CHAPTER 8REMEMBERING & JUDGING

Amber Gilewski Tompkins Cortland Community College

Explicit Versus Implicit Memories Explicit memory – declarative memory

Memory for specific information; that can be stated or declared

Information can be autobiographical (episodic) or general (semantic)

Implicit memory – nondeclarative memory Memory of how to perform a procedure or skill Skill memories

Human Memory: Basic Questions3 Different Memory Processes

How does information get into memory? (ENCODING)

How is information maintained in memory? (STORAGE)

How is information pulled back out of memory? (RETRIEVAL)

Encoding: Getting Information Into Memory

Role of attention & awareness “Next-in-line effect”

Encoding levels: Visual – represented as a picture Acoustic – represented as sounds Semantic – represented in terms of

meanings

Enriching Encoding: Improving Memory Elaboration = linking a stimulus to other

information at the time of encoding Thinking of examples

Visual Imagery = creation of visual images to represent words to be remembered Easier for concrete objects: Dual-coding

theory Self-Referent Encoding

Making information personally meaningful

Storage: Maintaining Information in Memory Analogy: information storage in

computers ~ information storage in human memory

Information-processing theories Subdivide memory into 3 different

stores Sensory, Short-term, Long-term

Sensory Memory Brief preservation of information in original

sensory form Auditory/Visual – approximately ¼ second

Limited capacity – magical number 7 plus or minus 2 Chunking – grouping familiar stimuli for storage

as a single unit Limited duration – about 10-12 seconds without

rehearsal Rehearsal – the process of repetitively

verbalizing or thinking about the information (keeps info in short-term & helps to transfer to long-term memory)

Short-term Memory

Long-Term Memory: Unlimited Capacity?

Vast storehouse of information Long-term memories can be distorted

Schemas, flashbulb memories, hypnosis No known limit known for amount of

information stored in long-term memory (LTM)

Long-term memories may last a life-time

Retrieval: Getting Information Out of Memory The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon –

a failure in retrieval Retrieval cues

Recalling an event Context cues

Reconstructing memories Misinformation effect & overconfidence

may lead to distortions Eyewitness: How Accurate is Visual Me

mory?

Heuristic Processing Representativeness heuristic

Make judgments about events according to the population of events that they appear to represent

Availability heuristic Estimate of probability is based on

examples of relevant events

DECISION MAKING & HEURISTICS ACTIVITY

Forgetting: When Memory Lapses

Retention – the proportion of material retained Recall – reproduce without cues Recognition – select from options Relearning - learn information

again & time learning curve

Why Do We Forget? Ineffective Encoding Decay theory Interference theory

(retroactive/proactive) Repression Amnesia (infantile,

anterograde, or retrograde)

Figure 7.19 Retroactive and proactive interference

Improving Everyday Memory Engage in adequate rehearsal Distribute practice and minimize

interference Emphasize deep processing Organize information Use verbal mnemonics Use visual mnemonics