The Foundations of Memory

• Memory: the process by which we encode, store, and retrieve

information.
• Encoding: recording information in a form usable to memory.
• Storage: the maintenance of material saved in memory.
• Retrieval: locating material and bringing it into awareness so that it
can be used.
• Memory is built on three basic processes—encoding, storage, and retrieval—that are analogous to a
computer’s keyboard, hard drive, and software to access the information for display on the screen. The analogy
is not perfect, however, because human memory is less precise than a computer.
• In this three-stage model of memory, information initially recorded by the person’s sensory system enters
sensory memory, which momentarily holds the information. The information then moves to short-term
memory, which stores it for 15 to 25 seconds. Finally, the information can move into long-term memory, which
is relatively permanent. Whether the information moves from short-term to long-term memory depends on
the kind and amount of rehearsal of the material that is performed.

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Sensory Memory
• Sensory memory: the initial, momentary storage of information,
lasting only an instant.
• The first storehouse of information.
• Operates as a kind of snapshot that stores information for a brief
moment in time.

• Iconic memory reflects information from the visual system.

• Echoic memory stores auditory information coming from the
ears.
• If sensory memory does not pass into short-term memory, it is
lost for good.
Short-Term Memory
• Short-term memory: Short-term memory (STM) refers to systems that provide
retention of limited amounts of material for a limited time period (seconds).
• cocktail party effect is the phenomenon of the brain's ability to focus one's auditory
attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli, such as
when a partygoer can focus on a single conversation in a noisy room.

• The original model of Baddeley & Hitch was composed of three main components of
working memory:
• the central executive which acts as a supervisory system and controls the flow of
information from and to its slave systems:
The phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad- The phonological loop stores
verbal content, whereas the visuo-spatial sketchpad caters to visuo-spatial data. Both the
slave systems only function as short-term storage centers.
Short-Term Memory
• Short-term memory: memory that holds information for 15 to
25 seconds.
• We can hold up to 7 items, or “chunks,” of information in short-
term memory, with variations up to plus or minus 2 chunks.
• Chunk: a group of separate pieces of information stored as a
single unit in short-term memory.
• For example: P B S F O X C N N A B C C B S M T V N B C can be chunked
as PBS, FOX, CNN, ABC, CBS, MTV, NBC.
. If elaborate rehearsal is done or mnemonics is used, then information is likely to be transferred to long term
memory.
Rehearsal
• Rehearsal: the repetition of information that has entered short-
term memory.
Helps in two things:
• Maintains information in short-term memory when repeated.
1.

• Allows transfer of information into long-term memory.

2.

To increase the likelihood of information in short term memory to get transferred to Longterm memory:

• Elaborative rehearsal occurs when information is considered and

organized in some fashion.
• Mnemonics are strategies for organizing information in a way
that makes it more likely to be remembered.
 Working Memory 1
For instance, it is used while solving multi-step athematic problems.

Short term memory is like an information processing system that manages both new materials gathered from sensory memory and older
material that has been pulled from long term storage. thus, it is also referred to as working memory.
• Working memory: a memory system that holds information temporarily while
actively manipulating and rehearsing that information.
It contains a central executive processor that is involved in reasoning, decision making, and
planning.
It also has three subsystems:
• The visual store;specializes in visual and spatial information
• The verbal store; and holds and manipulates material relating to language (speech, words and numbers)
• The episodic buffer—which contains information that represents events and
occurrences. (things that happen to us)
• Introduced in 2000 as a further subsidiary of the central executive, the episodic buffer
is a temporary multimodal store that combines information from the phonological loop
and visuospatial sketchpad subsystems of working memory with information about
time and order to form and maintain an integrated, detailed representation of a given
stimulus or event that can then be deposited into long-term memory as necessary.
• Working memory is an active “workspace” in which information is retrieved and manipulated and in which
information is held through rehearsal. Working memory includes a central executive processor that coordinates
the visual store, verbal store, and episodic buffer.

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• Source: Adapted from Lexcellent, C. (2019). Human memory and material memory. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.
Working Memory 2

• Working memory allows us to keep information in an active state

so we can do something with it.
• As it processes information, it uses a significant amount of
cognitive resources; and the number of chunks that can be held
and processed is limited.
• The cognitive effort involved can make us less aware of our
surroundings.
• Finally, stress can reduce the capacity of working memory.
Long-Term Memory
• Long-term memory: stores information on a relatively
permanent basis, although it may be difficult to retrieve.
• Almost unlimited capacity.
 Long-Term Memory
• As with short-term memory, long-term memory appears to have
several components.
Long term memory modules include:
names, faces, dates and facts
• Declarative memory refers to factual information; it is
sometimes called explicit memory, and is further subdivided
into: ''A bike has two wheels''
Declarative memory subdivided into: memory
• Semantic memory: for general knowledge; and facts and rules of logic used to deduce other facts
Mumbai is on the Arabian sea
• Episodic memory: for events that occur in a particular time, place, or
context. Our first day at a university

• In contrast with declarative memory, procedural memory refers

to memory for skills and habits. How to ride a bike

• Also referred as nondeclarative memory or implicit memory.

MODULE 20 FIGURE 5

• Long-term memory can be subdivided into several types. What type of long-term memory is involved in your
recollection of the moment you first arrived on your campus at the start of college? What type of long-term
memory is involved in remembering the lyrics to a song, compared with the tune of a song?

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Semantic Networks
• Semantic networks: mental representations of clusters of
interconnected information.
• Activating one memory triggers the activation of related
memories in a process known as spreading activation.
Explicit and Implicit Memory (Pg 217)

• Explicit memory: intentional or conscious recollection of

information. When we try to remember on which body of water is Mumbai located?
• Implicit memory: memories of which people are not consciously
aware. but that can affect subsequent performance and behaviour. Jumping off the track when a speedy
vehicle approaches us
• Can affect subsequent performance and behavior.
Islamophobia
• Closely related to the prejudice and discrimination people can exhibit
without being aware of their underlying beliefs.
Priming is used to study implicit memory. Priming is a phenomenon that occurs when exposure to a word or concept
(called prime) later makes it easier to recall information related to the prime.
• Semantic networks in memory consist of relationships between pieces of information, such as those relating to
the concept of a fire engine. The lines suggest the connections that indicate how the information is organized
within memory. The closer together two concepts are, the greater the strength of the association.

• Source: Adapted from: Lexcellent, C. (2019). Human memory and material memory. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.
Recalling Long-Term Memories
• What causes difficulties and failures in remembering?
What's her name!?
• One common occurrence is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon:
the inability to recall information that one realizes one knows.
• It occurs as a result of the difficulty of retrieving information from
long-term memory.
Memory Tasks
• Retrieval cues are stimuli that allow us to more easily recall information that is
in long-term memory.
• Recall: memory task in which specific information must be retrieved.
• Recognition: memory task in which individuals are presented with a stimulus
and asked whether they have been exposed to it in the past or to identify it
from a list of alternatives.
• Encoding specificity: The principle stating that retrieval of information is
successful to the extent that the retrieval cues match the cues the learner used
during the study phase.
• State-dependent learning: Occurs when aspects of our physical states serve as
retrieval cues for information stored in long-term memory.
Levels of Processing
• Levels-of-processing theory: a theory of memory that
emphasizes the degree to which new material is mentally
analyzed.
• At shallow levels, information is processed merely in terms of its
physical and sensory aspects.
• At the deepest level of processing, information is analyzed in terms of
its meaning.
Autobiographical Memory
• Autobiographical memory: our recollection of our own life
experiences.
• Encompasses episodic memories we hold about ourselves.

• We tend to forget information that is incompatible with the way in

which we currently see ourselves.
• Particular periods of life are remembered more easily than others: In
late adulthood, people tend to best remember the periods in which
they experienced major transitions.
Flashbulb Memories
• Flashbulbs memories: memories of a specific, important, or
surprising emotionally significant event that are recalled easily
and with vivid imagery.
Flashbulb memory dosen't contain every detail and is also often inaccurate as they involve highly emotional events.

Memories that are exceptional and have more personal relevance are easily retrieved. Source amnesia occurs when an
individual has a memory for some material but cannot recall where he/she encountered.

Also, our motivation to remember material when we are exposed to it initially affects how well we can later recall it.

Eg: Many have a flashbulb memory of the 9/11 terrorist attack, which when narrated has inaccuracies and source
amnesia

How accuracy is affected:

. Constructive processes- process in which memories are influenced by the meaning we give to events (our guesses).

First put forward by Fredric Barlett; suggested that people remember information in terms of schemas.

Schemas are organized bodies of information stored in memory that bias the way new information is interpreted, stored
and recalled.
Retrieval Failure

• Tip of the tongue

• Serial Position Curve: The greater accuracy of recall of words or other information early
and late in a list of information than of words or information in the middle of the list.

• The ability to recall information in a list depends on where in the list an item appears.
• Primacy effect: best remembered are items that come early.
• Recency effect: best remembered are items presented late.
Memory in the Courtroom: The Eyewitness on Trial
• Eyewitness identification of suspects, as well as memory of other
details of crimes, is subject to significant errors.
• The sight of a weapon acts like a perceptual magnet, drawing
attention away from other details.
• The specific wording of questions can also lead to errors.
• In some cases, the more confident a witness, the less accurate his or
her recollections are.
Repressed and False Memories
• Repressed memories are apparent recollections of events that
are initially so shocking that the mind pushed them into the
unconscious.
• Freud’s psychoanalytic theory suggests they are hidden for a lifetime
unless triggered by certain circumstances or probing.
• Many such memories may be inaccurate or even wholly false.

• False memory syndrome refers to the creation of inaccurate or

false memories through the suggestions of others.
Forgetting: When Memory Fails
• There are benefits to forgetting.
• Memory failure is essential to remembering important
information.
• Forgetting helps keep unwanted information from interfering with
retrieving information that is wanted.
• Forgetting also permits us to form general impressions and
recollections.
• Forgetting forces our brain to relearn and remember better in the
future.
Why We Forget
• One reason we forget is a failure of encoding.
We may not have paid attention in the first place.
• When material has been encoded, failures may be cases of
decay, interference, or cue-dependent forgetting.
Decay: the loss of information through its nonuse.
• Assumes that memory traces, the physical changes when new
material is learned, simply disintegrate over time.
. Interference- the phenomenon by which information in memory disrupts the recall of other information

Cue-dependent forgetting: occurs when there are insufficient retrieval

cues to rekindle information in memory.
Proactive and Retroactive Interference: The Before and After of
Forgetting
Interference: information in memory disrupts the recall of other
information.
For instance, say a boy learned French in 10th grade and took Spanish in 11th grade. He will face difficulty
recalling the Spanish translation of a word because all he can think of is its French equivalent.
• Proactive interference: information learned earlier disrupts the
recall of materials
newerlearnt
material
later
and progresses in time.
• Retroactive interference: material that was learned later
disrupts the retrieval of information that was learned earlier and
retrogresses in time.
• Proactive interference progresses in time; retroactive
interference retrogresses in time, working backward.
Considering the same case, the boy will have difficulty with a French test because of his recent exposure to
Spanish.
Thus, Retroactive interference can also affect the accuracy of eyewitness memory.
• Proactive interference occurs when material learned earlier interferes with the recall of newer material. In this
example, studying French before studying Spanish interferes with performance on a Spanish test. In contrast,
retroactive interference exists when material learned after initial exposure to other material interferes with the
recall of the first material. In this case, retroactive interference occurs when recall of French is impaired
because of later exposure to Spanish.

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Memory Dysfunctions: Afflictions of Forgetting

• Amnesia: memory loss without other mental difficulties.

• Retrograde amnesia: memory is lost for occurrences prior to a
certain event, but not for new events.
• Anterograde amnesia: memory is lost for events that follow an
injury.