Psychology

An Information-Processing Model

How does memory work? Here is a simplified description:

Let’s start by examining the encoding and storage stages, collectively referred to as Memory Processing.

Memory Processing

Memory processing can be automatic (happen without consciously thinking about it) or effortful.

Automatic processing leads to “implicit”memory, where we remember something without any effort or conscious thought. Many physical skills are acquired this way, such as how to roller skate or ride a bike. A sense of direction is also often automatic; we memorize the way to the grocery store after several trips riding as a passenger in a car. We also form automatic associations or memories to situations that have an emotional impact, such as feeling anxious when we enter the dentist’s office.

Effortful processing is more akin to what we think of as “learning.” Effortful processing is the deliberate application of repetition and strategies to store information. We learn to play music, remember a name, or remember a new recipe with effortful processing. These strategies lead to our “Explicit” memories, the things we “know” we remember.

Let’s examine effortful processing in more detail.

We use effortful processing strategies to encode information all the time. For example, we would have a hard time memorizing the letters “MORDBKIPNAMPL” since we only have short-term recall of 7 letters. However, we could more easily remember more than 7 letters if we group them into words. ”MORDBKIPNAMPL” is easier to remember when rearranged as “PINK BEDROOM LAMP”.

This is an example of an effortful processing strategy—a way to encode information into memory to keep it from decaying and make it easier to retrieve. Effortful processing is also known as studying.

Let’s look at some other effortful processing strategies:

Chunking

Chunking refers to a strategy to organize data into manageable units.

Credit card companies use chunking to help you remember your credit card number. Did you ever wonder why credit card numbers are broken up into groups of four digits? Four “chunks” are easier to encode (memorize) and recall than sixteen individual digits.

Chunking works even better if we can assemble information into meaningful groups. For example, which of the following is easier to memorize?

XID KKF CFB IAN AAC PCV S SU VRO FNB AQ

X IDK KFC FBI BA NAACP CVS SUV ROFL NBA Q

Mnemonics

A mnenomic is a memory “trick” that connects information to existing memory strengths such as imagery or structure.

Imagine that you have the following grocery list: bread, eggs, cookies, and kale. Any of the following mnenomics could be used to help you remember the things on your list.

· Try forming a visual image of each item.

· Create an acronym with the first letter of each word, so “Bread, Eggs, Cookies, and Kale" becomes “BECK”.

· Use a peg word system. In this strategy you visually associate new words with an existing list that is already memorized. For example, my street address is “6823” and I may “peg” each of the things on my list to a number on my street address, so I associate 6 = Bread, 8 = Eggs, 2 = Cookies, and 3 = Kale.

Making Information Personally Meaningful

Another strategy to help memorize information is to make that information personally meaningful. The self-reference effect—relating material to ourselves—aids in encoding and retention. We can memorize a set of instructions more easily if we figure out what it means rather than seeing it as a set of words. Actors are able to memorize lines more easily (and students memorize poems more easily) by deciding on the feelings and meanings behind the words, so that one line flows naturally to the next. Memorizing meaningful material takes one tenth of the effort of memorizing nonsense syllables.

Try memorizing the following words: Bold, truck, green, glue, chips, knob, hard.

Now try memorizing the list of words again, only this time consider how each word relates to you. For instance, you may think of "bold” as being a quality associated with your sister, and “truck” as your husband’s truck, and “green” may be your favorite color, etc. Does this make the words easier to remember?

Alternately, you could employ the “Method of Loci” and attach each word on your list to a familiar place, such as your home. You would envision a “bold” color in the living room, then parked in the driveway is your husband’s “truck,” the next room is your “green” kitchen, in the closet you envision the “glue” sticks you bought for crafts, and so on.

Strong emotions, especially stress, can strengthen memory formation. Flashbulb memories refer to emotionally intense events that become “burned in” as a vivid-seeming memory. For instance, many of us remember what we were doing when we first heard that the Challenger exploded, or that airplanes had crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11. We also may have a vivid memory of a significant personal event, such as the first time we saw our child, or the last time we saw our father before his death.

Vividly storing information about dangers may have helped our ancestors to survive. However, it is important to note that flashbulb memories are not as accurate as they feel. Our flashbulb memories may seem very vivid to us, but research has found they are subject to unconscious elaboration and “wishful” thinking over time.

Next, let’s consider processes involved in retrieving memories which have been stored. We will focus on 3 simple types of retrieval: recall, recognition, and relearning.

Recall: Some people, through practice, visual strategies, or biological differences, have the ability to store and recall thousands of words or digits, reproducing them years later. Fill-in-the-blank tests are tests of recall.

Recognition: The average person can view 2500 new faces and places, and later can point out, with 90% accuracy, which ones he or she has seen before. Multiple Choice tests are examples of tests of recognition.

Relearning: Some people are unable to form new memories, especially of episodes. Although they would not recall a puzzle-solving lesson, they might still solve a puzzle faster after each lesson. This is an example of implicit memory, in which we show evidence of memory (learning) without realizing we are remembering!

There are two types of amnesia—retrograde amnesia and anterograde amnesia.

Retrograde amnesia refers to an inability to retrieve memory of the past.

Retrograde amnesia can be caused by head injury or emotional trauma and is often temporary. Retrograde amnesia can also be caused by more severe brain damage. In that case it may include the second form of amnesia, anterograde amnesia.

Anterograde amnesia refers to an inability to form new long-term declarative/explicit memories.

Most movie amnesia is retrograde amnesia, with the exception of the movie Memento which depicts anterograde amnesia. The most famous case of anterograde amnesia is H.M., who lived with no memories of life after surgery.

Let’s apply what we’ve learned about memory to improve grades. The following are ways to save overall studying time and build more reliable memory:

1. Learn the material in more than one way, not just by rote, but by creating many retrieval cues.

a. Think of examples and connections to what you are reading (add meaningful depth).

b. Create mnemonics—songs, images, and lists.

2. Minimize interference with related material or fun activites. Study right before sleep or other mindless activity.

3. Have muliple study sessions, spaced further and further apart after first learning the material.

4. Spend your study sessions activating your retrieval cues including context (recalling where you were when learning the material).

5. Test yourself in study sessions. This serves two goals. First you practice doing retrieval as you would in a test, and second, to overcome the overconfidence error—the material seems familiar, but can you explain it in your own words?

Allison, with her husband Ben, visits her parents for the first time since she got married. Her mother shows Ben the family album—Allison's baby hand and feet impressions, her first baby steps, her first day at school, her first date, a picture with her brother, Allison in her prom dress, Allison with her high school diploma, and so on. These pictures give Ben glimpses of Allison's life until their marriage. Looking through the album, Ben gets a feel of Allison's life. However, many more events and changes must have shaped Allison's personality.

Psychology studies continuity and change in a person's complete lifespan. There are different theories of development. Review the chart below to compare.

Let's review one of the most widely applied models, the life-span perspective. The life stage theory developed by Erik Erikson, a famous psychologist, provided a comprehensive understanding of lifespan development.

Erikson's Life Stage Theory

Erik Erikson developed a life stage theory in which individuals go through eight stages in life. Each stage is characterized by a psychosocial dilemma—a conflict between personal demands and the demands placed by the world outside that one outgrows to reach the next stage. At every stage, an individual might experience any one of the psychosocial dilemmas. The way the individual emerges from these dilemmas will determine how satisfied the individual is and how the individual interacts with the environment.

Erikson's theory gives a more holistic view to personality development, but the more common way of looking at lifespan development is in terms of five distinct stages: infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Each stage brings with it its corresponding physiological and psychological changes.

Now, let's explore the changes faced by individuals at each of these five stages of life.

The first two years in the life of a baby constitute the infancy years.

In the years of infancy, infants take their first steps and speak their first words. It is important, at this point, that parents provide their babies adequate stimulation so that physical and verbal development takes place at the right time. Emotional development is minimal during these two years.

Some specific physical changes that take place during infancy are as follows:

· An infant can differentiate its mother's face from anyone else's by about three months.

· An infant grows in weight and length, and by about 13 months, is usually able to sit up and crawl.

· An infant is capable of distinguishing between sounds, colors, odors, and sights. It does not look long at an object presented to it more than two times.

· An infant is usually able to respond in a conditioned manner to actions, such as stroking of its face, within two years.

Research shows that an infant is capable of imitating expressions demonstrated by others.

The 10 to 13 years following infancy constitute the childhood years. The maximum learning takes place during this stage. There are many important milestones for a child during these years to successfully travel through to help the child emerge as a healthy and happy adolescent.

There are many physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and moral perspectives of development through these important years that you will read about in your texts.

Physical growth accompanies maturation of motor ability and the ability to experience more of their environment. This also includes the acquisition of language and the ability to communicate to others.

Children also experience significant cognitive development, which is best explained by Piaget's theory of child development.

Adolescence involves physical changes determined by hormonal changes, which bring variations in behavior and attitude. This period is also known as puberty, and it marks the transition between childhood and adulthood. Let's now examine some prominent cognitive and emotional issues faced by adolescents.

After adolescence, the next 22 to 65 years constitute the challenging world of adulthood where there is less turbulence and greater responsibility. The psychological and physiological changes of adulthood are explained through three different viewpoints.

The single-most common issue of old age is coming to terms with mortality—inevitable death. Elderly people who live until their 90s have had to cope with the deaths of many of their loved ones. From the time they reach their 70s, having witnessed the loss of many people of their own age, they start believing that death may be near for them. When faced with illness, they often experience denial about the implications of their illness. After passing through phases of anger, bargaining, and depression, however, many people arrive at an acceptance of their situation. Typical grief reactions consist of shock, grief, apathy, dejection, and depression followed by a renewed sense of experiencing joys and relationships in life that still exist.

After elderly people come to terms with fading health and death, they are much more likely to be happy in the last few years of their lives. Many people experience great pleasure in looking back on their life experiences and accomplishments, as well as being able to appreciate life with greater perspective and understanding. Although aging brings many difficulties it can also bring a great deal of reflection, satisfaction, and hope about life.