UNIT 7: Memory and Thinking

- NOTES: Memory
○ Refers to the process used to encode, store, and later retrieve
information.
○ It is important in everyday life of a human because it involves the ability
to both preserve and recover information we have learned and
experienced.
○ Memory involved three processes: encoding, storing, and retrieval.

- WHAT I UNDERSTAND:
○ Memory is the process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information in
the conscious part of our brain. It is essential in our life for it involves both the
ability to preserve and recover information that we have experienced and it
involves 3 processes (encoding, storing, and retrieving).

- NOTES: Thinking
○ Is a mental process which allows beings to model the world.
○ It involves the deeply cerebral manipulation of information as we form
concepts, engage in problem-solving, reason, and decision-making.
○ Is a higher cognitive function.

- WHAT I UNDERSTAND:
○ Is a higher cognitive function that involves deeply cerebral manipulation
of information as we form concepts and engage in solving problems and
decision- making.

- NOTES: Cognition
○ It refers to thinking activities such as remembering, paying attention,
learning new things, planning, and making decisions.
○ Some changes in cognition are normal as people get older.

- WHAT I UNDERSTAND:
○ It is a thinking activities that involves remembering, learning new
things, and decision-making.

- NOTES: Cognitive Psychology

○ Focuses on the science of how people think.
○ A branch of psychology that explores a variety of mental processes
including how people think, use language, attend to information, and
perceive their environments.
○ Is also a field of study that tackles our cognitive processes like memory
encoding, storing and retrieval, forgetting, and other neurological disorders.

- WHAT I UNDERSTAND:
○ Is a branch of psychology that focuses on the science of how people
think and their mental processes including remembering, memory
encoding, storing and retrieval, forgetting, and other mental processes.

1.2 THE THREE MEMORY PROCESSES: ENCODING, STORAGE, AND

RETRIEVAL

- NOTES: Encoding
○ The process of acquiring or the initial recording of information.

- NOTES: Storage
○ Storing/saving information.
- NOTES: Retrieval
○ Recovery of stored information.

1.3 THE SYSTEMS OF MEMORY: SENSORY, SHORT-TERM, AND

LONG-TERM MEMORY
- proposed by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968.

1.3.1- NOTES: Sensory Memory

○ The initial, momentary storage of information that lasts only an instant.
○ Types of Sensory Memories: Iconic Memory is an information from
visual system that last less than a second. Echoic Memory stores auditory
information from ears that typically fades within 2 or 3 seconds.
○ It operates as a kind of snapshot that stores information.

- WHAT I UNDERSTAND:
○ Sensory Memory is the former storage of information and it usually last
no more than a seconds. Iconic memory and Echoic memory are one of the
types of sensory memories. The former usually last less than a second while
the latter last 2 to 3 seconds.

1.3.2- NOTES: Short-term Memory

○ Holds information which has meaning for 15 to 25 seconds and stores it
according to its importance rather than sensory stimulation.
○ Most theories referred it as far more active considering it as a working
memory.

- WHAT I UNDERSTAND:
○ Are information that has meaning and being hold for 15 to 25 seconds
and stores it according to importance.

1.3.2.1- NOTES: Working Memory

○ Holds information temporarily while actively manipulating and
rehearsing that information.

- WHAT I UNDERSTAND:
○ Information are being held through rehearsal, and an active workspace
in which information is retrieve and manipulated.

1.3.2.2- NOTES: Chunk (Seven Items)

○ Specific amount of information/grouping of information that can be held
in short- term memory.
○ These chunks when repeatedly utter can be transferred to long-term
memory.

1.3.2.3- NOTES: Rehearsal

○ The process of repeating information that has entered short-term
memory.
○ Rehearsal accomplish two things: 1st as long as the information is
repeated, it maintained in short-term memory. 2nd rehearsal allows the
information to transfer in long-term memory.
○ Elaborative Rehearsal - occurs when the information is considered
and organized in some fashion.
○ Mnemonics - are formal techniques for organizing information in a way
that it is more likely to be remembered.
1.3.3- NOTES: Long-term Memory
○ Information is stored in relatively permanent basis.
○ Semantic Networks - are mental representations of clusters of
interconnected information.

1.4 LONG-TERM MEMORY MODULES

- NOTES: Declarative Memory

○ A memory for factual information such as names, faces, dates, and likes.
○ Semantic Memory - a memory for general facts and knowledge about
the world.
○ Episodic Memory - a memory for events that occur in a particular time,
place, or context.

- NOTES: Procedural Memory

○ A memory for skills and habits, sometimes referred to as non-
declarative memory.

1.5 REMEMBERING AND FORGETTING

- the process of memories that disappear over time is called forgetting.
There are several types of theories in forgetting, such as the
following:

- NOTES: Trace Decay Theory

○ All memories fade automatically as a function of time.
○ Under this theory, you need to follow a certain pathwa, or trace, to recall
a memory.

- NOTES: Interference Theory

○ Recent memories/events are easier to remember than those further in
the past.
○ Transience - refers to the general deterioration of a specific memory
over time.
○ Under this theory, transience occurs because all memories interfere with
the ability to recall other memories.
○ Proactive Interference - occurs when old memories hinder the ability
to make new memories.
○ Retroactive Interference - occurs when old memories are changed by
new ones, sometimes that the original memories are forgotten.

- NOTES: Cue-Dependent Forgetting

○ Also known as retrieval failure, is the failure to recall information in
the absence of memory cues. There are three types of cues to stop such
type of forgetting:
○ Semantic cues - a memory is retrieved because of its association with
another memory.
○ State-dependent cues - governed by the state of mind at the time of
encoding.
○ Context-dependent cues- depend on the environment and situation.

1.6 OTHER TYPES OF FORGETTING

- NOTES: Absentmindedness
○ Occurs when the time of encoding, there is no sufficient attention to
paid to what would later need to recalled.

- NOTES: Blocking
 ○ The brain tries to retrieve or encode information, but another memory
interferes with it.
○ Blocking is a primary cause of the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon.

- NOTES: Amnesia
○ Is a general term for the inability to recall certain memories or the
inability to form new memories.

- NOTES: Amnesia form Brain Damage

○ Typically occurs when there is damage to a variety of regions of the
temporal lobe, causing the inability to recall memories before or after an
event. There are two main forms of amnesia:
○ Retrograde Amnesia - the inability to recall memories made before
the onset of amnesia.
○ Anterograde Amnesia - the inability to create new memories after
the onset of amnesia.

1.7 OTHER TYPES OF AMNESIA

- NOTES: Childhood Amnesia

○ Also called infantile amnesia, is the inability of the adults to retrieve
memories before the age of 2-4.

- NOTES: Neurocognitive Disorders

○ A broad category of brain diseases and often gradual decrease in the
ability to think and recall memories, such that a person’s daily functioning
is affected.
○ Alzheimer’s disease makes up 50% to 70% of cases.

1.8 STRATEGIES OF IMPROVING MEMORY

○ Rehearsal - repetition of information.

○ Chunking - organizing information into manageable bits or chunks.
○ Elaborative Rehearsal - a technique in which you are thinking about
the new information and its relation to old knowledge stored in your
memory.
○ Mnemonic Devices - memory aids that help us organize information
for encoding.

1.9 MODELS OF THINKING

- a mental models is an explanation of how something works and it guides
our perception and behavior. Examples of mental models are the
following:

○ Game Theory - helps you to understand how relationships and trust

works.
○ Entropy - helps you to understand how disorder and decay works.

- NOTES: Problem Solving

○ Is a mental process that involves discovering, analyzing, and problem
solving.
○ Steps in problem-solving:
○ Identifying the problem
○ Defining the problem
○ Forming a strategy
○ Organizing information
○ Allocating resources
○ Monitoring progress
○ Evaluating the results