Human Memory

Chapter
7
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After reading this chapter, you would be able to

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• understand the nature of memory,
• distinguish between different types of memory,

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• explain how the contents of long-term memory are represented and

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organised,

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• appreciate the constructive and reconstructive processes in memory,

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• understand the nature and causes of forgetting, and
• learn the strategies for improving memory.

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Contents
Introduction
Nature of Memory

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Information Processing Approach : The Stage Model
Memory Systems : Sensory, Short-term and Long-ter m Memories

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Working Memory (Box 7.1)
Levels of Processing
Types of Long-term Memory

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Declarative and Procedural; Episodic and Semantic

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Long-term Memory Classification (Box 7.2)
Methods of Memory Measurement (Box 7.3)

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Knowledge Representation and Organisation in Memory
Memory Making: Eyewitness and False Memories (Box 7.4)

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Memory as a Constructive Process
Nature and Causes of Forgetting

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Forgetting due to Trace Decay, Interference and Retrieval Failure
Repressed Memories (Box 7.5)
The advantage of bad Enhancing Memory
memory is that one Mnemonics using Images and Organisation
enjoys several times,
Key Terms
the same good things Summary
for the first time. Review Questions
Project Ideas
– Friedrich Nietzsche
 Introduction
All of us are aware of the tricks that memory plays on us throughout our lives. Have
you ever felt embarrassed because you could not remember the name of a known
person you were talking to? Or anxious and helpless because everything you
memorised well the previous day before taking your examination has suddenly
become unavailable? Or felt excited because you can now flawlessly recite lines of
a famous poem you had learnt as a child? Memory indeed is a very fascinating yet
intriguing human faculty. It functions to preserve our sense of who we are, maintains

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our interpersonal relationships and helps us in solving problems and taking

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decisions. Since memory is central to almost all cognitive processes such as
perception, thinking and problem solving, psychologists have attempted to

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understand the manner in which any information is committed to memory, the
mechanisms through which it is retained over a period of time, the reasons why it

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is lost from memory, and the techniques which can lead to memory improvement.

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In this chapter, we shall examine all these aspects of memory and understand

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various theories which explain the mechanisms of memory.

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The history of psychological research on memory spans over hundred years.

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The first systematic exploration of memory is credited to Hermann Ebbinghaus, a

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German psychologist of late nineteenth century (1885). He carried out many

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experiments on himself and found that we do not forget the learned material at an

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even pace or completely. Initially the rate of forgetting is faster but eventually it

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stabilises. Another view on memory was suggested by Frederick Bartlett (1932)
who contended that memory is not passive but an active process. With the help of
meaningful verbal materials such as stories and texts, he demonstrated that memory

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is a constructive process. That is, what we memorise and store undergoes many
changes and modifications over time. So there is a qualitative difference in what
was initially memorised by us and what we retrieve or recall later. There are other

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psychologists who have influenced memory research in a major way. We shall
review their contributions in this chapter at appropriate places.

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you perh aps learned during your early

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NATURE OF MEMORY
schooling. Memory is conceptualised as a
process consisting of three independent,

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Memory refers to retaining and recalling
information over a period of time, depending though interrelated stages. These ar e
upon the nature of cognitive task you are encoding, storage, and retrieval. Any
required to perform. It might be necessary to information received by us necessarily goes
hold an information for a few seconds. For through these stages.
example, you use your memory to retain an (a) Encoding is the first stage which refers to
unfamiliar telephone number till you have a process by which information is recorded
reached the telephone instrument to dial, or and registered for the first time so that it
for many years you still remember the becomes usable by our memory system.
techniques of addition and subtraction which Whenever an external stimulus impinges on

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Psychology
our sensory organs, it generates neural human memory came to be seen as a system
impulses. These are received in different areas that processes information in the same way
of our brain for further processing. In as a computer does. Both register, store, and
encoding, incoming information is received manipulate large amount of information and
and some meaning is derived. It is then act on the basis of the outcome of such
represented in a way so that it can be manipulations. If you have worked on a
processed further. computer then you would know that it has a
(b) Storage is the second stage of memory. temporary memory (random access memory
Information which was encoded must also be or RAM) and a permanent memory (e.g., a hard
stored so that it can be put to use later. disk). Based on the programme commands,
Storage, therefore, refers to the process the computer manipulates the contents of its

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through which information is retained and memories and displays the output on the
held over a period of time.

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screen. In the same way, human beings too
(c) Retrieval is the third stage of memory.
register information, store and manipulate the
Information can be used only when one is able

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to recover it from her/his memory. Retrieval stored information depending on the task that
they need to perform. For example, when you

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refers to bringing the stored information to

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her/his awareness so that it can be used for are required to solve a mathematical problem,

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the memory relating to mathematical

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performing various cognitive tasks such as
problem solving or decision-making. It may operations, such as division or subtraction are

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carried out, activated and put to use, and

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be interesting to note that memory failure can
occur at any of these stages. You may fail to receive the output (the problem solution). This

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recall an information because you did not analogy led to the development of the first

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encode it properly, or the storage was weak model of memory, which was proposed by

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so you could not access or retrieve it when Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968. It is known as

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required. Stage Model.

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I NFORMATION PROCESSING A PPROACH : MEMORY SYSTEMS : SENSORY, SHORT-TERM
THE S TAGE MODEL AND LONG-TERM MEMORIES

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Initially, it was thought that memory is the According to the Stage Model, there are three
capacity to store all information that we memory systems : the Sensory Memory, the
acquire through learning and experience. It Short-term Memory and the Long-term

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was seen as a vast storehouse where all Memory. Each of these systems have different

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information that we knew was kept so that features and perform different functions with
we could retrieve and use it as and when respect to the sensory inputs (see Fig.7.1). Let

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needed. But with the advent of the computer, us examine what these systems are:

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Information
Sensory Memory
Iconic (Sight)
Echoic (Sound)
and other senses Attention
Store Capacity -
large
Short-ter m
Memory
Stor e Capacity -
small
Duration - less
than 30 seconds
Elaborative
Rehearsals
Long-term
Memory
Per manent
Store Capacity -
unlimited
Duration - upto
Duration - less a lifetime
than one second

Fig.7.1 : The Stage Model of Memory

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Chapter 7 • Human Memory
Sensory Memory registers where the information decays
automatically in less than a second.
The incoming information first enters the
sensory memory. Sensory memory has a large
Long-term Memory
capacity. However, it is of very short duration,
i.e. less than a second. It is a memory system Materials that survive the capacity and
that registers information from each of the duration limitations of the STM finally enter
senses with reasonable accuracy. Often this the long-term memory (abbreviated as LTM)
system is referred to as sensory memories or which has a vast capacity. It is a permanent
sensory registers because information from all storehouse of all information that may be as
the senses are registered here as exact replica recent as what you ate for breakfast yesterday
of the stimulus. If you have experienced visual to as distant as how you celebrated your sixth

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after-images (the trail of light that stays after birthday. It has been shown that once any
information enters the long-term memory

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the bulb is switched off) or when you hear
reverberations of a sound when the sound has store it is never forgotten because it gets
encoded semantically, i.e. in terms of the

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ceased, then you are familiar with iconic
(visual) or echoic (auditory) sensory registers. meaning that any information carries. What

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you experience as forgetting is in fact retrieval

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Short-term Memory failure; for various reasons you cannot retrieve

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the stored information. You will read about
You will perhaps agree that we do not attend retrieval related forgetting later in this chapter.

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to all the information that impinge on our So far we have only discussed the structural

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senses. Information that is attended to enters features of the stage model. Questions which

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the second memory store called the short-term still remain to be addressed are how does

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memory (abbreviated as STM), which holds information travel from one store to another

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small amount of information for a brief period and by what mechanisms it continues to stay

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of time (usually for 30 seconds or less). in any particular memory store. Let us examine
Atkinson and Shiffrin propose that the answers to these questions.
information in STM is primarily encoded How does information travel from one store

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acoustically, i.e. in terms of sound and unless to another? As an answer to this question,
rehearsed continuously, it may get lost from Atkinson and Shiffrin propose the notion of
the STM in less than 30 seconds. Note that control processes which function to monitor

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the STM is fragile but not as fragile as sensory the flow of information through various

Box 7.1

to
W orking Memory

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In recent years, psychologists have suggested that
the short-term memory is not unitary, rather it may
holds a limited number of sounds and unless rehearsed
they decay within 2 seconds. The second component

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consist of many components. This multi- visuospatial sketchpad stores visual and spatial
component view of short-ter m memory was first information and like phonological loop the capacity of
proposed by Baddeley (1986) who suggested that the sketchpad too is limited. The third component, which
the short-term memory is not a passive stor ehouse Baddeley calls the Central Executive, organises
but rather a work bench that holds a wide variety information from phonological loop, visuospatial
of memory materials that are constantly handled, sketchpad as well as from the long-term memory. Like
manipulated and transformed as people perform a true executive, it allocates attentional resources to be
various cognitive tasks. This work bench is called distributed to various information needed to perform a
the working memory. The first component of the given cognitive operation and monitors, plans, and
working memory is the phonological loop which controls behaviour.

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Psychology
memory stores. As suggested earlier, all as many ways as possible. You can expand
informations which our senses receive are not the information in some kind of logical
registered; if that be the case, imagine the kind framework, link it to similar memories or else
of pressure that our memory system will have can create a mental image. Figure 7.1, that
to cope with. Only that information which is presents the stage model of memory, also
attended to enters the STM from sensory depicts the arrows to show the manner in
registers and in that sense, selective attention, which information travels from one stage to
as you have already read in Chapter 5, is the another.
first control process that decides what will Experiments, which were carried out to
travel from sensory registers to STM. Sense test the stage model of memory, have produced
impressions, which do not receive attention, mixed results. While some experiments

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fade away quickly. The STM then sets into unequivocally show that the STM and LTM
motion another control process of are indeed two separate memory stores, other

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maintenance rehearsal to retain the evidences have questioned their
information for as much time as required. As distinctiveness. For example, earlier it was

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the name suggests, these kinds of rehearsals shown that in the STM information is encoded

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simply maintain information through acoustically, while in LTM it is encoded

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r epetition and when such repetitions semantically, but later experimental evidences

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discontinue the information is lost. Another show that information can also be encoded
control process, which operates in STM to semantically in STM and acoustically in LTM.

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expand its capacity, is Chunking. Through
chunking it is possible to expand the capacity

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of STM which is otherwise 7+2. For example, Activity 7.1

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if you are told to remember a string of digits

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such as 194719492004 (note that the number I. Try to remember the following list of digits

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exceeds the capacity of STM), you may create (individual digits)
19254981121
the chunks as 1947, 1949, and 2004 and
Now try to memorise them in the following
remember them as the year when India became

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groups:
independent, the year when the Indian 1 9 25 49 81 121
Constitution was adopted, and the year when Finally memorise them in the following
the tsunami hit the coastal regions of India and

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manner:
South East Asian countries. 12 3 2 52 72 92 112
From the STM, information enters the long- What difference do you observe?

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term memory through elaborative rehearsals. II. Read out the lists given below in a r ow at the

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As against maintenance rehearsals, which are speed of one digit per second to your friend
carried through silent or vocal repetition, this and ask her/him to repeat all the digits in

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rehearsal attempts to connect the ‘to be the same order:
retained information’ to the already existing List Digits

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information in long-term memory. For 1 (6 digits) 2-6-3-8-3-4
example, the task of remembering the meaning 2 (7 digits) 7-4-8-2-4-1-2

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of the word ‘humanity’ will be easier if the 3 (8 digits) 4-3-7-2-9-0-3-6
meanings of concepts such as ‘compassion’, 4 (10 digits) 9-2-4-1-7-8-2-6-5-3
5 (12 digits) 8-2-5-4-7-4-7-7-3-9-1-6
‘truth’ and ‘benevolence’ are already in place.
The number of associations you can create Remember that your friend will recall the
around the new information will determine its digits as soon as you finish the list. Note how
many digits are recalled. The memory score
permanence. In elaborative rehearsals one
of your friend will be the number of digits
attempts to analyse the information in terms corr ectly recalled by her/him. Discuss your
of various associations it arouses. It involves findings with your classmates and teacher.
organisation of the incoming information in

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Chapter 7 • Human Memory
 Shallice and Warrington in the year 1970 produces memory that is fragile and is likely
had cited the case of a man known as KF who to decay rather quickly. However, there is a
met with an accident and damaged a portion third and the deepest level at which
of the left side of his cerebral hemisphere. information can be processed. In order to
Subsequently, it was found that his long-term ensure that the information is retained for a
memory was intact but the short-term memory longer period, it is important that it gets
was seriously affected. The stage model analysed and understood in terms of its
suggests that information are committed to the meaning. For instance, you may think of cat
long-term memory via STM and if KF’s STM as an animal that has furs, has four legs, a
was affected, how can his long-term memory tail, and is a mammal. You can also invoke an
be normal? Several other studies have also image of a cat and connect that image with

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shown that memory processes are similar your experiences. To sum up, analysing
irrespective of whether any information is information in terms of its structural and

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retained for a few seconds or for many years phonetic features amounts to shallower
and that memory can be adequately processing while encoding it in terms of the

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understood without positing separate memory meaning it carries (the semantic encoding) is

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stores. All these evidences led to the the deepest processing level that leads to

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development of another conceptualisation memory that resists forgetting considerably.

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about memory which is discussed below as Understanding memory as an outcome of
the second model of memory. the manner in which information is encoded

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initially has an important implication for
learning. This view of memory will help you

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LEVELS OF PROCESSING
realise that while you are learning a new

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lesson, you must focus on elaborating the

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The levels of processing view was proposed
meaning of its contents in as much detail as

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by Craik and Lockhart in 1972. This view
suggests that the processing of any new possible and must not depend on rote
information relates to the manner in which it memorisation. Attempt this and you will soon
realise that understanding the meaning of

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is perceived, analysed, and understood which
in turn determines the extent to which it will information and reflecting on how it relates
eventually be retained. Although this view has to other facts, concepts, and your life
experiences is a sure way to long-term

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undergone many revisions since then, yet its
basic idea remains the same. Let us examine retention.
this view in greater detail.

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Craik and Lockhart proposed that it is TYPES OF LONG-TERM MEMORY

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possible to analyse the incoming information
at more than one level. One may analyse it in As you have read in Box 7.1, the short-term

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terms of its physical or structural features. memory is now seen as consisting of more than
For example, one might attend only to the one component (working memory). In the same

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shape of letters in a word say cat - inspite of way it is suggested that long-term memory too
whether the word is written in capital or small is not unitary because it contains a wide

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letters or the colour of the ink in which it is variety of information. In view of this,
written. This is the first and the shallowest contemporary formulations envisage long-
level of processing. At an intermediate level term memory as consisting of various types.
one might consider and attend to the phonetic For instance, one major classification within
sounds that are attached to the letters and the LTM is that of Declarative and Procedural
therefore the structural features are (sometimes called nondeclarative) memories.
transformed into at least one meaningful word All information pertaining to facts, names,
say, a word cat that has three specific letters. dates, such as a rickshaw has three wheels or
Analysing information at these two levels that India became independent on August 15

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Psychology
1947 or a frog is an amphibian or you and Episodic memory contains biographical
your friend share the same name, are part of details of our lives. Memories relating to our
declarative memory. Procedural memory, on personal life experiences constitute the
the other hand, refers to memories relating to episodic memory and it is for this reason that
procedures for accomplishing various tasks its contents are generally emotional in nature.
and skills such as how to ride a bicycle, how How did you feel when you stood first in your
to make tea or play basketball. Facts retained class? Or how angry was your friend and what
in the declarative memory are amenable to did s/he say when you did not fulfil a promise?
verbal descriptions while contents of If such incidents did actually happen in your
procedural memory cannot be described life, you perhaps will be able to answer these
easily. For example, when asked you can questions with reasonable accuracy. Although

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describe how the game of cricket is played but such experiences are hard to forget, yet it is
if someone asks you how do you ride a bicycle, equally true that many events take place

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you may find it difficult to narrate. continuously in our lives and that we do not
Tulving has proposed yet another remember all of them. Besides, there are

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classification and has suggested that the painful and unpleasant experiences which are

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declarative memory can either be Episodic or not remembered in as much detail as pleasant

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Semantic. life experiences.

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Box 7.2 Long-term Memory Classification

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The study of memory is a fascinating field and events contribute to it. During old age, the most recent

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resear chers have reported many new phenomena. years of life are likely to be well remembered. However,
The following phenomena show the complex and before this, around 30 years of age, decline in certain
dynamic nature of human memory. kinds of memory starts.

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Flashbulb Memories : These are memories of Implicit Memory : Recent studies have indicated
events that are very arousing or surprising. Such that many of the memories remain outside the
memories are very detailed. They are like a photo conscious awareness of a person. Implicit memory is

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taken with an advanced model camera. You can a kind of memory that a person is not aware of. It is
push the button, and after one minute you have a a memory that is r etrieved automatically. One
recreation of the scene. You can look at the interesting example of implicit memory comes from

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photograph whenever you want. Flashbulb the experience of typing. If someone knows typing
memories are like images frozen in memory and

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that means s/he also knows the particular letters
tied to particular places, dates, and times. on the keyboard. But many typists cannot correctly
Perhaps, people put in greater effort in the label blank keys in a drawing of a keyboard. Implicit

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formation of these memories, and highlighting memories lie outside the boundaries of awareness.
details might lead to deeper levels of processing In other words, we are not conscious of the fact that

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as well as offer more cues for retrieval. a memory or recor d of a given experience exists.
Autobiographical Memory : These are personal Nevertheless, implicit memories do influence our

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memories. They ar e not distributed evenly behaviour. This kind of memory was found in patients
throughout our lives. Some periods in our lives suffering from brain injuries. They wer e presented a
produce more memories than others. For instance, list of common words. A few minutes later the patient
no memories are reported pertaining to early was asked to recall words from the list. No memory
childhood particularly during the first 4 to 5 years. was shown for the words. However, if s/he was
This is called childhood amnesia. Ther e is a prompted to say a word that begins with these letters
dramatic increase in the frequency of memories and two letters are given, the patient was able to
just after early adulthood, i.e. in the twenties. recall words. Implicit memories are also observed in
Perhaps emotionality, novelty, and importance of people with nor mal memories.

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Chapter 7 • Human Memory
 Semantic memory, on the other hand, is for various other classifications of long-term
the memory of general awareness and memory.
knowledge. All concepts, ideas and rules of
logic are stored in semantic memory. For
instance, it is because of semantic memory Activity 7.2
that we remember the meaning of say ‘non-
violence’ or remember that 2+6=8 or the STD 1. Think about your early school days. Write
down two separate events that occurred during
code of New Delhi is 011 or that the word
those days, and which you remember vividly.
‘elaphant’ is misspelt. Unlike episodic memory Use separate sheets for writing about each
this kind of memory is not dated; you perhaps event.
will not be able to tell when you learnt the 2. Think of the first month in Class XI. Write down

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meaning of non-violence or on which date you two separate events that occurred during the
came to know that Bangalore is the capital of month, and which you remember vividly. Use

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Karnataka. Since the contents of semantic separate sheets for each event.
memory relate to facts and ideas of general

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Compare these in ter ms of length, felt emotions,
awareness and knowledge, it is affect-neutral and coherence.

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and not susceptible to forgetting. See Box 7.2

Activity 7.3

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Write the sentences given below on separate car ds. Invite some junior students to play this
game with you. Seat her/him across a table in front of you. T ell her/him “In this game you will

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be shown some cards one by one at a steady pace, you have to read the question written on

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each card and answer it in yes or no”.

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Note down the answers.

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1. Is the word written in capital letters? BELT
2. Does the word rhyme with the word crew? grew
3. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
“____________ study in school”. Students

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4. Does the word rhyme with the word gold? mood
5. Is the word written in capital letters? bread
6. Does the word fit in the following sentence?

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“The son of my uncle is my ____________.” cousin
7. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
My _________ is a vegetable. home

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8. Does the word fit in the following sentence?

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“__________ is a piece of furniture”. Potato
9. Is the word written in capital letters? TABLE
10. Does the word rhyme with the word wears? bears

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11. Is the word written in capital letters? marks
12. Does the word rhyme with the word clear? five

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13. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
“Children like to play __________ .” games

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14. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
“People usually meet __________ in the bucket.” friends
15. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
“My class room is filled with ________.” shirts
16. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
“My mother gives me enough pocket __________.” money
After completing the task of reading the cards, ask the students to recall the words about which
the questions were asked. Note down the wor ds recalled. Count the number of words r ecalled in
the structural, phonological, and semantic types of processing required by the question.
Discuss results with your teacher.

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Psychology
 Box 7.3 Methods of Memory M
Meeasurement

Ther e are many ways in which memory is semantic memory is not amenable to any
measur ed experimentally. Since there are many for getting because it embodies general knowledge
kinds of memories, any method appropriate for that we all possess. In sentence verification task,
studying one type of memory may not be suited the participants are asked to indicate whether the
for studying another. The major methods which given sentences are true or false. Faster the
ar e used for memory measurement are being participants r espond, better retained is the
presented here : information needed to verify those sentences (see
a) Fr ee Recall and Recognition (for measuring Activity 7.3 for use of this task in measurement of

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facts/episodes related memory) : In free recall semantic knowledge).

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method, participants are presented with c) Priming (for measuring infor mation we cannot
some wor ds which they ar e asked to report verbally) : W e store many kinds of
memorise and after some time they are asked infor mation that we can’t report verbally - for

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to recall them in any order. The more they instance, information necessary to ride a bicycle

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ar e able to recall, the better their memory is. or play a sitar. Besides, we also store information

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In r ecognition, instead of being asked to that we are not aware of, which is described as

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generate items, participants see the items implicit memory. In priming method, participants

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that they had memorised along with are shown a list of words, such as garden,

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distracter items (those that they had not seen) playground, house, etc. and then they are shown

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and their task is to recognise which one of parts of these words like gar, pla, ho, along with
those they had lear nt. The greater the parts of other wor ds they had not seen.

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number of recognition of ‘old items’, better is Participants complete parts of seen words more

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the memory. quickly than parts of wor ds they had not seen.

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b) Sentence Verification Task (for measuring When asked, they ar e often unaware of this and

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semantic memory) : As you have already read, report that they have only guessed.

take variable lengths of time in answering

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KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION AND
questions, which require semantic judgments.
ORGANISATION IN MEMORY
While responding to question ‘Do birds fly?’ a
person will take not more than a second but

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In this section we will take a look at the
organisational structure that the contents of answering a question ‘Are birds animals’? may
long-term memory acquire over a period of take longer. Depending upon how much time

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time. Since long-term memory holds a very people take in responding to questions such

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large amount of information which is put to as these, the nature of organisation in long-
use with amazing efficiency, it would be very term memory has been inferred.

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useful to know how our memory system The most important unit of representation
organises its contents so that the right of knowledge in long-term memory is a

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information is available at the right moment. concept. Concepts are mental categories for
It is important to note at this point that many objects and events, which are similar to each

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ideas relating to organisation of the content other in one or in more than one way.
of long-term memory have resulted from Concepts once formed get organised in
experiments that have employed semantic categories — a category itself is a concept but
retrieval tasks. You will perhaps agree that it also functions to organise similarities among
there cannot be any error in recalling the other concepts based on common features. For
contents of semantic memory. For anyone who example, the word mango is a category
knows that birds fly will not make a mistake because different varieties of mangoes can be
in answering a question — Do birds fly? The subsumed within it and it is also a concept
answer will be in affirmative. But people may within the category of fruit. Concepts may also

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Chapter 7 • Human Memory
get organised in schema. They are mental of experiments were asked to verify the truth
frameworks which represent our knowledge of the statements such as ‘canary is a bird’ or
and assumptions about the world. For ‘a canary is an animal’ (answer was in Yes/
example, think of a schema of a drawing room. No). These were generally class-inclusion
It will have different objects/things, like a sofa statements in which the subject was word
set, center table, paintings, etc., which are ‘canary’ (perhaps, you know, it is a bird) and
found in a drawing room and where they are the predicate took the form ‘is a’. A critical
found in the drawing room. finding of such experiments was that as the
So far we have examined the concept as predicate became hierarchically more remote
the basic level at which knowledge is from the subject in a sentence, participants
represented in the long-term memory and the took longer time to verify that it is true or false.

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notions of category and schema as the first Thus, people took longer to verify that a
level at which concepts are organised. Let ‘canary is an animal’ compared to that which

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us now look at a higher level of organisation said ‘canary is a bird’ because bird is an
that concepts acquire in the long-term immediate superordinate category in which

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memory. canary is subsumed while animal is a

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In the year 1969, Allan Collins and Ross superordinate category which is more distant

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Quillian published a landmark research paper and remote from the concept canary.

R l
in which they suggested that knowledge in According to this view, we can store all
long-term memory is organised hierarchically knowledge at a certain level that ‘applies to

E b
and assumes a network structure. Elements all the members of a category without having
of this structure are called nodes. Nodes are to repeat that information at the lower levels

u
concepts while connections between nodes are in the hierarchy’. This ensures a high degree

C
labelled relationships, which indicate category of cognitive economy , which means

p
membership or concept attributes. maximum and efficient use of the capacity of

N re
In order to verify the proposed network long-term memory with minimum
structure of long-term knowledge, participants redundancy.

© e
Has skin
Breathes
Animal
Eats food

b
Can move around

o
Has wings
Bird Can fly Has fins

t
Has feathers Fish Can swim
Has gills

o
Canary

t Ostrich
Has long thin legs
Is tall
Is pink
Is edible

n
Can’t fly Salmon
Swims upstream
to lay eggs
Can sing Is yellow
Shark

Can bite Is dangerous

Fig.7.2 : The Hierarchical Network Model

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Psychology
 So far we have discussed concept as unit visually. This is known as dual coding
of representation of knowledge in the long- hypothesis, originally proposed by Paivio.
term memory and looked at various ways in According to this hypothesis, concrete nouns
which concepts get organised. Does this mean and information related to concrete objects are
that knowledge is encoded only in word-like encoded and stored in the form of images while
format or can there be other ways of encoding? information related to abstract concepts
It has been shown that information can be assume a verbal and a descriptive code. For
coded in a perceptual format or in terms of example, if you are asked to describe a bird,
images. An image is a concrete form of the first thing that happens is that an image
representation which directly conveys the of a bird is generated and based on this image,
perceptual attributes of an object. If you were you describe a bird. But, on the other hand,

d
to come across the word ‘school’, an image of the meanings of concepts like ‘truth’ or
your own school will get generated. In fact, ‘honesty’ will not have such accompanying

e
almost all concrete objects (and concepts) images. So, any information which has been
generate images and the knowledge related to encoded verbally as well as in the form of

h
them is encoded both verbally as well as images is recalled with greater ease.

Box 7.4

RT
Memory Making : E
Ey

l i Fa
yewitness and F alse Memories
s
Eyewitness Memory

E u b False Memory

C
Court procedures followed in criminal trials, use An interesting phenomenon called false memory can

p
the testimony given by the eyewitness of the be induced by powerful imagination of events that did
offense. It is considered to be the most reliable not take place at all. Surprised? Let us look at one

N re
evidence for or against the accused. Some such study carried out by Garry, Manning and Loftus
experiments carried out by Loftus and her in 1996 and understand the features of false memory.
colleagues during the mid-seventies showed that Initially they presented before the participants

© e
the eyewitness’s memory is susceptible to many of their experiments, a list of events that could have
flaws. occurred in their lives. In the first phase of this
The experimental procedure followed by Loftus experiment, they rated the likelihood that each of

b
was very simple. A film clipping of an event (usually these events actually took place in their lives to the
a car accident) was shown to the participants. This best of their childhood memories. Two weeks later,
was followed by some questions, which interferes they were invited again to the laboratory and were

o
with encoding of the event. One of the questions asked to imagine those events and visualise as if
was “how fast were the cars going when they they actually happened to them. In particular, events

t
smashed into each other”. In another question the which were rated low in terms of their likelihood of
verb smashed was replaced with the verb occurrence, were chosen for the task of visualising

t
contacted. Those who were asked the first question and imagining. This was the second phase of the
(which included the word ‘smashed’) estimated the experiment. Finally, in the third phase, the

o
speed of the cars as 40.8 mph. Those who were experimenters pretended that they had misplaced
given the second question (i.e. with the word the event likelihood ratings which they had obtained

n
‘contacted’) estimated that the speed of the cars during the first phase and therefore requested the
was only 31.8 mph. Clearly, the nature of leading participants to respond to the list, once again.
questions changed the memory. In fact, the Inter estingly, events which were rated low on
encoding of the event was ‘overwritten’ by likelihood in the first phase but were later visualised
misleading questions. Some of these errors are also and imagined as r eal were now rated high. The
committed because of affective nature of the event participants reported that those events actually took
itself. For example, events depicting violence or a place in their lives. These findings suggest that
tragedy tend to arouse strong emotions, the memory can be induced and implanted through
eyewitnesses get overwhelmed and do not pay imagination inflation — a finding that provides useful
attention to details while encoding. insights into memory processes.

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Chapter 7 • Human Memory
 Information which has been encoded and processes. He conducted simple experiments
stored in the form of images leads to the in which reading of such stimulus materials
development of mental models. There are many was followed by fifteen minutes break and then
routine tasks which require mental models. the participants of his experiment recalled what
For example, following a road direction, they had read. Bartlett used the method of
assembling a bicycle or even preparing to cook serial reproduction in which the participants
an exotic dish from instructions given in a of his experiments recalled the memory
cookery book require that spatial mental materials repeatedly at varying time intervals.
models are created from verbal descriptions. While engaging in serial reproduction of
Mental models, therefore, refer to our belief learned material his participants committed
about the manner in which our environment a wide variety of ‘errors’ which Bartlett

d
is structured and such beliefs are formed with considered useful in understanding the
the help of concrete images as well as verbal process of memory construction. His

e
descriptions. participants altered the texts to make them
more consistent with their knowledge, glossed

h
over the unnecessary details, elaborated the
MEMORY AS A C ONSTRUCTIVE PROCESS

T s
main theme and transformed the material to

i
If you were to carefully examine the initial look more coherent and rational.

R l
explorations about memory processes, you will In order to explain such findings, Bartlett
invoked the term schema, which according

b
perhaps conclude that memory primarily

E
consists of reproduction of stored materials. to him ‘was an active organisation of past
reactions and past experiences’. Schemas refer

u
This view was held by Ebbinghaus and his
to an organisation of past experiences and

C
followers who emphasised the quantity of
knowledge, which influence the way in which

p
information that can be stored in the memory
incoming information is interpreted, stored,

N re
and judged its accuracy by matching the
contents of storage and reproduction. If the and later retrieved. Memory, therefore,
reproduced version of the stored material becomes an active process of construction
where information is encoded and stored in

© e
showed any deviation, it was seen as an error
and a case of memory failure. This storage terms of a person’s understanding and within
metaphor of memory implied that the memory her/his previous knowledge and expectations.

b
was a passive occurrence of learnt material
that has been transported to its long-term NATURE AND CAUSES OF FORGETTING
storehouse. This position was challenged by

o
Bartlett in the early thirties who contended Each one of us has experienced forgetting and

t
that memory is an active process and all that its consequences almost routinely. Why do we
we have stored undergoes continuous change forget? Is it because the information we

t
and modification. What we memorise is commit to our long-term memory is somehow
influenced by the meaning we assign to the lost? Is it because we did not memorise it well

o
stimulus material and once it is committed to enough? Is it because we did not encode the
our memory system, it cannot remain in information correctly or is it because during

n
isolation from other cognitive processes. storage, it got distorted or misplaced? Many
In essence, therefore, Bartlett saw memory theories have been forwarded to explain
as a constructive and not a reproductive forgetting and now you will read about those
process. Using meaningful materials such as that seem plausible and have received
texts, folk tales, fables, etc. Bartlett attempted considerable attention.
to understand the manner in which content The first systematic attempt to understand
of any specific memory gets affected by a the nature of forgetting was made by Hermann
person’s knowledge, goals, motivation, Ebbinghaus, who memorised lists of nonsense
preferences and various other psychological syllables (CVC trigrams such as NOK or SEP

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Psychology
etc.) and then measured the number of trials decay due to disuse, then people who go to
he took to relearn the same list at varying time sleep after memorising should forget more
intervals. He observed that the course of compared to those who remain awake, simply
forgetting follows a certain pattern which you because there is no way in which memory
can see in Figure 7.3. traces can be put to use during sleep. Results,
however, show just the opposite. Those who
remain awake after memorising (waking

0
100
Amount retained (per cent)

Amount forgotten (per cent)

condition) show greater forgetting than those
who sleep (sleeping condition).

25
20 min.
75

Amount Because trace decay theory did not explain

1 hr. forgotten
8.8 hrs.
forgetting adequately, it was soon replaced by

d
50

50
another theory of forgetting which suggested
that new information that enters the long-term

e
75 memory interferes with the recall of earlier
25

Amount memories and therefore, interference is the

h
retained
main cause of forgetting.

T i s
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 30 31 100 Forgetting due to Interference

R l
Time since learning (in days) If forgetting is not due to trace decay then why

b
does it take place? A theory of forgetting that

E
Fig.7.3 : Ebbinghaus’s Curve of Forgetting has perhaps been the most influential one is

u
the interference theory which suggests that

C
As the figure indicates, the rate of forgetting forgetting is due to interference between

p
is maximum in the first nine hours, particularly various information that the memory store

N re
during the first hour. After that the rate slows contains. This theory assumes that learning
down and not much is forgotten even after and memorising involve forming of
many days. Although Ebbinghaus’s associations between items and once acquired,

© e
experiments constituted initial explorations these associations remain intact in the
and were not very sophisticated yet they have memory. People keep acquiring numerous
influenced memory research in many such associations and each of these rests

b
important ways. It is now upheld, almost independently without any mutual conflict.
unanimously, that there is always a sharp However, interference comes about at a time
drop in memory and thereafter the decline is of retrieval when these various sets of

o
very gradual. Let us now examine the main associations compete with each other for

t
theories, which have been advanced to explain retrieval. This interference process will become
forgetting. clearer with a simple exercise. Request your

t
friend to learn two separate lists of nonsense
Forgetting due to Trace Decay syllables (list A and list B) one after the other

o
and after a while ask her/him to recall the
Trace decay (also called disuse theory) is the nonsense syllables of list A. If while trying to

n
earliest theory of forgetting. The assumption recall the items of list A, s/he recalls some of
here is that memory leads to modification in the items of list B, it is because of the
the central nervous system, which is akin to association formed while learning list B are
physical changes in the brain called memory interfering with the earlier association which
traces. When these memory traces are not were formed while learning list A.
used for a long time, they simply fade away There are atleast two kinds of interferences
and become unavailable. This theory has been that may result in forgetting. Interference can
proved inadequate on several grounds. If be proactive (forward moving) which means
forgetting takes place because memory traces what you have learnt earlier interferes with

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Chapter 7 • Human Memory
 Table 7.1 Experimental Designs for Retroactive and P
fo roactive Interf
Pr erence
fe

Retroactive Interference Phase 1 Phase 2 Testing Phase

Experimental participant/group Lear ns A Lear ns B Recalls A
Control participant/gr oup Lear ns A Rests Recalls A

Proactive Interference
Experimental participant/group Lear ns A Lear ns B Recalls B
Control participant/gr oup Rests Lear ns B Recalls B

d
the recall of your subsequent learning or Forgetting due to Retrieval Failure

e
retroactive (backward moving) which refers to
Forgetting can occur not only because the

h
difficulty in recalling what you have learnt memory traces have decayed over time (as
earlier because of learning a new material. In suggested by the disuse theory) or because

T s
other words, in proactive interference, past

i
independent sets of stored associations
learning interferes with the recall of later

l
compete at the time of recall (as suggested by

R
learning while in retroactive interference the the interference theory) but also because at
later learning interferes with the recall of past

b
the time of recall, either the retrieval cues are

E
learning. For example, if you know English absent or they are inappropriate. Retrieval
and you find it difficult to learn French, it is

u
cues are aids which help us in recovering

C
because of proactive interference and if, on information stored in the memory. This

p
the other hand, you cannot recall English view was advanced by Tulving and his
equivalents of French words that you are

N re
associates who carried out several
currently memorising, then it is an example experiments to show that contents of memory
of retroactive interference. A typical may become inaccessible either due to
experimental design that is used to

© e
absence or inappropriateness of retrieval cues
demonstrate proactive and retroactive that are available/employed at the time of
interference has been presented in Table 7.1. recall.

b
o
Box 7.5 Repressed Memories

t t
Some individuals undergo experiences that are
traumatic. A traumatic experience emotionally
in highly generalised amnesia. One of the results of
such flights is the emergence of a disorder known as

o
hurts a person. Sigmund Freud posited that such ‘fugue state’. Persons who become victims of such a
experiences are repressed into the unconscious state assume a new identity, name, address, etc.

n
and are not available for retrieval from memory. They have two personalities and one knows nothing
It is a kind of repression — painful, thr eatening, about the other.
and embarrassing memories are held out of For getfulness or loss of memory under stress
consciousness. and high anxiety is not uncommon. Many hard
In some persons, traumatic experiences may working and ambitious students aspire for high
give rise to psychological amnesia. Some scores in final examinations and to achieve such
individuals experience crisis, and are utterly ends they put in long hours in studies. But when
incapable of coping with such events. They close they receive the question paper, they become
their eyes, ears and mind to such harsh realities extremely nervous and forget everything they had
of life, and take mental flight from them. It results prepared well.

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Psychology
 Activity 7.4
Given below are two lists of words. First memorise the list in such a way that you are able to
recall the wor ds without any error. Now you take up the second list and memorise it to the
criterion of correct recall error. Forget about the list and read something else for an hour. Now
recall the wor ds in the first list and write them down. Note the total number of words correctly
recalled and the number of words incorrectly recalled.
List 1
Goat Sheep Leopard
Jackal Monkey Camel
Mule Deer Squirrel

d
Horse Cheetah Wolf
Snake Rabbit Parrot

e
List 2
Pig Elephant Donkey

h
Pigeon Cobra Tiger

T s
Mynah Lion Calf

i
Bears Fox Crow

l
Buffalo Mouse

R
Get the cooperation of one of your friends and request her/him to memorise the words of List 1

b
to the criterion as stated above. Request her/him to sing a song and have a cup of tea with you.

E
Keep her/him engaged in some conversation for an hour or so. Then request her/him to write

u
down the words s/he had memorised earlier.

C
Compare your recall with the one made by your friend.

N re p
Let us understand this with the help of an
example. Suppose you have memorised a list
of meaningful words like hut, wasp, cottage,
improved. There are a number of strategies for
improving memory called mnemonics
(pronounced ni-mo-nicks) to help you improve

© e
gold, bronze, ant, etc. in which words belonged your memory. Some of these mnemonics
to six categories (like places of living, names involve use of images whereas others
of insects, types of metal, etc.). If after a while emphasise self-induced organisation of

b
you are asked to recall those you may recall a learned information. You will now read about
couple of them but if during the second recall mnemonics and some suggestions given for

o
attempt, you are also provided with category memory improvement.

t
names, then you may find that your recall is
near total. Category names in this example Mnemonics using Images

t
act as retrieval cues. Besides category names,
the physical context in which you learn also Mnemonics using images require that you

o
provides effective retrieval cues. create vivid and interacting images of and
around the material you wish to remember.

n
The two prominent mnemonic devices, which
ENHANCING MEMORY make interesting use of images, are the
keyword method and the method of loci.
All of us desire to possess an excellent memory
system that is robust and dependable. Who, (a) The Keyword Method : Suppose you want
after all, likes to face situations of memory to learn words of any foreign language. In
failures that lead to so much of anxiety and keyword method, an English word (the
embarrassment? After learning about various assumption here is that you know English
memory related processes, you certainly would language) that sounds similar to the word of
like to know how your memory can be a foreign language is identified. This English

145
Chapter 7 • Human Memory
word will function as the keyword. For example, (b) First Letter Technique : In order to employ
if you want to remember the Spanish word for the first letter technique, you need to pick up
duck which is ‘Pato’, you may choose ‘pot’ as the first letter of each word you want to
the keyword and then evoke images of keyword remember and arrange them to form another
and the target word (the Spanish word you want word or a sentence. For example, colours of a
to remember) and imagine them as interacting. rainbow are remembered in this way
You might, in this case, imagine a duck in a (VIBGYOR- that stands for Violet, Indigo, Blue,
pot full of water. This method of learning words Green, Yellow, Orange and Red).
of a foreign language is much superior Mnemonic strategies for memory
compared to any kind of rote memorisation. enhancement are too simplistic and perhaps
underestimate complexities of memory tasks
(b) The Method of Loci : In order to use the

d
and difficulties people experience while
method of loci, items you want to remember
memorising. In place of mnemonics, a more

e
are placed as objects arranged in a physical
comprehensive approach to memory
space in the form of visual images. This

h
improvement has been suggested by many
method is particularly helpful in remembering
psychologists. In such an approach, emphasis

T s
items in a serial order. It requires that you
is laid on applying knowledge about memory

i
first visualise objects/places that you know
processes to the task of memory improvement.

l
well in a specific sequence, imagine the objects

R
Let us examine some of these suggestions.
you want to remember and associate them one

b
It is suggested that one must :
by one to the physical locations. For example,

E
(a) Engage in Deep Level Processing : If you
suppose you want to remember bread, eggs,

u
want to memorise any information well,
tomatoes, and soap on your way to the market,

C
engage in deep level processing. Craik and
you may visualise a loaf of bread and eggs

p
Lockhart have demonstrated that processing
placed in your kitchen, tomatoes kept on a

N re
information in terms of meaning that they
table and soap in the bathroom. When you
convey leads to better memory as compared
enter the market all you need to do is to take to attending to their surface features. Deep
a mental walk along the route from your

© e
processing would involve asking as many
kitchen to the bathroom recalling all the items
questions related to the information as
of your shopping list in a sequence. possible, considering its meaning and

b
examining its relationships to the facts you
Mnemonics using Organisation
already know. In this way, the new information
Organisation refers to imposing certain order will become a part of your existing knowledge

o
on the material you want to remember. framework and the chances that it will be

t
Mnemonics of this kind are helpful because of remembered are increased.
the framework you create while organisation

t
(b) Minimise Interference : Interference, as we
makes the retrieval task fairly easy.
have read, is a major cause of forgetting and

o
(a) Chunking : While describing the features therefore you should try to avoid it as much
of short-term memory, we noted how chunking as possible. You know that maximum

n
can increase the capacity of short-term interference is caused when very similar
memory. In chunking, several smaller units materials are learned in a sequence. Avoid this.
are combined to form large chunks. For Arrange your study in such a way that you do
creating chunks, it is important to discover not learn similar subjects one after the other.
some organisation principles, which can link Instead, pick up some other subject unrelated
smaller units. Therefore, apart from being a to the previous one. If that is not possible,
control mechanism to increase the capacity distribute your learning/practice. This means
of short-term memory, chunking can be used giving yourself intermittent rest periods while
to improve memory as well. studying to minimise interference.

146
Psychology
(c) Give Yourself enough Retrieval Cues : solve all problems related to retention and bring
While you learn something, think of retrieval about an overnight memory improvement. In
cues inherent in your study material. Identify order to improve your memory, you need to
them and link parts of the study material to attend to a wide variety of factors which affect
these cues. Cues will be easier to remember your memory such as your health status, your
compared to the entire content and the links interest and motivation, your familiarity with
you have created between cues and the the subject matter and so on. In addition, you
content will facilitate the retrieval process. must learn to use strategies for memory
Thomas and Robinson have developed improvement depending upon the nature of
another strategy to help students in memory tasks you are required to accomplish.
remembering more which they called the

d
methods of PQRST. This acronym stands for
Preview, Question, Read, Self-recitation, and

e
Test. Preview refers to giving a cursory look at Key Terms
the chapter and familiarising oneself with its

h
contents. Question means raising questions Chunking, Cognitive economy, Concepts,

T s
and seeking answers from the lesson. Now Control pr ocess, Dual coding, Echoic memory,

i
Encoding, Episodic memory, Elaborative
start reading and look for answers of questions

l
rehearsals, Fugue state, Infor mation

R
you had raised. After reading try to rewrite p rocessing appr oach, Maintenance
what you have read and at the end test how

b
rehearsals, Memory making, Mnemonics,

E
much you have been able to understand. Schema, Semantic memory, Serial
At the end, a note of caution must be reproduction, Working memory

u
sounded. There is no one method that can

Summary C
N re p
© e
• Memory is seen as consisting of thr ee interrelated processes of encoding, storage and retrieval.
• While encoding is registering the incoming information in a way that it becomes compatible
to the memory system, storage and r etrieval refers to holding the information over a period

b
of time and bringing the infor mation back to one’s awareness, respectively.
• The Stage Model of Memory compar es memory processes with the working of a computer
and suggests that incoming information is processed through three distinct stages of sensory

o
memory, short-term memory and long-term memory.

t
• Levels of processing view of memory contends that the information can be encoded at any
of the three levels, namely, the structural, the phonetic and the semantic. If an infor mation

t
is analysed and encoded semantically, which is the deepest level of processing, then it
leads to better retention.

o
• Long-ter m memory has been classified in many ways. One major classification is that of
declarative and procedural memory and another is that of episodic and semantic memory.

n
• Contents of long-ter m memory get represented in terms of concepts, categories and images
and are or ganised hierarchically.
• Forgetting refers to loss of stored infor mation over a period of time. After a material is lear nt,
there is a sharp drop in its memory and then the decline is very gradual.
• Forgetting has been explained as resulting from trace decay and interference. It may also
be caused due to absence of appropriate cues at the time of retrieval.
• Memory is not only a reproductive but also a constructive process. What we store undergoes
change and modification within one’s past knowledge and schema.
• Mnemonics are strategies for improving memory. While some mnemonics use images, other
emphasise organisation of the lear nt material.

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Chapter 7 • Human Memory
 Review Questions
1. What is the meaning of the ter ms ‘encoding’, ‘storage’ and ‘retrieval’?
2. How is infor mation processed through sensory, short-term and long-ter m memory systems?
3. How are maintenance rehearsals dif ferent from elaborative rehearsals?
4. Dif ferenciate between declarative and procedural memories?
5. Describe the hierar chical organisation in long-term memory?
6. Why does forgetting take place?
7. How is retrieval r elated forgetting different from forgetting due to inter ference?
8. What evidence do we have to say that ‘memory is a constructive process’?

d
9. Define mnemonics? Suggest a plan to impr ove your own memory.

Project Ideas

h e
T i s
1. Recall and write down an event of your life that you remember very clearly. Also r equest

R l
others (those who wer e participants of that event such as your brother/sister, par ents or
other relatives/friends) to do the same. Compare the two recalled versions and look for

b
discrepancies and similarities. T ry to reason why there are similarities and discrepancies.

E
2. Narrate a story to your friend and ask her/him to write it down after an hour. Also r equest

u
her/him to narrate what s/he had written to another person. Continue this pr ocess till

C
you have at least 5 versions of the original story. Compare the various versions and

p
identify constructive processes in memory.

N re
© e
b
to
o t
n
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Psychology