Critical Thinking Exercise

 

�    Please describe some �random� memories you might have (e.g., song lyrics, trivial facts, etc.).

 

 

 

�    Why are some things easier to remember than others?

 

 

 

 

Memory

 

�    Memory - an active system that ______________ information from the senses, organizes and alters it as it stores it away, and then __________ the information from storage (Baddeley, 2003).

 

Processes of Memory

 

�    Encoding - the set of ______________________ that people perform on sensory information to convert that information into a form that is usable in the brain�s storage systems.

�    Storage - ___________________ information for some period of time.

�    Retrieval - getting information that is in _______________ into a form that can be used.

 

Models of Memory

 

�    Information-processing model - model of memory that assumes the processing of information for memory storage is similar to the way a _________________ processes memory in a series of three stages (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968).

� Sensory Memory

� Short-term Memory

� Long-term Memory

 

Sensory Memory

 

�    Sensory memory - the very first stage of memory, the point at which information enters the ________________ through the sensory systems.

�  Iconic memory - _________________ sensory memory, lasting only a fraction of a second (Sperling, 1960).

�  Capacity � everything that can be seen at one time.

�  Duration - information that has just entered iconic memory will be pushed out very quickly by new information, a process called _________________.

�  Eidetic imagery - the rare ability to access a visual memory for ____ seconds or more.

�  Echoic memory - the brief memory of something a person has just ______________.

�  Capacity - limited to what can be heard at any one moment and is smaller than the capacity of iconic memory

�  Duration � lasts longer that iconic � about ____ to ____ seconds (Schweickert, 1993)

 

Short-Term Memory

 

�    Short-term memory (STM) (working memory) - the memory system in which information is held for brief periods of time while being _________.

�  Selective attention � the ability to focus on only ________ stimulus from among all ___________ input (Broadbent, 1958).

�  Duration of STM� - lasts from about _____ to _____ seconds without rehearsal (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968).

�  STM is susceptible to ______________ (e.g., if counting is interrupted, have to start over).

 

Capacity of Short-Term Memory

 

�    Capacity: George Miller (1956)

�    Digit-span test � memory test in which a series of numbers is read to subjects in the experiment who are then asked to recall the numbers in order.

�  Conclusions are that the capacity of STM is about seven items or pieces of information, plus or minus _______ items, or from five to nine bits of information.

�  �magical number� = 7 (+/- 2)

 

Processes of Short-Term Memory

 

�    Chunking � bits of information are combined into __________________, or chunks, so that more information can be held in STM.

�    Maintenance rehearsal - practice of saying some information to be remembered ____________________ in one�s head in order to maintain it in short-term memory (STMs tend to be encoded in auditory form).

 

Long-Term Memory

 

�    Long-term memory (LTM) - the system of memory into which all the information is placed to be kept more or less ________________.

�    Elaborative rehearsal - a method of transferring information from STM into LTM by making that information __________________ in some way (Postman, 1975).

 

Types of LTM

 

�    Procedural (nondeclarative) memory - type of long-term memory that is not ________________ but is implied to exist because it affects conscious behavior.

�  Implicit Memory - memory that is not easily brought into conscious _________________.

 

Procedural (Nondeclarative) LTM

 

�    _____________ that people know how to do

�    _____________ associations

�    Habits

�    Simple _______________________ that may or may not be in conscious awareness

 

Types of LTM

 

�    Declarative (explicit) memory � type of long-term memory containing information that is _________________ and known (memory for facts) (Nyberg & Tulvig, 1996).

�  Semantic memory - type of declarative memory containing _________� _______________, such as knowledge of language and information learned in formal education.

�  Episodic memory - type of declarative memory containing __________ _____________________ not readily available to others, such as daily activities and events.

 

Automatic Encoding and Flashbulb Memories

 

�    Automatic encoding - tendency of certain kinds of information to enter long-term memory with little or no effortful ___________ (Mandler, 1967).

�    Flashbulb memories - type of automatic encoding that occurs because an unexpected event has ____________________________ for the person remembering it (Neisser, 1982).

 

Remembering

 

Cues to Help Remember

 

�    Retrieval cue � a stimulus for remembering.

�    Encoding specificity - the tendency for memory of information to be __________ if related information (such as surroundings or physiological state) available when the memory is first formed is also available when the memory is being retrieved (Tulving & Thomson, 1973).

�  State-dependent learning - memories formed during a particular physiological or psychological state will be easier to recall while in a ______________ state (Eich & Metcalfe, 1989).

 

Recall

 

�    Recall - type of memory retrieval in which the information to be retrieved must be �pulled� from memory with very few ______________________ (e.g., essay exams).

�  Retrieval failure � recall has failed (at least temporarily).

�  Tip of the _______________ phenomenon (Brown & McNeill, 1966; Burke et al., 1991)

�    Serial position effect - tendency of information at the ____________ and __________ of a body of information to be remembered more accurately than information in the middle of the body of information (Murdock, 1962).

�  _________ effect - tendency to remember information at the beginning of a body of information better than the information that follows.

�  Recency effect - tendency to remember information at the _________ of a body of information better than the information ahead of it.

 

Recognition

 

�    Recognition - the ability to _______________ a piece of information or a stimulus to a stored image or fact (e.g., multiple choice exams) (Borges et al., 1977).

�    False positive � error of recognition in which people think that they recognize some stimulus that is ____________ in memory (Muter, 1978).

 

Constructive Processing of Memories

 

�    Constructive Processing - retrieval of memories in which those memories are altered, revised, or influenced by _____________________ (Hyman & Loftus, 1998).

�    Hindsight Bias - tendency to falsely believe, through revision of older memories to include newer information, that one could have correctly ________________ the outcome of an event (Bahrick et al., 1996).

 

Memory Retrieval Problems

 

�    Misinformation effect - the tendency of misleading information presented after an event to ___________ the memories of the event itself (Loftus et al., 1978).

 

Implications: Eyewitness Testimony

 

�    Elizabeth Loftus study.

�  Showed that what people see and hear about an event after the fact can easily affect the _____________ of their memories of that event.

�  Eyewitness testimony not always reliable.

 

Reliability of Memory Retrieval

 

�    False memory syndrome - the creation of inaccurate or false memories through the ______________ of others, often while the person is under hypnosis (Hochman, 1994).

�    Evidence suggests that false memories cannot be created for just any kind of memory.

�  The memories must at least be _______________.

 

Tips for Improving Memory

 

�    Pay Attention - focus and ____________ when taking in information.

�    Rehearse - ___________ and rehearse information after you�ve heard it.

�    Associate - try to understand information by ___________________ with something you already know.

�    Visualize - use your imagination and form _______________________.

�    Organize - chunk or organize information into groups; think in _________________.

�    Personalize - make information personal and think about how it _______ ___________________.

 

Forgetting

 

�    Curve of forgetting - a graph showing a distinct pattern in which forgetting is very fast within the ____________ after learning a list and then tapers off gradually (Ebbinghaus, 1913).

 

Forgetting: Encoding Failure

 

�    Encoding failure - failure to __________________________ into memory (Nickerson & Adams, 1979).

 

Forgetting: Memory Trace Theory

 

�    Memory trace - ______________________ in the brain that occurs when a memory is formed (Brown, 1958).

�  Decay - loss of memory due to the ______________________, during which the memory trace is not used.

�  Disuse - another name for decay, assuming that memories that are not used will eventually decay and _____________ (Bjork & Bjork, 1992).

 

Forgetting: Interference Theory (Anderson & Neely, 1995)

 

�    Proactive interference - memory retrieval problem that occurs when ____________ information prevents or interferes with the retrieval of newer information.

�    Retroactive interference - memory retrieval problem that occurs when _____________ information prevents or interferes with the retrieval of older information.

 

Amnesia

 

�    Retrograde amnesia - loss of memory from the point of some injury or trauma backwards, or loss of memory for the ________ (Hodges, 1994).

�    Anterograde amnesia - loss of memory from the point of injury or trauma _______________, or the inability to form new long-term memories (Squire & Slater, 1978).

�    Infantile amnesia - the inability to retrieve memories from much before age ______.

�  Autobiographical memory - the memory for events and facts related to one�s ______________________ (usually after age 3).

 

Alzheimer�s Disease

 

�    The primary memory difficulty in Alzheimer�s is anterograde amnesia (______________________), although retrograde amnesia can also occur as the disease progresses.

�    There are various drugs in use or in development for use in slowing or stopping the progression of Alzheimer�s disease.