PowerPoint Presentation

MemoryLearning Unit 5

1

The Foundations of MemoryWhat is memory? Are there different kinds of memory?What are the biological bases of memory?

IntroductionMemory: Process by which we encode, store, and retrieve informationStages of rememberingEncodingStorageRetrieval

Three-Stage Model of Memory

Sensory Memory Operates as a kind of snapshot that stores information for a brief moment in timeIconic memory - Reflects information from the visual systemEchoic memory - Stores auditory information coming from the ears

Short-Term MemoryMemory store in which information first has meaningChunk: Grouping of information that can be stored in short-term memoryExample - PBSFOXCNNABCCBSMTVNBCThe prior example in chunksPBS FOX CNN ABC CBS MTV NBCInformation in short-term memory is lost after 15 to 25 seconds

Short-Term MemoryRehearsal Elaborative rehearsal - Information is considered and organized in some fashion Mnemonics - Organizing information in a way that makes it more likely to be remembered

Working MemorySet of temporary memory stores that actively manipulate and rehearse information Central executive processorVisual storeVerbal storeEpisodic bufferUses a significant amount of cognitive resources during its operationStress can reduce its effectiveness

Working memory

Long-Term MemorySerial position effect - Ability to recall information in a list depends on where in the list an item appearsPrimacy effectRecency effect

Long-Term MemoryLong-term memory modulesDeclarative memory: For factual informationProcedural memory: For skills and habitsSemantic memory: For general knowledge and rules of logicEpisodic memory: For events that occur in a particular time, place, or context

Long-Term Memory Modules

Long-Term MemorySemantic networks: Mental representations of clusters of interconnected information Spreading activation - Activating one memory triggers the activation of related memories

Semantic Networks

Long-Term MemoryThe neuroscience of memoryEngram - Physical memory trace in the brain that corresponds to a memoryHippocampus - Plays a central role in the consolidation of memoriesAmygdala - Involved with memories involving emotion

Long-Term MemoryMemory at the level of neuronsLong-term potentiation - Certain neural pathways become easily excited while a new response is being learnedConsolidation - Memories become fixed and stable in long-term memory

Recalling Long-Term MemoriesWhat causes difficulties and failures in remembering?

IntroductionTip-of-the-tongue phenomenon: The inability to recall information that one realizes one knows

Retrieval CuesStimulus that allows us to recall more easily information that is in long-term memoryRecall: Specific piece of information must be retrievedRecognition: Occurs when one is presented with a stimulus and asked whether he has been:Exposed to it previously, or is asked to identify it from a list of alternatives

Levels of ProcessingEmphasizes the degree to which new material is mentally analyzedAt shallow levels, information is processed in terms of its physical and sensory aspectsAt the deepest level of processing, information is analyzed in terms of its meaning

Explicit and Implicit MemoryExplicit memory: Intentional or conscious recollection of information Implicit memory: Memories of which people are not consciously awareCan affect subsequent performance and behaviorPriming: Exposure to a word or concept later makes it easier to recall related information

Flashbulb Memories Memories related to a specific, important, or surprising event that are recalled easilySource amnesia - When an individual has a memory for some material: But cannot recall where he or she encountered itExample - September 11th, 2001

Constructive Processes in Memory: Rebuilding the PastProcesses in which memories are influenced by the meaning one gives to eventsSchemas: Organized bodies of information stored in memory that bias the way new information is:InterpretedStoredRecalled

Constructive Processes in Memory: Rebuilding the PastMemory in the courtroom: The eyewitness on trialMistaken identitySpecific wording of questions Children witnesses

Constructive Processes in Memory: Rebuilding the PastRepressed and false memoriesRecollections of shocking eventsThe mind responds by pushing them into the unconsciousMemories may be inaccurate or even wholly false Controversy regarding their legitimacy

Constructive Processes in Memory: Rebuilding the PastAutobiographical memory: Recollection of circumstances and episodes from our own livesOne tends to forget information about ones past that is incompatible with the way in which one currently sees oneself

Forgetting: When Memory FailsWhy do we forget information? What are the major memory impairments?

IntroductionMemory failure is essential to remembering important informationForgetting helps keep unwanted information from interferingForms general impressions and recollections

Why We ForgetFailure of encodingDid not pay attention to materialDecay: Loss of information through nonuseMemory traces - Physical changes that take place in the brain when new material is learned

Why We ForgetInterference and cue-dependent forgetting are key processes in forgettingInterference: Information in memory disrupts the recall of other information Cue-dependent forgetting: When there are insufficient retrieval cues to rekindle information that is in memory

Proactive and Retroactive InterferenceProactive interference: Information learned earlier disrupts the recall of newer material Progresses in timeRetroactive interference: Material that was learned later disrupts the retrieval of information that was learned earlierRetrogresses in time

Memory Dysfunctions: Afflictions of ForgettingAlzheimers disease: Characterized in part by severe memory problemsAmnesia: Brain disorder that heads to a gradual and irreversible decline in cognitive abilitiesRetrograde: Memory is lost for occurrences prior to a certain eventAnterograde: Memory is lost for events that follow an injury Korsakoffs syndrome: Afflicts long-term alcoholics; tendency to repeat the same story