MEMORY: What can I do to improve it? Elizabeth Avila-Mora

MEMORY: MEMORY: What can I do to What can I do to

improve it?improve it?

Elizabeth Avila-Mora

OUTLINE OF LECTURE

• Brief Overview of Three-Box-Model– Processing Components

• Best Strategies for Remembering– Attention– Effective Encoding – Effortful Encoding– Rehearsal– Mnemonics – Active Studying– Retrieval Practice

Three-Box-Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)

Encoding

EncodingEncode

Information Processing Model (Three-Box-Model)—

Processing Components

• Attention: – Focusing or tuning on relevant sensations and

perceptions• Rehearsal:

– Process of repeating information to preserve or improve memory.

• Encoding: – Processing information into the memory system

• Retrieval: – Recovering stored information

• What methods or techniques do you use to remember information or study?

Best Strategies for Remembering

• Attend to Information

Attention: Encoding FailureCan You Identify the Actual Penny?

Nickerson & Adams (1979)

Attention: Encoding FailureAttention: Encoding Failure

• Correct Answer = A

Attention: Avoiding Distractions

The car ride was getting bumpy now that George had left the main road to use the dirt road. He was out of school, not having to study during the summer break. He was glad to get out of the stuffy offices of the archeology department and get out into…..

Connelly, Hasher, & Zacks (1991)

Attention: Avoiding Distractions

The car ride river was getting bumpy jeep now that religious George had religious left the main digging tools road to use the religious dirt road. He digging tools river was out of jeep school, not having digging tools to study digging tools river during the summer jeep religious break. He was jeep river glad to digging tools get out of jeep the stuffy religious offices river of the archeology religious department river jeep and get out into…..

Connelly, Hasher, & Zacks (1991)

Attention: Avoiding Distractions

• Eliminate both external and internal distractions.– STUDY IN A QUIET ENVIRONMENT– ClOSE YOUR EYES during encoding and retrieval

• Einstein, Earles, & Collins (2002)

Attention: Avoiding Distractions

• Be in Synchrony with your optimal time of day.– May, Hasher, & Stoltzfus (1993)

• Investigated the effects of learning during optimal time of day.

– People performed better on a recognition test when learning took place during their optimal time of day.

Best Strategies for Remembering

• Rehearsal– Elaborative Rehearsal VS. Maintenance Rehearsal

Best Strategies for Remembering

• Effective & Effortful Encoding

Improving Memory: Encoding

• Levels-of-Processing Theory

•Processing during encoding affects how the memory is formed.

•Deeper (sophisticated) processing leads to better long term memories.

Improving Memory: Encoding

• Deep & Elaborate Processing– Ask WHY?

• Helps generate interest• Information is more likely to becomes knowledge based

Improving Memory: Encoding & Retrieval

• Organization - Group material in a meaningful way

--The LTM equivalent of chunking

-- Meaningful connections between items in memory help create durable memory

Encoding

Encoding

Improving Memory: Mnemonics

• Mnemonic: – Strategy for

remembering information

– Involves both encoding & recall

Improving Memory: Mnemonics

1. Imagery: connect words with images

2. Acronym: letter stands for a word (IAAM for this list)

3. Acrostic: form a sentence Please excuse my dear aunt sally. (parentheses, exponents,

multiplication, division, addition, subtraction) Every good boy does fine (E G B D F) My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas. (planets)

5. Method of Loci: constructing an interactive image that relates an idea to a landmark.

Try the Method of Loci

Improving Memory: Encoding

Timing of encoding into LTM.

• Spacing Effect: repeated spaced out presentations lead to better memory.

Implications for studying:•Cramming is massed practice, which is NOT a deep encoding process (no chance to elaborate or form connections)

•Cramming leads to shallow memories

Best Strategies for Remembering

• Retrieval

Improving Memory: Retrieval

• Retrieval practice effect (aka ‘testing effect’)

– Test taking involves recall (retrieval) from LTM– Test taking can improve memory (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006)

Improving Memory: 3R’s Read Recite Review

Encoding Specificity

• Context (environment) influences memory.

• Recall is better when it occurs in context in which material was learned.

• A) physical context (room)• B) emotional context

Encoding Specificity

Encoding Specificity

• What does this have to do with you?– For durable memories, study under

many different contexts• You don’t want to remember

something only in one place!

– Study in different places across a number of days

Goal: To create DURABLE memories!

Practical Application

Remembering someone’s name when you are introduced to them.

Improve Your Memory

• Use Elaborative/Deep Rehearsal• Retrieval Practice• Space out Studying• Organization• Test Yourself• Use Mnemonics• Read Recite Review

• Questions?