Transcript EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (7th Edition in Modules) David Myers

Forgetting,
Memory
Construction,
and Improving
Memory
Module 22
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QR code for 21 22 SG
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Memory Overview
Forgetting
 Encoding Failure
 Storage Decay
 Retrieval Failure
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Forgetting
An inability to retrieve information due to
poor encoding, storage, or retrieval.
Encoding Failure
We cannot remember what we do not
encode.
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Storage Decay
Poor durability of stored
memories leads to their decay.
Ebbinghaus showed this with his
forgetting curve.
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Retaining Spanish
Bahrick (1984) showed a similar
pattern of forgetting and retaining
over 50 years.
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Retrieval Failure
Although the information is retained in
the memory store, it cannot be accessed.
Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) is a retrieval failure
phenomenon. Given a cue (What makes blood cells
red?) the subject says the word begins with an H
(hemoglobin).
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Forgetting as Interference
 Learning some items may disrupt
retrieval of other information
 Proactive (forward acting) Interference
 disruptive effect of prior learning on recall of
new information
 Retroactive (backwards acting)
Interference
 disruptive effect of new learning on recall of
old information
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Retroactive Interference
Sleep prevents retroactive interference.
Therefore, it
leads to better recall.
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Why do we
forget?
Forgetting can
occur at any
memory stage.
Link of Mice and memory nova 12:16
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Motivated Forgetting
Motivated Forgetting:
People unknowingly
revise their memories.
Culver Pictures
Repression: A defense
mechanism that banishes
anxiety-arousing
thoughts, feelings, and
memories from
consciousness.
Sigmund Freud
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Motivated Forgetting
• So, if you are ever depressed over earning
a bad grade, cheer up. Chances are, if you
just wait long enough, it'll improve.
• …their accuracy of recall declined steadily
from 89 percent for A’s to 64 percent for
B's, 51 percent for C's, and 29 percent for
D's.
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Memory Construction
While tapping our memories, we filter or
fill in missing pieces of information to
make our recall more coherent.
Misinformation Effect: Incorporating
misleading information into one's
memory of an event.
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Impact of Leading Questions on
Eyewitness Testimony
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Link Scott Fraser 20:51
Memory Construction
A week later they were asked: Was there
any broken glass?
Group B (smashed into) reported more
broken glass than Group A (hit).
Broken Glass? (%)
50
40
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30
20
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0
Group A (hit)
Group B (Smashed into)
Verb
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Vividness makes information
more available in memory.
• On his way out the door, Sanders
staggered against a serving table,
knocking a bowl to the floor.
•
• On his way out the door, Sanders
staggered against a serving table,
knocking a bowl of guacamole dip to the
floor and splattering guacamole on the
white shag carpet.
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Source Amnesia
Source Amnesia: Attributing an event to
the wrong source that we experienced,
heard, read, or imagined (misattribution).
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Children’s Eyewitness Recall
Children’s eyewitness recall can be unreliable if
leading questions are posed.
However, if cognitive interviews are neutrally
worded, the accuracy of their recall increases.
In cases of sexual abuse, this usually suggests a
lower percentage of abuse.
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Memory Construction
 Memories of Abuse
 Repressed or Constructed?
 Child sexual abuse does occur
 Some adults do actually forget such episodes
 False Memory Syndrome
 condition in which a person’s identity and
relationships center around a false but strongly
believed memory of traumatic experience
 sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists
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Constructed Memories
Loftus’ research shows that if false
memories (lost at the mall or drowned in a
lake) are implanted in individuals, they
construct (fabricate) their memories.
Don Shrubshell
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How to Improve Memory
1. Study repeatedly to boost long-term recall.
2. Spend more time rehearsing or actively
thinking about the material.
3. Make material personally meaningful.
4. Use mnemonic devices:
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associate with peg words — something already
stored
make up a story
chunk — acronyms
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Improving Memory
5. Activate retrieval cues — mentally recreate
the situation and mood.
6. Recall events while they are fresh — before
you encounter misinformation.
7. Minimize interference:
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Test your own knowledge.
Rehearse and then determine what you do not
yet know.
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EXPLORING
PSYCHOLOGY
(7th Edition in Modules)
David Myers
PowerPoint Slides
Aneeq Ahmad
Henderson State University
Worth Publishers, © 2008
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Loftus on Memory
• Loftus at Fora TV
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Chris Hakala
Western New England
College
The Annual Meeting of the Utah Teachers of
Psychology in the Secondary Schools
November 5, 2010
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Concept: Encoding specificity
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Method for Activity 2
• Have students listen to the statements
• Have students recall the target word(s) at
the end of each phrase.
• Then present first word of each phrase, in
a different order, and have students recall
word
• Helps students understand encoding
specificity concepts
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Activity 2
• A brick can be used as a doorstop.
• A ladder can be used as a
bookshelf.
• A wine bottle can be used as a
candleholder.
• A pan can be used as a drum.
• A record can be used to serve
potato chips.
• A guitar can be used as a canoe
paddle.
• A leaf can be used as a bookmark.
• An orange can be used to play
catch.
• A newspaper can be used to swat
flies.
• A TV antenna can be used as a
clothes rack.
• A sheet can be used as a sail.
• A boat can be used as a shelter.
• A bathtub can be used as a punch
bowl.
• A flashlight can be used to hold
water.
• A rock can be used as a
paperweight.
• A knife can be used to stir paint.
• A pen can be used as an arrow.
• A barrel can be used as a chair.
• A rug can be used as a bedspread.
• A telephone can be used as an
alarm clock.
• A scissors can be used to cut
grass.
• A board can be used as a ruler.
• A balloon can be used as a pillow.
• A shoe can be used to pound
nails.
• A dime can be used as a
screwdriver.
• A lampshade can be used as a
hat.
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Activity 2
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balloon
lampshade
boat
barrel
TV antenna
guitar
rug
pen
newspaper
knife
sheet
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flashlight
rock
shoe
orange
pan
leaf
telephone
scissors
board
wine bottle
shoe
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