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Chapter 7
Memory

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Chapter Preview
 The Nature of Memory
 Memory Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval
 Forgetting
 Study Tips
 Memory and Health and Wellness

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Ted Talk
Ted Talk

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The Nature of Memory
 Definition: retention of information or
experience over time
 “Through memory, we weave the past into
the present and establish a foundation for
the future…”
Three Phases (Steps) of Memory (ESR)
 1. encoding
 2. storage
 3. retrieval

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Encoding: Sensory Input
 To begin the process of memory encoding
we need to pay attention to
information…

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Attention
What is the role of attention?
 selective attention (not notice other things)
 divided attention- multitasking (texting and
driving)
 sustained attention- vigilance (studying)
 Research indicates that even though we feel
confident that we can multitask- it actually
impedes our ability to pay attention
adequately.
 Pg 209 Glenn, 2010 – texting in class

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Encoding:
Levels of Processing
Encoding occurs on a continuum…
 shallow processing
 intermediate processing
 deep processinging - meaningful
 The more deeply we process, the
better the memory (Howes, 2006)

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Encoding: Elaboration
 Within deep processing, the more
extensive the processing, the
better the memory (Terry, 2009)
 Elaboration can enhance memory
 Creating numerous mental
connections
 vivid examples
 self-referencing effect (relate to
own experience)

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Encoding: Imagery
 One of the most powerful ways to
make memories distinctive is to use
mental imagery (Murray, 2007 etc)

image codes (highly detailed and distinctive)
are stored as both

superior to verbal codes (words or labels)
alone

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Encoding Study Tips
 How can you use this information to
enhance your memory for the material
in this class?

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Memory Storage
Atkinson-Shiffrin Theory (1968)
pg212
3 Separate Memory Storage Systems
(SM, STM, LTM)

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Storage: Sensory Memory
 very brief duration (miliseconds)
echoic (auditory) memory
iconic (visual) memory

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Storage: Short-Term Memory
 attention: moves sensory memory 
STM
 limited duration (about 30 seconds)
 limited capacity (7 ± 2) (phone
numbers)

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Storage: Short-Term Memory
How can we improve/remember more
for STM?
 chunking
 grouping items into a unit
 rehearsal
 conscious repetition of information
 prolongs STM duration indefinitely

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Working Memory –
An Alternative to STM
Is Atkinson-Shiffrin’s theory too simplistic?
Baddeley’s Model of Working Memory Pg
215
Active Memory System – allows us to hold
information temporarily as we perform
cognitive tasks

phonological loop - speech (Assistant)

visuospatial working memory – visual and
spatial (Assistant)

central executive - integrates (Boss)

CE can pull from long term memory as well

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Storage: Long-Term Memory
pg216
 relatively permanent with “unlimited” capacity
 explicit long-term memory (declarative) facts and events
 implicit long-term memory (nondeclarative) experiential learning
 Page 218 examples

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Storage: Explicit LTM
Subtypes of Explicit Memory
episodic
autobiographical memories
semantic
knowledge about the world

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Storage: Implicit LTM
 nondeclarative memory
 affected by a past experience
without consciously recalling it
 procedural memory - skills
 classical conditioning – automatic
associations
 Priming – pulling prior knowledge
to make it easier to remember

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Memory: Location
 Connectionist Networks (Parallel
Distributed Processing PDP)
 is diffuse
 circuits of neurons
 neurotransmitter involvement
 long-term potentiation

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Memory: Brain Structure
pg 223
Explicit Memory
 hippocampus, frontal lobes, amygdala
Implicit Memory
 cerebellum, temporal lobes, hippocampus

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Memory: Brain Structures

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Retrieval:
Serial Position Effect
…tendency to recall items at
beginning and end of a list more
readily than those in middle
Primacy Effect
Recency Effect

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Serial Position Effect
Graph pg 224
When it is time for the final exam, which
information from your class do you think it would
be best to brush up on, and why?

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Retrieval: Special Cases
 autobiographical memories
 Episodic memory
 Episodic bump (adults remember what? Pg
227)
 emotional memories
 flashbulb memories – emotionally sig event
 traumatic events
 repressed memories

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False Memory Recovery?
 childhood sexual abuse, other events
 recovered or discovered memories?
 difficult to separate accurate and inaccurate
memories
 How should courts of law deal with
“discovered” memories?

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Eyewitness Testimony
Distortion – memory fades
Bias – ethnic distinctions
Inaccuracy - faulty
More scientific approaches to trial
evidence ?

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Future Memory
 prospective memory
 remembering to do something in the future
content – remembering what to do
timing – remembering when to do it
Study Skil – Improving Prospective Memory:
Planner!
Other Ideas??

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Forgetting: Memory Failure
 Ebbinghaus – psychologist, self-
studies
 encoding failure – never entered
LTM (who is on the dollar bill, 5
dollar?)
 Interference theory
 proactive interference - previous
 retroactive interference – later
 Pg 233

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Forgetting: Memory Failure
 encoding failure – never entered
LTM
 What is to the right of Washington’s
Head on a dollar bill?
 Is “The United States of America”
above or below Washington’s head?

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Forgetting: Memory Failure
 decay theory
 passage of time  forgetting
 tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
 can retrieve some information but not all

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Amnesia…
 amnesia
 anterograde amnesia (ante=before)
inability to store new information and events
OR
 retrograde amnesia (retro=past)
inability to retrieve past information and events
50 First Dates

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Study Tips – Encoding pg
235

give undivided attention

process deeply

make associations

use imagery

encode early and often

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Study Tips - Retrieval

redo notes

talk to others

test yourself

ask yourself questions

rest and eat well

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Memory and
Health and Wellness
Roles of Autobiographical Memories
 learn from our experience
 Form the core of our personal identity
 bond with others
Memory and Aging
 indicator of brain functioning
 activity inoculates against mental decline
 both physical and mental activity are important
in maintaining a sharp mind

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Chapter Summary
 Identify three phases of memory.
 Explain how memories are encoded.
 Discuss the three stages of memory storage.
 Summarize how memories are retrieved.
 Describe how the failure of encoding and retrieval are
involved in forgetting.
 Evaluate study strategies based on an understanding of
memory.
 Discuss the multiple functions of memory in human life.

36. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Chapter Summary
Encoding
 attention, levels of processing, elaboration,
and imagery
Storage
 sensory, short-term, and long-term memory
Retrieval
 serial position, retrieval cues, types of
memory

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Chapter Summary
Forgetting
 encoding failure, retrieval failure, interference,
decay, amnesia
Study Tips
 encoding, storage, retrieval
Memory and Health and Wellness
 autobiographical memory, memory and aging