QUIZ
oWhich theory says that we have a sample for every letter and its orientation in our memory? What
are the disadvantages of the theory?
oWhat is the difference between bottom-up and top-down perception? Can you give examples?
oWhat are some of the features that Anne Treisman names in her theory?
oWhat are functions of attention?
oCan you provide at least two theories of attention? ( and describe the difference between them?)
o
o

Memory
Michaela Porubanova
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P8IIOiZdqEE/Ti6QadQn5AI/AAAAAAAAALA/A26uL9ebwms/s1600/cov-memory.gif
http://www.crocodile-editions.ch/images/cartes_memory.png
http://www.cstore.cz/eshop/mainItemImage/SanDisk_Memory_Stick_Micro__M2__2_GB0.jpg

Memory
o1. mental capacity to store information
o2. information stored in our memory
o3. recall of information that I am trying to utillize at the moment
o4. dynamic processes used in the retention and recall/ recognition of information

3 basics mechanisms of memory
oEncoding
oStorage
oRetrieval
o

oOur sense of self and personal history arises from our experiences – but we only know of these
experiences through our recollections.
oAre we, then, just a product of our memories?

Everyday memory
oMemory is selective.
oRecovering a memory is not playing a videotape
nMemory involves inferences that fill in gaps in recall.
nWe are often unaware we have made such inferences.
oSource Amnesia: The inability to distinguish what you originally experienced from what you heard
or were told later about an event.
o

Confabulation
oConfabulation: Confusion of an event that happened to someone else with one that happened to you,
or a belief that you remember something when it never actually happened.
oConfabulation is most likely when:
nYou have thought about the event many times
nThe image of the event contains many details
nThe event is easy to imagine
nYou focus on emotional reactions to the event rather than what actually happened.
o

Patient H.M.
oBrain surgery for epilepsy in 1953
o• Parts of medial temporal region removed
o• Including the hippocampus (and more)
o• Specific anterograde amnesia (and some
oretrograde amnesia for 3 previous years)
o his working memory and procedural memory were intact, he could not commit new events to long-term
memory
o• No problem in perception, reasoning, etc
o• Died, November 2008.

Amnesias
oMemories for recent and remote events involve different structures.
o• Retrograde Amnesia – loss of memory for events preceding the lesion.
o• Anterograde Amnesia – loss of memory for events following the lesion.
http://braininjuryrx.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/amnesiachart2.jpg

Types of memory I
oExplicit Memory: Conscious, intentional recollection of an event or of an item of information.
oImplicit Memory: Unconscious retention in memory, as evidenced by the effect of a previous
experience or previously encountered information on current thoughts or actions.
o

Explicit Memory
oRecall: The ability to retrieve and reproduce from memory previously encountered material.
oRecognition: The ability to identify previously encountered material.
o

oBlack Grape Horse School Fish Student Bird Yellow Kiwi Blue Green Chair Mango Desk Bookcase Bed
Teacher Table Homework Class Apple Dog Banana Orange Cat


oHorse Brown Notebook Dog Pear Bird Orange Yellow Blue Purple Black Table Chair Desk Bookshelf
Teacher School Pupil Homework Classroom Banana Kiwi Grape Bed


o
You have 5 seconds to memorize as much as you can
Then, draw an empty chess board and reproduce the arrangement of pieces
E:\Consulting\Prentice Hall\Power Point\Kassin 2e\KA0606.GIF

oChunking?
o(Chunk: A meaningful unit of information; it may be composed of smaller units.)
oConfusion?
oRecall or recognition?

Types of memory
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o(Remembering that.... vs remembering how to ...)
http://www.abacon.com/slavin/images/t58.gif
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/cs6751_97_winter/Topics/human-cap/ltmtyps.gif

What is Memory?
oMemory for facts:
oNew York is located in the USA.
oDeclarative memory... what other kind could there be?
o.... Remembering how to tie your shoelaces
o.... Remembering how to ride a horse
oDeclarative vs Procedural Memory
o(Remembering that.... vs remembering how to ....)

Three-storage Model of Memory
oSensory Memory: Fleeting Impressions
oShort-term Memory: Memory’s Scratch Pad
oLong-term Memory: Final Destination
C:\Documents and Settings\mrenner\My Documents\_MJR\Consulting\Prentice Hall\Wade-Tavris brief,
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Short Term Memory/Working Memory
o
oTheorists differ a lot here
o•WM acts as an active area in which items are kept at the forefront of attention
o• Preserved by rehearsal
o• An old theory due to George Miller
osuggested a capacity of 7 +/- 2 ‘items’

Rehearsal
oMaintenance Rehearsal: Rote repetition of material in order to maintain its availability in
memory.
oElaborative Rehearsal: Association of new information with already stored knowledge and analysis
of the new information to make it memorable.
o

rehearsal
o
C:\Documents and Settings\mrenner\My Documents\_MJR\Consulting\Prentice Hall\Wade-Tavris brief,
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Memory techniques- mnemonics
ohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8S8V9VEFyI&feature=related


Theories of forgetting
oDecay
oInterference
oCue-dependent forgetting

Decay
oDecay Theory: The theory that information in memory eventually vanishes if it is not accessed (it
is valid more to short-term than to long-term memory)

Forgetting Curve
oHerman Ebbinghaus tested his own memory for nonsense syllables.
oForgetting was rapid at first and then slowly stagnated
C:\Documents and Settings\mrenner\My Documents\_MJR\Consulting\Prentice Hall\Wade-Tavris brief,
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Catalog\ebbinghaus.jpg

Interference
oRetroactive Interference: Forgetting that occurs when recently learned material interferes with
the ability to remember similar material stored previously.
o
oProactive Interference: Forgetting that occurs when previously stored material interferes with the
ability to remember similar, more recently learned material.
C:\Documents and Settings\mrenner\My Documents\_MJR\Consulting\Prentice Hall\Wade-Tavris brief,
Powerpoint\Graphics\f07_p251.gif C:\Documents and Settings\mrenner\My
Documents\_MJR\Consulting\Prentice Hall\Wade-Tavris brief, Powerpoint\Graphics\f07_p251.gif

Cue-dependent Forgetting
oCue-Dependent Forgetting: The inability to retrieve information stored in memory because of
insufficient cues for recall.
o„searching for a book in a library without the reference number, title, author or even subject „
o
oState-Dependent Memory: The tendency to remember something when the person is in the same physical
or mental state as during the original learning or experience.

Atkinson and Shiffrin



Sensory memory
oGreat capacity
oTime limitation
o2 sec
oAttention necessary for further processing
oFast decay of information

Sensory memory (iconic memory)
oResearch of George Sperling
oLatency :50ms
o
A
M
X
C
V
K
O
M
N
R
Y
J

Transfer of info from SM to STM
oattention= “ a gate” between SM and STM
oRelevance of information
oSelectivity of attention

Selectivity of attention
o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY

Short-term memory
oInformation flowing constantly
oHow to retain info?
oAttention but alsomaintanence rehearsal
oIf information is not processed it vanishes after 15-30 s
o

Self-reference effect
ohttp://www.psych.uni.edu/psychexps/exps/Self_Reference/selfref99.htm


Long-term memory
o“relatively” unlimited (time and space-wise)
o

Document about memory
o
ohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sWnkBf5V7s&feature=related

Long-term memory loss
ohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmzU47i2xgw&feature=related


Baddeley- working memory
o


Working memory: Alan Baddeley



Baddeley- working memory
oCentral Executive: meters out attention
oPhonological loop: sub-vocal rehearsal
oVisuo-spatial sketchpad: non-verbal information
o(visual, movement, etc)

Central Executive/ „supervisor“
o
obinding information from a number of sources into
ocoherent episodes
ocoordination of the slave systems
o
oshifting between tasks or retrieval strategies
o
oselective attention and inhibition
o

oProcesses sound or phonological information
ophonological store and articulatory rehearsal component /loop
Phonological Loop

Phonological Loop
o- Mental Rehearsal
oWhich list is easier to retain in memory?
o
oZ L Q T N K S R
oP B G V C T D E
o
ocup hat ball tree fork top door pin
orefrigerator hippopotamus encyclopedia.....

Phonological Loop
oItems which sound similar are more easily to be confused because storage of information is based
on the sound of the item (sub-vocal rehearsal)
o
oLonger words take up more ‘space’: they exert WM, so less information is remembered

Visuospatial sketchpad
ohold information about what we see = visual information
omanipulation of spatial and visual information

STM/WM vs LTM
oShort Term Memory is: Time-limited
o(max ca 30 sec)
oContent limited
o
oprefrontal cortex
odial a phone number someone just told you
o
oLong Term Memory is:
oOf Indefinite Duration
oVirtually unlimited
oeven permanently on the basis of meaning and importance
o

Autobiographical Memory
o


Autobiographical Memory
oThe reminiscence bump: people recall a disproportionatelylarge number of autobiographical memories
of events that happened when they were about 15-25 years of age.
o
oWHY?
omemories linked to self-identity
obiological/ maturational account
othe cognitive account – novel experience

Autobiographical Memory
o


Autobiographical Memory
oA period of recency: people recall more autobiographicalmemories of events that happened more
recently in their lives.
oRecall Ebbinghaus
o

o