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Memory: Part IBrian J. Piper, Ph.D.
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Goals
• Overview (26)• Encoding (27)• Storage (28)• Retrieval (29)• Forgetting (30)
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Memory
Memory is the basis for knowing your friends, your neighbors, the English language, the national anthem, and
yourself.
If memory was nonexistent, everyone would be a stranger to you; every
language foreign; every task new; and even you yourself would be a stranger.
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Definition
Memory is learning that has persisted over time. It is our ability to store and
retrieve information.
Cognitive Psychology & Cognitive Neuroscience
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Which one is the real penny?A B C D E
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2
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Impact of Lack of Memory
• Clive Wearing (0:10-7:00)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmzU47i2xgw&feature=related
Damage to the temporal cortex (herpes simplex encephalitus)
Antereograde Amnesia
Some functions spared. Why?
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Information Processing Models of Memory (Simple)
Keyboard(Encoding)
Disk(Storage)
Monitor(Retrieval)
Sequential Process
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Information Processing Model (Moderate)
• Atkinson-Schiffrin Model (1968)
Duration Size
Sensory Memory <1 second Infinite?
Short-Term Memory 1/2 minute ≈7
Long-Term Memory 1 lifetime Large
1929-1943-
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Modifications to the Three-Stage Model
1. Some information skips the first two stages and enters long-term memory automatically.
2. Since we cannot focus on all the sensory information received, we select information that is important to us and actively process it into our working memory.
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Information Processing (Complex)
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Working Memory
Our ability to store and manipulate information for a brief time
Corsi Block Tapping Test Tower of London
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Working Memory Across the Lifespan
• Spatial working memory shows an inverted-U shaped relationship with age.
Piper et al. (2011) Physiology & Behavior, 103, 513-522.
Part II: Encoding: Getting Information In How We Encode What We Encode
Encoding: Getting Information In
How We Encode
1. Some information (route to your school) is automatically processed.
2. However, new or unusual information (friend’s new cell-phone number) requires attention and effort.
Automatic Processing
We process an enormous amount of information effortlessly, such as the
following:
1. Space: While reading a textbook, you automatically encode the place of a picture on a page.
2. Time: We unintentionally note the events that take place in a day.
3. Autobiographical: You effortlessly keep track of things that happen to you.
Effortful Processing
Committing novel information to memory requires effort just like learning a concept from a textbook. Such processing leads to durable and accessible memories.
Rehearsal
Effortful learning usually requires
rehearsal or conscious
repetition.
Ebbinghaus studied rehearsal by using nonsense syllables: TUV YOF GEK XOZ
Hermann Ebbinghaus(1850-1909)
Rehearsal
The more times the nonsense syllables
were practiced on Day 1,
the fewer repetitions were required to
remember them on Day 2.
Encoding Effects
1. Spacing Effect: We retain information better when we rehearse over time.
2. Serial Position Effect: When your recall is better for first and last items on a list, but poor for middle items.
What We Encode
1. Encoding by meaning2. Encoding by images3. Encoding by organization
Encoding Meaning
Processing the meaning of verbal information by associating it with what we already know or imagine.
Encoding meaning (semantic encoding) results in better
recognition later than visual or acoustic encoding.
Visual EncodingMental pictures (imagery) are a powerful
aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding.
Showing adverse effects of tanning and smoking in a picture may be more powerful than simply talking about it.
Mnemonics
Imagery is at the heart of many memory aids. Mnemonic techniques use vivid imagery and organizational devices in
aiding memory.
Break down complex information into broad concepts and further subdivide
them into categories and subcategories.
Organizing Information for Encoding
1. Hierarchies2. Chunking
Hierarchy
Complex information broken down into broad concepts and further subdivided
into categories and subcategories.
Chunking I
Organizing items into a familiar, manageable unit. Try to remember the
numbers below.1-7-7-6-1-4-9-2-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1
If you are well versed with American history, chunk the numbers together
and see if you can recall them better. 1776 1492 1812 1941.
Chunking II
Acronyms are another way of chunking information to remember it.
King Phillup Came Over From Germany Singing: K P C O G S
Oh, Oh, Oh, To Touch And Feel Very Good' Velvet Aah Hah: O O O T T A F V G V S H
Encoding Summarized in a Hierarchy
Part III: Storage: Retaining Information
Sensory Memory Working (Short-Term) Memory Long-Term Memory Storing Memories in the Brain
Storage: Retaining Information
Storage is at the heart of memory. Three stores of memory are shown
below:SensoryMemory
WorkingMemory
Long-termMemory
Encoding
RetrievalEncoding
Events
Retrieval
Sensory Memory
SensoryMemory
WorkingMemory
Long-termMemory
Encoding
RetrievalEncoding
Events
Retrieval
Whole Report
The exposure time for the stimulus is so smallthat items cannot be rehearsed.
R G TF M QL Z S
50 ms
“Recall”R T M Z
(44% recall)
Sperling (1960) Psychological Monographs, 74 (498), 336.
Partial Report
Low Tone
Medium Tone
High Tone
“Recall”J R S
(100% recall)
Sperling (1960) argued that sensory memory capacity was larger than what was originally
thought.
50 ms
S X TJ R SP K Y
Time Delay
“Recall”N _ _
(33% recall)
TimeDelay
50 ms
A D IN L VO G H
Low Tone
Medium Tone
High Tone
Sensory Memory
The longer the delay, the greater the memory loss.
20
40
60
80
Perc
en
t R
ecog
niz
ed
0.15 0.30 0.50 1.00Time (Seconds)
Sensory Memories
Iconic0.5 sec. long
Echoic3-4 sec. long
Hepatic< 1 sec. long
The duration of sensory memory varies for the different senses.
Working Memory
SensoryMemory
WorkingMemory
Long-termMemory
Encoding
RetrievalEncoding
Events
Retrieval
Projector Off!!
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Mini-Experiment
Size Stimuli
3 P X R
4 H G P A
5 Z C M I L
6 K H K S D E
7 V U J A Z I W
8 G O K Y R X D N
91011
S K J E Z F X Y TU N K M I H C Q P FR U J A Z I W T K D C
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Working Memory Capacity
• Address to the Eastern Psychological Association, April 15, 1955 by George A Miller & published in Psychological Review, 101, 343-352.
My problem is that I have been persecuted by an integer. For seven years this number has followed mearound, has intruded in my most private data, and has assaulted me from the pages of our most publicjournals. This number assumes a variety of disguises, being sometimes a little larger and sometimes alittle smaller than usual, but never changing so much as to be unrecognizable. The persistence with whichthis number plagues me is far more than a random accident. There is, to quote a famous senator, a designbehind it, some pattern governing its appearances. Either there really is something unusual about thenumber or else I am suffering from delusions of persecution.
Working Memory Capacity
You should be able to
recall 7±2 letters.
The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for
Processing Information (1956).
George A. Miller1920 -
M U T G I K T L R S Y P
Ready?
http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/users/peterson/psy430s2001/Miller%20GA%20Magical%20Seven%20Psych%20Review%201955.pdf
Chunking
F-B-I-T-W-A-C-I-A-I-B-M
The capacity of the working memory may be increased by “chunking.”
FBI TWA CIA IBM
4 chunks
Duration
Peterson and Peterson (1959) measured the duration of working memory by
manipulating rehearsal.
CH??
The duration of the working memory is about 20 sec.
CHJMKTHIJ547
547544541…
Working Memory Duration
Peterson & Peterson (1959). Journal of Experimental Psychology, 58, 193-198.
Long-Term Memory
SensoryMemory
WorkingMemory
Long-termMemory
Encoding
RetrievalEncoding
Events
Retrieval
Memory Feats!!
• Digits of : 67,890• Spoken #s (1 per 2 sec): 400• 1 Pack of Cards: 21.2 sec• Playing cards in 10 min: 364
http://www.recordholders.org/en/list/memory.html#pi
Summary: Memory Stores
FeatureSensoryMemory
Working Memory
LTM
Encoding Copy Phonemic Semantic
Capacity Unlimited7±2
ChunksVery Large
Duration 0.25 sec. 20 sec. Years