Introduction to Memory

Psychology

What do we already know about Memory?• Short Term?

• Long Term?

• Memory loss?

• Anything else?

Memory

Memory

• Memory is learning that has persisted over time

• It is our ability to store and retrieve information

• Cognitive Psychology

The Case of Clive Wearing

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmkiMlvLKto

• Encephalitis

Spoiler alert! 50 First dates

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2ZzZf7zkjM

Discuss

• Imagine what would happen if you woke up to find you completely lost your memory. Answer these questions

• What do you normally do in a day that you would no longer be able to do?

• What would you be unable to do if you would not recognise your friends or family?

Discuss cont

• What experiences would you miss?

• How would you plan your day if you could not remember what you were just thinking about a few moments ago?

Key words

• Memory: the mental process involved in registering storing and retrieving information

• Capacity: the amount of information that can be stored

• Duration: the length of time that information can be kept

Key Words cont

• Short term memory: a limited capacity system for storing information for short periods

• Long term memory: an unlimited capacity system for storing information for long periods

Why can’t Clive Wearing remember?

• One possible explanation is that no new memory trace is laid down

• Can you think of two others?

• It could be laid down but disappears quickly

• Or it could be laid down but could not be retrieved :

• A functioning brain would be able to register info, store it and retrieve it

Memory test

Nine Swap Cell Ring Lust

Plugs Lamp Apple Table Sway

Army Bank Fire Hold Worm

Clock Horse Color Baby Sword

Desk Hold Find Bird Rock

How did you do?

• Experiments like these demonstrate the limitations of short term memory

• According to George Miller the typical storage capacity for STM is 7 + - 2 items.

• Memory rehearsal strategies such as chunking can significantly increase memorisation and recall.

Chunking: A term referring to the process of taking individual units of information (chunks) and grouping them into larger units

Horse Cat Dog Fish Bird

Orange Yellow Blue Green Black

Table Chair Desk Bookcase Bed

Teacher School Student Homework Class

Apple Banana Kiwi Grape Mango

Next week

• Start to think about your own experiments

• Continue looking at STM and LTM in more detail including research