Topic: Group members:

Salinas, Gideon
Chapter 6
Cruz, Mariah Joanna Lorraine
Memory Processes De Guzman, CherryMae

Program: BS Psychology 2nd Year

Date: 11/14/2023

● Encoding refers to how you transform a

physical, sensory input into a representation
that can be placed into memory.
Three Common ● Storage refers to how you store (keep) encoded

Operations information in memory.

● Retrieval refers to how you gain access to
information stored in memory.
For short-term memory, an acoustic code is more
Short-Term Storage important than a visual code

- Refers to systems which provide retention of

limited amounts of material for a limited time

Acoustic Code – Remembering something by

Encoding and Transfer of storing the sound of its verbal expression rather than
its meaning or the physical movements required to
Information articulate it.

- Acoustic Code
Visual Code – the neural processes by which
- Visual Code stimuli seen in the external world are converted into
internal (mental) representations that can subsequently
- Semantic Code be processed and stored in memory.

Semantic Code – one based on word meaning

● Most information stored in long-term memory

Long-Term Storage primarily is encoded semantically.

● In other words, it is encoded by the meanings

of words
 Categorical clustering
Organize a list of items into a set of categories

Example:
fruits—apples, grapes, grapefruit;
dairy products—milk, yogurt, Swiss cheese;
breads—bagels, rolls;

Mnemonic Devices vegetables—lettuce

Interactive Images
Create interactive images that link the isolated words
in a list

Example:
To remember to buy socks, apples, and a pair of
scissors, you might imagine using scissors to cut a
sock that has an apple stuffed in it.

Pegword system
Associate each new word with a word on a previously
memorized list and form an interactive image
between the two words

Example:
To remember that you need to buy socks, apples, and a
pair of scissors, you might imagine an apple between
two buns, a sock stuffed inside a shoe, and a pair of
scissors cutting a tree.

Method of loci
Visualize walking around an area with distinctive
landmarks that you know well, and then link the
various landmarks to specific items to be
remembered

Example:
You might imagine a big sock on top of the house in
place of the chimney, the pair of scissors cutting the
tree, and apples replacing bases on the baseball
diamond. When ready to remember the list, you would
take your mental walk and pick up the words you had
linked to each of the landmarks along the walk.
 Acronym
Mnemonic Devices Devise a word or expression in which each of its
letters stands for a certain other word or concept

Example:
The acronym “I AM PACK” might prompt you to
remember

● Interactive images
● Acronyms
● Method of loci
● Pegwords
● Acrostics
● Categories
● Keywords

Acrostic
Form a sentence rather than a single word to help you
remember the new words

Example:
Music students memorize the names of the notes found
on lines of the treble clef (the higher notes;
specifically, E, G, B, D, and F above middle C) by
learning that “Every Good Boy Does Fine.”

Mnemonic Devices Keyword system

Form an interactive image that links the sound and
meaning of a foreign word with the sound and
meaning of a familiar word.
 Example:
To learn that the French word for butter is beurre, first,
you would note that beurre sounds something like
“bear.”

Next, you would associate the keyword “bear” with

butter in an image or sentence.

For instance, you might visualize a bear eating a stick

of butter. Later, bear would provide a retrieval cue for
beurre.

Interference –
When competing information interferes with our
storing information

Transfer of Information Decay –

from Short-Term Memory When we forget facts just because time passes

to Long-Term Memory
Metamemory –
reflecting on our own memory processes to improve
our memory

Metacognition –
ability to think about and control our own processes of
thought and ways of enhancing our thinking

Rehearsal –
repeated recitation of an item.

Practice Effects –
effects of rehearsal
Rehearsal
Overt –
Rehearsal that is aloud and obvious to anyone
watching

Covert –
Rehearsal that is hidden and silent

Elaborative Rehearsal –
 the individual somehow elaborates on the items to be
remembered.

Such rehearsal makes the items either more

Elaborative and meaningfully integrated into what the person already
knows or more meaningfully connected to one another
Maintenance Rehearsal and therefore more memorable.

Maintenance Rehearsal –
the individual simply repeats the items to be
remembered.

Such rehearsal temporarily maintains information in

short-term memory without transferring the
information to long-term
memory.

Distributed Practice –
learning in which various sessions are spaced
over time.

Massed Practice –
The Spacing Effect learning in which sessions are crammed together
in a very short space of time

Spacing Effect –
To maximize the effect on long-term recall, the
spacing
should ideally be distributed over months, rather than
days or weeks

● The process of consolidation makes memories

less likely to undergo either interference or
decay.
● After a memory is called back into
Neuroscience and Memory consciousness, however, it may return to a
more unstable state. In this state, the memory
Consolidation that was consolidated may again fall victim to
interference or decay.
● To prevent this loss, a process of
reconsolidation takes place
Mnemonic devices –
specific techniques to help you organize and memorize
information.
 Reminders –
external memory aids—to enhance the likelihood that
we will remember important information
Organization of
Information Forcing Functions –
Mnemonic Devices ese are physical constraints that prevent us from

- Reminders acting without at least considering the key information

to be remembered
- Forcing Functions
- Retrospective Memory Retrospective Memory –
- Prospective Memory our memory for the past.

Prospective Memory –
memory for things we need to do or remember in the
future

Long-Term Potentiation –
repeated stimulation of particular neural pathways
tends to strengthen the likelihood of firing

Alzheimer’s Disease –
The most common type of dementia. It is a progressive
disease beginning with mild memory loss

Neuroscience: How Are

Memories Stored? Alzheimer’s patients show severe loss of the brain
tissue that secretes Acetylcholine

Korsakoff Syndrome –

● Serotonin also plays a role in another form of

memory dysfunction

● Severe or prolonged abuse of alcohol can lead

to this devastating form of anterograde
amnesia
● Alcohol consumption has been shown to
disrupt the activity of serotonin. It thereby
impairs the formation of memories
These hormones often are associated with highly
arousing events. Examples of such events are;
 ● Traumas

● Achievements
Physiological Factors
● First-time experiences (first passionate kiss)

● Crises

● Peak moments (reaching a major decision)

Hormones may play a role in remembering these

events.

Saul Sternberg –
presented participants with a short list including from
one to six digits

● They were expected to hold the list in short-

term memory. After a brief pause, a test digit
was flashed on a screen.
● Participants had to say whether this digit
appeared in the set that they had been asked to
memorize
● Thus, if the list included the digits 4, 1, 9, 3,
and the digit 9 flashed on the screen, the correct
response would be “yes.”
● If, instead, the test digit was 7, the correct
response would be “no.”
● The digits that were presented are termed the
positive set.
● Those that were not presented are termed the
Retrieval from Short-Term negative set
Memory
Parallel processing –
refers to the simultaneous handling of multiple
operations

As applied to short-term memory, the items stored in

short-term memory would be retrieved all at once, not
one at a time.

Serial processing –
refers to operations being done one after another

In other words, on the digit-recall task, the digits

would be retrieved in succession, rather than all at
once
 Exhaustive serial processing –
implies that the participant always checks the test digit
against all digits in the positive set

Self-terminating serial processing –

implies that the participant would check the test digit
against only those digits needed to make a response

Availability –
the presence of information stored in long-term
Retrieval from Long-Term memory

Memory
Accessibility –
the degree to which we can gain access to the available
information

Processes of Forgetting
and Memory Distortion
refers to forgetting that occurs because recall of certain
Interference Theory words interferes with recall of other words

In one study, participants were asked to recall

trigrams (strings of three letters) at intervals of 3, 6, 9,
12, 15, or 18 seconds after the presentation of the last
letter

Has two types: proactive and retroactive

Both proactive and retroactive interference can be

reduced by sleep, which is another indicator of the
importance of sleep in memory consolidation.

This is the time between the presentation of the last

Retention Interval letter and the start of the recall phase of the
experimental trial
occurs when newly acquired knowledge impedes the
recall of older material

Retroactive Interference
This kind of interference is caused by activity
occurring after we learn something but before we are
asked to recall that thing
 occurs when material that was learned in the past
impedes the learning of new material

Proactive Interference
In this case, the interfering material occurs before,
rather than after, learning of the to-be-remembered
material
mental frameworks that represent knowledge in a
Schemas meaningful way
represents the probability of recall of a given word,
Serial-position Curve given its serial position (order of presentation) in a list
refers to superior recall of words at and near the end of
Recency Effect a list
refers to superior recall of words at and near the
Primary Effect beginning of a list
asserts that information is forgotten because of the
Decay Theory gradual disappearance, rather than displacement, of the
memory trace

Autobiographical memory –
refers to memory of an individual’s history
The Constructive Nature of
Memory Flashbulb Memory –
a memory of an event so powerful that the person
remembers the event as vividly as if it were indelibly
preserved on film
People tend to distort their memories. For example,
just saying something has happened to you makes you
more likely to think it really happened. This is true
whether the event happened or not.

Memory Distortions These distortions tend to occur in seven specific ways,

which Schacter (2001) refers to as the “seven sins of
memory.”

Here are his seven sins:

Transience – Memory fades quickly

Absent-mindedness –
People sometimes brush their teeth after already
having
brushed them or enter a room looking for something
only to discover that they have forgotten what they
were seeking.
 Blocking –
People sometimes have something that they know they
should remember, but they can’t. It’s as though the
information is on the tip of their tongue, but they
cannot retrieve it

7 Sins of Memory Misattribution –

People often cannot remember where they heard what
they heard or read what they read. Sometimes people
think they saw things they did not see or heard things
they did not hear

Suggestibility –
People are susceptible to suggestion, so if it is
suggested to them that they saw something, they may
think they remember seeing it

Bias – People often are biased in their recall

Persistence –
People sometimes remember things as consequential
that, in a broad context, are inconsequential

Repressed memories –
Repressed Memories
memories that are alleged to have been pushed down
into unconsciousness because of the distress they cause

Encoding Specificity –
items are encoded has a strong effect both on how, and
The Effect of Context on on how well, items are retrieved.

Memory
This relationship is called encoding specificity—what
is recalled depends on what is encoded

Memory processes are complex and involve

Summary: interactions between different brain regions.
Additionally, memories are not always accurate and
can be influenced by various factors, including
emotions, context, and the passage of time. The study
of memory is a fascinating area in psychology and
neuroscience, and ongoing research continues to
enhance our understanding of these processes.