Memory the capacity to retain and retrieve information Flashbulb Memories dramatic positive or negative memories Memories for traumatic events are more vivid than ordinary events Main aspect of trauma remembered Can distort details Accuracy fades over time Personal recollections of 9 11 or Columbine Cohort differences How to Measure Memory Recall answer the ability to retrieve information which has been learned earlier like a short Recall Task list names of 8 reindeer that were Rudolph s friends Recognition ability to identify previously encountered information multiple choice Which of the following lists were Rudolph s friends Relearning Effort is saved in learning things that were previously learned Models of Memory Information Processing Model Memory and minds are like a computer Encoding How to put information in retain store and retrieve Levels of Processing Different levels of processing impact encoding Depth of Processing Shallow Processing Structural Encoding Emphasizes the physical structure of the stimulus Is the word written in capital letters Intermediate Processing Phonemic Encoding Emphasizes what a word sounds like Does the word rhyme with weight Deep Processing Semantic Encoding Emphasizes the meaning of verbal input Would the word fit in the sentence He met a on the street Three Box Model of Memory Sensory Memory Short Term Memory Long Term Memory All work with each other Sensory Memory Retains for 1 2 seconds Acts as a holding bin second in visual subsystem longer in auditory system Decides if it is worth processing Is it important to pay attention to Memory can then move to next box Short term memory Short Term Memory Holds limited amounts of information for up to 20 30 seconds Houses our working memory Pattern Recognition compares to information already in our LTM goes to LTM or decays or its lost Magic Number Number of items we are able to hold in our short term memory 7 2 Digit Span Test Chunking a strategy which helps us hold information cultural variations grouping things together Reading off numbers as one hundred and thirteen rather than 1 1 3 or IBMCIAFBI Long Term Memory Longer storage for minutes to decades Organized by semantic categories Contents of Long Term Memory Procedural Memory knowing how Declarative Memory knowing that how to brush teeth ride a bike do a puzzle routine things that just happen Semantic Memories facts rules concepts Episodic Memories experienced events personal recollections Prospective Memory remembering to perform actions in the future I have to remember to buy stamps Use strategies such as mnemonics or lists information How to drive a car where you live Retrospective Memory remembering events from the past or previously learned Memory and Recall Tasks Illustrated Primacy Effect Memory of beginning pieces of list Usually people remember the first thing on a list Recency Effect Memory of the end pieces of the list Usually people remember the last thing on a list Frequency Numerous mentions increases memory Remembered Night because it was on the list 3X Distinctiveness Increases likelihood Something out of the ordinary will be remembered artichoke Chunking increases memory Grouping words like toss and turn together Reconstructed memory needs to be assessed Effective Encoding How to best learn information Maintenance Rehearsal Retain in short term memory repeating a phone number Elaborative Rehearsal Know it review practice give meanings Visual Imagery Create visual images to represent word concepts to remember Method of Loci Match up existing visual images with concepts Picture your bedroom and put an item in each area of the room associate things with the lamp bed computer desk chair useful when having to remember lists Mnemonics Systematic strategies for remembering information memory tricks or useful tools to aid memory ROY G BIV Dual Coding Theory Memory is enhanced by using both semantic and visual codes since either can lead to recall Chase and Simon research with chess players Players were able to remember pieces when placed meaningfully whereas none were able to more than others when placed randomly Expert knowledge helps memory of relevant but not irrelevant information Eyewitness Testimony People s tendency to fill in missing information Errors are greater when the ethnicity of the subjects is different from the witness Power of words can impact memories Children and adults can report accurately as well as be influenced in their recall Forgetting Ineffective Encoding learn it properly Decay Theories New Memories for Old you edit the paper Retroactive Interference we don t remember it in the first place because we didn t memories fade with time Most recent versions are saved saving over a document as New information interferes with old Trying to remember everything for three exams in one week Proactive Interference Motivated Forgetting Cue Dependent Forgetting help remember retrieval cues Old information interferes with new painful memories blocked from consciousness Freud forget because you haven t figured out what you need to Context mental and physical states can all be retrieval cues back to the scene of the crime refers to memory deficits Amnesia Retrograde Amnesia amnesia Can t remember old information Anterograde Amnesia Can t remember new information Memento Post Traumatic Amnesia deficit in recalling events that happened before the onset of deficit in learning subsequent to the onset of the disorder following an accident Can be substantial but often decreases to the level of events surrounding the accident range of cognitive impairments including memory loss Often remember traumatic events but not events directly surrounding the traumatic event Childhood Amnesia the inability to remember things from the first years of life Very common Dementia functioning to the degree in which it impedes normal activity and social relationships a clinical condition in which the individual loses cognitive abilities and Alzheimer is most common form of dementia Symptoms of Alzheimer s Loss of Memory for recent events and familiar tasks Changes in cognitive functioning ultimately leading to a change in personality Loss of Ability to perform most simple functions Aphasia the loss of the ability to use language Apraxia the loss of the ability to actually carry out coordinated body movements Agnosia the loss of the ability to recognize familiar objects Causes of Alzheimer s Formation of plaques or tangles in the areas of the