Psychology 1000

Chapter 7:
Memory:
Constructing and
Reconstructing our Pasts
Outline
 How memory operates

 The three processes of memory

 Biology of memory

 Development of memory

 False memories
How Memory Operates:
The Memory
Assembly Line
 The
retention of
information
over time E M O R Y
The Reconstructive Nature of Memory
Memories can be
surprisingly accurate over
very long periods of time,
but tend to be
reconstructive rather than
reproductive.
Memory
 Our memories are surprisingly
good in some situations, and
surprisingly bad in others
 The paradox of memory

 Like melting wax than

hardened metal - often
change over time
Reconstructive Memory

 When remembering, we actively reconstruct memories,

not passively reproduce them

 Remembering yourself taking a walk

 So how can we explain this?

The Three-Memory Model
Sensory Memory
Brief storage of perceptual
information before it is passed
to short-term memory
• Iconic memories:
 Visual

 Last for about a second

• Echoic memories:
 Auditory

 Last as long as 5-10

seconds
MASKING
The sensory register holds visual information very
briefly. Information that is not “selected” for further
processing is lost. This can happen for various
reasons, including a process called masking—a
process whereby interfering information presented
before and/or after target information can make it
difficult to remember.
Short-Term Memory
Memory system that
retains information for
limited durations
 Closely
related to working
memory
 Duration: Probably no
longer than about 20
seconds
Memory Loss from Short-Term Memory
Decay:
Fading of information
from memory over time

MEMORY
 Memory Loss from Short-Term Memory

Proactive
Retroactive
Interference
Information Information
Interference
learned EARLIER learned LATER
interferes with interferes with
information information
learned LATER learned EARLIER

 Both are more likely to occur when old and new stimuli are similar
Short-term Memory
 The span of STM in adults is 7 + 2 pieces
of information

 Can extend our STM span by using

chunking

KACFJNABISBCFUI
vs.
N H L P E I C B C N BAM LA
Chunking
1 2 3  Organization of
information into
meaningful
F B I groupings
 Allows us to
1 extend the span of
short-term memory

FBI
Rehearsal

Repeating information to
extend the duration of
retention in short-term
memory
 Maintenance: Repeating
 Elaborative: links stimuli
to each other in a
meaningful way
Levels of Processing
SHALLOW
Visual Elaborative is usually
processing
more effective than
Phonological maintenance rehearsal
processing
(sound)
The more deeply we
Semantic process information, the
processing
better we tend to remember
it.

DEEP
Depth of Processing

ALL PEOPLE CREATE

THEIR OWN MEANING OF
LIFE
 Long-Term Memory
Relatively enduring retention
of information stored regarding
our facts, experiences, and
skills
Capacity:
Huge
Duration:
From minutes
to years
Long-Term Memory Retention

The classic work of

Harry Bahrick (1984)
shows that retention
of a foreign language
remains remarkably
constant for spans of
almost 50 years after
an initial drop.

Permastore: Type
of long-term memory
Source: Bahrick, 1984
that appears to be
permanent
Primacy and Recency Effects
Predicting What We Remember

 Primacy effect shows up in remembering stimuli that

were presented first (LTM)
 Recency effect shows up in remembering stimuli that
were presented most recently (STM)
 Also more likely to remember stimuli that are odd or
distinctive (von Restorff effect)
Typical Serial Position Curve
Types of Long-Term Memory
Subtypes of Explicit Memory
Semantic memory:
Our knowledge of facts
about the world
lu lu
Hono
Subtypes of Explicit Memory
Episodic memory:
Recollection of
events in our lives
Subtypes of Implicit Memory
Implicit memory is recalling information
that we don’t remember deliberately
- Unlocking our front door
- Tying our shoelaces
- Riding a bike
- Includes habituation, classical
conditioning, and other forms of
learning
Types of Implicit Memory

 Procedural memory refers to motor

skills and habits
 Riding a bicycle, touch typing

 Priming is our ability to identify a

stimulus more easily or more quickly
after we’ve encountered similar stimuli
The Three Processes of
Memory
Three Processes of Memory

Encoding

Retrieval Storage
Three Processes of Memory
The process of remembering is
similar in some ways to the process of
filing and fetching a library book.
Encoding

 Process of getting information into our memory

banks
 To encode it, we must first attend to it

 Most events we experience are never

encoded in the first place

 The next-in-line effect and memory for

common objects
Mnemonics: Valuable Memory Aids
A learning aid, strategy or
device that enhances recall Red
Orange
Example: Yellow
 ROYGBIV Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
 OCEAN: Personality Traits
Types of Mnemonics
• Pegword method (uses rhyming,
e.g., 654383 - One is a bun….Two
is a shoe….Three is a tree….Four
is a door….Five is a hive…..Six is
sticks…..Seven is heaven….Eight is
a gate)

 Method of loci (place imagery)

 Keyword method (language

learning, reminder words, e.g.,
pasto (grass) - pasta)
Storage
 How we store our experiences in memory
depends on our interpretations and
expectations of them

 Schemas are organized knowledge structure or

mental model that we’ve stored in memory

 What happens when you go to a restaurant? -

Script
Schemas
 Schemas give us frames of reference and allow us to
interpret new situations

 Scripts, Categories

 Automatic process

 Useful, but tend to oversimplify information

 Affects what information we notice, think about, and later
remember (like a filter)

 Strong example of why the paradox of memory exists

Retrieval

Reactivation or
reconstruction of
experiences from our
memory stores
 Retrieval cues
Measuring Memory

3Rs

Recall:
Generating previously
remembered information
Measuring Memory
Recognition:
Selecting previously
remembered information
from an array of options
Measuring Memory
Relearning:
Reacquiring knowledge that
we’d previously learned but
largely forgotten over time

Savings: Studied something,

takes less time to re-learn
Ebbinghaus’s Curve of Forgetting

Distributed versus massed practice: Tend to remember things

better long-term when learning spread over long intervals than when
packed into short intervals.
 Helpful Study Hints Derived from
Memory Research
MEMORY CONCEPT POINTER

1. Distributed versus massed study Spread your study time out—review your notes and text in
increments rather than cramming.

2. Testing effect Test yourself frequently on the material you’ve read.

3. Elaborative rehearsal Connect new knowledge with existing knowledge rather

than simply memorizing facts or names.

4. Levels of processing Work to process ideas deeply and meaningfully—avoid

writing notes down word for word from instructors’ lectures
or slides. Try to capture the information in your own
words.

5. Mnemonic devices The more reminders or cues you can connect from your
knowledge base to new material, the more likely you are
to recall new material when tested.
Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

Experience of
knowing that we know
something but being
unable to access it

When people believe

that something is on the
tip of their tongues,
they’re frequently right
Encoding Specificity

 We are more likely to remember something when the

conditions present at the time we encoded it are also
present at retrieval

 Two kinds: context-dependent learning and state-

dependent learning
Context-Dependent Learning
State-Dependent Learning
Superiorretrieval of memories
when the organism is in the
same physiological or
psychological state as it was
during encoding
 Mood-dependent learning
The Biology of Memory
Long-Term Potentiation

Gradual strengthening
of the connections
among neurons from
repetitive stimulation
 Enhances release of
Glutamate in synaptic
cleft
 Key role in the
formation of memories
and memory storage
Emotional Memory
Amygdala: helps us
recall fear associated
with scary experiences
Hippocampus: helps
us recall the
experiences themselves
Amnesia
a de gr a de
gr o
Retro Anter
 Lossof memories  Inability
to encode
from our past new memories
from our
experiences
 More common than
retrograde
Case Study
 H.M.:
 Surgery to treat severe epilepsy: Chunks of temporal
lobes, including both hippocampi, were removed

 Experienced mild retrograde and severe anterograde

amnesia, but implicit memory improvements
Alzheimer’s Disease
 Memory loss begins
with recent events.

 Memories of events of
the distant past are
typically the last to go.

 The disease is marked

by loss of synapses and
acetylcholine neurons.
Changes in the Brain of Patients
with Alzheimer’s Disease

 Changes include:
 Enlargement of the
ventricles
 Severe loss of the cortex
in areas involved in
language and memory

Source: Coursey of Alzheimer's Disease Research, a program of the American Health Assistance Foundation
Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)

 Research shows that those with active lifestyles are less

likely to develop AD
 Greater education and intellectual activity are related to
lower AD rates
Biology of Memory Deterioration
 Usually declines after age 65,
but not always
 Alzheimer’s disease is the most
frequent cause of dementia
The Development of
Memory
Infant Memory
 Implicit Memory:
Conditioning responses

 Infantile amnesia: Inability

of adults to retrieve
accurate memories before
2-3 years old

 Hippocampus is only
partially developed in
infants; lack of sense of
self
Memory over Time
Memory spans
increase with age (until about age 12).

Conceptual understanding
increases with age.

Children develop
enhanced meta-memory skills:
knowledge about our
own memory abilities and limitations
False Memories
False Memories
Flashbulb memory:
Emotional memory that is
extraordinarily vivid and
detailed
Can change over time, and
are often inaccurate when
compared to initial memories
Misinformation Effect
Creation of fictitious memories
by providing misleading
information about an event after
it takes place
Study subjects:
 Saw a car stopped at a
yield sign
 Were prompted with the
information that the car had
been stopped at a stop sign
 Later “remembered” seeing
the stop sign
Implanting False Memories in the Lab

 Suggestive memory techniques

 Lost in the Mall
 Impossible/implausible events
Eyewitness Testimony

Important implications
for eyewitness testimony

We’re receptive to
suggestions about
whether and how events
took place.
Eyewitness Reliability
 Weak correlation between
eyewitness confidence in their
testimony and accuracy
 Less accurate when
 Observing others of different
race
 Witness has talked to other
witnesses
 The observed situation is
stressful (e.g., threatening,
weapon involved)
Implanting False Memories
 Event plausibility and
recency can both impact
strength
 It is possible to create
memories that are
impossible
 Controversy: apparent
“recovered memories” of
early trauma. Possibly
due to suggestive
therapeutic procedures