Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY

(5th Ed)

Chapter 9
Memory
James A. McCubbin, PhD
Clemson University

Worth Publishers
Memory
 Memory
 persistence of learning over time via
the storage and retrieval of
information
 Flashbulb Memory
 a clear memory of an emotionally
significant moment or event
Memory
 Memory as Information Processing
 similar to a computer
 write to file
 save to disk
 read from disk
 Encoding
 the processing of information into the
memory system
Memory
 Storage
 the retention of encoded information
over time
 Retrieval
 process of getting information out of
memory
Memory
 Short term memory
 activated memory that holds a few items briefly
 look up a phone number, then quickly dial
before the information is forgotten
 Long term memory
 the relatively permanent and limitless
storehouse of the memory system
Encoding

Encoding

Effortful Automatic
Encoding
 Automatic Processing
 unconscious encoding of incidental information
 space
 time
 frequency
 well-learned information
 word meanings
 we can learn automatic processing
 reading backwards
Encoding
 Effortful Processing
 requires attention and conscious effort
 Rehearsal
 conscious repetition of information
 to maintain it in consciousness
 to encode it for storage
Encoding
 Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables
 TUV ZOF GEK WAV
 the more times practiced on Day 1, the
fewer repetitions to relearn on Day 2
 Spacing Effect
 distributed practice yields better long term
retention than massed practice
Encoding
Time in
minutes 20
taken to
relearn
list on
day 2 15

10

0
8 16 24 32 42 53 64
Number of repetitions of list on day 1
Encoding
 Serial Position Effect
 tendency to recall best the last and first
items in a list
Encoding

Percentage 90
of 80
words
recalled 70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Position of word in list
What do we Encode?
 Semantic Encoding
 encoding of meaning
 including meaning of words
 Acoustic Encoding
 encoding of sound
 especially sound of words
 Visual Encoding
 encoding of picture images
Encoding
 Imagery
 mental pictures
 a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially
when combined with semantic encoding
 Mnemonics
 memory aids
 especially those techniques that use vivid
imagery and organizational devices
Encoding
 Chunking
 organizing items into familiar, manageable units
 like horizontal organization- 1776149218121941
 often occurs automatically
 use of acronyms
 HOMES- Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
 ARITHMETIC- A Rat In Tom’s House Might Eat
Tom’s Ice Cream
Encoding
 Hierarchies
 complex information broken down into broad
concepts and further subdivided into
categories and subcategories
Encoding
Encoding
(automatic
or effortful)

Meaning Imagery Organization

(semantic (visual
Encoding) Encoding)

Chunks Hierarchies
Encoding
 Forgetting as encoding failure
 Information never enters the memory system
 Attention is selective
 we cannot attend to everything in our environment
 William James said that we would be as bad
off if we remembered everything as we would
be if we remembered nothing
Encoding
 Forgetting as encoding failure

Attention
Encoding

External Sensory Short-term Long-term

events memory Encoding memory memory

Encoding failure
leads to forgetting
Encoding
 Forgetting as
encoding failure

 Which penny is the

real thing?
Storage-
Retaining Information
 Sensory Memory
 the immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the
memory system
 Iconic Memory
 a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli
 a photographic or picture image memory lasting no more that
a few tenths of a second
 Registration of exact representation of a scene
 Echoic Memory
 momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli
Storage-
Short Term Memory
 Short Term Memory
 limited in duration and capacity
 “magical” number 7+/-2
Storage-
Short Term Memory
Percentage
90
who recalled
consonants 80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
3 6 9 12 15 18

Time in seconds between presentation

of contestants and recall request
(no rehearsal allowed)
Storage-
Long Term Memory
 Long Term Memory
 virtually limitless capacity
 we don't have to discard old items to
remember new items
 Ebbinghaus- forgetting curve over 30
days
 initially rapid, then levels off with time
Storage-
Long Term Memory
Percentage of
list retained 60
when
50
relearning
40

30

20

10

0
12345 10 15 20 25 30

Time in days since learning list

Storage-
Long Term Memory
 How does storage work?
 Karl Lashley (1950)
 rats learn maze
 lesion cortex
 test memory
 Synaptic changes
 Long-term Potentiation
 increase in synapse’s firing potential after brief,
rapid stimulation
 Strong emotions make for stronger memories
 some stress hormones boost learning and
retention
Storage-
Long Term Memory
 Amnesia- the loss of memory
 Explicit Memory
 memory of facts and experiences that one can
consciously know and declare
 hippocampus- neural center in limbic system
that helps process explicit memories for storage
 Implicit Memory
 retention without conscious recollection
 motor and cognitive skills
 dispositions- conditioning
Storage-
Long Term Memory
 MRI scan of hippocampus (in red)

Hippocampus
Storage- Long Term
Memory Subsystems
Types of
long-term
memories

Explicit Implicit
(declarative) (nondeclarative)
With conscious Without conscious
recall recall

Facts-general Personally Dispositions-

knowledge experienced Skills-motor classical and
(“semantic events and cognitive operant
memory”) (“episodic conditioning
memory”) effects
Retrieval
 Recall
 the ability to retrieve info learned earlier
and not in conscious awareness-like fill
in the blank test
 Recognition
 the ability to identify previously learned
items-like on a multiple choice test
Retrieval
 Relearning
 amount of time saved when
relearning previously learned
information
 Priming
 activation, often unconsciously, of
particular associations in memory
Retrieval Cues
 Reminders of information we could not
otherwise recall
 Guides to where to look for info
 Context Effects
 memory works better in the context of original
learning
Retrieval Cues
Percentage of
words recalled
40

30

20

10

0
Water/ Land/ Land/ Land/
land water water land

Different contexts for Same contexts for

hearing and recall hearing and recall
Retrieval Cues
 Deja Vu- (French) already seen
 cues from the current situation may subconsciously
trigger retrieval of an earlier similar experience
 "I've experienced this before"
 Mood Congruent Memory
 tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with
one’s current mood
 memory, emotions or moods serve as retrieval cues
 State Dependent Memory
 what is learned in one state (while one is high, drunk or
depressed) can more easily be remembered when in
same state
Retrieval Cues
 After learning to move a mobile by
kicking, infants had their learning
reactivated most strongly when retested
in the same rather than a different
context (Butler & Rovee-Collier, 1989).
Retrieval
 Forgetting can result from failure to
retrieve information from long-term
memory

Attention
Encoding
External Sensory Short-term Long-term
events memory Encoding memory Retrieval memory

Retrieval failure
leads to forgetting
Forgetting-Interference
 Learning some items may disrupt retrieval
of other information
 Proactive(forward acting) Interference
 disruptive effect of prior learning on recall of
new information
 Retroactive (backwards acting) Interference
 disruptive effect of new learning on recall of
old information
Forgetting-Interference
 Motivated Forgetting
 people unknowingly revise history
 Repression
 defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-
arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories
 Positive Transfer
 sometimes old information facilitates our
learning of new information
 knowledge of Latin may help us to learn
French
Forgetting
 Forgetting can occur at any memory
stage
 As we process information, we filter,
alter, or lose much of it
Forgetting
Sensory memory - the senses momentarily
register amazing detail

Short term memory - a few items are

both noticed and encoded

Long-term storage - Some items

are altered or lost

Retrieval from long-term memory -

depending on interference, retrieval cues
moods and motives, some things get
retrieved, some don’t
Memory Construction
 We filter information and fill in missing
pieces
 Misinformation Effect
 incorporating misleading information into
one's memory of an event
 Source Amnesia
 attributing to the wrong source an event
that we experienced, heard about, read
about, or imagined (misattribution)
Memory Construction
 People fill in memory gaps with plausible
guesses and assumptions
 Imagining events can create false
memories
 Children's eyewitness recall
 Child sexual abuse does occur
 Some innocent people suffer false accusations
 Some guilty cast doubt on true testimony
Memory Construction
 Memories of Abuse
 Repressed or Constructed?
 Child sexual abuse does occur
 Some adults do actually forget such episodes
 False Memory Syndrome
 condition in which a person’s identity and
relationships center around a false but strongly
believed memory of traumatic experience
 sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists
Memory Construction
 Most people can agree on the following:
 Incest happens
 Forgetting happens
 Recovered memories are commonplace
 Memories recovered under hypnosis or drugs
are unreliable
 Memories of things happening before age 3
are unreliable
 Memories, whether false or real, are upsetting
Improve Your Memory
 Study repeatedly to boost recall
 Spend more time rehearsing or
actively pondering material
 Make material personally meaningful
 Use mnemonic devices
 associate with peg words- something
already stored
 make up story
 chunk-acronyms
Improve Your Memory
 Activate retrieval cues- mentally
recreate situation and mood
 Recall events while they are fresh-
write down before interference
 Minimize interference
 Test your own knowledge
 rehearse
 determine what you do not yet
know