Chapter 7: Human Memory
Human Memory: Basic Questions
• How does information get into memory?
• How is information maintained in memory?
• How is information pulled back out of
memory?
Figure 7.2 Three key processes in memory
Encoding: Getting Information Into Memory
• The role of attention
• Focusing awareness
• Divided attention
Encoding: Getting Information into Memory
• The role of attention
• Levels of processing
– Incoming information processed at different
levels
– Deeper processing = longer lasting
memory codes
– Encoding levels:
• Structural = shallow
• Phonemic = intermediate
• Semantic = deep
Figure 7.3 Levels-of-processing theory
Enriching Encoding
• Elaboration = linking a stimulus to other
information at the time of encoding
– Thinking of examples
• Visual Imagery = creation of visual images to
represent words to be remembered
– Easier for concrete objects: Dual-coding
theory
Storage: Maintaining Information in Memory
• Analogy: information storage in computers ~
information storage in human memory
• Information-processing theories
– Subdivide memory into three different
stores
• Sensory, Short-term, Long-term
Figure 7.6 The Atkinson and Schiffrin model of memory storage
Sensory Memory
• Brief preservation of information in original
sensory form
• Auditory/Visual – approximately ¼ second
Short Term Memory (STM)
• Limited duration – about 20 seconds
without rehearsal
– Rehearsal – the process of repetitively
verbalizing or thinking about the
information
• Limited capacity – magical number 7 plus
or minus 2
– Chunking – grouping familiar stimuli for
storage as a single unit
Short-Term Memory as “Working Memory”
• STM not limited to phonemic encoding
• Loss of information not only due to decay
• Baddeley (1986) – 3 components of working
memory
– Phonological rehearsal loop
– Visuospatial sketchpad
– Executive control system
Figure 7.7 Short-term memory as working memory
Long-Term Memory
• Unlimited Capacity
• Permanent storage?
– Flashbulb memories
• How is knowledge represented and organized
in memory?
– Schemas and Scripts
– Semantic Networks
– Connectionist Networks and PDP Models
Retrieval: Getting Information
Out of Memory
• The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon – a failure
in retrieval
– Retrieval cues
• Reinstating the context
– Context cues
• Reconstructing memories
– Misinformation effect
• Source monitoring
Forgetting: When Memory Lapses
• Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve
• Retention – the proportion of material
retained
– Recall
– Recognition
– Relearning
Figure 7.10 Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve for nonsense syllables
Why We Forget
• Ineffective Encoding
• Decay
• Interference
– Proactive
– Retroactive
• Retrieval failure
• Repression
– Authenticity of repressed memories?
– Memory illusions
– Controversy
Figure 7.11 Effects of interference
Figure 7.12 Retroactive and proactive interference
Retrieval Failure
• Encoding Specificity
• Transfer-Appropriate Processing
• Repression
– Authenticity of repressed memories?
– Memory illusions
– Controversy
Figure 7.14 The prevalence of false memories observed by Roediger and McDermott (1995)
The Physiology of Memory
• Anatomy
– Anterograde and Retrograde Amnesia
• Hippocampus
• Medial temporal lobe memory system
• Neural circuitry
– Localized neural circuits
• Biochemistry
– Hormones modulating neurotransmitter
systems
– Protein synthesis
Figure 7.16 The anatomy of memory
Systems and Types of Memory
• Declarative vs. Procedural
• Semantic vs. Episodic
• Prospective vs. Retrospective
Figure 7.17 Theories of independent memory systems
Figure 7.18 Retrospective versus prospective memory