Lecture 1 PSYC 107 Outline of Current Lecture I Memory Current Lecture Memory any indication that learning has persisted over time It is our ability to store and retrieve information The Paradox and Fallibility of Memory Our memories are surprisingly good for some situations And surprisingly poor for other Memory is reconstructive Memory illusion Studying Memory Information Processing Models Information Processing a sequential process The Atkinson Schiffrin 1968 three stage model of memory includes a sensory memory b short term memory and c long term memory Modifications to the Three Stage Model Some information skips the first two stages and enters long term memory automatically Revision of short term memory Working memory involves conscious active processing of incoming auditory and visualspatial information and of information retrieved from long term memory Encoding Getting Information In Automatic Processing Space Time Frequency Effortful Processing attention and effort Rehearsal maintenance elaborate Level of Processing Visual Semantic Rehearsal Memory Effects Spacing Effect We retain information better when we rehearse over time Serial Position Effect Recency effect Primacy effect Von Restorff effect What We Encode Encoding by meaning Encoding by images Mnemonics Encoding by organization Chunking Hierarchies Storage Retaining Information First Storage Sensory Memory Types Iconic visual Sterling s tests Echoic auditory memories Sterling s Tests Sensory Memory Sense Visual Hearing Touching Sensory Memory Iconic Echoic Hepatic Duration Second Storage Working Memory Revised term for short term memory Capacity The Magic Number Slightly better recall for random digits than for random letters Duration Third Storage Long Term Memory Differences from STM Capacity virtually endless but not perfect Endurance Permastore Errors Semantic Acoustic errors in STM Feature Sensory Memory Encoding Copy Capacity Unlimited Depends on sense very brief Duration Storing Memories in the Brain Synaptic Changes Long term Potentiation Synaptic enhancement after learning Working Memory Phonemic Acoustic 7 2 Chunks 20 sec LTM Semantic Very Large Years More receptor sites Stress and memory Flashbulb memories Storing Implicit Explicit Memories Explicit Memory refers to facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare Implicit memory involves learning an action while the individual does not know or declare what she knows Storing Implicit Memories Explicit Memory refers to facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare Implicit memory involves learning an action while the individual does not know or declare what she knows Storing Implicit Explicit Memories explicit memory things we can consciously recall names facts implicit memory fear of balloons driving a car Locations in the Brain Responsible for Memory Hippocampus temporary processing of explicit memory left verbal information right visual designs locations Cerebellum plays a key role in formming and storing the implicit memories created by CC Anterograde Amnesia After losing his hippocampus in surgery patient Henry M HM remembered everything before the operation but cannot make new memories We call this anterograde amnesia Retrograde amnesia can make new memories but have some or all old memories lost not as common as soap operas make you believe Implicit Memory HM is unable to make new memories that are declarative explicit but he can form new memories that are procedural implicit Retreival Getting information out Recall the person must retrieve information using effor Recognition Relearning Savings Curve Relearning Retrieval Cues Memories are held in storage by a web of associations These associations are like anchors that help retrieve memory Priming To retrieve a specific memory from the web of associations you must first activate one of the strands that leads to it Other Retrieval Cues Context effects being in the same context enviornment as learning can prime your memory ex you went to another room to gets something and forgot so you go back and remember D j Vu cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier similar experience Moods and Memories State dependent memory Forgetting Encoding Failure we cannot remember what we do not encode Storage Decay Poor durability of stored memories leads to their decay Ebbinghaus showed this with his forgetting curve over the first couple of days you have a lot of decay of memory then it just stablizes Retaining Spanish Bahrick 1984 showed a similar pattern of forgetting and retaining over 50 years Retrieval Failure Although the information is retained in the memory store it cannot be accessed Interference Learning some new information may disrupt retrieval of other information Proactive interference when something you learned earlier interferes with something you learned more recently Retroactive Interference new information makes it harder to recall something you learned earlier Sleep prevents retroactive interference therefore it leads to better recall Motivated Forgetting People unknowingly revise their memories Repression A defense mechanism that banishes anxiety arousing thoughts feelings and memories from consciousness Barley occurs according to many memory researchers Why do we forget Forgetting can occur at any memory stage We filter alter or lose much information during these stages Memory Construction Misinformation and Imagination Effects Incorporating misleading information into one s memory of an event Source Amnesia Attributing an event to the wrong source that we experienced heard read or imagined misattribution Children s Eyewitness Recall Elizabeth Loftus most famous psychologist in applying information with testimonial memory Source Amnesia Atributing an event to the wrong source that we expierenced heard read or imagineed misattribution may explain unintended plagiarism Project Innocence more than 220 wrongful convictions overturned by dna evidence over 75 of these due to eyewitness misidentifications up until the 90s the legal system has shown litte interest in memory research and its impact on eyewitness tetistomy Eyewitness Testimony picking cotton 60 Minutes clip make sure you note why this mistake id occured Memories of Abuse Are memories of abuse repressed or constructed Many psychotherapists believe that early childhood sexual abuse results in repressed memories However other psychologists question such beliefs and