General Psychology Human Memory Lecture 55 1. 1.

General Psychology Human Memory Lecture 55 1. 1. Definition of Memory 2. 2. Memory Processes 3. 3. Stages of memory storage 4. 4. Forgetting 5. 5. Improvement of memory

In order to remember smth learn it! To test learning measure what is remembered! Memory involves storing information that is learned, so that it can be retrieved and used at a later time.

Retention level the amount of info stored after learning has taken place. Retention is measured by asking a person to retrieve previously learned info. Retention loss = forgetting a part of original learning that can’t be retrieved.

Ebbinghaus Research H. Ebbinghaus demonstrated that a greater memory loss occurs in the first 20 min after learning than in the remaining 31 days. Savings score Time/Days App 100%- 80% App 60%- 50% 40%40% 35%35% 30%30% 25%25% 11 stst / immediate recall 11 stst / after 20 min 11 stst / after an hour 11 stst / after 9 hours 22 ndnd – 4 thth 66 thth — 31 stst

Memory processes

Encoding (1 stst step) process of putting information into our memory system (like in a computer) Influences on effectiveness 1)1) Perceive it (hear, see, touch, smell, taste) 2)2) Motivated to remember 3)3) Find this info meaningful or relevant to our life 4)4) Practice or rehearse it

Storage (2 ndnd step) process of retaining information in our memory system for some length of time 3 memory stores Sensory short-term long-term SM (iconic/echoic) STM ( working active/immediate) LTM (semantic/episodic/procedural)

Retrieval pulling information out of the memory system. We don’t know what is stored until we retrieve it. Sometimes it is adequately stored but not accessible at the moment. Success depends on effectiveness of encoding and storage.

Memory stores characteristics

Types of LTM Procedural Semantic Episodic Remembering The responses to stimuli How to do smth (riding a bike, being sick, eating a lobster) Mental models of the environment Access is automatic and retrieval involves answer, “What” (our dictionary) Highest memory system: events that have personal meaning (where? When? (our diary)

Forgetting – retention loss. To test the amount of forgetting use 3 measures of retention Recall (reconstruction) retrieve learned info from memory (essay, short-answer, fill-in-blank) Recognition Identify learned items and ignore new items that are used as distraction (true-false, multiple choice) Savings relearning

3 theories of forgetting Decay A problem of storage, operate in STM ( if not rehearsed) Interference A problem of retrieval Motivated forgetting repression

Memory improvement

Questions for the seminar: 1. Define memory 2. Describe encoding, storage, retrieval 3. Iconic/echoic sensory memory 4. Identify ‘attention’ and pattern recognition 5. Characteristics of STM 6. Metamemory 7. Compare 3 types of long-term memory 8. 3 measures of memory retention 9. 3 theories of forgetting 10. Techniques to improve memory

Essay task: Describe your knowledge of you own memory ability. (how you learn to remember, your ability to encode, store and retrieve, types of memory and techniques to improve your memory) Literature: R. Atkinson. Introduction to Psychology. Ch. 8 pp 288 -330. Volunteer Reports 1. Emotional Factors in forgetting p 309 -311 2. Implicit Memory in amnesia and normal subjects. Pp 311 -315 3. Improving Memory pp 317 -326 – 3 people.