Chapter 6: Memory Processes

1
Chapter 6 Memory Processes
2
Some Questions of Interest

• What have cognitive psychologists discovered
  regarding how we encode information for storing
  it in memory?
• What affects our ability to retrieve information
  from memory?
• How does what we know or what we learn affect
  what we remember?
• How does memory develop with age?

3
Encoding Processes

• Creating an acoustic code
• What it sounds like
• Creating a semantic code
• What it means
• Creating a visual code
• What it looks like

4
Encoding Types and STM

• Type of code may rely on type of task
• Encoding in STM is primarily acoustic
• although semantic and visual encoding can occur

5
Evidence for Acoustic Encoding in STM

• Conrad (1964)
• Visually present a series of letters briefly
• Immediately write the letters viewed once series
  is complete (try it starts on next click)

Write down letters
B
C
F
M
P
S
T
V
6
Results Conrad (1964)

• You viewed B C F M N P N S T V
• What errors did you make?
• F for S
• B for V
• P for B
• Not visual errors
• e.g., E for F, O for Q, R for P
• Thus, we encode items acoustically even when
  presented visually

7
Evidence for semantic encoding in STM

• Shulman (1970)
• Participants viewed 10-word lists then
  recognition test using visually represented
  probe words,
• homonyms - e.g., bawl for ball
• synonyms - e.g., talk for speak or
• identical to the original word
• The homonym and synonym probes produced similar
  error rates
• equal amount of acoustic and semantic processing
  must be taking place

8
Evidence for visual encoding in STM

• Posner Keele (1967)
• Letter-matching task with two letters separated
  by brief interval
• Participant had to indicate if same letter
• A-a yes
• A-A yes
• A-M no
• If letters were the same visually (a-a),
  participants were faster than if the letters were
  not the same visually (A-a)

9
Encoding Types and LTM

• Remember the list??

10
Encoding Types and LTM

• Type of code may rely on type of task
• Encoding in LTM is primarily semantic although
  other types of encoding can occur

11
Semantic Encoding in LTM

• Grossman Eagle (1970)
• Study 41 different words, recognition test after
  delay
• 9 of the distractors were semantically related to
  words on list
• 9 of the distractors were not
• False alarms for each type 1.83 of synonyms, but
  only 1.05 of unrelated

12
Visual Encoding in LTM

• Frost (1972)
• Participants studied 16 drawings, manipulated
  visual orientation and semantic category
• After a delay, participants were asked if they
  had studied an object with the same name as the
  test object
• Reaction time was measured
• Participants responded faster to identical
  drawings than drawings in a different orientation

13
Acoustic Encoding in LTM

• Evidence of very long-term memory for songs
• Rubin (1977)
• Participants recall more of the text when
  provided with the melody of a well-learned song
  (Star Spangled Banner) than when given no cue

14
Transfer from STM to LTM

• Consolidation
• Integrating new information into stored
  information
• Disruption of consolidation is studied in
  amnesiacs
• ECT patients (Squire)

15
Principles to Strengthen Memory

• Metamemory
• Elaborative rehearsal vs. maintenance rehearsal
• Distributed practice vs. massed practice
• Spacing effect
• Organizing information enhances memory

16
What Causes the Spacing Effect?
17
Sleep and Memory Consolidation
18
Encoding Specificity

• Memory is improved when information available at
  encoding is also available at retrieval

19
Encoding Specificity Tulving Thompson (1973)

• 1st study list learn target words in capital
  letters
• Cue Target
• head LIGHT
• grasp BABY
• 2nd free association generate 6 words for each
  word presented
• Word Possible generations
• dark light, black, room.
• infant sleeping, bottle, baby.

20

• 3rd recognition test circle any generated words
  that were in the study list in capital letters
• Word Possible generations
• dark light, black, room.
• infant sleeping, bottle, baby.
• 4th recall recall the words from the study list
  in capital letters, using these cues that they
  were studied with
• Word Possible generations
• grasp ________
• head ________

21
Tulving Thompson (1973) Results
100
They recalled more than they recognized!
Percentage of Words Recalled / Recognized
50
0
Free Association Recognition Test
Study List Recall Test
22
Encoding Specificity

• Tulving (1983)
• People encode the context with the target
  material
• Physical match (class, diving, smell)
• Emotional match (happy, depressed)
• Understanding match (childhood amnesia, under the
  influence of drugs match)

23
Mnemonic Devices to Aid Memory

• Categorical clustering
• Interactive images
• Pegword system
• Method of loci
• Acronyms
• Acrostics
• Keyword system

24
Which Mnemonic Is the Best?

• Roediger (1980)

25
Retrieval Processes

• Multiple processes can be used to enhance
  retrieval
• Different strategies are used for STM and LTM
• Matching the type of processes at encoding with
  retrieval increases success

26
Studying Searching in STM
0

• Saul Sternberg (1967)
• Memorize a set of numbers (6,3,8,2,7)
• Shown a probe digit
• Participant must indicate if the probe was in the
  set
• RT is measured

2
6,5,8,2,7
Yes
27
Sternberg (1967)

• Possible result patterns
• A represents parallel processing
• B illustrates serial processing
• C illustrates exhaustive serial processing
• D illustrates self-terminating serial processing

28
Retrieval from LTM

• Randomized list

• Naples World Italy Americas
• Montreal Bristol Washington Ottawa
• Orlando England Europe Dallas
• Liverpool Winnipeg Rome USA
• London Florence Canada

• Organized list

• World
• Europe Americas
• England Italy USA
  Canada
• London Rome Washington Ottawa
• Liverpool Florence Dallas
  Montreal
• Bristol Naples Orlando Winnipeg

29
Theories about Forgetting

• Interference theory
• Proactive old memories interfere with recall of
  new information
• Retroactive new memories interfere with recall
  of old information
• Decay theory
• Memory is weakened with disuse
• Simply passage of time

30
Serial Position Curve
31
Interference vs. decay

• Trigrams were forgotten by 18 seconds
• retroactive interference of counting backward

32
Proactive Interference from LTM
Experimental group Learn List A Learn List B Delay Test for Memory B
Control group No study Learn List B Delay Test for Memory B

• Information previously learned (List A)
  interferes with retrieval of List B

33
Retroactive Interference from LTM
0
Experimental group Learn List A Learn List B Delay Test for Memory A
Control group Learn List A ------------ Delay Test for Memory A

• Information learned afterward interferes with
  retrieval of List A

34
Bransford Johnson (1972)

• Gave people passages to read, with or without a
  title

35

• The procedure is actually quite simple. First you
  arrange things into different groups. Of course,
  one pile may be sufficient depending on how much
  there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else
  due to lack of facilities, that is the next step
  otherwise, you are pretty well set. It is
  important not to overdo things. That is, it is
  better to do too few things at once than too
  many. In the short run, this may not seem
  important, but complications can easily arise. It
  is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity
  for this task in the immediate future, but then
  one never can tell. After the procedure is
  completed, one arranges the materials into
  different groups again. They can be put into
  their appropriate places. Eventually, they will
  be used once more and the whole cycle will then
  have to be repeated.

36
Owens, Bower, Black (1979)
Nancy arrived at the cocktail party. She looked
around the room to see who was there. She went to
talk with her professor. She felt she had to talk
to him but was a little nervous about just what
to say. A group of people started to play
charades. Nancy went over and had some
refreshments. The hors doevres were good, but
she was interested in talking to the rest of the
people at the party. After a while, she decided
shed had enough and left the party. Some
participants also heard that passage but w/this
theme Nancy woke up feeling sick, and she
wondered if she really were pregnant. How could
she tell the professor she had been seeing? And
the money was another problem.
37
Owens, Bower, Black (1979) Results
Theme No Theme
Studied Propositions 29.2 20.3
Inferred Propositions 15.2 3.7

• The theme offered some background information
  and some retrieval cues, which increased recall.
  
• also led to more intrusions such as, The
  professor got Nancy pregnant.

38
Autobiographical Memory

• Memory of personal history
• Constructive in nature

39
Flashbulb Memories

• Where were you when the
• Challenger explosion occurred?
• OJ verdict was read?
• JFK was assassinated?
• Bombing of the World Trade Center?
• Tested immediate memory for Challenger disaster
  and then again 3 years later
• little agreement with the two memories, despite
  the confidence of the participants

40
Emotion and Memory

• There is a strong relationship (.90) between the
  emotionality and vividness of memory
• Does not mean accurate!!
• Emotional events less resistant to forgetting
  over time

41
Extraordinary Autobiographical Memory

• A Woman Remembers What She Did Every Day for
  Decades

42
Schacters Seven Sins of Memory

1. Memories are transient (fade with time)
2. We do not remember what we do not pay attention
   to
3. Our memories can be temporarily blocked
4. We can misattribute the source of memory
5. We are suggestible in our memories
6. We can show memory distortion (bias)
7. We often fail to forget the things we would like
   not to recall (persistence of memory)