Transcript Memory

Memory
Chapter Seven
Memory
 The
process by which we recollect prior
experiences and information and skills
learned in the past
Three Kinds of memory
Section One
Different types
1.
Episodic: a memory of a specific event
o
Example: a first date
o
When we can remember specific details,
it is called a flashbulb memory
2.
Semantic or Generic: the general
knowledge that we remember although
we do not know when we first learned
the material
o
3.
Includes historical facts and our ABCs
Implicit or Procedural: includes the skills
we have learned
o
For example, riding a bike
Sometimes, one
event can be a
combination of
more than one kind
of memory.
Can you think of
an example?
Three Processes of
Memory
Section Two
 Regardless
of the process we use, most
include three basic steps: encoding,
storing, and retrieving the information.
Encoding
 How
we put the information into a form it
can be stored in



Visual Codes: remembering by creating a
picture in your mind
Acoustic Codes: remember by repeating
the information to yourself
Semantic Codes: remembering the
information by creating some type of order
out of it; creating a phrase out of the letters
Storage
o
How we maintain the information over time
so we don’t lose it
o
o
o
o
Maintenance Rehearsal: repeating
information over and over again
Elaborative Rehearsal: make the information
meaningful by relating it to something we
already know
Organizational Systems: we organize
information just as though our memory
was a large file cabinet
Filing Errors: everyone has breakdowns in
memory at various times and for various
reasons
Retrieval
 Returning
thought
stored information to conscious
Retrieving Our Memories
Context-Dependent Memory
 Memory
retrieval depends on the
situation in which we first remembered
the information
 One
study suggests if you study in the
room where you take a test, you do
better than those that studied
elsewhere
State-Dependent Memory
 There
is thought that our mood influences
our memory
 We will remember information when we
are in the same mood that we first
remembered it in
On the Tip of the Tongue
 There
are instances in which we
know the information but
cannot bring it out


Often we will say words that
may be similar to try to trigger
our memory
When I cannot think of a
person’s name, I go through the
alphabet…when I hit the letter
of the first name, I usually
remember it!
Three Stages of Memory
Section Three
Sensory Memory
 Stage
One
 What we sense—see, hear, taste, feel, or
smell, is only kept for a fraction of a
second
 The ability to have eidetic imagery (a
photographic memory) declines with age
Short-Term Memory
 Stage
Two
 Also called working memory
 What we’re trying to actively
remember is stored in our short-term
memory
 We have to rehearse the information
to keep it in our short term memory
Long-Term Memory
 The
third and final stage
 We have to take steps to put stuff in our
long-term memory



Mechanical repetition: maintenance
rehearsal
Relating information to stuff we already
know: elaborative rehearsal
Psychologists are unaware of limits to our
long-term memory
Forgetting and Memory
Improvement
Section Four
Basic Memory Tasks
1.
2.
3.
Recognition: the easiest task, identifying that
we have remembered something in the past
Recall: not only recognizing that we have
come into contact with some information,
but actually being able to call the
information back into our mind
Relearning: we are often able to remember
something we thought we forgot after a
brief lesson (like speaking a foreign
language)
Types of Forgetting
1.
2.
3.
4.
Interference: old memories are replaced by
new ones
Decay: when a memory fades away
Repression: pushing certain memories out of
our consciousness
Amnesia: severe memory loss caused by injury,
shock, fatigue, illness, or repression; infantile
amnesia refers to the fact that we don’t
remember things from when we were infants
Improving Memory
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Drill and Practice: go over the information to
be remembered over and over again
Relate the information to something you
already know
Form Unusual Associations: sometimes a
strange association will trigger our memory
Construct links between what you are having
trouble remembering and something that is
more easily remembered
Use Mnemonic Devices