Forming & Using New Memories

1. Forming & Using New Memories I have a photographic memory but once in a while I forget to take off the lens cap. - Milton Berle

2. What is memory? • processes involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills after the original information is no longer present

3. model view of memory Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) • Control processes: active processes that can be controlled by the person

4. Modal Model of Memory: Examples

5. Basic Terminology • Rehearsal • Encoding • Storage • Retrieval • Forgetting

6. Modal Model of Memory: Sensory Memory • Persistence of vision: retention of the perception of light • Sparkler’s trail of light • Frames in film

7. Modal Model of Memory: Sensory Memory

8. Modal Model of Memory: Sensory Memory • Echo (auditory) • Similar to icon, BUT: • Recall can be cued by category • Echoes can last longer (up to 20 secs)

9. Summary of Sensory Memory • Sensory memories • are modality specific • have relatively large capacity (although short storage time) • are relatively unprocessed (mostly physical, not meaningful, aspects)

10. barricade • children • diet • gourd • folio • meter • journey • mohair • phoenix • crossbow • doorbell • muffler • mouse • menu • airplane Subtract out from printed slides

11. Recency effect Primacy effect Word list for a serial positioncurve experiment (A); typical results (B). Modal Model of Memory: Short Term Memory Free-Recall Experiments

12. Modal Model of Memory: Short Term Memory • Capacity • Miller’s “7 (plus or minus 2)” • Digit Span • Chunking M T V C B S F B I N F L

13. Modal Model of Memory: Short Term Memory • Ericcson et al. (1989) • S.F. had an initial digit span of 7 • After 320 one-hour training sessions S.F. could remember up to 79 digits • Chunking

14. Modal Model of Memory: Short Term Memory

15. Modal Model of Memory: Short Term Memory • Duration Proactive interference

16. Short-Term Memory • Forgetting • Retention duration • Memory trace

17. Short-Term Memory • Forgetting • Is forgetting caused by decay or interference? • Probe-digit task 4 9 8 5 7 3 9 6 0 4 9 8 7 2 6 5

18. Modal Model of Memory: Short Term Memory • Coding C ? P F

19. Modal Model of Memory: Short Term Memory

22. Working Memory • Working memory differs from STM • STM is a single component • WM consists of multiple parts • STM holds information for a brief period of time • WM is concerned with the manipulation of information that occurs during complex cognition

23. Phonological Loop • Word-Length Effect • Memory for lists of words is better for short words than for long words • It takes longer to rehearse long words and to produce them during recall

24. Phonological Loop • Articulatory Suppression • Prevent one from rehearsing items to be remembered • Reduces memory span • Eliminates word-length effect • Reduces phonological similarity effect for reading words

25. Visuospatial Sketch Pad • Brooks (1968) • Memorize sentence and then consider each word (mentally) and either • say “yes” if it is a noun and “no” if it is not • point to a Y if word is a noun and a N if word is not

26. Visuospatial Sketch Pad • Pointing was easier than speaking • Pointing involved the visuospatial sketch pad and the phonological loop • Speaking involved two verbal tasks which overloaded the phonological loop

27. Working Memory • WM is set up to process different types of information simultaneously • WM has trouble when similar types of information are presented at the same time

28. The Central Executive • Controls suppression of irrelevant information