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PSY 105 Week 4 Part 1 Psychology from Science to Practice Memory

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Introduction

Welcome to week four, part one of Psychology from Science to Practice. This week we will cover human memory: of Things Remembered and Forgotten. Next slide:

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Objectives

When you complete this lesson, you will be able to: Describe the information processing model of memory; Describe the three kinds of memories; Compare and contrast the views of short term and working memory; Explain the difference between episodic and semantic memory; Describe the role schemas play in memories and memory distortions; Explain forgetting in terms of two forms of interference; Explain three forms of memory found in everyday life; and Discuss two forms of memory impairments.

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Information Processing Model

Next slide: We will begin with discussing the information processing model of human memory. There are certain similarities between computer memory and human memory. For instance, both computer memory and human memory must perform three tasks: 1) Encoding - converting information into a form that can be entered into memory; 2) Storage - somehow retaining information over varying periods of time; and 3) Retrieval locating and accessing specific information when it is needed at later times. However, the information-processing model of memory suggests that human memory involves three distinct systems for storing information: 1) Sensory memory - providing temporary storage of information brought to us by our senses; 2) Short-term memory - holding relatively small amounts of information for brief periods of time, usually thirty seconds or less; and 3) Long-term memory - allowing us to retain vast amounts of

information for very long periods of time. Next slide: Slide 4 Memory on the Move There is no consensus on how information is moved from one memory system to another. Evidence suggests that information in sensory memory enters short-term memory when it becomes the focus of our attention, that is, when we notice it or concentrate on it. Then information in short-term memory enters long-term storage through elaborative rehearsal; when we think about its meaning and relate it to other information already in long-term memory. We need to put forth such cognitive effort or the information in shortterm memory will quickly fade away and be lost. Next slide:

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Working Memory

The terms short term memory and working memory were used interchangeably. However, now memory experts have drawn distinctions between the two. From the previous slide you learned short term memory is the temporary storage of information. In contrast, working memory involves both storage capacity and a mechanism of attention that regulates the contents of this system. First we will discuss short term memory. As a storage system shortterm memory can hold only about seven, plus or minus two, discrete items before the system is overloaded. However, each of these items can hold several bits of information if they are grouped into meaningful units. When this happens, each piece of information is described as a chunk and the total amount of information held in chunks can be quite large. Nevertheless, our memory is more than a temporary holding place because active processing of information occurs as well. Working memory stores information and involves a mechanism of attention that allows us to decide what information is to be retained in short-term storage and what information is to be ignored or to be actively blocked from entry. One model, by Baddeley, suggests there are three parts to working memory: 1) Temporary storage of information, short term memory; 2) A mechanism that permits rehearsal of this information; and 3) A mechanism of attention that permits some information to enter and ignore other information. This attention mechanism allows us to perform a wide range of complex cognitive tasks.

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Long Term Memory Episodic Memory

In this slide we will begin our discussion on long term memory used for retaining large amounts of information for long periods of time. We will discuss the systems that permit us to retain factual information. Semantic memory allows us to store general abstract knowledge about the world and episodic memory allows us to store factual information that happens to us personally. The level of processing view is a view of memory suggesting that the greater the effort expended in processing information, the more readily it will be recalled at later times. Retrieval cues influence episodic memory. Retrieval cues are stimuli associated with information stored in memory that can help bring it to mind at times when it cannot be recalled spontaneously. The better the retrieval cues we have, the better our ability to remember information entered into episodic memory. Context dependent memory refers to the fact that material learned in one environment or context is easier to remember in a similar context or environment than it is in a very different one. Research is beginning to show that besides external cues, our own internal states can influence memory. This effect is called statedependent retrieval which refers to the fact that it is easier to recall information stored in long-term memory when our internal state is similar to that which existed when the information was first entered into memory. The basic principle that underlies all these effects is called the encoding specificity principle where the retrieval of information is successful to the extent that the retrieval cues match the cues the learner used during the study phase. The more they are similar, the more memory is facilitated.

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Long Term Memory Semantic Memory

Next slide: Semantic memory is for information we do not remember acquiring at a specific time or in a specific place. Psychologists focus on how this information is organized. The basis of organization is termed concepts which are mental categories for objects or events that are similar to one another in certain ways. Concepts seem to exist in networks reflecting the relationships between them. Next slide:

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Procedural Memory

Now we will turn to memory for skills. Procedural memory, sometimes referred to as implicit memory, is a system that retains information we cannot readily express verbally but we can recall the memory of. For example, we find it hard to explain motor activities such as riding a bicycle. Evidence for the existence of procedural memory is provided by the way in which many skills are acquired. Initially, as we learn a skill, we think about what we are doing and can describe our actions and what we are learning. Later as we master the skill, this declarative or explicit knowledge is replace by procedural knowledge and we become less and less able to describe how we perform the actions. This memory does improve with practice. Next slide: The earliest view of forgetting was that memory fades or decays with the passage of time. Now studies suggest that the amount of forgetting is not just a function of how much time has elapsed but a function of what happens during that period of time. One possibility is that it stems from interference between items of information stored in memory. In retroactive interference, information currently being learned interferes with information already present in memory. In proactive interference, in contrast, previously learned information present in long-term memory interferes with information you are learning at present. Next slide:

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Forget Me Not

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Retrieval Inhibition

Retrieval inhibition is the inhibition of information in memory we do not try to remember produced by remembering other, related information. As a result these items become more difficult to remember in the future. In short, the act of retrieval itself can cause forgettingnot of the information you recall, but of other, related information. Next slide:

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Memory Distortion

Information entered into memory is often altered in various ways over time so that accuracy and change in meaning occurs. Such changes are called memory distortion and memory construction. We will first discuss memory distortion. Memory distortion results in alterations in information stored in memory. Physical attributes of objects can be distorted over time and distortions in memory can occur in response to false information provided by others. Schemas or cognitive frameworks representing individuals knowledge about some aspect of the world may account for distortion. Schemas are developed through experience and act like mental scaffolds, providing basic frameworks for processing new information and relating it to existing knowledge. Once formed, schemas exert strong effects on the way information is encoded, stored, and later retrieved. They account for the fact that we are more likely to notice and remember information that supports our beliefs about the world than information that challenges them. Next slide: Memory construction happens when people recall events that did not actually occur or experiences they never really had. They can be persistent and convincing. Fuzzy trace theory may explain this. Fuzzy trace theory concerns the relationship between memory and higher reasoning processes. According to this theory, when we make decisions and judgments, we often focus on the general idea of information stored in memory, not on the information itself. One result is that we then remember information consistent with the gist of our real memories even though it is false. Another example of memory construction is eyewitness testimony which is the information provided by witnesses to crimes or accidents. Errors in memory can occur due to suggestibility where witnesses are sometimes influenced by leading questions and with respect to source monitoring where eyewitnesses attribute their memories to the wrong source as they had remembered seeing the individual before. Next slide:

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Memory Construct

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Memories in Everyday Life

In this slide we will talk about memory in everyday life. First, there is a kind of motivated forgetting called repression. Repression is the active elimination from consciousness of memories or experiences we find threatening. Sometimes children have difficulty determining whether their memories are based on events that really happened or on something they imagined. Recent evidence indicates that simply imagining an event can generate false memories about it. Autobiographical memory is memory for information about events in our own lives. Growing evidence exists that we can remember events from very early periods in our lives. However there are three theories why we can not express those memories: 1) Since we did not possess language skills at that time, we cannot report them in words; 2) The brain structures necessary for such memory are not sufficiently developed at this time; and 3) We do not form a clear self-concept until sometime between our second and third birthdays. Therefore, we lack the personal frame of reference necessary for autobiographical memory. Next slide: The third everyday memory we will discuss is memory for our emotions. Generally people are accurate in recalling their emotions. However, there are factors that can strongly distort our memories of our own previous emotions. First, our current emotional state can produce distortions of our memories. Second, we tend to cope with present problems by reconstructing the past, meaning we change our memories of our own emotions to maximize our current happiness or satisfaction. Our mood has an effect on memory because our moods can be another internal state that serves as a retrieval cue. First, memory can be enhanced when our mood state during retrieval is similar to that when we first encoded some information. This is called mood-dependent memory. You will remember the information whether it was during a positive, negative, or unrelated mood. However, mood congruence effects are when we notice or remember information that is congruent with our current mood. In other words, we tend to remember information consistent with our present mood: positive information when we feel happy and negative information when we feel sad. Next slide:

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Memory of Our Emotions

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Diversity We often find it easier to remember people belonging to our and Memory own racial or ethnic group than people belonging to other ones. One reason is we have more contact with members of our own race and so use better retrieval cues. However, the existence of this own race bias has important implications. For instance, it may influence the accuracy with which eyewitnesses to crimes identify the actual offenders. It might also cause problems between members of different races who become annoyed that persons they met before do not recognize them. Next slide:

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Memory Disorders

Now we will turn to a discussion on memory disorders. Amnesia is a loss of memory stemming from illness, accident, drug abuse, or other causes. The first type is called retrograde amnesia; memory of events prior to the amnesia inducing event is impaired. In contrast, anterograde amnesia is when individuals cannot remember events that occur after the amnesia inducing event. Individuals who consume large amounts of alcohol for many years sometimes develop a serious illness known as Korsakoffs syndrome. This syndrome is often accompanied by both anterograde amnesia and severe retrograde amnesia patients cannot remember events that took place many years before their illness. Autopsy after death indicated those people had extensive damage to portions of the thalamus and hypothalamus suggesting these portions of the brain are involved in long term memory. Next slide:

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Memory Disorders cont

Alzheimers disease occurs among five percent of all people over age of sixty-five. It begins with mild forgetfulness and progresses to total confusion and the inability to perform even simple tasks like dressing. People with Alzheimers disease suffer from a wide range of memory impairments such as semantic memory, episodic memory, memory for skills, working memory, and autobiographical memory. Studies of deceased patients has revealed that their brains contained tiny bundles of amyloid beta protein, a substance not found in similar concentrations in normal brains. This substance may cause damage to neurons. Next slide:

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Memory and In summary, we can draw several conclusions from these the Brain illnesses: The hippocampus plays a role in converting information from a temporary state to a more permanent one and plays a role in spatial learning; The frontal lobes play a role in working memory, and in the encoding and retrieval of factual information from long term memory. The following are possible reasons why damage to various brain structures produces amnesia: 1) Damage to these areas prevents consolidation of the memory trace. 2) When information is stored in memory, not only the information is stored itself, but also its context is stored. Amnesia may result from an inability to enter this additional information into memory; and 3) Amnesia may stem from an inability to monitor errors. There is no single answer to the question, Where is memory located? Some memories are highly localized within the brain and some are represented by a pattern of neural activity in many different brain regions. Next slide:

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Summary

We have reached the end of this lesson. Lets take a look at what we have covered. Memory is the system of storing and retrieving information. The information-processing model of memory suggests that 1) memory involves encoding, storage, and retrieval of information; and 2) we possess several different kinds or types of memory including sensory, short term, and long term memory. Short term memory is enhanced by ones ability to chunk information. Semantic memories hold information about the world around us while episodic memory is the ability to recall events that happened to us directly and are part of our long term memory processing system. Retrieval cues are stimuli that are associated with information stored in memory and can help bring it to mind at times when it cant be recalled spontaneously. Psychologists believe that forgetting stems from several different factors. Retroactive interference happens when information currently being learned interferes with information already present. Proactive interference happens when previously learned information interferes with newly learned information. and Memory functions do show some localization within the hippocampus as well as the frontal lobes.

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