Transcript Long Term memory - UPM EduTrain Interactive Learning

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Have you ever wondered
◦ how you manage to remember information for a
test?
◦ How you are able to create new memories, store
them for periods of time, and recall them when they
are needed.
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This is due to our MEMORY.
But what exactly is memory? And How are
memories formed?
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Memory refers to the processes that are used
to acquire, store, retain and later retrieve
information.
There are three major processes involved in
memory:
◦ encoding,
◦ storage and
◦ retrieval.
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Encoding or registration (receiving, processing and
combining of received information)
Storage (creation of a permanent record of the encoded
information)
Retrieval, recall or recollection (calling back the stored
information in response to some cue for use in a
process or activity)
◦ In order to form new memories, information must be changed
into a usable form, which occurs through the process known as
encoding.
◦ Once information has been successfully encoded, it must be
stored in memory for later use.
◦ Most of the stored memory lies outside of our awareness most
of the time, except when we actually need to use it.
◦ The retrieval process allows us to bring stored memories into
conscious awareness.
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Memory is the core to most of our cognitive
process. Because….
◦ Memory is the storing of learned information, and the
ability to recall that which has been stored.
◦ The mental faculty of retaining and recalling past
experience.
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Research indicates that the ability to retain
information is fairly uniform among normal
individuals what differs is the degree to which
persons learn or take account of something to
begin with and the kind and amount of detail that
is retained.
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Memory and learning are the basis of
all our knowledge and abilities.
◦ Learning – is the process of acquiring new
knowledge, while….
◦ Memory – helps retain the learned knowledge.
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Thus, memory is the brain’s ability to
acquire, store, retain and retrieve
information.
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Memory can be classified into 2 primary types:
◦ Explicit memory - Declarative memory (conscious
memory)
◦ Implicit memory – procedural memory (automatic &
unconscious)
Memory
Explicit
STM
IMPLICIT
LTM
Priming
Conditioning
Motor
skills
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Explicit Memory
(can be divided into STM & LTM)
◦ It allows a person to recall consciously & describe verbally
information, e.g. facts, people etc
◦ Types of memory that contains info re specific events that
happen at a specific time & place.
◦ Forming & storing memory are associated with past
experience/knowledge.
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Implicit Memory
(repetition priming, conditioning & motor skills)
◦ Previous experience assist a person to perform task
without any conscious awareness of the past experience.
◦ Through repetition priming & skill learning – a person
would become better on task performance
SENSORY
MEMORY
Long Term
Memory
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Sensory register
◦ Part of memory that receives all the information a
person senses from the environment and stores it
fleetingly.
Short term memory
◦ A part where new information is stored temporarily,
until it is either lost or placed into long term memory
 Also known as working memory, where a decision
must be made to discard information or to transfer it
to permanent storage, in long-term memory.
Long Term memory
◦ Part of memory which has unlimited capacity & can
hold information indefinitely.
 the encyclopedic mental processing unit in which
information may be stored permanently and from
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The ability to access and retrieve information from
long-term memory allows us to actually use these
memories to
◦ make decisions,
◦ interact with others,
◦ solve problems, etc
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Exactly how are information organized in memory is
unclear, but researchers do know that these memories
are arranged in groups.
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Clustering is used to organize related information
into groups.
Information that is categorized becomes easier to
remember and recall.
For example, consider the following group of
words: Desk, apple, bookshelf, red, plum, table,
green, pineapple, purple, chair, peach, yellow
◦ Spend a few seconds reading them, then look
away and try to recall and list these words.
◦ How did you group the words when you listed
them?
◦ Most people will list using three different
categories: color, furniture and fruit.
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One way of thinking about memory organization
is known as the semantic network model.
This model suggests that certain triggers activate
associated memories  i.e. a memory of a
specific place might activate memories about
related things that have occurred in that place.
◦ For example, thinking about a certain campus
building might trigger memories of attending
classes, studying and socializing with peers.
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Memory retrieval is important for our daily life, e.g. from
remembering where you parked your car to learning new skills.
Once information has been encoded and stored in memory, it
must be retrieved in order to be used.
There are many factors that can influence how memories are
retrieved from long-term memory.
In order to fully understand this process, it is important to
understand exactly what retrieval is and what are the factors
that can impact how memories are retrieved.
Memory Retrieval is a process of accessing stored memories.
Retrieval cues can be use  can have an impact on how
information is retrieved.
A retrieval cue - a clue/prompt used to trigger the retrieval of
longterm memory.
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Four basic ways in which information can be pulled from long-term
memory.
◦ Recall: Type of memory retrieval involves being able to access the
information without being cued. For example, answering a
question on a fill-in-the-blank test is a good example of recall.
◦ Recollection: Type of memory retrieval involves reconstructing
memory, often utilizing logical structures, partial memories,
narratives or clues. For example, writing an answer on an essay
exam often involves remembering bits on information, and then
restructuring the remaining information based on these partial
memories.
◦ Recognition: This type of memory retrieval involves identifying
information after experiencing it again. For example, taking a
multiple choice quiz requires that you recognize the correct answer
out of a group of available answers.
◦ Relearning: This type of memory retrieval involves relearning
information that has been previously learned. This often makes it
easier to remember and retrieve information in the future and can
improve the strength of memories.
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Not every retrieval process works perfectly.
Have you ever felt like you knew the answer to a
question, but couldn't quite remember the
information?
◦ This phenomenon is known as a 'tip of the tongue'
experience. You might feel certain that this information is
stored somewhere in your memory, but you are unable to
access and retrieve it.
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Schacter (2001) said that these experiences are
extremely common, typically occurring at least
once each week for most younger individuals and
two to four times per week for elderly adults.
1. Focus your attention on the materials you are
studying.
2. Avoid cramming by establishing regular study sessions.
3. Structure and organize the information you are studying.
4. Utilize mnemonic devices to remember information.
5. Elaborate and rehearse the information you are studying.
6. Relate new information to things you already know.
7. Visualize concepts to improve memory and recall.
8. Teach new concepts to another person.
9. Pay extra attention to difficult information.
10. Vary your study routine.
1.
Focus your attention on the materials you are studying.
Attention is a major components of memory. For information to
move from short-term memory into long-term memory need to
actively attend to this information. Try to study in a place free of
distractions such as television, music and other diversions.
2. Avoid cramming by establishing regular study sessions.
According to Bjork (2001), studying materials over a number of
session's gives you the time you need to adequately process the
information. Those who study regularly remember the material far
better than those who did all of their studying in one marathon
session.
3. Structure and organize the information you are studying.
Researchers have found that information is organized in memory in
related clusters. S0, structure & organize the materials you are
studying. Try grouping similar concepts and terms together, or make
an outline of your notes/textbook readings to help group related
concepts.
4. Utilize mnemonic devices to remember information.
◦ A mnemonic is simply a way to remember informatio  a
technique used to aid in recall. For example, you might
associate a term you need to remember with a common item
that you are very familiar with (rhyme). Use a rhyme,
song/joke to help remember.
5. Elaborate & rehearse the information you are studying.
◦ In order to recall information, you need to encode what you
are studying into long-term memory  use elaborative
rehearsal. An example of this technique would be to read the
definition of a key term, study the definition of that term and
then read a more detailed description of what that term
means. After repeating this process a few times, your recall
of the information will be far better.
6. Relate new information to things you already know.
 Establishing relationships between new ideas and previously
existing memories, When you are studying unfamiliar
material, take the time to think about how this information
relates to things that you already know.
7. Visualize concepts to improve memory and recall.
 Many benefit from visualizing the information they study 
focus on the photos, charts, graphics etc. If you do not have
visual cues to help, try creating your own. Draw charts or
figures in the margins of your notes/use highlighter/pens in
different colours to group related ideas in your notes.
8. Teach new concepts to another person.
 Research suggests that reading out loud can improves
memory of the material or teaching new concepts to others
enhances understanding and recall. You can use this
approach in your own studies by teaching new concepts and
information to a friend or study partner
9. Pay extra attention to difficult information.
◦ Have you ever noticed how it's sometimes easier to remember
information at the beginning or end of a chapter? Researchers have
found that the position of information can play a role in recall,
which is known as the serial position effect. While recalling middle
information can be difficult, you can overcome this problem by
spending extra time rehearsing this information. Another strategy
is to try restructuring the information so it will be easier to
remember. When you come across an especially difficult concept,
devote some extra time to memorizing the information.
10. Vary your study routine.
◦ Another great way to increase your recall is to occasionally change
your study routine. If you are accustomed to studying in one
specific location, try moving to a different spot to study. If you
study in the evening, try spending a few minutes each morning
reviewing the information you studied the previous night. By
adding an element of novelty to your study sessions, you can
increase the effectiveness of your efforts and significantly improve
your long-term recall.
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When Memory Fails?
Forgetting typically involves a failure in memory retrieval.
While the information is somewhere in your long-term
memory, you are not able to actually retrieve and
remember it.
Forgetting (retention loss) refers to
◦ apparent loss of information already encoded and
stored in an individual's long term memory.
◦ a spontaneous or gradual process in which old
memories are unable to be recalled from memory
storage.
It is subject to delicately balanced optimization that
ensures that relevant memories are recalled.
Forgetting can be reduced by repetition and/or more
elaborate cognitive processing of information.
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Psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (Father of Memory)
Research was one of the first to scientifically study
forgetting  used himself as the subject.
Pioneered experimental study of memory, and discovered the
forgetting curve and the spacing effect.
In order to test for new information, Ebbinghaus tested
his memory for periods of time ranging from 20
minutes to 31 days. He then published his findings in
1885 in Memory: A Contribution to Experimental
Psychology.
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EFC revealed a relationship
between forgetting and time.
How quickly these memories are
lost depend on:
 how the information was learned
 how frequently it was rehearsed
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The forgetting curve also showed
that forgetting does not continue
to decline until all of the
information is lost.
At a certain point, the amount of
forgetting levels off. What exactly
does this mean? It indicates that
information stored in long-term
memory is surprisingly stable.
The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve
Elizabeth Loftus, has identified four major
reasons why people forget:
1.
retrieval failure
2.
Interference
3.
failure to store
4.
motivated forgetting
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1. Retrieval Failure
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Decay theory - explain why some retrieval fails  i.e. a
memory trace is created every time a new theory is formed.
Decay theory suggests that over time, these memory traces
begin to fade and disappear. Forgetting is simply an inability
to retrieve a memory. If information is not retrieved and
rehearsed, it will eventually be lost.
2. Interferance
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Interference theory suggests that some memories compete
and interfere with other memories. When information is very
similar to other information that was previously stored in
memory, interference is more likely to occur. There are two
basic types of interference:
 Proactive interference is when an old memory makes it more
difficult or impossible to remember a new memory.
 Retroactive interference occurs when new information
interferes with your ability to remember previously learned
information.
3. Failure to Store
 We also forget information because it never actually
made it into long-term memory. Encoding failures
sometimes prevent information from entering long-term
memory. Only details necessary for distinguishing
pennies from other coins were encoded into your longterm memory.
4. Motivated Forgetting
 Sometimes, we may actively work to forget memories,
especially those of traumatic or disturbing events or
experiences. The two basic forms of motivated forgetting
are:
 suppression, a conscious form of forgetting,
 repression, an unconscious form of forgetting.
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1.
2.
3.
Discuss the
following:
Why do we fail to remember?
What are the differences between
Ebbinghaus theory, Decay theory &
Interference theory .
Find out tip on “How Not to Forget
Things”!