Sparklection Day

Chunking: The process of taking single items of information and collecting them based on similarity, association, or other organizing principles, into larger wholes.

Engram: The hypothesized chemical change in the brain resulting from the storing of memory information; also called memory traces.

Functional Amnesia: A severe type of memory loss caused by psychological factors such as anxiety, hysteria, or repression.

Organic Amnesia: A permanent form of memory loss, resulting from biological devastation to the brain, such as disease, alcoholism, chemical poisoning, and senility.

Mnemonic: Technique or device used to aid in memorization

Serial Position Effect: A characteristic of retrieval in which a person's recall of first and last items in a list is better than recall of other items.

Sparklection Day

Are you scared of Alzheimer’s?How do we remember? What is your theory?Besides smell, which is believed to have strong ties to memory, what other stimuli can conjure up memories, in your opinion?

Chunking: The process of taking single items of information and collecting them based on similarity, association, or other organizing principles, into larger wholes.

Engram: The hypothesized chemical change in the brain resulting from the storing of memory information; also called memory traces.

Functional Amnesia: A severe type of memory loss caused by psychological factors such as anxiety, hysteria, or repression.

Organic Amnesia: A permanent form of memory loss, resulting from biological devastation to the brain, such as disease, alcoholism, chemical poisoning, and senility.

Mnemonic: Technique or device used to aid in memorization

Serial Position Effect: A characteristic of retrieval in which a person's recall of first and last items in a list is better than recall of other items.

Memory Memory

Memory

Memory Memory Memory

MemoryMemoryMemory

MemoryMemory

Memory

Memory

True or False??

1. When people go around a circle saying their names, their poorest memories are for what was said by the person just before them.

2. Our experiences are etched on our brain, just as the grooves on a tape receive and retain recorded messages.

3. Although our capacity for storing information is large, we are still limited in the number of permanent memories we can store.

4. The hour before sleep is a good time to commit information to memory.

The Atkinson-Shiffrin Model

The Environment

Sensory Registers

Short Term Memory

Long Term Memory

Sensation

Encoding

Consciousness

Retrieval

G R F K

B Y P W

V M S O

H Q N D

L A J C

U F B Q

Also called Working Memory

Whatever information is in conscious awareness. Any information that we are remembering or manipulating occurs in STM.

A typical individual’s digit span

TiredPillowSnoozeDrowsyNaptimeWearyBedspreadSlumber

DozeDreamSandmanBlanketSiestaMoonlightBedspreadNighttime

Primacy Effect

Recall %

Serial Position of word

Recency Effect

Recall %

Serial Position of word

How many of you remembered the word sleep?

(It wasn’t actually on the list)

SleepTiredBlanket

Awake Party

SlumberNighttime

Structural – Is the word in capital letters ?

Phonemic – Does the word rhyme with “deep”?

Semantic – What does the word mean?

Personal – How does the word relate to you?

Recall vs Recognition GrouchyGabbyFearfulSleepySmileyJumpy

HopefulShy

Droopy

DopeySniffy

WishfulPuffy

DumpySneezyLazyPop

Grumpy

BashfulCheerful

TeachShortyNifty

HappyDoc

WheezyP-Diddy

The Answers• Research suggests the order,

from most likely to least likely recalled is as follows:– Sleepy– Dopey– Grumpy– Sneezy– Happy– Doc– Bashful

Seven Dwarfs and STM• Now, turn over the sheet and

recall the names of the seven dwarfs on the back of the sheet

Memory

• Memory–persistence of learning over time via the storage and retrieval of information

Memory• Encoding

– the processing of information into the memory system

• Storage– the retention of encoded

information over time• Retrieval

–process of getting information out of memory

Ebbinghaus and Memory

• Systematic and controlled study of memory in laboratory

H. Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)

Ebbinghaus and Memory

• Ebbinghaus –Used nonsense syllables:

TUV ZOF GEK MONUL WAV FALEM

–the more times practiced on Day 1, the fewer repetitions to relearn on Day 2

Ebbinghaus’ Retention Curve

20

15

10

5

08 16 24 32 42 53 64

Time in minutestaken to relearnlist on day 2

Number of repetitions of list on day 1

• Most forgetting occurs right after learning–approx. 50%

in first 40 min

• Relationship between delay and forgetting not linear

Ebbinghaus and Forgetting Curve

Ebbinghaus and Memory

• Other important findings–Beneficial effects of distributed practice for repetitions (ie., ‘spacing effect’)

–List-length effect

Encoding

• Automatic Processing• Effortful Processing

Encoding

Effortful Automatic

Types of Encoding

• Encoding Meaning• Acoustic Encoding• Visual Encoding

Encoding Aids

• Meaning (semantics)• Imagery• Mnemonics

–memory aids–E.g., ‘peg-word’ system

Imagery

To remember:“Monkey, briefcase, spiral, dentist”

Encoding Aids

• Mnemonics–Method of loci

Mnemonics:

Openness

Conscientiousness

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Neuroticism

Encoding Aids

• Chunking–organizing items into familiar, manageable units

–use of acronyms•HOMES-Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior

Remember as many of the following numbers as you can:

• 1776198514922004

• 1776198514922004

Remember as many of the following letters as you can:

• XIBMSATMTVPHDX

• X IBM SAT MTV PHD X

Chunking: Try and remember the following string of letters (in order):

XCI AFB IVC RDN AIB MQZ

Chunking: Try and remember the following string of letters (in order):

XCI AFB IVC RDN AIB MQZ

X CIA FBI VCR DNA IBM QZ

Encoding Aids

• Hierarchies–Organization of knowledge under narrower concepts/headings

• Rehearsal–conscious repetition of information

Memory Storages

• Sensory• Short term (working

memory)• Long term

The Modal Memory System

Stage 1: Sensory Memory

• Iconic memory was demonstrated in Sperling’s classic experiment, and lasts about 1/3 second

• Echoic memory

• Iconic and echoic memory systems may allow us to experience the world as a continuous stream

Stage 1: Sensory Memory

Stage 2: Short-Term Memory

• Short-Term Memory –limited in duration and capacity

–George Miller’s “magical” number 7 +/- 2

Stage 2: Short-Term Memory

0102030405060708090

3 6 9 12 15 18

Time in seconds between presentationof contestants and recall request

(no rehearsal allowed)

Percentagewho recalledconsonants

Rapid decaywith no

rehearsal

Stage 3: Long-Term Memory

• Rajan Mahadevan’s Amazing Memory– Memorized first 30,000 numbers of PI

• SolomonShereshevskii– “What a crumbly yellow voice you have.” – Would “feel” images, “taste” colors, and

“smell” sounds

Stage 3: Long Term Memory

Long Term Memory Systems

• Explicit memory involves conscious effort

• Implicit memory occurs without deliberate effort

Explicit Memory

• Explicit memory involves the processes used to remember specific information which can be declared

• Episodic memory is personal

• Semantic memory involves knowledge of facts

Implicit Memory

• Implicit memory is the pervasive process by which people show without awareness that they are remembering something

• Implicit memory does not require attention and is automatic

• Consider “procedural memory”

• Repetition priming

Retrieval• Recall

–retrieve information learned earlier

• Recognition–identify items previously learned

The surrounding environment can be used as a cue for memory

Retrieval Cues

• Reminders of information we could not otherwise recall

• Guides to where to look for info–Context Effects

• Priming– the activation, often unconsciously,

of particular associations in memory

Retrieval: Priming

Retrieval: State Dependence

0

10

20

30

40

Water/land

Land/water

Water/water

Different contexts for hearing and recall

Same contexts for hearing and recall

Land/land

Percentage ofwords recalled

Retrieval

• Mood-Congruent Memory–tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current mood

Recall – Coming up with an item from scratch

Recognition – Identifying an item from a list of items

Cue Dependent Recall – Coming up with an item after a hint is given

Try and Remember these paired associates

Strawberry – Jam

Boxing – Punch

Rip – Tear

Tennis – Ace

Clock – Wind

Small – Minute

Jetstream – Wind

Glacier – Snow

Poker – Ace

Hour – Minute

Hiking – Trail

Butter – Knife

Crying – Tear

Fruit – Punch

Picture – Frame

Puppy – Kitten

Monkey – Banana

Traffic – Jam

Forgetting

• Interference–Proactive (forward-acting) Interference

–Retroactive (backwards-acting) Interference

The Decay Theory

Interference Theory:Retroactive Interference Proactive

Interference

New replaces old

Old replaces new

Interference and Forgetting

Interference and Forgetting

Without interferingevents, recall isbetter

After sleep

After remaining awake

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Hours elapsed after learning syllables

90%

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Percentageof syllables

recalled

Amnesia

• Retrograde Amnesia–Loss of past

memory

• Anterograde Amnesia–Can’t form

new memories

Anterograde Amnesia

Demonstration

• Take out paper and pen…

How many of you remembered…• Flame• Smoke• Fire???• Bed• Snore• Sleep???

Flashbulb Memories: Where were you when…• Brown & Kulik

–JFK assassination• Neisser & Harsch

–Challenger explosion study

Are traumatic memories accurate?

• Generally accepted theory:–Central facts remembered more accurately

–Peripheral details inaccurate and often fabricated in later stories

Eyewitness Testimony

Method: Show video of car accident2 conditions: “hit” vs. “smash”

Results: Broken glass? No, butone week later: “smashed” = 33% yes

“hit” = 14% yes

False Memories

• Loftus–Imagination inflation–Mall study

• Leo–Suspects found to make false confessions during police interrogations

Attention and Memory• Attention: internal

processes used to focus our awareness on a subset of perceptual information

• Attention affects what we remember

Cocktail Party Phenomenon

Cocktail Party Phenomenon• Studied in labs using the

dichotic listening technique– Two different messages presented,

one in each ear– Participants later asked to recall

information, or sometimes have to “shadow” the words presented to one ear

“Much of intelligent behavior depends on successfully managing your attention. For example, while driving a car, you might devote most of your attention to the conversation, but if the traffic gets bad or if you have to look for a particular street, you might shift you attention more to the driving…”

CHAIR  LEOPARD  SNOW  TISSUE  COFFEE  GRASS  CHURCH

CHAIR  LEOPARD 

Selective Attention: Recognition TestCircle the words that you think were on the list that was

presented to your unattended ear. 

tiger tree snow 

igloo leopard coffee 

churchwine carrot 

grass chair mail 

book temple novel 

tissue

Biology of Memory

• Karl Lashley (1950)–trained rats to solve maze, then cut out pieces of their cortex and retested their memory of maze

–partial memory retained

Biology of Memory

• Lashley found beer to have same effects as cortex removal on rat maze performance

Biology of Memory

• Hippocampus–Involved in explicit memory

• Cerebellum–Involved with implicit memory

–Skills, conditioning, procedural memory

Improve Your Memory

• Study repeatedly to boost recall• Spend more time rehearsing or

actively thinking about the material

• Make material personally meaningful

• Use mnemonic devices – associate with peg words--something already

stored– chunk information into acronyms

• Study in spaced intervals

Improve Your Memory• Activate retrieval cues--

mentally recreate situation and mood

• Minimize interference • Test your own knowledge

– to rehearse it– to determine what you do not yet

know

1) Short term memory is limited to ~7 items, but long term memory is unlimited

2) Because of a Parallel Distributed Processing Mechanism, the way to a better memory is adding lots of cues

3) Forgetting is due primarily to interference, when cues are blocked.