psychology assignment
MEMORY
Chapter 6
PSYCHOLOGY DEBORAH M. LICHT MISTY G. HULL COCO BALLANTYNE
1
Meet The Conductor
In 1985, conductor Clive Wearing (pictured here with his wife Deborah) developed a brain infection—viral encephalitis—that nearly took his life.
Clive recovered physically, but his memory was never the same.
An Introduction to Memory (part 1)
Encephalitis
The red area in this computerized axial tomography (CAT or CT) scan reveals inflammation in the temporal lobe.
The cause of this swelling is herpes simplex virus, the same virus responsible for Clive’s illness.
An Introduction to Memory (part 2)
Memory
Refers to information the brain receives, stores, and may retrieve for later use
Not completely understood but a basic agreement on general processes involved
An Introduction to Memory (part 3)
MEMORY: ENCODING, STORAGE, AND RETRIEVAL
Encoding
Includes the process through which information enters the memory system
Occurs when stimuli associated with events are converted to neural activity that travels to the brain
Involves two possible paths: memory system entry or loss of stimuli
An Introduction to Memory (part 4)
MEMORY: ENCODING, STORAGE, AND RETRIEVAL
Storage
Includes process of preserving information for possible recollection in the future
Retrieval
Refers to the process of accessing information encoded and stored in memory
An Introduction to Memory (part 5)
WORLD MEMORY ATHLETES
Brains of memory champions are not wired but trained to excel in memory tasks.
Heightened activity in specific brain areas occurred in memory competitors’ brains.
Activity seemed to be associated with use of an imagined order after flipping through them just once.
An Introduction to Memory (part 6)
LEVELS OF PROCESSING
Memory can also be conceptualized from a processing standpoint.
Shallow
Intermediate
Deep
Stages of Memory (part 1)
One of the most influential is the information-processing model, which suggests that memory operates in a series of stages. This model, first developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin, suggests that these stages represent a flow of information.
Stages of Memory (part 2)
SENSORY MEMORY
Sensory memory can hold vast amounts of sensory stimuli for a sliver of time.
Short-term memory can temporarily maintain and process limited information for longer periods (about 30 seconds, if there are no distractions).
Long-term memory has essentially unlimited capacity and can hold onto information indefinitely.
Stages of Memory (part 3)
Eidetic imagery
Comes fairly close to photographic memory
Involves young children who have the ability to "see" image or object for as long as several minutes after It has been removed from sight
Echoic imagery
Captures very subtle changes in sound
Lasts from about 1 to 10 seconds
Stages of Memory (part 4)
How long does iconic memory last?
Stages of Memory (part 5)
SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Duration
Maintenance rehearsal
Chunking
Duration of Short-Term Memory
Distraction can reduce the amount of time information remains in short-term memory. When performing a distracting cognitive task, most people were unable to recall a letter combination beyond 18 seconds. Information from Peterson and Peterson (1959), Figure 3, p 195.
Duration: Amount of time information is maintained and processed in STM influenced by distractions by other cognitive activities
Limited capacity
Maintenance rehearsal: Technique of repeating information to be remembered, increasing the length of time it can be held in short-term memory
Chunking: Grouping numbers, letters, or other items into meaningful subsets as a strategy for increasing the quantity of information that can be maintained in short-term memory
13
Stages of Memory (part 6)
SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Chunking
Grouping numbers, letters, or other items into meaningful subsets as strategy for increasing the quantity of information that can be maintained in short-term memory
Stages of Memory (part 7)
WORKING MEMORY
Active processing of memory in short-term memory
Maintenance and manipulation of information in the memory system
Stages of Memory (part 8)
Model of Working Memory
16
SOCIAL MEDIA AND PSYCHOLOGY
MULTITASKING AND MEMORY
Media multitasking has been linked with diminished academic performance.
Texting and Facebook use while studying – lower GPA
Frequent media multitasking – worse performance on math and English achievement
So… academic performance?
Research findings suggest that digital distractions do have the potential to impair memory and learning.
Social media may impact working memory.
What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Why?
Stages of Memory (part 9)
COMPONENTS OF WORKING MEMORY
Phonological loop
Responsible for working with verbal information for brief periods of time
Visuospatial sketchpad
Where visual and spatial data are briefly stored and manipulated
Central executive
Directs attention, makes plans, and coordinates activities
Determines what information is used and what is ignored
Episodic buffer
Forms the bridge between memory and conscious awareness
Stages of Memory (part 10)
19
Stages of Memory (part 11)
Explicit memory
Type of memory you are aware of having and can consciously express in words or declare, including memories of facts and experiences.
Semantic memory
Memory of information theoretically available to anyone, which pertains to general facts about the world; a type of explicit memory.
Stages of Memory (part 12)
Episodic memory
Record of memorable experiences, or “episodes,” including when and where an experience occurred; a type of explicit memory
Flashbulb memory
Detailed account of circumstances surrounding emotionally significant or shocking, sometimes historic, event
21
Stages of Memory (part 13)
IMPLICIT MEMORY
Memory of something one knows or knows how to do
May be automatic or unconscious
PROCEDURAL MEMORY
Unconscious memory of how to carry out variety of skills and activities; type of implicit memory
Following his bout with encephalitis in 1985, Clive could still read music and play the piano, demonstrating that his procedural memory was not destroyed. Researchers documented a similar phenomenon in a professional cello player who battled herpes encephalitis in 2005 (Vennard, 2011, November 21).
22
Improve Your Memory: Try This
Take 15 seconds and try to memorize the seven words below in the order they appear.
puppy stop sing sadness soccer kick panic
Now close your eyes and see how many you recall.
How did you do?
Stages of Memory (part 14)
IMPROVING YOUR MEMORY
Mnemonics
Mnemonics help us translate information into a form that is easier to remember.
Method of loci
Mnemonic device in which person visualizes items to be learned with landmarks in some familiar place
24
Stages of Memory (part 15)
IMPROVING YOUR MEMORY
Automatic and effortful processing
Maintenance rehearsal
Elaborative rehearsal
Hierarchical structures
Massed practice
Distributed practice
How many of these strategies have you tried? How many worked? Didn’t work?
Automatic and effortful processing: Requires work; intentional
Maintenance rehearsal: Involves repeated rehearsal of information to be learned; increases length of time information held in short-term memory
Elaborative rehearsal: Connects information to knowledge in long-term memory; deep level of encoding
Hierarchical structures: Arranges materials in meaningful system of categories and subcategories
Massed practice
Cramming
Distributed practice: Separating study or practice sessions
Influenced by culture and beliefs
25
Stages of Memory (part 16)
Benefits of adequate sleep
Readies brain for memory formation
Increases potential for newly acquired memory retention
Strengthens, conditions, and consolidates fear memories; helps in distinguishing between threatening and non-threatening
Reduces emotional reactions to events
Impact of sleep deprivation
Associated with increased risk for heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes
May interfere with learning
STUDY SMARTER
Start studying
Recall details (mnemonics)
Organize information (hierarchical structures)
Make connections (elaborate rehearsal)
Give yourself some time (distributed practice)
Get some rest!
Retrieval and Forgetting (part 1)
WHAT CAN YOU RETRIEVE?
Retrieval cues
Stimuli that aid in retrieval of information that is difficult to access
Priming
Stimulation of memories as result of retrieval cues in environment
Retrieval and Forgetting (part 2)
RECALL AND RECOGNITION
Recall
Retrieving information held in long-term memory without explicit retrieval cues; more difficult than recognition
Recognition
Matching incoming data to information stored in long-term memory; just have to identify information, rather than come up with information
Retrieval and Forgetting (part 3)
SERIAL POSITION EFFECT
Items at the beginning and the end of a list are more likely to be recalled.
Primacy effect
Recency effect
Retrieval and Forgetting (part 4)
Encoding specificity principle
Godden and Baddeley asked participants to learn a list of words in two contexts: underwater and on dry land.
Context-dependent memories are easier to access when the encoding and retrieval occur in similar contexts.
The participants had an easier time recalling words when learning and recalling happened in the same setting (learning underwater and recalling underwater, or learning on dry land and recalling on dry land).
Source: Godden and Baddeley, 1975
31
Retrieval and Forgetting (part 5)
Mood and memory
The deeper the processing, the greater the likelihood of retrieval.
The origin of a memory provides a host of retrieval cues.
Mood congruence
Memory is facilitated when physiological and psychological conditions are similar at time of encoding and retrieval.
Retrieval also easier if content of memory corresponds to present emotional state
Retrieval and Forgetting (part 6)
HOW EASILY WE REMEMBER: MEMORY SAVINGS
Ebbinghaus
First to quantify effect of relearning
Noted the reduced time taken in relearning
Bowers
People who have knowledge of language (non-explicit) from early life often show a “memory savings” when trying to relearn language as adults.
Retrieval and Forgetting (part 7)
HOW EASILY WE FORGET: MEMORY SLIPS EXPLAINED
Ebbinghaus
First to demonstrate how rapidly memories vanish
Encoding failures
Cause of forgetting dependent on stage of memory processing at instance of memory failure
Retrieval and Forgetting (part 8)
HOW EASILY WE FORGET
Memory slips explained
Storage failure and memory decay
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon (retrieval failure)
Highly superior autobiographical memory
Retrieval and Forgetting (part 9)
Ebbinghaus’s curve of forgetting
Ebbinghaus discovered that most forgetting occurs within 1 hour of learning and then levels off.
Retrieval and Forgetting (part 10)
Reliability of Memory (part 1)
MISINFORMATION EFFECT
Memories can be changed in response to new information.
Eyewitness accounts can be altered by variety of factors that follow an event to be recalled.
Reliability of Memory (part 2)
FALSE MEMORIES
Would you believe that looking at photoshopped pictures can lead to the creation of false memories?
In one study, it was discovered that participants could “remember” hot air balloon rides they never took after looking at doctored photos of themselves as children on balloon rides.
CONTROVERSIES
The debate over repressed childhood memories
The APA and other organizations have investigated repressed memory and offered several conclusions:
The repressed memory debate should not detract from child sexual abuse issues.
Most sexual abuse victims have at least some abuse memory.
Memories of past abuses can be forgotten and remembered at a later date.
People do create false memories of experiences they never had.
There is not a complete understanding of how accurate and flawed memories are formed.
The Biology of Memory (part 1)
Exploring the causes of memory failure in cases of amnesia can aid in the understanding of the biological basis of memory.
Amnesia can result from either physical or psychological conditions.
Two different types and degrees of amnesia
Anterograde
Retrograde
The Biology of Memory (part 2)
RETROGRADE AND ANTEROGRADE AMNESIA
Retro means “before,” so retrograde amnesia is the inability retrieve memories for events that occurred before an amnesia-causing injury. Antero means “after,” so anterograde amnesia is inability to form memories for events that occur after an injury.
The Biology of Memory (part 3)
Memory is a complex system involving multiple structures and regions of the brain.
Memory is formed, processed, and stored throughout the brain, and different types of memory have different paths.
43
The Biology of Memory (part 4)
ROLE OF THE HIPPOCAMPUS
Research findings
The hippocampus is essential for creating new explicit but not implicit memories.
Explicit memories are processed and stored in other parts of the brain, including the temporal lobes and areas of the frontal cortex.
The hippocampus plays central role in laying down new memories but does not serve as ultimate destination.
The Biology of Memory (part 5)
LONG-TERM POTENTIATION
Refers to the increased efficiency of neural communication over time, resulting in learning and the formation of memories
May be biological basis for many kinds of learning
Demonstrated on Aplysia (sea slug)
Appears to be related to Alzheimer’s disease
Neurofibrillary tangles
Amyloid plaques
Smart Slug
Studying the neurons of sea slugs, researchers have observed the synaptic changes that underlie memory.
Long-term potentiation occurs when sending neurons release neurotransmitters more effectively, and receiving neurons become more sensitive, boosting synaptic strength for days or even weeks.
45
The Biology of Memory (part 6)
WHERE MEMORIES LIVE IN THE BRAIN—A MICRO PERSPECTIVE
Alzheimer’s disease
Progressive, devastating brain illness that causes cognitive decline, including memory, language, and thinking problems.
Neurofibrillary tangles
Amyloid plaques
NATURE AND NURTURE
Why Alzheimer’s?
Alzheimer’s disease can result from a nature and nurture combination.
Some forms of the disease are inherited. People who have a first-degree relative (a parent, sibling, or child) with Alzheimer’s have a higher risk for developing the disease.
APOEε4
Environmental factors can also influence the development and progression of the disease.
Obesity, sedentary life style, standard American diet, air pollution
The Biology of Memory (part 7)
FACTS ABOUT MEMORY LOSS
There is no definitive way to know whether you or a family member will suffer from a neurocognitive disorder.
Studies of both animals and people have linked physical exercise to a variety of positive changes in the brain.
Intellectually engaging activities such as reading books and newspapers, writing, drawing, and solving crossword puzzles have been associated with a lower risk of memory loss.
Being socially active and hooked into social networks may reduce the risk of developing dementia.
There is no definitive way to know whether you or a family member will suffer from a neurocognitive disorder: Most cases result from a complex combination of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.
Studies of both animals and people have linked physical exercise to a variety of positive changes in the brain, including enhanced blood flow, increased thickness of the cortex. and less aged-related deterioration of the hippocampus (Polidori, Nelles, & Pientka, 2010).
Intellectually engaging activities such as reading books and newspapers, writing, drawing, and solving crossword puzzles have been associated with a lower risk of memory loss (Hertzog et al., 2009; Wang, Karp, Winblad, & Fratiglioni, 2002).
Being socially active and hooked into social networks may reduce the risk of developing dementia (Fratiglioni, Paillard-Borg, & Winblad, 2004).
48
The Biology of Memory (part 8)
CHRONIC TRAUMATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY (CTE)
CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by a single or repeated blow to the head. CTE affects athletes of many types, combat war veterans, and many others who experience head trauma.
The symptoms, which may not appear for months or years after the injury, include changes to memory, emotions, thinking, and personality. It can also impair memory, movement, and the ability to plan and carry out everyday tasks.