Slide 1

"How does information get into..."

	How does information get into memory?
	Through your stomach?
	Ghrelin (associated with growth hormone release and with appetite) can enter the hippocampus
	Ghrelin is released when the stomach is empty
	It binds with hippocampal neurons to foster alterations in connections during learning

"What are some potential real-world..."

	What are some potential real-world implications of these findings?
	Plausible speculation: Children may not benefit from overeating at breakfast
	Ghrelin-like drugs may protect against dementia, like Alzheimer’s disease

Human Memory: Basic Questions

	How is information maintained in memory?
	How is information pulled back out of memory?
	How is forgetting related to learning?

Figure 7.2 Three key processes in memory. Memory depends on three sequential processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval. Some theorists have drawn an analogy between these processes and elements of information processing by computers as depicted here. The analogies for encoding and retrieval work pretty well, but the storage analogy is somewhat misleading. When information is stored on a hard drive, it remains unchanged indefinitely and you can retrieve an exact copy. As you will learn in this chapter, memory storage is a much more dynamic process. Our memories change over time and are rough reconstructions rather than exact copies of past events.

Encoding: Getting Information Into Memory

	The role of attention
	Focusing awareness
	Selective attention
	Divided attention

Levels of Processing

	Craik and Lockhart: incoming information is processed at different levels
	Levels of processing:
		Structural = shallow
		Phonemic = intermediate
		Semantic = deep
	Deeper processing = longer lasting memory codes

Figure 7.3 Levels-of-processing theory. According to Craik and Lockhart (1972), structural, phonemic, and semantic encoding—which can be elicited by questions such as those shown on the right—involve progressively deeper levels of processing, which should result in more durable memories.

Enriching Encoding

	Elaboration = linking a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding
		Thinking of examples
	Visual Imagery = creation of visual images to represent words to be remembered
		Easier for concrete objects: Dual-coding theory

Storage: Maintaining Information in Memory

	Analogy: information storage in computers ~ information storage in human memory
	Information-processing theories
		Subdivide memory into 3 different stores
			Sensory, Short-term, Long-term

Figure 7.6 The Atkinson and Shiffrin model of memory storage. Atkinson and Shiffrin (1971) proposed that memory is made up of three information stores. Sensory memory can hold a large amount of information just long enough (a fraction of a second) for a small portion of it to be selected for longer storage. Short-term memory has a limited capacity, and unless aided by rehearsal, its storage duration is brief. Long-term memory can store an apparently unlimited amount of information for indeterminate periods.

Sensory Memory

	Brief preservation of information in original sensory form
	Afterimage
	Auditory/Visual – approximately ¼ second

Short Term Memory (STM)

	Limited duration – about 20 seconds without rehearsal
		Rehearsal – the process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking about the information
	Limited capacity – magical number 7 plus or minus 2
		Chunking – grouping familiar stimuli for storage as a single unit

Short-Term Memory as “Working Memory”

	STM not limited to phonemic encoding
	Loss of information not only due to decay and displacement
	Baddeley (2001) – 4 components of working memory
		Phonological rehearsal loop
		Visuospatial sketchpad
		Executive control system
		Episodic buffer

Figure 7.7 Short-term memory as working memory. This diagram depicts the revised model of the short-term store proposed by Alan Baddeley. According to Baddeley (2001), working memory includes four components: a phonological rehearsal loop, a visuospatial sketchpad, an executive control system, and an episodic buffer.

Long-Term Memory

	Unlimited capacity store that can hold information over lengthy periods of time
		Permanent storage?
			Flashbulb memories

Is exposure enough for remembering?

	Draw the front of the following U.S. coins:
		Penny
		Nickel
		Dime
		Quarter

Slide 18

"You are going to go..."

	You are going to go through a test of your memory.
	Read each word that you will see.
	When I give you the instruction, recall as many of the words as you can.

How Is Knowledge Represented and Organized in Memory?

	Schemas
	Semantic Networks
	Connectionist Networks and PDP Models

Figure 7.8 A semantic network. Much of the organization of long-term memory depends on networks of associations among concepts. In this highly simplified depiction of a fragment of a semantic network, the shorter the line linking any two concepts, the stronger the association between them. The coloration of the concept boxes represents activation of the concepts. This is how the network might look just after a person hears the words fire engine.
Source: Adapted from Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading activation theory of semantic processing. Psychological Review, 82, 407–428. Copyright © 1975 by the American Psychological Association. Adapted by permission of the authors.

Retrieval: Getting Information Out of Memory

	The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon – a failure in retrieval
		Retrieval cues
	Recalling an event
		Context cues
	Reconstructing memories
		Misinformation effect
			Source monitoring

Figure 7.9 The misinformation effect. In an experiment by Loftus and Palmer (1974), participants who were asked leading questions in which cars were described as hitting or smashing each other were prone to recall the same accident differently one week later, demonstrating the reconstructive nature of memory.

A Brief Assignment

	You have an assignment between now and the next time we meet
	The assignment requires no extra reading or writing
	Your Assignment:
	Forget this: 911
	You will be tested on your forgetting when we meet after break.

"Write down the names of..."

	Write down the names of all the U.S. presidents you can recall.

The U.S. Presidents

	Washington
	Adams
	Jefferson
	Madison
	Monroe
	Adams
	Jackson
	Van Buren
	Harrison
	Tyler
	Polk
	Taylor
	Fillmore
	Pierce
	Buchanan
	Lincoln
	Johnson
	Grant
	Hayes
	Garfield
	Arthur
	Cleveland

"Serial Position Effect"

	Serial Position Effect
	Primacy and Recency Effects
	Von Restorff Effect
	Proactive Interference
	Retroactive Interference

Forgetting: When Memory Lapses

	Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve
		Nonsense syllables
	Retention – the proportion of material retained
	Measures of Forgetting
		Recall
		Recognition

Figure 7.10 Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve for nonsense syllables. From his experiments on himself, Ebbinghaus concluded that forgetting is extremely rapid immediately after the original learning and then levels off. Although this generalization remains true, subsequent research has shown that forgetting curves for nonsense syllables are unusually steep. (Data from Ebbinghaus, 1885)

Why We Forget

	Ineffective Encoding
	Decay theory
	Interference theory
		Proactive
		Retroactive
	Encoding specificity principle

Figure 7.11 Effects of interference. According to interference theory, more interference from competing information should produce more forgetting. McGeoch and McDonald (1931) controlled the amount of interference with a learning task by varying the similarity of an intervening task. The results were consistent with interference theory. The amount of interference is greatest at the left of the graph, as is the amount of forgetting. As interference decreases (moving to the right on the graph), retention improves. (Data from McGeoch & McDonald, 1931)

Figure 7.12 Retroactive and proactive interference. Retroactive interference occurs when learning produces a “backward” effect, reducing recall of previously learned material. Proactive interference occurs when learning produces a “forward” effect, reducing recall of subsequently learned material. For example, if you were to prepare for an economics test and then study psychology, the interference from the psychology study would be retroactive interference. However, if you studied psychology first and then economics, the interference from the psychology study would be proactive interference

The Repressed Memories Controversy

	Repression
	Authenticity of repressed memories?
		Memory illusions
		Controversy

Figure 7.15 Retrograde versus anterograde amnesia. In retrograde amnesia, memory for events that occurred prior to the onset of amnesia is lost. In anterograde amnesia, memory for events that occur subsequent to the onset of amnesia suffers.

In Search of the Memory Trace: The Physiology of Memory

	Anatomy of Memory
		Anterograde and Retrograde Amnesia
		The hippocampus and consolidation
	Neural Circuitry and Biochemistry
		Localized neural circuits
			Reusable pathways in the brain
	Biochemistry
		Alteration in synaptic transmission
			Hormones modulating neurotransmitter systems
			Protein synthesis

Figure 7.16 The anatomy of memory. All the brain structures identified here have been implicated in efforts to discover the anatomical structures involved in memory. Although its exact contribution to memory remains the subject of debate, the hippocampus is thought to play an especially central role in memory.
Photo: Wadsworth collection.

Are There Multiple Memory Systems?

	Implicit vs. Explicit
	Declarative vs. Procedural
	Semantic vs. Episodic