Memory Part 1 of 2 sessions Have you ever wondered why some people have such good memories and others not so good? And dont you wish your memory could.

Memory Part 1 of 2 sessions

• Have you ever wondered why some people have such good memories and others not so good?

• And don’t you wish your memory could be better, much better?

• Hopefully, when we’ve completed our two sessions on Memory and how we remember, you’ll know how to improve your memory and its capacity for retention!

Memory• Many people have wished that they could scan

into their memory books and books of information. And retrieve them just as easily.

• Some people do have such “photographic” memories.

• While our memory system has this feature of recording information, it is a much more complex system.

• The next slide (magazine cover) has a quote from someone about his feelings regarding memorising a lot of information or “force feeding” one’s memory.

Memory

• Incoming information has first to be “digested” or understood. In fact, it has to be changed into a form suitable for storage or remembering (just as food has to be digested to be stored in the body). This is called “encoding”.

• How memory is encoded also determines how and what is retrieved or recalled when we remember or try to remember.

• The process of encoding gives us an idea of the complexity and sophistication of the memory system.

I memorised the whole book…It’s not applicable to

life

Memory - True/False questions

• 1. Memory can be compared to a filing cabinet.

• 2. Our memory capacity is limitless.• 3. At any one time one can usually hold up

to 10 pieces of information or more.• 4. Memory fills in the gaps in the

recollections of events.• 5. Memory can reconstruct past events.• 6. The memory of an event is usually

reliable.

True/False questions (con’t)

• 7. It’s usually the case that when you’re happy, you'll somehow start to think about sad things.

• 8. Nothing is really forgotten.• 9. When people learn something while

drunk, they recall it best when they are drunk.• 10. The hour before sleep is not a good time

to commit information to memory.

Answers

• Answers• 1 T 2 T• 3 F 4 T• 5 T 6 F• 7 F 8 T• 9 T 10 F

Rebecca

• The next slide features the introductory page to the novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

• It refers to the heroine’s diary of her first visit to a beautiful countryside….and forms the basis of our discussion of the memory system in this session and the next.

Rebecca quotes

• These are some quotes from the previous page which will form the basis of our discussion on memory.

• This moment now…must never be lost• …shut my eyes to make the experience more

lasting• Already she belonged to the past, she was only

a memory

Rebecca quotes cont’

• I wanted to…recapture the moment• …it would not be the same• …even the sun would be changed in the sky,

casting another shadow.• …an invention that bottled up a memory, like

scent• …it never faded... never got stale• …living the moment all over again• …keep this moment and never forget it

Do you remember?

• What did you have for lunch last Tuesday?• What did you have for dinner last Tuesday?• Why can or cannot you remember?• Note the difference between the two quotes:• “I understood what was said.”• “I remembered all that was said.”• Can one remember all that was said? You will

be able to answer this question when the two sessions on memory are completed!

With it went his past

What is memory?

• Storage, the remembering, the retention of knowledge (learning, past experiences).

• Past concept of memory as a static system. • Aristotle concept of memory: stamping onto a

block of wax.• Memory was likened to a switchboard, storage

box, library, tape or video recorder. • Current concept as a dynamic system. • Memory is an information-processing system.• This concerns how memory is encoded, stored

and retrieved.

Memory processes

• Encoding – putting information into memory (by often changing its form)

• Storage – how the memory system maintains or remembers information

• Retrieval – getting the stored information out of memory; that is, recall or remembering

• Forgetting – the inability to recall a particular piece of information accurately (or at all)

Acquisition

• Acquisition involves the intricate process of assimilating the incoming information.

• This means that the information has to be “broken down”, cognitively “digested” or understood.

• It has to be processed into a form understood by the receiver. This is called encoding.

• It is now fit for retention or storage (that is, for remembering).

Problem with encoding

• The information may be incorrectly processed before storage.

• The incorrect information will then be retrieved or recalled subsequently.

• Worse, the incorrect information could be “reconstructed” and “falsified” but “remembered” as true and having actually occurred in the past!

Exposure time is important

• We do not remember everything that happens to us. In fact, we only remember some of what happens to us.

• This is because of the length of time that the incoming information stays with us. This can vary from less than a second to minutes.

• Information will dissipate or linger accordingly.• Hence, typically, there are three types of

memory systems as shown in the next slide.

Memory

Syste

ms33 Sensory Store

Short-Term Memory

Long-Term Memory

Memory systems

• Sensory – information is held for a split second; probably would not be processed or stored

• Short-term – information is consciously processed and stored for 20-30 seconds

• It is also known as working memory, desk or work space.

• Long term – information is archived but can be retrieved

Sensory memory

• This session deals only with sensory memory, the capturing of stimuli that impinges on our visual senses for only a split second.

• You can also test yourself later on a visual memory task to see how much information you can retain when you are exposed to visual stimuli for only a few seconds.

Sensory information lingers for only a split second in our memory.

Although no longer visible, the sensory traces are held in our memory so that we can “see” a complete image even though much of the traces are no longer there.

Sperling’s Test

• Test yourself on the Sperling’s test!• This test will appear in the next slide.• 3 rows of Alphabets will be presented.• Each row has 4 Alphabets.• You get a Time limit of THREE SECONDS to

look at all 3 rows of Alphabets.• 1.Look away after THREE seconds.• 2.Write down what you remember.

• Proceed now to next slide for the test

Sperling’s (1960) Experiment

L H T K

N B O E

J W V X

Your score?

• How did you do?• Try again with the same three rows of

alphabets.

• 1.Look away after THREE seconds.• 2.Write down what you remember.

• Proceed now to next slide for the test

Sperling’s (1960) Experiment

L H T K

N B O E

J W V X

Sperling’s Test

• Your Score: How many alphabets did you remember?

• Retest: Same Sperling test but with three rows of different alphabets.

• 1.Look away after THREE seconds.• 2.Write down what you remember.

• Proceed now to next slide for the test

Sperling’s (1960) Experiment

P E G J

B R W Y

C Z N Q

Postscript

• Write down which alphabets (and rows) from the two tests that you can remember.

• Alphabets from first test and its row:

• Alphabets from second test and its row:

Your score?

• First test - score?• Retest - score?• Second test - score?• Your scores should increase after the first test.

This is because of the familiarity factor which is similar to “rehearsal” in memory.

• The next slide gives the general conclusion for performance in this test concerning stimuli that impinge on you for only a split second.

Finally…

• Just on pure recall, write down ALL the alphabets from Sperling’s test that you can remember!

• This will give you an idea of how flimsy sensory memory is. For something to be remembered at least for a short while, its exposure has to be more than a few seconds so that it will “stick” to the memory “film”.

• This will be dealt with in Short-Term Memory in the next session.

The results demonstrated that people can store a great deal of visual input. However, the stored information

quickly decays before we can report them all.

Conclusion

Sperling’s experiment was the first to demonstrate the existence of a temporary store for visual input.

End of Session

• Next session: Short and Long Term Memory