Mnemonic Strategies

Chunking

Method of Loci

Peg Word Mnemonic

Chunking Grouping elements into “chunks”

Chase and Ericcson’s subjects Chunked digits into running times Remembered up to 82 digits!

Not as effective as more elaborative strategies

Method of Loci Based upon visual imagery

Imagine a grocery list (eggs, milk, cheese, bread, butter)

Imaging items placed in a common scene

To recall, mentally stroll through scene

Bizarreness / distinctiveness

Peg Word Mnemonic Uses prememorized list (e.g., rhyme)

One is a bun ==>

Two is a shoe ==>

Three is a tree ==>

Four is a door ==>

Acronyms

Create “word” from beginning letters

Create a limerick from beginning letters

OOOTTAFAGVAH – 12 Cranial nerves

Why Do Mnemonics Devices Work? Provide structure for learning

Provide durable trace (less interference)

Provide retrieval structure

Which Mnemonic is the Best? Roediger (1980)

Interaction of Encoding and Retrieval Processes

Anderson & Pichert (1978) Participants read a story about the activities of

two boys at home either from the point of view of a burglar or a homebuyer

Later the participants were asked to remember as much as possible about the story they read

The point of view affected what participants recalled

Homebuyers were more likely to remember that the basement was musty

Burglars were more likely to remember the coin collection and color TV

To Understand Memory Processes Need to understand encoding

processes, retrieval processes, and how they function together for short term storage (STM) and long term storage (LTM)

Encoding Processes

Creating an acoustic codeWhat it sounds like

Creating a semantic codeWhat it means

Creating a visual codeWhat it looks like

Encoding Types and STM

Type of code may rely on type of task STM refers to memory that needs to be

held temporarily Evidence exists for a variety of encoding

types for STM

Evidence for Acoustic Encoding in STM

Conrad (1964)Visually present a series of lettersAsk participants to write the order letters are

presentedWhat types of errors are made?

Conrad (1964) Found evidence for the use of an acoustic code

in STM Participants made acoustic errors

F for S, B for V, P for B Not visual errors

E for F, O for Q, R for P Participants encoded items acoustically even

though stimuli were presented visually

Shulman (1970) Evidence for semantic encoding in STM Participants viewed 10-word lists Given a recognition test using visually

represented "probe words" which were either: Homonyms - e.g. "bawl" for "ball" Synonyms - e.g. "talk" for "speak" Identical to the original word

Shulman (1970) Results

The Homonym and Synonym probes produced similar error rates - this suggests that an equal amount of acoustic and semantic processing must be taking place Homonyms - e.g. "bawl" for "ball"

Synonyms - e.g. "talk" for "speak"

Identical to the original word

Posner & Keele (1967) Evidence for visual encoding in STM

Letter matching taskTwo letters separated by brief intervalParticipant had to indicate if same letter

A-a Yes A-A Yes A-M No

Measure reaction time

Posner & Keele (1967) Results

If letters were the same visually (a-a) participants were faster than if the letters were not the same visually (A-a)

Results indicate that visual code was also present for STM

Encoding Types & LTM

Type of code may rely on type of task LTM refers to memory that may be held

permanently Evidence exists for a variety of encoding

types for LTM

Semantic Encoding in LTM Grossman & Eagle (1970)

Study 41 different wordsGiven recognition test after delay9 of the distractors were semantically

related to words on list9 of the distractors were not False alarms for each type: 1.83 of

synonyms, but only 1.05 of unrelated

Visual Encoding in LTM Frost (1972)

Participants studied 16 drawings Manipulated visual orientation and semantic category After a delay, participants were asked if they had

studied an object with the same name as the test object Reaction time was measured Participants responded faster to identical drawings than

drawings in a different orientation This result indicates visual encoding occurred

Acoustic Encoding in LTM

Evidence of very long-term memory for songs

Rubin (1977) Participants recall more of the text when

provided with the melody of a well-learned song ("Star Spangled Banner") than when given no cue

Transfer from STM to LTM Consolidation

Integrating new information into stored information

Disruption of consolidation is studied in amnesiacsECT patients (Squire)

Principles to Strengthen Memory

Elaborative rehearsal is better than maintenance rehearsal

Distributed practice is better than massed practice Spacing effect

Organizing information to enhance memory

Why Does Distributed Practice Work?

REM Theory The more REM sessions

following study sessions, the more consolidation that occurs

Multiple encoding contexts theory Multiple study sessions lead to

multiple types of encoding, thus more possibility of matching during test conditions

Prospective Memory

The ability to remember a future intentionBuying bread on your way home from workGoing to the dentist on Wednesday

Retrospective memory is memory of the past

Retrieval Processes

Getting information back out Multiple processes can be used to enhance

retrieval Different strategies are used for short term

storage and long term storage Matching the type of processes done during

encoding with the type of processes done at retrieval increases success

Retrieval from STM

Is the search serial or parallel? Serial indicates one by one search Parallel means all items are processed at once

Is the search exhaustive or self-terminating? Exhaustive indicates that all items in the set are

examined Self-terminating means that after target is found the

search stops

Studying Searching in STM Saul Sternberg (1967) Memorize a set of

numbers (6,3,8,2,7) Shown a probe digit Participant must

indicate if the probe was in the set

Reaction time to respond is measured

6,3,8,2,7

2

Yes

Sternberg (1967)

3 critical factors manipulatedHow many items were in the set the

participants had to memorizeWhether the probe was in the listThe probe’s location in the set

Sternberg (1967) Possible Result Patterns

A represents parallel processing

B illustrates serial processing

C illustrates exhaustive serial processing

D illustrates self-terminating serial processing

Sternberg’s Conclusion

A serial exhaustive model But….

Corcoran (1971) proposed that a parallel model could also explain the pattern found

Townsend (1971) stated it was mathematically impossible to distinguish parallel from serial

Thus, both models still exist

If You Do Not Retrieve from LTM…

Has the memory disappeared? or

Is the memory still there but cannot retrieve it (available, but not accessible)?

Evidence Supporting “Still There” Theory Nelson (1971)

Paired associate List43-house67-dog38-dress77-sissors

Cued recall test43- ________67- ________

Two week delay

Subjects recalled 75% of items on list

But focus was on 25% they forgot.

Nelson (1971) Critical Manipulation

If participants forgot “38-dress” and “77-sissors” then participants relearned either same pairs or changed pairs

  25% “forgot” Relearned Results

Same 38-dress 77-sissors

38-dress 77-sissors 78%

Changed 38-dress 77-sissors

38-apple 77-kettle 43%

The better performance of participants in the same condition indicate that there was some memory left for “forgotten” items. Otherwise both groups would remember the same amount.

What Contributes to Forgetting?

Decay theoryMemory is weakened with disuse

Interference theory Proactive: old memories interfere with recall

of new informationRetroactive: new memories interfere with

recall of old information

Retroactive Interference from LTM

Experimental group

Learn List A Learn List B Delay Test for Memory A

Control group

Learn List A ------------ Delay Test for Memory A

The experimental group will remembers less material from the tested list A compared to the control group

Information learned afterwards interferes with retrieval of List A.

Proactive Interference from LTM

Experimental group

Learn List A Learn List B Delay Test for Memory B

Control group

No study Learn List B Delay Test for Memory B

The experimental group remembers less material from the tested list B than the control group

Information previously learned (list A) interferes with retrieval of List B

Your Cheatin’ Heart

Damn that Proactive

interference!

Using a similar scenario, what would retroactive interference look like?

Melissa?! Who’s

Melissa?!

Flashbulb Memories

Some researchers propose that events that are particularly surprising or arousing will yield flashbulb memories

Where were you when the…Challenger explosion occurred?OJ verdict was read?JFK was assassinated?Bombing of the twin towers?

Flashbulb Memories Some research proposes good memory for

Place where you learned of informationWhat you were doing when you heard itWhere you heard the information fromEmotions in self and othersThe aftermath

Emotion and Memory

There is a strong relationship (.90) between the emotionality and vividness of memory This does not mean that the memory is accurate

Emotional events seem to be less resistant to forgetting over time… Perhaps they are perceived betterPerhaps we think about them more

Flashbulb Memory ResultsNeisser and Harsch (1992)

Tested immediate memory for Shuttle Explosion, and then tested it again 3 years later

There was little agreement with the two “memories” despite the confidence of the participants

Encoding Specificity Memory is improved when information

available at encoding is also available at retrieval

Encoding Specificity Tulving (1983)

People encode the context with the target material

Physical match (class, diving, smell) Emotional match (happy, depressed) Understanding match (childhood amnesia,

under the influence of drugs match)

State Dependent LearningDeep Sea Divers

Recall

% C

orre

ct R

ecal

l

20

24

28

32

36

40

Learn on LandLearn UnderWater

Land UnderWater

State Dependent LearningHypnotic Mood & Memory

Recall Mood

% R

eten

tion

40

50

60

70

80

90

Learn SadLearn Happy

Happy Sad

State Dependent LearningDrunk vs. Sober

Recall

% E

rror

s

1

2

3

4

5

Learn SoberLearn Drunk

Sober Drunk

State Dependent learning, why is it important?

Content addressable memory

Partial information helps in retrieval

Adaptive function of memory

Most relevant memories are most accessible

Nancy arrived at the cocktail party. She looked around the room to see who was there. She went to talk with her professor. She felt she had to talk to him but was a little nervous about just what to say. A group of people started to play charades. Nancy went over and had some refreshments. The hors d’oevres were good but she was interested in talking to the rest of the people at the party. After a while, she decided she’d had enough and left the party.

Some participants also heard that passage, but w/ this theme:

Nancy woke up feeling sick and she wondered if she really were pregnant. How could she tell the professor she had been seeing? And the money was another problem.

Participants were then asked to recall as much about the story as they could

Owens, Bower and Black (1979)

Owens, Bower and Black (1979) Results

Theme No ThemeStudied Propositions 29.2 20.3

Inferred Propositions 15.2 3.7

The “theme” offered some background information and some retrieval cues, which increased recall.

However, the background info also led to more intrusions (memory for information not present), such as “The professor got Nancy pregnant.”

The 7 Sins of Memory Daniel Schacter

Transience Absent Mindedness Blocking Misattribution Suggestibility Bias Persistence

Seven Sins of Memory

1) Transience - The tendency to lose

access to information across time, whether through forgetting, interference, or retrieval failure

Transience

Occurs with all memory modalities Memory fades from the specific to the

general or gist Typical memories are overlaid Aberrant memories stand out Thanksgiving meal

What accounts for Transience?

•Shallow initial encoding•Reduction in strength of neural connections•Retroactive interference•Inappropriate retrieval cues

How to mitigate transience

• Elaborate on incoming memories

• Multiple short exposures

• Keep a journal

• Seek unique experience

Seven Sins of Memory

2) Absent-mindedness - Everyday memory failure in remembering information and intended activities, probably caused by insufficient attention or superficial, automatic processing during encoding.

Absent Mindedness

Keys Weapon blindness Cell-phones and driving Pizza guy Mail letter Medicine

Why does it occur

Insufficient processingSecondary task

Insufficient environmental cue Prospective Memory

Event based- When x happens yTime based- Do x at y time

How to counteract

Attend at encoding Use environmental cues

TeapotCoffee makerStickies

Seven Sins of Memory

3) Blocking - Temporary retrieval failure or loss of access, such as the tip-of-the-tongue state, in either episodic or semantic memory.

Pop Quiz! Name that word Metal or metal-tipped spear used in a contest of distance throwing Yarn-died cotton fabric woven in stripes, checks, plaids, or solid

colors. Mild or hot, red condiment often used on deviled eggs Inscription on a tomb Incombustible, chemical-resistant, material used for fireproofing Navigational instrument used for measuring the angular elevation of

the sun or a star above the horizon Heavy, broad-bladed knife or hatchet used especially by butchers Crystalline sugar occurring naturally in fruits, honey, etc.

Blocking

Most common with names or abstract obscure words

Can often remember Gender (Spanish, Italian, French etc.)First and Last lettersSyllablesUgly stepsister

Forget it!

Seven Sins of Memory

4) Misattribution Remembering a fact correctly from past experience but attributing it to

an incorrect source of context.

She looks familiar, but how do I know her...?

Misattribution

John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 Elliot’s body shop, Junction

City, Kansas “Robert Kling” AKA Timothy

McVeigh 1 day later Army Sereant Michael Hertig

and Private Todd Bunting

Seven Sins of Memory

5) Suggestibility - The tendency to incorporate information provided by others into your own recollection and memory representation.

Eyewitness testimony

Loftus -- subjects watched a video of a car accident and then were asked “how fast was the car going when it”

Smashed 40.8 Collided 39.3 Bumped 38.1 Hit 34.0 Contacted 31.8

Eyewitness testimony

Leading questions may bias the estimates

The questions may literally change the way people remember the event

Exp 2: Subjects saw the video and were asked “Smashed” or “hit”Smashed est'd mph > Hit estd mph

Eyewitness testimony

1 Week subjects were later asked “did you see any broken glass”?

Most answered “no” correctly, but32% said yes if asked “Smashed”14% said yes if asked “hit”12% said yes in control group

The memory of the video and the question were fused together into one memory

Eyewitness testimony

As time increased the memory was integrated so that subjects couldn’t distinguish the event from effects of questioning

Typical eyewitness testimony: Occurs after long interval from event After repeated questioning After repeated retellings

Eyewitness testimony

How reliable is eyewitness testimony?

Difficult to know for sure, but people can’t distinguish between “real events” and “reconstructed memories”

Implications for “recovered memories” & legal system

Should eyewitness testimony by itself be considered sufficient to establish guilt?

Seven Sins of Memory

6) Bias - The tendency for knowledge, beliefs, and feelings to distort recollection of previous experiences and to affect current and future judgments and memory.

Schemata What we have experienced effects what will experience

Stored framework or body of knowledge

Aids interpretation

Biased information processing to relate new material to what we already know

Alters way we perceive things

Individual differences in perception and memory

Reproductive vs. Reconstructive

Reproductive memory -- verbatim reproduction of information

Reconstructive memory -- we remember by combining the original material with existing schemata

If you hear a speech and later tell someone what was said, can you report “verbatim” what was said?

Reconstructive Memory

Omissions - loss of information in recall due to schemata; often specific, important details are missing

Rationalize or Normalize - tendency to add material to make recall more reasonable fill in missing pieces often fill in with correct info, but may fill in faulty

infoSplit brain research

Seven Sins of Memory

7) Persistence - the tendency to remember facts or events, including traumatic memories, that one would rather forget, that is, failure to forget because of intrusive recollections and rumination.

Persistence

“Hot” Memories- charged with emotion

Positive and Negative intrusions Amygdala Norepinepherine-Yohimbine!

Vices or Virtues?

Transience Absent Mindedness Blocking Misattribution Suggestibility Bias Persistence

The 7 Sins of Memory Daniel Schacter

Transience Absent Mindedness Blocking Misattribution Suggestibility Bias Persistence