chapter 9 memory Flashcards
Elizabeth Loftus
is the
key researcher in the
field of memory
construction.
Misinformation Effect
incorporating misleading
information into one’s
memory of an event.
Memory Construction
While tapping our memories, we filter or fill in missing pieces of information to make our recall more coherent
Misinformation Effect example
Group A: How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?
Group B: How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?
Memory Construction example
A week later they were asked: Was there any broken glass? Group B (smashed into) reported more broken glass than Group A (hit).
Source Amnesia
Attributing an event to the wrong source that we experienced, heard, read, or imagined (misattribution).
False Memory Syndrome
A condition in which a person’s identity and relationships center around a false but strongly believed memory of a traumatic experience, which is sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists.
forgetting
An inability to retrieve information due to poor encoding, storage, or retrieval.
Storage Decay
Poor durability of stored memories leads to their decay. Ebbinghaus showed this with his forgetting curve.
proactive interference
disruptive information of prior
learning on the recall of new
information.
retroactive interference
disruptive effect of new
learning on the recall of old
information.
Recal retrival
Person must retrieve
information using effort.
recognition
Person must identify an
item amongst other
choices
retrieval associations.
Memories are held in storage by a web of associations. These associations are like anchors that help retrieve memory.
Retrieval Idea #3 - Priming
To retrieve a specific memory from the web of associations, you must first activate one of the strands that leads to it. This process is called priming.
Retrieval Idea #4 - Context
The conditions in which something exists or
occurs.
Context Effects
Scuba divers recall more words underwater if they learned the list underwater, while they recall more words on land if they learned that list on land (Godden & Baddeley, 1975).
Long-Term Memory
Unlimited capacity store. Estimates on capacity range from 1000 billion to 1,000,000 billion bits of information (Landauer, 1986).
Semantic memory
Network of associations and concepts that
make-up our general knowledge of the
world. Ex: Language
Procedural (Skill)
Enables us to learn/do specific skills.
Processed by the cerebellum.
Working Memory
Working memory, the new name for short-term memory, has a limited capacity (7±2) and a short duration (20 seconds).
Anterograde
is the failure to store
memories after a trauma.
Retrograde
is the failure to recall memories that
have been stored before a trauma.
Duration
Brown/Peterson and Peterson (1958/1959) measured the duration of working memory by manipulating rehearsal.
The duration of the working memory is about 20 sec.
Semantic encoding
encoding with pictures. The small person in the phone booth playing a trombone.
B. Self-Reference Effect
We encode (and thus recall) information
that relates to us personally.Visual vs. Auditory Information
Encoding imagery aids effortful processing because vivid images are very memorable. We tend to remember concrete nouns better than abstract nouns.
encoding Meaning
Craik, Tulving & Lockhart (1972)
Depth of Processing Theory
Bottom Line – the deeper the meaning which we are asked to encode something, the more likely we are to remember it later.
