Chapter 7 Psychology

Memory is the persistence of learning over time, through the storage and retrieval of information. Psychologists use memory models to think about how our brain forms and retrieves memories. Informationprocessing models involve three processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval.

The three processing stages in the Atkinson and Shiffrin classic threestage model of memory are sensory memory, short-term memory, and longterm memory. More recent research has updated this model to include two additional concepts: (1) working memory, to stress the active processing occurring in the second memory stage, and (2) automatic processing, to address the processing of information outside of conscious awareness.

Through parallel processing, we process many things at once, on dual tracks. Explicit (declarative) memories are our conscious memories of general knowledge, facts, and experiences. They form through effortful processing. Implicit (nondeclarative) memories are our unconscious memories of skills and classically conditioned responses. They happen without our awareness, through automatic processing.

In addition to skills and classically conditioned associations, we automatically process incidental information about space, time, and frequency.

Sensory memory feeds some information into working memory for active processing there. An iconic memory is a very brief (a few tenths of a second) picture-image memory of a scene; an echoic memory is a three- or four-second sensory memory of a sound.

Short-term memory capacity is about seven items, give or take two, but this information disappears from memory quickly without rehearsal. Working-memory capacity varies, depending on age and other factors.

Effective effortful processing strategies include chunking and mnemonics Such strategies help us remember new information because we then focus our attention and make a conscious effort to remember.

Massed practice, or cramming, results in poorer long-term recall than encoding that is spread over time. Psychologists call this result of distributed practice the spacing effect. The testing effect is the finding that consciously retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information enhances memory.

We have an unlimited capacity for storing information permanently in long-term memory. Memories are not stored intact in the brain in single specific spots. Many parts of the brain interact as we encode, store, and retrieve memories.

The frontal lobes and hippocampus are parts of the brain network dedicated to explicit memory formation. Many brain regions send information to the frontal lobes for processing. The hippocampus registers and temporarily holds elements of explicit memories before moving them for storage elsewhere.

The cerebellum and basal ganglia are parts of the brain network dedicated to implicit memory formation. The cerebellum is important for storing classically conditioned memories. The basal ganglia are involved in motor movement and help form procedural memories for skills.

Emotional arousal causes an outpouring of stress hormones, which lead to activity in the brain's memory-forming areas. Significantly stressful events can trigger very clear flashbulb memories.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) appears to be the neural process for learning and memory. It involves an increase in a synapse's firing potential as neurons become more efficient and more connections between neurons develop.

Psychologists assess memory by studying evidence of it in the recall, recognition, and relearning of information: Recall is memory demonstrated by retrieving information we learned earlier (as on a fill-in-the-blank test). Recognition is memory demonstrated by identifying items previously learned (as on a multiple-choice test). Relearning is memory demonstrated by more quickly mastering material that has been previously learned.

Retrieval cues, such as context and mood, are information bits linked with the original encoded memory. These cues activate associations that help us retrieve memories; this process may occur without our awareness, as it does in priming. Returning to the same physical context or emotional state (mood congruency) in which we formed a memory can help us retrieve it. The serial position effect accounts for our tendency to recall best the last items (which may still be in working memory) and the first items (which we've spent more time rehearsing) in a list.

Normal forgetting can happen because we have never encoded information (encoding failure); because the physical trace has decayed (storage decay); or because we cannot retrieve what we have encoded and stored (retrieval failure). Retrieval problems may result from proactive (forward-acting) interference, when prior learning interferes with recall of new information, or from retroactive (backward-acting) interference, when new learning disrupts recall of old information. Freud believed that motivated forgetting occurs, but researchers have found little evidence of repression.

We construct our memories, using both stored and new information as well as our imaginations. Misinformation (exposure to misleading information) and imagination effects corrupt our stored memories of what actually happened. Source amnesia leads to faulty memories of how, when, or where we learned something, and may help explain déjà vu. False memories feel like real memories and can be persistent but are usually limited to the gist (the general idea) of the event.

Children's eyewitness descriptions are subject to the same memory influences that distort adult reports. Children are susceptible to source amnesia and the misinformation effect, but if questioned in neutral words they understand, they can accurately recall events and people involved in them. Incest and abuse happen more than was once supposed. But unless the victim was a child too young to remember, such traumas are usually remembered vividly, not repressed.

Memory research findings suggest the following strategies for improving memory: Study repeatedly, make material meaningful, activate retrieval cues, use mnemonic devices, minimize interference, sleep more, and test yourself to be sure you can retrieve, as well as recognize, material.

the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

the process of getting information into the memory system.

the process of retaining encoded information over time.

the process of getting information out of memory storage.

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

activated memory that holds a few items briefly (such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing) before the information is stored or forgotten.

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

a newer understanding of short-term memory that stresses conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

memory of facts and personal events you can consciously retrieve. (Also called declarative memory.)

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

retaining learned skills, or classically conditioned associations, without conscious awareness. (Also called nondeclarative memory.)

unconscious encoding of everyday information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically.

memory aids, especially techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. Also sometimes referred to as the retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning.

a neural center located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage.

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.

an increase in a synapse's firing potential. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory.

memory demonstrated by retrieving information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.

memory demonstrated by identifying items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.

memory demonstrated by time saved when learning material a second time.

any stimulus (event, feeling, place, and so on) linked to a specific memory.

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.

the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with your current good or bad mood.

our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

literally "without memory"—a loss of memory, often due to brain trauma, injury, or disease.

lasting physical changes in the brain as a memory forms.

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information.

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness the thoughts, feelings, and memories that arouse anxiety.

when a memory has been corrupted by misleading information.

faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined.

that eerie sense that "I've experienced this before." Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.

encoding; storage; retrieval

clarifies the idea of short-term memory by focusing on the active processing that occurs in this stage.

iconic; echoic

seven

mnemonics

temporary processing site for explicit memories.

implicit

an increase in a cell's firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation.

recall

retrieval cues.

Memories are stored within a web of many associations, one of which is mood. When you recall happy moments from your past, you deliberately activate these positive links. You may then experience mood-congruent memory and recall other happy moments, which could improve your mood and brighten your interpretation of current events.

the first items on the list.

short-term memory into long-term memory.

level out.

retroactive

repression

the misinformation effect.

Eliza's immature hippocampus and lack of verbal skills would have prevented her from encoding an explicit memory of the wedding reception at the age of two. It's more likely that Eliza learned information (from hearing the story repeatedly) that she eventually constructed into a memory that feels very real.

source amnesia

déjà vu

a neutral person asks nonleading questions soon after the event, in words the children can understand.

We tend to repress extremely upsetting memories.