Unit 6 - Memory

Unit 6 – Memory
Psyc 101 – Eva Zysk

Memory
- The ability to store and retrieve information over time
- Mental capacity or faculty of retaining and reviving facts, events, impressions, etc., or of recalling or recognizing
previous experiences.

Attention
- Focusing awareness on a narrowed range of
stimuli/events.
- Effects on perception
- Effects on memory
- Effects on performance

Basic Process of Memory
1. Encoding – transforming what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory.
2. Storage – maintaining the information in memory over time
3. Retrieval – recovering information from memory stores

PART ONE: Encoding
- Transforming what we perceive, think, or feel into a lasting memory
- Different types of encoding processes:
1. Semantic Encoding
 The process of relating new information in a meaningful way to knowledge and memories we already
have
 If things have a clear meaning, we can recall them better
Level of Processing Type of Encoding Example of question
Shallow <20% recall Structural: Is the word written in a fancy
- Emphasize the physical font? (case judgment)
structure of the
stimulus
Intermediate 50% recall Phonemic: Does the word sound like
- Emphasize what the “toy”? (rhyme judgment)
word sounds like
Deep >80% recall Semantic: Would the word fit in the
- Emphasize the sentence: “She ran after the
meaning of the word _______?”

2. Visual Imagery Encoding
 Creation of visual images to aid in memory formation e.g. method of loci
 Study: pairs of concrete and abstract words tested
 E.g. High  juggler, house, dress. Low  Truth, necessary, quality.
3. Organizational Encoding
 Grouping information with common features
 E.g. School  ruler, pencil, exam, laptop calculator.

, 4. Survival-related Encoding
 People show higher levels of recall for things related to survival
 Evolutionary adaptive
5. Self-referent Encoding
 Deciding how or whether information is personally relevant
 Can make the info relevant to recall it better.

PART TWO: Storage
- Three major kinds of memory storage
1. Sensory
 Sensory memory – preserves information in its original
sensory form for up to a view second
 Iconic memory – visual up to 1 second
 Echoic memory – auditory up to 5 seconds.
2. Short-term
 A limited capacity store that can maintain unrehearsed
information for under 1 minutes (usually approx. 20 sec)
 Can remember 7(+/- 2) lists.
 Serial position effect: primacy effect and recency effect
o First few and last few items are more likely to be
recalled in a sequence than middle items.
 Chunking – a group of familiar stimuli stored as a single
unit.
 Working memory – a limited capacity storage system that temporarily maintains and stores
information by providing an interface between perception, memory, and action
o Active maintenance of info in short term storage
o Manipulates info.
o Phonological loop: allows for recitation of info
(e.g. phone number)
o Visuo-spatial sketch pad: temporarily hold and
manipulate visual images
o Episodic buffer: interface between working and
long-term memory, temporary limited capacity
store for integration of information from other
modules.
o Central executive: coordinates the actions of the
other modules, controls, focuses, divides
attention.
 Rehearsal – the process of repetitively verbalizing or
thinking about the information
1. Maintenance rehearsal – keeps on STM
2. Elaborative rehearsal – transfer to LTM
3. Long-term
 A relatively enduring store of information
 Can last for hours to years + no known capacity limits.
1. Much larger capacity than STM