Memory PPT
Memory PPT
“Shallow,”
unsuccessful
processing
refers to
memorizing the
appearance or
sound of
words.
Effortful Processing Strategies Memorize the following
words:
Making Information bold truck temper
green run drama
Personally Meaningful glue chips knob
hard vent rope
We can memorize a set of instructions more easily if we
figure out what they mean rather than seeing them as set
of words.
Memorizing meaningful material takes one tenth the effort
of memorizing nonsense syllables.
Actors memorize lines (and students memorize poems)
more easily by deciding on the feelings and meanings
behind the words, so one line flows naturally to the next.
The self-reference effect, relating material to ourselves,
aids encoding and retention.
Now try again, but this time, consider how each word
relates to you.
Memory Storage:
Capacity and Location
The brain is NOT like a hard
drive. Memories are NOT in
isolated files, but are in
overlapping neural networks.
The brain’s long-term memory
storage does not get full; it gets
more elaborately rewired and
interconnected.
Parts of each memory can be Karl Lashley (1890-
distributed throughout the brain. 1958) showed that
Memory of a particular rats who had learned
‘kitchen table’ may be a linkage a maze retained parts
among networks for ‘kitchen,’ of that memory, even
‘meal,’ ‘wooden,’ ‘home,’ ‘legs,’ when various small
and ‘sit.’ parts of their brain
were removed.
Memory Processing in The Brain
If memory is stored throughout the brain, how does it
get in there, and how do we retrieve it and use it?
There are different storage and retrieval/activation
systems in the brain for explicit/ declarative memory
and for implicit/ procedural memory.
When emotions become involved, yet another part of
the brain can mark/flag some memories for quicker
retrieval.
The storage occurs by changing how neurons link to
each other in order to make some well-used neural
networks of neurons easier to activate together.
Explicit Memory Processing
Explicit/declarative memories
include facts, stories, and
meanings of words such as the first
time riding a bike, or facts about
types of bicycles.
Retrieval and use of explicit memories,
which is in part a working memory or
executive function, is directed by the
frontal lobes.
Encoding and storage of explicit
memories is facilitated by the
hippocampus. Events and facts are held
there for a couple of days before
consolidating, moving to other parts of
the brain for long-term storage. Much of
this consolidation occurs during sleep.
The Brain Stores Reactions and Skills
Implicit Memory Processing
Implicit memories
include skills, procedures,
and conditioned
associations.
The cerebellum (“little
brain”) forms and stores
our conditioned responses.
We can store a phobic
response even if we can’t
recall how we acquired the
fear.
The basal ganglia, next to the thalamus, controls
movement, and forms and stores procedural memory
and motor skills. We can learn to ride a bicycle even if we
can’t recall having the lesson.
Emotions and Memory
Strong emotions, especially
stress, can strengthen
memory formation.
Flashbulb memories refer
to emotionally intense
events that become
“burned in” as a vivid-
seeming memory.
Note that flashbulb
memories are not as
accurate as they feel.
Vividly storing information
about dangers may have
helped our ancestors
survive.
Emotions, Stress Hormones,
the Amygdala, and Memory
How does intense emotion cause
the brain to form intense
memories? As a result, the memories
1.Emotions can trigger a rise in are stored with more
stress hormones. sensory and emotional
2.These hormones trigger activity details.
in the amygdala, located next to These details can trigger a
the memory-forming rapid, unintended recall of
hippocampus. the memory.
3.The amygdala increases Traumatized people can
memory-forming activity and have intrusive recall that is
engages the frontal lobes and so vivid that it feels like re-
basal ganglia to “tag” the experiencing the event.
memories as important.
Messing with Long-Term Potentiation
Chemicals and shocks that
prevent long-term potentiation
(LTP) can prevent learning and
even erase recent learning.
Preventing LTP keeps new
memories from consolidating
into long-term memories. For
example, mice forget how to
run a maze.
Drugs that boost LTP help mice
learn a maze more quickly and
with fewer mistakes.
Synaptic Changes and Memory
• Experience modifies the • LTP is believed to be the
brain’s neural networks neural basis for learning
• Increased activity in a and memory
particular pathway • Memory boosting drugs
causes them to – increase CREB
strengthen (protein which can
• Long-Term Potentiation switch genes off or on),
(LTP) - an increase in a increase glutamate
synapse’s firing potential
after brief, rapid
stimulation.
Summary:
Types of Memory Processing