Prof Greg Francis 8 14 12 Memory Improving memory PSY 200 We seem to be unable to control our memories learn things we don t want to remember Greg Francis unable to learn things we want to remember Lecture 22 Is there any reliable cue that something will be remembered no but there are several tricks you can use to improve memory in certain situations How to improve your memory without spending 20 Purdue University Purdue University Encoding specificity Encoding specificity We know that memory is best when study and test contexts are similar after another 3 hour interval For example testing in the study classroom But variability in study promotes more general recall Test subjects in a neutral context Look at proportion correct recall Highest with variable study contexts Smith et al 1978 Subjects studied words twice either in same context or different contexts 3 hour interval between contexts Advice if you want to remember something in lots of contexts study in lots of contexts Session 1 Learning context Session 2 Context Classroom 1 Classroom 2 Classroom 1 0 41 0 69 Classroom 2 0 53 0 39 Purdue University Purdue University Level of processing Memory can be influenced by depth of processing at the time of study Craik Tulving 1975 Subjects observe words with associated tasks question In capital letters Rhyme with thing Synonym for heavy YES NO BOOK book spring sprint bulky brown Purdue University PSY 200 Intro to Cognitive Psychology Recall is better as depth of processing increases More distinctive memories are created which helps subsequent recall By varying depth of processing you can construct memories that are more likely to be recalled Number of words recalled Level of processing 25 20 15 10 5 0 Capital Rhyme Synonym Study task Purdue University 1 Prof Greg Francis 8 14 12 Levels of Processing Intention Level of processing is more important than intent to learn Hyde Jenkins 1973 Recall out of 24 words varies a lot with task 11 groups of subjects Not much variation with intention to learn 1 control group told they will be tested to recall the words not given any study task 10 experimental groups split to perform a study task Pleasant unpleasant rating Estimate frequency of word usage E G checking does word contain an E or a G Identify part of speech noun verb Sentence framing which sentence does word best fit in For all experimental groups either a Intentional learning told they will be tested to recall the words b Incidental learning not told they will be tested Purdue University Purdue University Implications People do not know the best way to remember There was nothing stopping controls from making pleasantunpleasant ratings they apparently did not or they would have done better Judgments of Learning Advice study interactively This is the subject s estimate of their ability to use LTM teach someone else More generally people are not usually good at estimating whether something will be remembered Method of loci Used by ancient Greeks to remember complicated speeches To remember a list of words or key ideas visualize walking around an area with distinctive landmarks Especially for high JOLs Note students studying for an exam often use the immediate approach for a JOL to decide if they need to continue studying Purdue University Judgments of Learning Immediate JOLs do not match memory performance at the end of the experiment Make judgment either Immediately after studying the pair Delayed to later in the experimental trials Purdue University Estimate how likely they are to be able to remember one word if shown the other JOL Given OCEAN how likely to remember the associated item later read notes rewrite notes rephrase notes Nelson Dunlosky 1991 Subjects study a pair of words e g OCEAN TREE link the items to be remembered with landmarks by using bizarre mental imagery Delaying the JOL leads to fairly accurate JOLs to recall items in order mentally walk through area any ordered sequence will work e g a children s rhyme Advice study wait estimate learning Purdue University PSY 200 Intro to Cognitive Psychology Memory piggybacks on the easy recallability of the bizarre imagery Purdue University 2 Prof Greg Francis 8 14 12 Method of loci Digit span SF learned to increase his digit span to 81 digits any random sequence e g grocery list ITEMS 200 hours of practice Add vivid bizarre imagery LOCI Ericsson Chase Faloon 1980 Created a hierarchy of memory tricks hot dogs driveway cat food garage interior tomatoes front door Technique did not transfer to other memory tasks e g letters Essentially learned to use long term memory for the digit span task Purdue University Sleep Many types of memory improve with sleep Some type of consolidation of memories The effect is not just time We ll look at one representative study Purdue University Sleep Although time also has an effect Subjects learn to identify order relationships between random shapes Only shown one pair at a time Subjects have to learn memorize the appropriate answer to each pair Ellenbogen et al 2007 Purdue University Purdue University Sleep There is a ordered arrangement to the stimuli If you know this arrangement deciding for any pair is easy Sleep But subjects are never explicitly told about this arrangement Subjects are split in to three groups according to when they are tested 20 minutes later 12 hours later 24 hours later Purdue University PSY 200 Intro to Cognitive Psychology No differences when tested on the originally studied items Purdue University 3 Prof Greg Francis 8 14 12 Sleep Sleep Subjects are split in to three groups according to when they are tested 20 minutes later 12 hours later 24 hours later Big differences when tested on new pairs that fit the ordered structure E g A C C E B D Half of the 12 hour group had sleep and half did not It makes a difference for pairs of items that are far apart in the ordered structure 1 degree A C B D 2 degree A D B E Advice study early Get some sleep Purdue University Purdue University Practicing recall Practicing recall A common approach to studying is to use flash cards or something similar Karpicke Roediger 2008 Subjects study 40 Swahili English word pairs mashua boat Two steps to studying kaka brother 1 Read material on both sides study Test for English given Swahili mashua 2 Practice test the material given one side try to recall the information on the other side ST study test subject studies and continually tested over every pair SnT study on non recalled test on all when