image code. Pavio thinks that the
image code which is highly detailed and distinctive, produces better memory
than the verbal code because the memory for an image is stored both as an
image code and as a verbal code.

4.3 Memory Storag

According to Richard Shiffrin and Richard Atkinson three separate memory

systems are

 Sensory memory
 Short term memory [STM] and
 Long term memory [ LTM]
Sensory memory
The memory system that holds information from the world in its original form
for only an instant not much longer than the brief time it is exposed to the
visual, auditory and other senses. This storage function of the sensory
channels is called the sensory registers.

Echoic memory refers to auditory sensory memory, which is retained for up

to several seconds.

Iconic memory refers to visual sensory memory which is retained only for
about ¼ of a second.

The first scientific research on sensory memory focused on iconic memory.

The first experiments exploring this form of sensory memory were conducted
by George Sperling (1960) using the "partial report paradigm." Subjects were
presented with a grid of 12 letters, arranged into three rows of 4. After a brief
presentation, subjects were then played either a high, medium or low tone,
cuing them which of the rows to report. Based on these partial report
experiments, Sperling was able to show that the capacity of sensory memory
was approximately 12 items, but that it degraded very quickly (within a few
hundred milliseconds). Because this form of memory degrades so quickly,
participants would see the display, but be unable to report all of the items (12
in the "whole report" procedure) before they decayed. This type of memory
cannot be prolonged via rehearsal.

Short term memory

Short term memory is a limited capacity memory system in which information
is usually retained for only as long as 30 seconds unless strategies are used
to retain it longer. The limited capacity of short term memory was examined
by George Miller [1956] in a classic paper, “the Magical Number Seven,
plus or minus Two”. Miller observed that on many tasks individuals are
limited in how much information they can keep track of without external aids.
Usually the limit is in the range of 7+_2 items. The most widely cited example
f the 7+_2 phenomenon involves memory span, which is the number digits an
individual can report back in order after a single presentation.
Chunking and rehearsal: Two ways to improve short term memory are
chunking and rehearsal. Chunking involves grouping, or packing, information
that exceeds the 7+-2 memory span into higher order units that can be
remembered as single units. Chunking is a form of memory encoding:
specifically, elaboration. It works by making large amounts of information
more manageable.

Another way to improve short-term memory involves rehearsal, the

conscious repetition of information. Information stored in short-term memory
lasts half a minute or less without rehearsal.

Just going over and over what is to be remembered is called maintenance

rehearsal. It does not necessarily succeed in transferring it to LTM.

Rehearsal which involves giving the material organization and meaning as it

is being rehearsed is called elaborative rehearsal. It is an active rehearsal
process, not just the passive process of repetition.

However, if rehearsal is not interrupted, information can be retained

indefinitely. Rehearsal is often verbal, giving the impression of a private inner
eye. Rehearsal works best when we need to briefly remember a list of items.

Working memory: British psychologist Alan Baddeley proposed the

concept of working memory, a three part system that temporarily holds
information as people perform cognitive tasks. Working memory is a kind of
mental “workbench” on which information is manipulated and assembled to
help us comprehend language, make decisions, and solve problems.

Baddeley shows three components of working memory.

The phonological loop:the phonological loop is specialized to briefly store

information about the sounds of language. The phonological loop contains an
acoustic code, which decays in a few seconds, and a rehearsal function,
which allows individuals to repeat the words in the phonological loop.

Visuospatial working memory: it stores visual and spatial information,

including visual imagery. visuospatial working memory also has been called
the visuospatial scratch pad.as in the case of the phonological loop, the
capacity of visuospatial working memory is limited. The phonological loop and
visuospatial memory function independently.
The central executive: This integrates information not only from the
phonological loop and visuospatial working memory but also from long term
memory. In Baddeley’s view the central executive plays important roles in
attention, planning and organization. The central executive acts much like a
supervisor who monitors which information deserves attention and which
should be ignored. It also selects which strategies to use to process
information and solve problems.

Long term memory

Long term memory is a relatively permanent type of memory that stores
huge amounts of information for a long time. At the top level, it is divided into
substructures of explicit memory and implicit memory. In simple terms, explicit
memory has to do with remembering who, what, where, when, and why;
implicit memory has to do with remembering how. Explicit memory can be
further subdivided into episodic and semantic memory and distinguished as
either retrospective or prospective memory. Implicit memory includes the
systems involved in procedural memory, priming, and classical conditioning.

Explicit memory: The conscious recollection of information, such

as specific facts or events and, at least in humans, information that can
be verbally communicated.

 Episodic memory: The retention of information about the where

and when of life’s happenings.
 Semantic memory: A person’s knowledge about the world.
 Retrospective memory: Remembering information from the past
is called retrospective memory.
 Prospective memory: This involves remembering information
about doing something in the future. It includes memory for
intentions. Prospective memory includes both timing-when we
have to do something and content-what we have to do.

Implicit memory: Memory in which behaviour is affected by prior

experience without that experience being consciously recollected.

 Procedural memory: Memory for skills

  Priming: A type of implicit memory; information that people already
have in storage is activated to help them remember new
information better and faster.

4.4 Memory retrieval

Serial position effect: The tendency for items at the beginning and at
the end of a list to be recalled more readily than items in the middle of the
list.

a. The primacy effect: The primacy effect refers to better recall for items
at the beginning of a list.
b. The recency effect: It refers to better recall for items at the end of the
list.

Retrieval cues and retrieval task

Retrieval: The memory process of taking information out of storage.

Recall: a memory task in which the individual must retrieve previously

learned information.

Recognition: a memory task in which the individual only has to identify

learned in which the individual only has to identify learned items when they
are presented.

Encoding specificity: Another consideration in understanding retrieval is

the amount of information present at the time of encoding or learning that
can serve as a retrieval cue. The more elaboration you use in encoding
information, the better your memory of the information will be.

Context and state: In many instances, people remember better when they
attempt to recall information in the same context in which they learned it, a
process referred to as context-dependent memory. This is believed to occur
because they have encoded features of the context in which they learned the
information along with the information. Such features can later act as
retrieval cues.
 Similarly, internal states can influence memory. People tend to remember
information better when their psychological state or mood is similar at
encoding and retrieval, a process referred to as state-dependent memory.

Priming: priming is a form of implicit memory that is nonconscious.

Tip of the tongue phenomenon: it occurs when people are confident that
they know something but can’t quite pull it out of memory. The TOT state
arises because a person can retrieve some of the desired information but
not all of it.

4.5 Forgetting
Encoding failure: encoding failure occurs when the information never
entered into long-term memory.

Retrieval failure: the causes of retrieval failure include the following

problems:

 Interference: According to interference theory, people forget not

because memories are lost from storage but because other
information gets in the way of what they want to remember.
 Pro active interference: A disruption of memory that occurs when
material learned earlier interferes with the recall of material learnt
later. Example:
Pro means ‘forward’ in pro active interference old information has a
forward influence by getting in the way of new material learned.
 Retroactive interference: A disruption of memory that occurs
when material learnt later interferes with the retrieval of information
learnt earlier. Example: Retro means ‘backward’. Here, new
information has a backward influence by getting in the way of
material learnt earlier.
 Decay and transience:
Another possible reason for forgetting is the passage of time.
Decay is the disintegration of the neuro chemical memory
trace that was formed when something new was learned.
Memory researcher Daniel Schater refers to the forgetting that
occurs with the passage of time as transience.
 Motivated forgetting: Sigmund Freud stated the principle
underlying motivated forgetting is repression. Repression refers to
the tendency of people to have difficulty retrieving anxiety-provoking
or threatening information, and what is associated with that
information, from long term memory. People sometimes deliberately
forget something because it is so painful or anxiety-laden that
remembering is intolerable. This type of forgetting may be a
consequence of the sort of personal emotional trauma that occurs in
victims of rape or physical abuse, in war veterans, or in survivors of
earthquakes. These emotional traumas may haunt people for many
years unless they can put the details out of their minds. Even when
people have not experienced trauma, they may use motivated
forgetting to protect themselves from memories of painful, stressful,
and unpleasant circumstances. One form of motivated forgetting is
repression. In the psycho dynamic view, unpleasant memory is
repressed into our unconscious minds, and we no longer are aware
of them.

Biological Amnesias : This is a profound memory problem with no loss

of consciousness. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been
divided into the "organic" or the "functional". Organic causes include
damage to the brain, through physical injury, neurological disease or the
use of certain (generally sedative) drugs. Functional causes are
psychological factors, such as mental disorder, posttraumatic stress or,
in psychoanalytic terms, defense mechanisms. Amnesia may also
appear as spontaneous episodes, in the case of transient global
amnesia.
Anterograde amnesia: Inability to encode and store new information.
A person may find themselves constantly forgetting information, people
or events after a few seconds or minutes, because the data does not
transfer successfully from their conscious short-term memory into
permanent long-term memory (or possibly vice versa).
Retrograde amnesia, which involves memory loss for a segment of the
past but not for new events. The person may be able to memorize new
things that occur after the onset of amnesia (unlike in anterograde
amnesia), but is unable to recall some or all of their life or identity prior
to the onset.
 This type frequently occurs when the brain is assaulted by an electrical
shock or a physical blow such as head injury. The key differences
between the two types of amnesia are whether the forgotten information
is old or new and how the amnesia affects the person’s ability to acquire
new memories. Sometimes, individuals with amnesia have both types.

4.6 Memory and study strategies

Encoding Strategies
 Be a good time manager and planner.
 Pay attention and minimize distraction
 Understand the material rather than rotely memorize it
 Ask yourself questions
 Take good notes
 Summarizing
 Outlining
 Concept maps
 The Cornell method
 Note reviews

 Use mnemonic strategies: Mnemonics (the initial “m” is silent)

are clues of any kind that help us remember something, usually by
causing us to associate the information we want to remember with
a visual image, a sentence, or a word.
Common types of mnemonic devices include:
1.Visual images - a microphone to remember the name “Mike,” a
rose for “Rosie.” Use positive, pleasant images, because the brain
often blocks out unpleasant ones, and make them vivid, colorful,
and three-dimensional — they’ll be easier to remember.
2. Sentences in which the first letter of each word is part of or
represents the initial of what you want to remember. Millions of
musicians, for example, first memorized the lines of the treble staff
with the sentence “Every good boy does fine” (or “deserves favor”),
representing the notes E, G, B, D, and F. Medical students often
 learn groups of nerves, bones, and other anatomical features
using nonsense sentences.
3. Acronyms, which are initials that creates pronounceable words.
The spaces between the lines on the treble staff, for example, are
F, A, C, and E: FACE.
4. Rhymes and alliteration: remember learning “30 days hath
September, April, June, and November”? A hefty guy named
Robert can be remembered as “Big Bob” and a smiley coworker as
“Perky Pat” (though it might be best to keep such names to
yourself).
5. Jokes or even off-color associations using facts, figures, and
names you need to recall, because funny or peculiar things are
easier to remember than mundane images.
6. “Chunking” information; that is, arranging a long list in smaller
units or categories that are easier to remember. If you can reel off
your Social Security number without looking at it, that’s probably
because it’s arranged in groups of 3, 2, and 4 digits, not a string of
9.
7. “Method of loci”: This is an ancient and effective way of
remembering a lot of material, such as a speech. You associate
each part of what you have to remember with a landmark in a
route you know well, such as your commute to work.

Storage strategies
 Organize your memory
 Spread out and consolidate your learning

Retrieval strategies
 Use good retrieval cues
 Use the PQ4R Method