MEMORY COGNITION Flashcards
are processes that allow us to record, store,
and, later on, retrieve experiences and information.
Memories
It adds richness and context to our lives, allows us to learn
from experience, and adapt to changing environments.
Memories
T/F
From an evolutionary standpoint, if humans don’t have the
capacity to remember, they will not survive as species. If
one doesn’t learn from previous experiences, they will not
be able to face the struggles brought by the future.
T
The mind as a processing system:
encodes, stores, and
retrieves information
Involves retaining information over
time. Once in the system, information must be
filed away and saved.
Storage
Refers to processes that access
stored information.
Retrieval
Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968) depicts that
memory has three major components:
memory,
working memory (short-term memory),
and long-term
memory.
It briefly holds incoming sensory information.
SENSORY MEMORY
Most information in sensory memory fades away, but
some enters short-term memory through selective
attention.
T
Representation used to retain information in
short-term memory
Codes
Mental representations of some information/stimulus.
MEMORY CODES
Mental images
Visual codes
By sound
Phonological codes
Focus on the meaning of
stimulus
Semantic codes
Movement patterns
Motor codes
Limited duration and capacity of information, depending on
the stimulus.
SHORT-TERM MEMORY: CAPACITY AND DURATION
The limit of short-term memory storage capacity depends on the number of meaningful units that can be recalled;when presented with unrelated letters or numbers, most people can hold no more than five to nine meaningless items.
T
Duration of memory in short-term
memory can be extended.
With Rehearsal
Information in short-term
memory generally has a shelf life of up
to 20 seconds.
Without Rehearsal
Combining individual items into larger
units of meaning which aids recall (grouping).
Chunking
Cognitive scientists view short-term memory as _________, a limited-capacity system that temporarily stores and processes information.
SHORT-TERM MEMORY / WORKING MEMORY
A mental workspace that stores information, actively
manipulates it, and supports other cognitive functions such as problem solving and planning.
T
● Vast library of more durable stored memories.
● Unlimited capacity.
● Can endure for up to a lifetime once formed.
LONG-TERM MEMORY
WAYS TO ENHANCE MEMORY
ENCODING
EXPOSURE AND REHEARSAL
STORAGE: RETAINING INFORMATION
RETRIEVAL: ACCESSING INFORMATION
● The holdings of your long-term memory must be organized if they are to be available when you want to retrieve them.
● The more effectively we _____ material into long term memory, the greater likelihood of retrieving it.
ENCODING
■ Encoding that is initiated intentionally.
■ Requires conscious attention (focus).
Effortful processing
■ Encoding that occurs without attention.
■ Information about frequency, spatial
location, and sequence of events is
often encoded automatically.
Automatic processing
● Mere exposure to a stimulus without focusing on it
represents shallow processing.
● Rehearsal goes beyond mere exposure.
● When we rehearse information, we are thinking about it.
EXPOSURE AND REHEARSAL
Involves simple, rote repetition.
■ Keeps information active in working
memory (e.g. dialling a phone number
repeatedly to place a call).
■ Rote memorization is usually not an
optimal method to transfer information
into long-term memory
Maintenance rehearsal
■ Involves focusing on the meaning of
information or expanding on it in some
way.
■ Involves deeper processing than
maintenance rehearsal.
■ Experiments show that it is more
effective in transferring information into
long-term memory.
Elaborative rehearsal
Elaborative rehearsal: Differents ways?
Mnemonic devices
Hierarchy
Visual imagery
Meaning of information
Links to your life and existing
knowledge
Organize information into more
meaningful units and provide extra
cues to help retrieve information
from long term memory (e.g.
exams).
Mnemonic devices (memory aid)
Sequence of concepts
Hierarchy
A mental framework that shapes how we
encode information.
Schema
○ As we become experts in any given field, we
developed ________ that allow us to encode
information into memory more efficiently.
○ People who display exceptional memory take
advantage of sound memory principles and
mnemonic devices.
Schema
STORAGE: RETAINING INFORMATION: All ways
Associative networks
Neural networks
Declarative long-term memories
Explicit memory
○ View long-term memory as a network of
associated nodes.
○ Each node represents a concept or unit of
information.
Associative networks
○ Propose that each piece of information in
memory is represented not by a single node but
by multiple nodes throughout the brain.
○ Each memory is represented by a unique pattern
of simultaneously activated nodes
Neural networks
○ Involves factual knowledge and includes episodic
memories (personal experiences) and semantic
memories (facts about the world and language).
○ In contrast, procedural memory is reflected in
skills and actions.
Declarative long-term memories
○ Conscious or intentional memory retrieval.
○ Whereas implicit memory influences our
behavior without conscious awareness.
Explicit memory
activate information stored in long-term
memory.
Retrieval cues
● More likely to occur when we have multiple cues, self generated cues and distinctive cues.
● Distinctive and emotionally arousing events are recalled most easily or vividly over time but accuracy is not guaranteed (e.g. romantic encounters, graduation,
accidents).
RETRIEVAL: ACCESSING INFORMATION
■ A memory of an emotionally arousing,
distinctive event.
■ Very vivid and clear that we feel we can
picture it as if it were a snapshot of a
moment in time.
Flashbulb memory
FORGETTING: WHY DO WE FORGET?
Encoding failure
Decay of Memory trace
Interference
Motivated forgetting
Failing to encode information into
long-term memory.
Encoding failure
Physical memory traces in
long-term memory deteriorate with misuse over time.
Decay of memory trace
Forgetting information because other items
in long-term memory impair our ability to retrieve it.
Interference
People are consciously or
unconsciously motivated to forget.
Motivated forgetting