How is info.
stored in LTM?
Activity
• Read through the following story
once. You have two minutes.
• I will then hide the text.
• Write down the story as verbatim as
you can.
So.. What’s stored in LTM?
Figure 3-1 The Knowledge in Long-Term Memory
Bruning, Schraw, & Ronning, (p.47)
Long-Term Memory
Declarative
Knowledge
Semantic
Memory
Procedural
Knowledge
Episodic
Memory
Concepts
Productions
Propositions
Schemata
Scripts
Declarative/Procedural


Declarative Knowledge
factual knowledge, knowing ‘what’
Procedural Knowledge
embodied knowledge, knowing ‘how’

Often automatized – we often do things
without any conscious attention to what
we are doing or why
Most learning involves
an interplay between the two!
DK: Semantic / Episodic

Semantic Memory



memory of general concepts & principles & their
associations
Domains = vast networks of semantic info that
we (as we gain expertise) encode, organize, &
have available for retrieval
Episodic Memory



storage & retrieval of personally dated,
autobiographical experiences
Have ‘personal tags’
Basis for retrieval = association with a particular
time or place
Concepts


the mental structures by which we
represent meaningful categories
Particular objects or events are grouped
together on the basis of perceived
similarities




Examples: Those that ‘fit’ the category
Non-Examples: Those that do not fit
Attributes: similar features across
examples of a concept
Defining Attributes: features essential to
defining the concept
Concepts: Theories of Structure

Rule-governed: category membership defined
by rules that clearly delineate examples & nonexamples



Hmmmm… seems to assume ‘clean’ categories
with necessary & sufficient defining attributes
Prototype: categories are determined by the
degree to which an example is similar to a
known instance in memory
Probabilistic: categorization is determined by the
summing of evidence for category membership
against criteria; once a threshold is met, the
instance is categorized as a positive example
Propositions



The smallest unit of meaning that can stand as a
separate assertion
More complex than the concepts they include
Can be judged as true or false

The trainer of the Kentucky Derby winner
Alysheba was Jack Van Berg, who always wore a
brown suit.
1.Jack Vban Berg was the trainer of Alysheba.
2.Alysheba won the Kentucky Derby.
3.Jack Van Berg always wore a brown suit.


Not the sentences themselves; rather, the meaning
of the sentences. (surface structure is lost while
semantic content is preserved)
Linked up in propositional networks

Propositional Network

Susan gave Maria, the President of the
club, a white cat.
Schemata






Data structures within which the knowledge stored in
memory is represented
Serve as ‘scaffolding’ for organizing experience
Contain slots - hold the contents of memory as a range of
slot values
Instantiated – when the ‘slots’ are filled in with values
Serve to guide attention!
Types: objects, events, sequences of events, actions, &
sequences of actions

HUH?!………………………………………………………….
Schemas are integrated units of declarative knowledge
Can contain propositions, images or linear orderings
They abstract the regularities of a category
E.g. Journalism: who, what, when, where, why

Bartlett’s work on schemas for texts






NOTE: Schemas for events = scripts
Activity
• Pair up & trade your recall of the story
“War of the Ghosts.”
• Examine the original a second time.
• Brainstorm a list of how your partner’s
recalled version differs from the original.
Schemata: Bartlett’s Findings


Different subjects recalled the passage in
their own characteristic way
BUT… a number of consistent tendencies





passages shorten
become more coherent
fit readers viewpoint/cultural norms more
closely
certain features of passage selected & used to
anchor whole story
detail often changed  become more familiar
What’s at work here?
Schema-Fitting!
PK: Productions
Productions

Way of representing procedural knowledge
Condition-action rules = IF/THEN rules

Example: Unlocking a Door








If
If
If
If
car is locked, then insert key.
key is inserted in lock, then turn key.
door unlocks, then return the key to vertical.
key is vertical then withdraw key.
Often come in production systems with outcome of
one resulting in condition of next & end one
resulting in outcome (e.g. modifying knowledge)
Fire automatically if conditions met
memory for them is implicit (unconscious)
Extra Credit (3 points)
due Weds 7/21
Review the film “Momento”
or “50 First Dates”*
How do they depict the structure and
function of memory? Is it accurate? Why?
(1 pg single-spaced paper max)