MEMORY
- In general, our memory acts as a computer, where the input information is processed
into an output.
Input à Process à Output
1. Sensory Memory: it is the register, what we take in and it is divided into two types.
a. Iconic: visual memory, lasts less than 0.5 seconds (occipital lobe)
b. Echoic: auditory memory, lasts from 3 to 4 seconds (temporal lobe)
2. Working memory – short term memory: it is what we process and usually we process 7+-
2 pieces of information at one time, and it is divided into two types. (by hippocampus)
a. Visuo-spatial sketchpad: the processing of visual and spatial information.
b. Phonological loop: the processing of verbal information such as words or numbers.
3. Long term memory: it is what is stores, and it is divided into 2 categories.
a. Explicit: information that we can recall in detail.
o Semantic memory: remembering facts and words that are not tied up to life
experiences.
o Episodic memory: remembering events or life experiences.
b. Implicit: information that don’t require us remembering the details rather we
remember them unconsciously. (skills, habits)
o Procedural: such as remembering how to ride a bike, it is formed unconsciously.
All habits as well arise from implicit memory.
o Priming: previous experiences influence a current event. It can be either positive:
when the exposure of a previous stimulus improves the processing of a second
stimulus, or negative priming: when the first stimulus interferes with the second
resulting is slower response and more errors.
- Encoding Strategies: how to transfer information from being temporarily into
permeant. It is more effective when we do some cognitive efforts. List from least effective
to most effective:
1- Rote Rehearsal: it is when we repeat the same information multiple time to remember
it. But this is the least effective one because we are not actually processing the
information or using any cognitive effort.
2- Chunking: it is when we group objects or lists so it becomes easier for us to recall
them. Example, if we want to go to the supermarket, to recall the list, we can group
all the fruits together, all proteins together, and so on. It will make it easier for us to
recall the list because we grouped them into familiar categories.
3- Mnemonic Devices: we link what we are trying to learn into something we already
know.
o Imagery: link information through images.
o Pegward System: link information to rhyming words.
o Method Of Loci: link information to a location.
o Acronym: when we use abbreviations such as: example of seven up (pathway of
male reproductive)
, 4- Self-Referencing: it is when we link what we want to encode to something personal
related to us. It requires a lot of cognitive effort, but it is very efficient.
5- Spacing: it is when we space the information that we are encoding. Example, if we
studied for 5 hours straight it will be much harder for us to encode compared to if we
studied 1 hour per day for 5 days and spaced between the information.
- Retrieval: it is when we try to remember thing/what we encoded. There as several
retrieval cues that influence what we remember such as:
o Priming: for example, if we are reading a story and all along, we have the word
“rabbit” and suddenly someone says the word hare, we would most probably
think of the word as hare meaning rabbit not hair. Why? Because
subconsciously previous exposure or information has influenced what to
remember.
o Context: the place that we had encoded the information in influences our ability
to remember this information. For example, if we study at a specific place, it is
more likely for us to remember what we studied when we are at the place again.
o State-Dependent: we can like the state or the mood we are into what we want to
retrieve. For example, when we are in a bad mood, we will start retrieving bad
memories associated with our bad mood. Similarly, if we watch an add and our
mood was happy, when we see the product in real life we are most likely to buy it
because we remember the good mood.
- How do we retrieve information? For example, if we were given a list of words and then
asked to recall the words.
1. Free Recall: it is when we recall the words randomly. Usually, we are more likely to
remember the first few words and few last words.
When we remember the first words: primacy effect.
When we remember the last words: recency effect.
à this whole free recall is called serial position effect.
2. Cued recall: this is when we are given specific cues to help us remember the words.
For example, if they gave us the word incomplete and we had to complete it.
3. Recognition: this is when they make us chose between 2 words. For example, if one
word on the list was fork, then they will ask us which word was in the list fork or
knife? They gave us the word, we just needed to recognize it.
- Memory is reconstructive because we can reconstruct it the way we want depending on
our mood or desires. Similarly, sometime a memory can be modified or affected by other
factors, two examples of this:
a. False information: for example, people watched a video where a car stopped at a
“yield sign” but then they were told that the car stopped at a “stop sign”. After a
couple of days, they were asked to recall on what sign did the car stop, and the
majority said on a stop sign, this is how false information reconstructed and
changed a memory.
b. Misleading information: for example, a group of people watched a video of two cars
bumping one another, then they were asked how fast these cars were. One group
answered that the cars hit one another, and the other group said that the cars
smashed one another, then they were asked there were any grass in the picture.
, Participants that said the cars smashed said yes even though there weren’t any
grass.
Sometimes people forget from where they recall the information, for example they
forgot if they saw the stop sign from the video or they were told about it, in this case,
when they are not able to identify the source à source monitoring.
- Decay: it is when we forget or unable to retrieve or remember events or information. This
happens because we didn’t encode the information well. For example, we memorized a
specific song but never rehearsed it again, it will be hard for us to retrieve it. However, it
will be easier for us to relearn it, it will be easier to rememorize the song, because deep
down in our long-term memory we still have from it even if we are not aware of it. Also,
the times it takes us to forget something is proportional to the time it took us to encode it or
review it.
Why does this happen? Due to interference, and we have 2 types:
1. Retroactive: it is when something in the present is affecting past information. For
example, we moved to a new home, and we started using our new address more
frequently, after a while we will see that it will be hard for us to recall our old
address. This is how new information retroactively influenced past information.
2. Proactive: it is when old information affects the retrieval of new information. For
example, we changed the password of our email, while logging in we will use our old
password instead of the new one.
Aging and Cognitive Abilities: as we age, we have abilities that remain the same, decline, or
incline.
Decline Remain the same Incline
Recall – processing speed: Implicit memory: Procedural Semantic memory: our
even though we know the memory: we will never forget ability to recall facts, words.
answers it will be hard for us how we ride a bike This is why older people tend
to be quick to do better in cross words.
Divided attention: we can get Recognition: we will be able Crystallization: the ability to
distracted very easily to recognize things use our experience and
knowledge.
Episodic memory: it will be Emotional reasoning.
easy to remember old stuff
but not new events
Severe forgetting may start causing a serious problem à dementia.
1. Alzheimer’s Disease: the exact cause of it is unknown, but mainly we have the loss of the
neurons in our head and our cerebral cortex start shrinking with the accumulation of
beta amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in our brains. It is irreversible. It
starts with memory loss, especially semantic memory and recent ones, and then it
progresses into more severe loss such as the inability to recognize people and losing
physical skills. Starts with short term memory problem and progresses into long term,
leading to sundowning: dysfunction in late afternoon and evening.
- In general, our memory acts as a computer, where the input information is processed
into an output.
Input à Process à Output
1. Sensory Memory: it is the register, what we take in and it is divided into two types.
a. Iconic: visual memory, lasts less than 0.5 seconds (occipital lobe)
b. Echoic: auditory memory, lasts from 3 to 4 seconds (temporal lobe)
2. Working memory – short term memory: it is what we process and usually we process 7+-
2 pieces of information at one time, and it is divided into two types. (by hippocampus)
a. Visuo-spatial sketchpad: the processing of visual and spatial information.
b. Phonological loop: the processing of verbal information such as words or numbers.
3. Long term memory: it is what is stores, and it is divided into 2 categories.
a. Explicit: information that we can recall in detail.
o Semantic memory: remembering facts and words that are not tied up to life
experiences.
o Episodic memory: remembering events or life experiences.
b. Implicit: information that don’t require us remembering the details rather we
remember them unconsciously. (skills, habits)
o Procedural: such as remembering how to ride a bike, it is formed unconsciously.
All habits as well arise from implicit memory.
o Priming: previous experiences influence a current event. It can be either positive:
when the exposure of a previous stimulus improves the processing of a second
stimulus, or negative priming: when the first stimulus interferes with the second
resulting is slower response and more errors.
- Encoding Strategies: how to transfer information from being temporarily into
permeant. It is more effective when we do some cognitive efforts. List from least effective
to most effective:
1- Rote Rehearsal: it is when we repeat the same information multiple time to remember
it. But this is the least effective one because we are not actually processing the
information or using any cognitive effort.
2- Chunking: it is when we group objects or lists so it becomes easier for us to recall
them. Example, if we want to go to the supermarket, to recall the list, we can group
all the fruits together, all proteins together, and so on. It will make it easier for us to
recall the list because we grouped them into familiar categories.
3- Mnemonic Devices: we link what we are trying to learn into something we already
know.
o Imagery: link information through images.
o Pegward System: link information to rhyming words.
o Method Of Loci: link information to a location.
o Acronym: when we use abbreviations such as: example of seven up (pathway of
male reproductive)
, 4- Self-Referencing: it is when we link what we want to encode to something personal
related to us. It requires a lot of cognitive effort, but it is very efficient.
5- Spacing: it is when we space the information that we are encoding. Example, if we
studied for 5 hours straight it will be much harder for us to encode compared to if we
studied 1 hour per day for 5 days and spaced between the information.
- Retrieval: it is when we try to remember thing/what we encoded. There as several
retrieval cues that influence what we remember such as:
o Priming: for example, if we are reading a story and all along, we have the word
“rabbit” and suddenly someone says the word hare, we would most probably
think of the word as hare meaning rabbit not hair. Why? Because
subconsciously previous exposure or information has influenced what to
remember.
o Context: the place that we had encoded the information in influences our ability
to remember this information. For example, if we study at a specific place, it is
more likely for us to remember what we studied when we are at the place again.
o State-Dependent: we can like the state or the mood we are into what we want to
retrieve. For example, when we are in a bad mood, we will start retrieving bad
memories associated with our bad mood. Similarly, if we watch an add and our
mood was happy, when we see the product in real life we are most likely to buy it
because we remember the good mood.
- How do we retrieve information? For example, if we were given a list of words and then
asked to recall the words.
1. Free Recall: it is when we recall the words randomly. Usually, we are more likely to
remember the first few words and few last words.
When we remember the first words: primacy effect.
When we remember the last words: recency effect.
à this whole free recall is called serial position effect.
2. Cued recall: this is when we are given specific cues to help us remember the words.
For example, if they gave us the word incomplete and we had to complete it.
3. Recognition: this is when they make us chose between 2 words. For example, if one
word on the list was fork, then they will ask us which word was in the list fork or
knife? They gave us the word, we just needed to recognize it.
- Memory is reconstructive because we can reconstruct it the way we want depending on
our mood or desires. Similarly, sometime a memory can be modified or affected by other
factors, two examples of this:
a. False information: for example, people watched a video where a car stopped at a
“yield sign” but then they were told that the car stopped at a “stop sign”. After a
couple of days, they were asked to recall on what sign did the car stop, and the
majority said on a stop sign, this is how false information reconstructed and
changed a memory.
b. Misleading information: for example, a group of people watched a video of two cars
bumping one another, then they were asked how fast these cars were. One group
answered that the cars hit one another, and the other group said that the cars
smashed one another, then they were asked there were any grass in the picture.
, Participants that said the cars smashed said yes even though there weren’t any
grass.
Sometimes people forget from where they recall the information, for example they
forgot if they saw the stop sign from the video or they were told about it, in this case,
when they are not able to identify the source à source monitoring.
- Decay: it is when we forget or unable to retrieve or remember events or information. This
happens because we didn’t encode the information well. For example, we memorized a
specific song but never rehearsed it again, it will be hard for us to retrieve it. However, it
will be easier for us to relearn it, it will be easier to rememorize the song, because deep
down in our long-term memory we still have from it even if we are not aware of it. Also,
the times it takes us to forget something is proportional to the time it took us to encode it or
review it.
Why does this happen? Due to interference, and we have 2 types:
1. Retroactive: it is when something in the present is affecting past information. For
example, we moved to a new home, and we started using our new address more
frequently, after a while we will see that it will be hard for us to recall our old
address. This is how new information retroactively influenced past information.
2. Proactive: it is when old information affects the retrieval of new information. For
example, we changed the password of our email, while logging in we will use our old
password instead of the new one.
Aging and Cognitive Abilities: as we age, we have abilities that remain the same, decline, or
incline.
Decline Remain the same Incline
Recall – processing speed: Implicit memory: Procedural Semantic memory: our
even though we know the memory: we will never forget ability to recall facts, words.
answers it will be hard for us how we ride a bike This is why older people tend
to be quick to do better in cross words.
Divided attention: we can get Recognition: we will be able Crystallization: the ability to
distracted very easily to recognize things use our experience and
knowledge.
Episodic memory: it will be Emotional reasoning.
easy to remember old stuff
but not new events
Severe forgetting may start causing a serious problem à dementia.
1. Alzheimer’s Disease: the exact cause of it is unknown, but mainly we have the loss of the
neurons in our head and our cerebral cortex start shrinking with the accumulation of
beta amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in our brains. It is irreversible. It
starts with memory loss, especially semantic memory and recent ones, and then it
progresses into more severe loss such as the inability to recognize people and losing
physical skills. Starts with short term memory problem and progresses into long term,
leading to sundowning: dysfunction in late afternoon and evening.
