Psych Chapter 8 Memory Memory Is learning over time information that can be stored and retrieved Studying Memory information Processing Models The brain undergoes these mechanisms like a computer by translating our experiences into electronic signals that are stored and later retrieved o Encoding get information initially into our brains o Storage the retaining of this new information o Retrieval being able to use the information later Connectionism o Information processing model of memory o Views memories as emerging from interconnected neural networks Specific memories arise from specific memories arise from particular combinations o Has three stages Sensory memory fleeting the first record to be remembered information Short term activated memory that holds a few items briefly such as a cell phone number before it is stored or forgotten Long term the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system knowledge skills and experiences Working memory a newer understanding of short term memory that focuses on conscious active processing of incoming auditory and visual spatial information and of information retrieved from long term memory Encoding Getting Information In Automatic Processing o Automatically process information without conscious knowledge o Due to the brains ability to parallel process Space when studying you remember where on the page the information is located Time unintentionally note the days events in a sequence Frequency how many times things happen Well learned information see words in native language and register the meaning Effortful processing o Produces durable and accessible memories with effort and attention o Rehearsal conscious repetition that boosts memory o Ebbinghuas experiments Study learning and forgetting of novel verbal materials Made nonsense words by sandwiching one vowel Ex JIH Could recall some but not all the next day The more repetitions he did the day before the less he would forget Proving that the amount learned depends on the time spent learning For novel information practice effortful processing improves memory o Ebbighaus also proved the spacing effect we retain information better when rehearsal is distributed over time Massed practice cramming produces speedy short term memory and feeling of confidence Distributed study time produces better long term recall o Henry Bahrick s 9 year experiment Proves that learning over a semester is more effective than rapid cramming learning over a week Testing effect that when information is tested more often the recall of it improve Spaced studying and self assessment beat cramming o Serial position effect Our tendency to recall the first and last members of a list Naming people at the office the first we have rehearsed more and the last is new and novel in the brain and are in the working memory Recency effect the last names are in the working memory and people briefly recall them quickly and well Primary effect after a delay attention shifts fro mthe last items to the first items o Sometimes rehearsal is just not enough What we encode o Levels of processing Visual encoding the encoding of picture images Visual imagery mental pictures a powerful aid to effortful processing especially when combined with semantic encoding o Many of our first memories o More likely to recall words that have an imagery effect o Rosy retrospection remembering the god mental images rather than the bad ones Mnemonic memory aids especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices o Ex the peg word system six is sticks Acoustic encoding the encoding of sound especially the sound of waves Semantic encoding the encoding of meaning including the meaning of words Produces better recognition later than shallower processing of sound and vision The among you remember has the most to do with the amount of time you spend and your understanding of it o Organizing what we encode Chunking When we organize information into meaningful units such as letters words phases we recall it more easily Can be used as a mnemonic technique o Ex colors in the rainbow as ROYGBIV Hierarchies When develop expertise in an area process information as chunks and concepts divided into subdivided areas and facts Storage Sensory information o Sperling s experiment Flashed a box of 9 letters The people would remember them better when instructed with a tone to remember a certain line o Iconic memory a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli a photographic or picture image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second o Echoic memory a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli if attention is elsewhere sounds and words can still be recalled in 3 4 seconds Talking to someone and start to listen to the tv Your friend will ask what did I just say and you can repeat what was just said because it stays longer than iconic memory Working short term memory o Geroge Miller Miller s experiments noticed that people would recall about 7 numbers plus or minus two Short term memory is limited in duration and capacity o At any given moment we can only process a little bit of information o The brain is essentially limitless and can store infinite memories Long term memory Storing Memories in the Brain o Synaptic changes Memories are not stored in one spot It is due to a rearrangement of neural connections Study of the sea slug Analysia when it was being conditioned with shocks the neurons where emitting serotonin to strengthen the connection the sending neuron now needs less stimulation to fire long term potential an increase in a synapse s firing potential after brief rapid stimulation Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory Memory drugs Focuses on people with mild memory impairment due to disease or to age o Drugs that boost CREB This protein can switch on and off genes When repeated neural firing a nerve cell s genes produce synapse strengthening proteins enabling LTP long term potential Could help reshape synapses and consolidate long term and short term memory o Boost the development of glutamate Neurotransmitter that enhances synaptic connection o Electroconvulsive therapy Electric currents can wipe the most recent memories Stress hormones and Memory Excitement or stress triggers hormones that boost glucose production Amygdale boosts brain s memory forming region and available proteins in the memory forming areas Arousal can sera certain events into the brain while disrupting memory for neural events
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