PSY 0010 notes Memory page 1 What is memory information processing system building on core metaphor of cognitive psych revolution brains like hardware minds like software memory allows to store and retrieve info not a system for recording information o d n record and then look back for accurate picture of previous experiences memory is parsimonious o we store only as much as we need to accomplish our daily purposes o therefore we don t store every detail of the penny because we only need to know copper Lincoln for everyday memory functionality regarding pennies memory illusion o false but convincing memory o in most cases never find out that our memory is illusionary memory is reconstructive o take in info not everything then change what we take in when we retrieve it further changes what took place makes memory an interpretive system o can result in memory errors o like archaeology use what we have and fill in gaps Three systems model of memory Atkinson Shiffrin model each of 3 has different span o varies in amount of information they can hold different durations o varies in how long system can hold info First sensory memory large span enters through the senses perceptual info stored very briefly unless passed to short term memory o most will never be remembered again each sense has its own form of sensory memory o iconic visual sensory memory lasts less than 1 second except in cases of eidetic imagery photographic memory mental workspace what we are consciously aware of able to think about o echoic auditory lasts several seconds Second working short term memory and work with in our minds info only stays in working memory for brief period o less than 30 seconds o still longer than sensory memory limited capacity span PSY 0010 notes Memory page 2 o 7 2 pieces of info Miller categorizes working memory for majority of people o can be fewer than 5 or more than 9 but for most 7 2 is the limit Limits of working memory selective attention o focus awareness on some aspects of environment ignore others o filter out much of incoming info focus only on info that matters using limited cognitive resources for best purpose o inattentional blindness focusing on one aspect of the environment makes us apt to miss changes even large ones in background aspects of environment o cocktail party effect filtering out then refocusing on what was background info when it is personally relevant hearing own name in a background conversation you weren t listening to we think we weren t listening but a part of the mind was monitoring background conversation o perceptual load model ability to filter out background info varies with how much of our attentional capacity is being demanded by object we re focusing on during exam little noises and small distractions get attention more demand we put on cognitive apparatuses the less they can do in other respects i e filtering out background noise shifting attention multi tasking o rapid switching of attention from one task to another not paying attention to multiple things at once o compensation for limited ability o reduces performance on the primary task attempted compromises learning by interfering with encoding info one of primary tasks of memory more info gets dropped not stored entered into memory Aiding working memory chunking rehearsal o organizing info into meaningful groupings to extend span of STM o repeating info to extend duration o maintenance rehearsal repeating stimuli in the original form o elaborative rehearsal linking stimuli in a meaningful way connecting new info to existing info superior in moving info into LTM PSY 0010 notes Memory page 3 Long term memory permanent store of info very large capacity span o no real limit info may endure for decades o permastore organized according to meaning list Types of long term memory Explicit declarative memory o sweet connected in a network of meanings with all the words in the accessible to conscious awareness recalled intentionally o semantic memory o episodic memory knowledge of general info meaning of words concepts knowledge of events in our lives episodes tends to be stored orally Long term memory s 4 tasks 1 Encoding info needs to be encoded in a way that memory can use selection which info gets encoded o based on relevance etc identification know what it is that we re seeing feeling labeling needs category elaboration levels of processing o shallow structural how info appears o phonemic storing sounds o deep semantic level of meaning o higher level higher probability of recall 2 Consolidation some see as separate task some group with storage process process by which encoded info consolidated so it can be stored over long term aided by sleep 3 Storage hierarchies schemas associative networks all how LTM stores info to be retention of encoded material over time used at a later time 4 Retrieval location recovery reconstruction of stored info when bring LTM into STM recreate event from whatever was stored depends on how memories were encoded 1 and how they are cued recognition o identifying previously remembered info from array of options i e PSY 0010 notes Memory page 4 MC o options serve as retrieval cues recall o reproducing previously presented info o requires cues other than info itself principle of encoding specificity o most likely to be able to retrieve recall info when cues in environment or selves that match original info and serve as cues to recall o context dependent learning better able to retrieve info when in situation context in which info was originally learned o state dependent learning were when we learned it i e mood congruent memory we remember more easily when in same internal state as we happy mood likely to trigger happy memories depression perpetuates itself through biased retrieval of depressing memories Biology of memory most of what we know about memory comes from Patient H M o 1953 surgery to contain epileptic seizures o lost hippocampus parahippocampal gyrus amygdala some anterolateral temporal cortex at the time didn t know what any of these structures did o could not form new declarative explicit memories anything that happened to him from that point forward left his memory shortly after it happened o lost recent declarative memory o working and procedural implicit memory left intact Neurobiology of remembering sensory memory o processed initially in dedicated areas of cortex working memory long term memory o primarily involves prefrontal cortex o different types