False beliefs about memory

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
The Nature of Memory

 Memory: internal record or

representation of some prior
event or experience
 Memory is also a constructive process, in
which we actively organize and shape
information as it is processed, stored, and
retrieved.
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e) Enhancing Memory
The Nature of Memory

 retention of information or
experience over time

Three Phases of Memory

 encoding
 storage
 retrieval
The Nature of Memory—
Four Memory Models

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
The Nature of Memory—
Four Memory Models (Continued)

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
The Nature of Memory—
Description of Four Memory Models
1. Information
Processing Approach:
memory is a process
analogous to a
computer, which
encodes, stores, and
retrieves information

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
The Nature of Memory—
Description of Four Memory Models
(Cont.) 2. Parallel Distributed
Processing Model:
memory is distributed
across a network of
interconnected units
that work
simultaneously (in a
parallel fashion) to
process information
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
The Nature of Memory—
Description of Four Memory Models
(Continued)
3. Levels of Processing Approach: memory
depends on the degree or depth of mental
processing occurring when material is
initially encountered
4. Traditional Three-Stage Memory Model:
memory requires three different storage
boxes to hold and process information for
various lengths of time
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
 Serial Position Effect: Evidence
for two memory stores
Serial Position Effect: remembering material at the beginning and
end of the list better than material in the middle

Primacy Effect
 more space in working memory for

elaborative rehearsal during encoding:

LTM

Recency Effect
 items still in working memory
Diagram of Three-Stage Memory Model

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Enhancing Memory
 Summary of three stages

 SR: Duration? Representation? Capacity?

Loss?
 STS: Duration? Representation? Capacity?
Loss?
 LTM: Duration? Representation? Capacity?
Loss?

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
The Nature of Memory—
Description of Three Stage
Memory Model
 Sensory Memory: briefly preserves a
relatively exact replica of sensory
information
 Sensory memory has a large capacity

but information only lasts a few seconds.

 Selected information is sent on to short-

term memory.
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Sperling’s Experiment with
Sensory Memory
 When flashed an
arrangement of 12
letters for 1/20 of a
second, most people
can only recall 4 or 5.
Sperling proved all 12
letters were available
in sensory memory if
they can be attended
to quickly.
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
The Nature of Memory—
Three Stage Memory Model (Cont.)
 Short-Term Memory (STM): temporarily
stores sensory information and decides
whether to send it on to long-term memory
(LTM)
 STM can hold 5-9 items for about 30
seconds before they are forgotten.
 STM capacity can be increased with
chunking. STM duration improves with
maintenance rehearsal.
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
 Types of Rehearsal

 Maintenance vs. Elaborative

 Repetition vs. Meaningful associations

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Working Memory Model
The Nature of Memory—
Three Stage Memory Model
(Continued)
 Long-Term
Memory (LTM):
relatively
permanent
memory storage
with a virtually
limitless capacity
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Types of Long-Term Memories

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Memory: Brain Structures
Improving Long-Term Memory
(LTM)
 LTM can be improved with:
 Organization

 Elaborative Rehearsal

 Retrieval Cues

 Recognition

 Recall

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
 Semantic nature of LTM

 Who was president in 1940?

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
An Example of Using Hierarchies as an
Organizational Tool

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
An Example of Recognition Vs.
Recall

 Research shows people are better at recognizing

photos of previous high school classmates than
recalling their names.
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Forgetting: How Quickly Do We Forget?

 Ebbinghaus found:

 forgetting occurs
most rapidly
immediately after
learning.
 relearning takes
less time than
initial learning.

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Why Do We Forget? Five Key
Theories
 Decay
 Interference
 Motivated
Forgetting
 Encoding Failure
 Retrieval Failure

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Five Theories of Forgetting
(Continued)
1. Decay Theory:
memory degrades with time
2. Interference Theory: one
memory competes (interferes) with another
 Retroactive Interference (new information
interferes with old)
 Proactive Interference (old information

interferes with new)

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
 Forgetting: Interference vs. Decay

 Key Study: Jenkins & Dallenbach (1924),

subjects learn list of words either before
sleeping or after waking.

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Two Forms of Interference

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Five Theories of Forgetting
(Continued)
3. Motivated Forgetting: motivation to forget
unpleasant, painful, threatening, or
embarrassing memories
4. Encoding Failure: information in STM is
not encoded in LTM
5. Retrieval Failure: memories stored in
LTM are momentarily inaccessible
(tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon)

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Forgetting: Memory Failure
 prospective memory
 remembering to do something in the future
content – remembering what to do
timing – remembering when to do it
 absentmindedness
 amnesia
 anterograde amnesia
inability to store new information and events
 retrograde amnesia
inability to retrieve past information and events
A Test for Encoding: Can You Identify
the Actual Penny?

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Overcoming Problems with Forgetting
(Continued)
 Source Amnesia: forgetting the true source
of a memory
 Sleeper Effect: information from an
unreliable source, which was initially
discounted, later gains credibility because
source is forgotten
 Spacing of Practice: distributed practice is
better than massed practice
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Biological Bases of Memory
 Biological changes in neurons facilitate
memory through long-term potentiation
(LTP), which happens in at least two
ways:
1. repeated stimulation of a synapse
strengthens the synapse, and
2. neuron’s ability to release its
neurotransmitters is increased or
decreased.

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Biological Bases of Memory
(Continued)
 Hormones
also affect memory
(e.g., flashbulb
memories--vivid and
lasting images are
associated with
surprising or strongly
emotional events).
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Where Are Memories Located?
 Memory tends
to be localized
and distributed
throughout the
brain--not just
the cortex.

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
 Biology and Memory Loss:
Injury and Disease
 Amnesia: memory
loss from brain injury
or trauma
• Retrograde amnesia:
old memories lost
• Anterograde
amnesia: new
memories lost
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Biology and Memory Loss:
Injury and Disease (Continued)

 Alzheimer’s Disease (AD): progressive

mental deterioration characterized by
severe memory loss
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Memory and the Criminal Justice
System
 Two memory problems
with profound legal
implications:
• Eyewitness Testimony--
very persuasive but can be flawed
• Repressed Memories—
considerable debate as to whether recovered
memories are accurate or repressed
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Using Psychology to Improve
Our Memory
 Why do we distort our memories?

 Need to maintain logic and consistency.

 Need to shape and construct our

memories because it is more efficient to
do so.
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
 Pause and Reflect:
Why Study
Psychology?
 Psychological research conducts basic research,
which helps us describe and understand our own
and others’ memory processes. This basic research
also leads to applied research that shows us how to
improve our sensory, short-term, and long-term
memory.

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Enhancing Memory
Using Psychology to Improve
Our Memory (Continued)
 Eight Tips for Memory Improvement:
1. Pay attention and reduce interference
2. Use rehearsal techniques
3. Organization
4. Counteract serial position effect
5. Time management

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
Using Psychology to Improve
Our Memory (Continued)

6. Use encoding specificity principle

7. Employ self-monitoring and overlearning
8. Use mnemonic devices (e.g., method of
loci, peg-word, substitute word, word
associations)

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
 Pause and Reflect:
Critical Thinking

 Which of the “Eight Tips for Memory

Improvement” do you need to use to improve
your academic performance? Which of the eight
tips would your best friend suggest that you need
to improve for your everyday interactions?

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007

Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)
 Psychology in Action
(8e)
by
Karen Huffman
PowerPoint  Lecture Notes Presentation

End of
Chapter 7: Memory
Karen Huffman, Palomar College
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007
Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)