Transcript Capacity of Memory: Memory & Forgetting

Capacity of Memory:
Memory & Forgetting
Capacity of Memory
• Memory is limitless (LTM)
however, we don’t store all of our
experiences permanently.
–WHY?
• Memory is limited by the
amount of attention we pay to
things.
Memory as Reconstructive
• Late 60s psychologists believed
memories could be stimulated
electrically during surgery.
• Today psychologists they believe
memories are reconstructed in
accordance with our beliefs and needs.
Schemas
• The mental representations that we form
of the world by organizing bits of
information into knowledge.
–Draw a picture of a dog
–Draw a picture of a balloon
–Draw a picture of a house
–How far is it from here to the office?
Forgetting
• Flip side of memory
• Can occur at any of the 3 stages of
memory
–Sensory: decay nearly
immediately
–STM: decay after 10-12 seconds
–LTM: decay if not properly stored
Reindeer Exercise
3 Memory Tasks
• 1. Recognition
–A memory exercise in which one
identifies objects or events that
have previously been encountered.
• 2. Recall
–Retrieval of learning information.
• 3. Relearning
–Learning material a second time,
usually in less time than it was
originally learned.
Different Kinds of
Forgetting
• 2 ways memory loss occurs from
SM to STM:
• 1. Interference (new info disrupts
old)
• 2. Decay
–The fading away of memory (like
burning a candle)
• Repression
–Freudian psychoanalytic find
–Due to painful and/or
unpleasant memories that make
us feel anxiety, guilt or shame
we push them out of
consciousness.
• Amnesia
– A severe memory loss caused by
brain injury, shock, fatigue, illness
or repression
• Dissociative Amnesia
– A severe memory loss caused by a
psychological trauma which may
lead to identity loss
• Infantile Amnesia (effects episodic mem)
– Failure to recall things that have happened to
you before the age of two or three.
– Rather any “memories” claimed are
reconstructions from other memories or
stories told.
– Biologically: hippocampus (stores memory) is
not fully matured & the brain pathways are
incomplete.
– Cognitively: no interest in remembering,
episodes are weaved and details forgotten,
limited encoding abilities.
Anterograde Amnesia
• Memory loss due
to trauma to the
head, an electric
shock, or brain
surgery.
Retrograde Amnesia
• Forgetting leading up to a
traumatic event.
• Time leading up to a car accident
• Game in which you were
knocked unconscious
Improving Memory
• Mnemonic Devices
• Form unusual associations
• Humorous or unusual
• Relate to things already known
• Elaborative rehearsal
• Drill & Practice- going over information
repetitiously
• Learned to count, alphabet, facts,
vocabulary