Transcript Chapter 6

PowerPoint  Lecture Notes Presentation
Chapter 6: Memory
Paul J. Wellman
Texas A&M University
Psychology in Action, Fifth Edition
by
Karen Huffman, Mark Vernoy, and
Judith Vernoy
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Lecture Overview
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Three-Stage Model of Memory
Forgetting and Memory
Biology of Memory
Memory Improvement
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Memory
• Memory is the ability to code, store and
retrieve information
– Procedural: how to ride a bike
– Factual: definition of “learning”
• Memory involves coding the input of the
senses (visual, auditory)
• Memory is rarely perfect
– Forgetting refers to memory failure
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Three Stage Memory Model
Rehearsal
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Three Stages of Memory
• Sensory Memory is a brief representation
of a stimulus while being processed in the
sensory system
• Short-Term Memory (STM) is working
memory
– Limited capacity (7 items)
– Duration is about 30 seconds
• Long-Term Memory (LTM) is large
capacity and long duration
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Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
STM Forgetting Rate
• Without rehearsal
to maintain
memory,
information is
quickly lost from
STM
From Postman, L., & Phillips, L.W. / Short term temporal
changes in free recall. / Experimental Psychology Society / 1965
Reprinted with permission of the Experimental Psychology Society
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Long-Term Memory
• Information transferred from STM to
LTM is coded into categories and stored
in terms of meaning
– REM sleep may play a key role in
categorizing new items in LTM
– Memories retrieved from LTM are not an
exact replica of the original event
– Memories are reconstructed and can be
altered during the retrieval process
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Varieties of LTM
• Psychologists distinguish two types of
LTM
– Semantic memory refers to factual
information (What is the capital of Georgia?)
– Episodic memory refers to autobiographical
information as to where and when an event
happened
• “I remember visiting the capital of of Georgia”
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Organization of LTM
From Collins, A.M., & Quillian, M.R. / Retrieval time from
semantic memory / Academic Press / 1969 / From A.M. Collins
and M.R. Quillian, Retrieval time from semantic memory, Journal of
Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior Copyright © 1969 by Academic
Press, reprinted by permission of Academic Press and the author.
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
LTM Organization
• Items in LTM are organized in
categories that form a hierarchy with
multiple paths (direct and indirect) to
each item
– Sometimes the cues required to recall an
item are not sufficient
• Tip-of the tongue phenomenon: person can’t
easily recall the item, but shows some recall for
its characteristics (…it begins with the letter ….)
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Memory Measures
Recognition is when a specific cue (face
or name) is matched against LTM
 Recall is when a general cue is used to
search memory

– E.g. define the term “statistical significance”

Relearning refers to a situation in which a
person learns material a second time.
Memory is evident in savings of time to
relearn the second time versus the first
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Flashbulb Memories
• Where were you
when you first
heard of the
death of Princess
Diana?
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/
Meadows/5929/index2a.html
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Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Forgetting
• Forgetting refers to
the inability to recall
previously learned
information
– Forgetting can be
rapid as evident in
Ebbinghaus’
experiment
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Serial Position Curve
Recall immediately
after learning
Recall several hours
after learning
LTM
LTM
STM
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
From Murdoch, B.B., Jr. / The serial effect of free recall /
American Psychological Association / 1962 / Murdoch, B.B., Jr. (1962)
The serial effect of free recall, Journal of Experimental Psychology,
64(5), 482-488, figure 1, page 483.
Study Strategies
• Distributed practice
refers to spacing
learning periods in
contrast to massed
practice in which
learning is “crammed”
into a single session
• Distributed practice
leads to better retention
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
From Peterson, L.R., & Peterson, M..J. / Short-term retention of
of individual verbal items / American Psychological Association
/ 1959 / Peterson, L.R., & Peterson, M..J. (1959) Short-term
retention of of individual verbal items, Journal of Experimental
Psychology, 8(3), 193-198. Copyright © 1959 by the American
Psychological Association. Reprinted/Adapted by permission of
the author.
Theories of Forgetting

Interference theory argues that information
competes for retrieval
– Proactive interference: old information
interferes with recall of new information
– Retroactive interference: new information
interferes with recall of old information
Decay theory: memory fades with time
 Motivated forgetting:loss of painful
memories
 Forgetting as retrieval failure

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Amnesia
• Amnesia is forgetting produced by brain
injury or by trauma
– Retrograde amnesia refers to problems
with recall of information prior to a trauma
– Anterograde amnesia refers to problems
with recall of information after a trauma
Retrograde amnesia
Anterograde amnesia
Point of Trauma
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Patient H.M.
• Patient H.M. suffered from chronic brain
seizures
– In the 1950’s, surgeons removed portions of his
hippocampus in order to reduce the seizures
– Patient H.M. shows chronic anterograde
amnesia
• He has normal STM
• He has normal recall for material learned prior to the
surgery
• Patient H.M. has learned very little since the surgery
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Memory Strategies
• Mnemonic devices are strategies to
improve memory by organizing
information
– Method of Loci: ideas are associated with a
place or part of a building
– Peg-Word system: peg words are
associated with ideas (e.g. “one is a bun”)
– Word Associations: verbal associations
are created for items to be learned
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e
Copyright
Copyright 2000 by John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.
All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by
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© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e