Transcript Memory

Memory
Psychology 1106
7/21/2015
Introduction
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What is memory?
Basically some
indication that
learning has persisted
over time
Early on lots of study
went into memory
Ebbinghaus and
nonsense syllables
Found savings
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A teensy bit of history
Then along came the behaviourists
 Nobody wanted to talk about memory
 WWII, information theory
 Cognitive revolution
 Today we study memory extensively
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A framework
Information theory talks about inputs and
outputs
 Basically encoding, storage and retreival
 Information processing approach to
memory
 Atkinson and Shiffrin
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The Atkinson Shiffrin Model
Sensory
Register
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Short
Term
Memory
Long
Term
Memory
Encoding
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Automatic vs. Effortful
processing
Massed vs Distributed
practice
The Spacing effect
Serial position effect
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Early and later stuff
better remembered
More encoding
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Semantic vs. acoustic vs. visual
Meaning vs. sensory properties
 AKA conceptually driven vs. data driven
processing
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We may encode imagery
 Al Paivio’s ideas
 Concrete vs. abstract words
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Encoding still….
The key may be meaning
 (Bransford and Johnson, 1972)
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If the balloons popped, the sound wouldn’t be able to
carry since everything would be too far away from the
correct floor. A closed window would also prevent the sound
from carrying, since most buildings tend to be well insulated.
Since the whole operation depends on a steady flow of
electricity, a break in the middle of the wire would also cause
problems. Of course, the fellow could shout, but the human
voice is not loud enough to carry that far. An additional
problem is that a string could break on the instrument. Then
there could be no accompaniment to the message. It is
clear that the best situation would involve less distance.
Then there would be fewer potential problems. With face to
face contact, the least number of things could go wrong.
Context is the key
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People remembered
the passage much
better with the picture
on the left
The one on the right
does not fit though it
has all the same
images
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Encode this
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By the way, those data show how important it
probably is to read the chapters BEFORE
coming to class
We organize information in chunks and
hierarchies
A chunk is the smallest unit of information we
can remember
Phone numbers for example
Experts are better chunkers than non experts
Some forgetting is a failure of encoding
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Storage
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Sensory memory or register
Icon
 Echo
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Information lasts for a very short time in
the sensory register
 Information is raw in a way
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The icon
JHGF
MNBV
PUYT
X
People can’t report the
G, but can report the H
and the F!
Lasts maybe a
second or so
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Storage in STM
Again, pretty brief if information is not
processed at all
 A couple of seconds
 7 +/- 2 chunks
 Interference
 Working memory
 Visuo spatial sketchpad and phonological
loop
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Storage in LTM
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Essentially limitless
capacity
Episodic vs. semantic
memory
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Tulving
Dissociable
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Flashbulb Memories
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Seem to be hyper
accurate
Seem to be super
detailed
Almost always about
shared cultural
experiences
But they are NOT as
accurate as they
seem
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How is stuff stored?
Long Term Potentiation (LTP)?
 New Connections?
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Seems sensible, but, not clear yet
Hormonal effect on memory
 Chemical effects
 Stronger emotions often lead to stronger
memories
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Forms of memory
Episodic vs. Semantic (Tulving)
 Declarative vs. Procedural (Squire)
 Hippocampus is probably key
 Removal of Hp leads to loss of ability to
encode
 Hmm
 Implicit vs. Explicit Memory
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Priming
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Priming of implicit
memory
Even amnesiacs
show normal priming!
Recently been shown
in non humans
(Brodbeck, 1997)
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Tulving Schacter and Stark, 1982
0.6
0.5
Percent Correct
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0.4
Recognition
0.3
Fragment
Completion
0.2
0.1
0
1 hour
7 days
Retention Interval
Retrieval
So, how do we get stuff out of memory?
 Recognition failure of recall
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Why do we recognize stuff better than we
recall it?
 Retrieval cues
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Retrieval Cues
Context effects
 May very well explain deja vu
 State dependent learning
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Drug states act as retrieval cues
 Emotional states act as retrieval cues
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 Keeps
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you sad, or happy
Interference
So, forgetting may be a failure of recall
 Proactive interference
 Retroactive interference
 Then again, competing information can
help
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Transfer of training, savings
Please just listen
Pin
 Inoculation
 Haystack
 Sharp
 Pointy
 Knitting
 phonograph
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Memory construction
Our memories are not perfect
 Its not a VCR
 We fill in gaps with reasonable guesses
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Like we do with ‘flashbulb memories’
 Eyewitnesses can be affected by the wording
of questions
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Young kids are prone to this
 Though adults are too
 We do not forget the traumatic
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Raise you hand if you heard this
word earlier
Pin
 Book
 Chair
 Ceiling
 Sharp
 Pointy
 Haystack
 needle
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