MEMORY

What Is Memory?
Memory is the process in which information is encoded,
stored, and retrieved

Information Processing Perspective

• Encoding: receiving, processing and combining of received
information
• Storage: creation of a permanent record of the encoded information

• Retrieval, recall or recollection: calling back the stored information in

response to some cue for use in a process or activity
 Measuring Memory - Recall & Recognition
RECOGNITION
• Recognition is a response to a sensory cue. When you see something, you compare it to
information stored in your memory, and if you find a match, you "recognize" it.

Recognition Example
• A police line-up is a classic exercise in recognition. You look at several people, and compare
each to the person you saw commit the crime.

RECALL
• Recall is the retrieval of information from memory without a cue. There is a question, and
you must search your memory for the answer.

Recall Example
• Say that instead of looking at a lineup, you have to describe the person you saw to a sketch
artist. This is an exercise in recall. The artist may try to help your recollection by asking
questions, but ultimately you have to find the information yourself.

COMPARISON
• Because it is cued, recognition is easier than recall. A simple illustration of this is recognizing
a familiar face almost instantly, but struggling to come up with the person's name.
Three Box Model of Memory
 Sensory Register
• Information can be held for a very brief time in sensory channels. This storage
function of sensory channels is called Sensory Register.
• Most of the information is quickly lost.
• Only information that we recognize & pay attention to is passed on to STM for
further processing.
• Characteristics
– Content is just a representation of physical characteristics of the stimulus.

– It has relatively large capacity.

– It has a brief duration.

– It is of 2 types: Visual Sensory/Iconic Memory & Auditory Sensory/Echoic

Memory
 Short Term Memory
• It holds information received from Sensory Register for about 30 secs

• STM has limited capacity for processing information; approximately 7 +/- 2

• Rehearsal and chunking are very important in the transfer of information

from STM to LTM.
• Chunking
– Units of memory are called chunks

– E.g. Mobile numbers, A/C No’s

• Ways of Rehearsal
• Maintenance Rehearsal: Just going over and over what is to be remembered. It is
not that efficient in transferring the information.
• Elaborative Rehearsal: Involves giving the material organization and meaning and it
leads to proper transfer.

Advantage: It is easy to search information through STM

 Long Term Memory
• It is the storehouse for information that must be kept for long periods of time.

Characteristics
• Since amount of information stored in LTM is vast, we cannot scan all the
contents; so it has to be indexed.
• Information is stored in terms of meaning or semantic codes.
• Forgetting in LTM occurs not because of rehearsal but it does when we are
unable to retrieve information for some reason.

Types of Long Term Memory

• Episodic: Deals with individuals personal experiences. It consists of not only
what happened but also when & where it happened.
• Semantic: It is organized set of knowledge one has acquired and stored.
• Procedural: It refers to way we remember how things are done
 Short-Term Memory
Capacity
Memory-Span Test

• Read the top row of digits, then look away and repeat
them back in order. Continue until a mistake is made.
 Short-Term Memory
The Serial-Position Effect

• Serial Position Curve

– Indicates the tendency
to recall more items
from the beginning and
end of a list than from
the middle.
• Primacy & Recency Effect
 Long-Term Memory
Retrieval
• Explicit Memory
– The type of memory elicited through the conscious
retrieval of recollections in response to direct questions.
– Conscious retention, direct tests, disrupted by amnesia,
encoded in the hippocampus
• Implicit Memory
– A non conscious recollection of a prior experience that is
revealed indirectly, by its effects on performance.
– Nonconscious retention, indirect tests, intact with
amnesia, encoded elsewhere
 Long-Term Memory
Retrieval
Implicit Memory in Everyday Life
• Déjà vu
– A sense of familiarity but no real memory
• The false-fame effect
– Names presented only once, familiarity but no real
memory, assume person is famous
• Eyewitness transference
– Face is familiar, but situation in which they remembering
seeing face is incorrect
• Unintentional plagiarism
– Take credit for someone else’s ideas without awareness
Long-Term Memory
Reconstruction
“Office” Schema

• Study this picture for 30

seconds.
 Forgetting:
Why It Occurs?
Meaning of Forgetting
• Forgetting is loss of information in the retention stage.
• It is due to inadequate encoding, poor organization, and
difficulties with retrieval.
Theories of Forgetting
• Decay Theory
• Interference Theory
• Retrieval Failure
• Motivated Forgetting
 Decay Theory
• When new material is learnt, it leaves a TRACE in the

brain.

• This trace involves some sort of physical change in the

brain.

• With passage of time, due to metabolic processes of

brain, these traces fade away/decay & eventually

disintegrate & disappear.

 Interference Theory

• The interference theory of forgetting suggest that we forget something

because other information that is learned interferes with our ability to

recall it

• It is of two types

• Retroactive Interference:
– Retroactive interference occurs when newer information learned interferes

with remembering previously learned information.

• Proactive Interference:
– Proactive interference occurs when something that we previously learned

interferes with remembering newer information.

 Retrieval failure Theory
• Retrieval failure is sometimes called cue-dependent forgetting

• It occurs when information has not actually been lost from long term memory,

rather a faulty or ineffective cue has been used to retrieve it.

• Cue present during learning is absent at the time of retrieval

Types

• Context Dependent Forgetting:

• It occurs when environmental cues that were present when learning took place are

absent at the time of recall.

• State Dependent Memory:

• It occurs if emotional state in which we were present when information was learnt

is no longer available at the time of recall

 Motivated Forgetting
• It stresses on persons motives in remembering and

forgetting.

Types

• Repression:

– We are unable to recall some memories because we have

unconsciously repressed such memories

• Suppression:

– We consciously suppress unpleasant memories.

How To Remember Better?
 Mnemonics
• Mnemonic strategies are memory aids that provide a
systematic approach for organizing and remembering facts
that have no apparent link or connection of their own.

• Mnemonics provide the tools necessary to memorize and

recall almost any information
Peg-Word Method
• It involves use of counting from one to ten to remember new info.
• Example: One is a bun; two is a shoe; three is a tree; etc.
• Uses interactive mental imagery – associating a cue with a target memory in a single
image.
• Like having pegs on a wall to hang coats, you can go retrieve coats off the peg. Likewise,
with the peg-word method, you can retrieve items to be remembered.

Method of Loci
• It means method of locations
• Uses sequence of locations that are already known
• To remember items, we must picture ourselves walking through the various locations,
depositing objects to be remembered in each location – a clear image must be created
for each item.
• To recall the items, once again, we imagine ourselves walking through locations,
retrieving the items.
PQRST Method
PQRST is an acronym for Preview, Question, Read, Summary, Test.
• Preview: The student looks at the topic to be learned by glancing over the major
headings or the points in the syllabus.
• Question: The student formulates questions to be answered following a thorough
examination of the topics.
• Read: The student reads through the related material, focusing on the information
that best relates to the questions formulated earlier.
• Summary: The student summarizes the topic, bringing his or her own understanding
into the process. This may include written notes, spider diagrams, flow diagrams,
labelled diagrams, mnemonics, or even voice recordings.
• Test: The student answers the questions drafted earlier, avoiding adding any questions
that might distract or change the subject.
Acronyms
• An acronym is a word formed from the first letters or groups of letters in a name or
phrase.
• These can be used as mnemonic devices by taking the first letters of words or names
that need to be remembered and developing an acronym or acrostic.
• Example: DNA, ABCD etc

Chunking & Organization

• Chunking is simply a way of breaking down larger pieces of information into smaller,
organized “chunks” of more easily-managed information.
• Example: Telephone numbers
• Information can be organized into objective or subjective categories.
• Objective Organization: It is placing information into well-recognized, logical
categories. Example: Trees and grass are plants; a cricket is an insect.
• Subjective Organization: It is categorizing seemingly unrelated items in a way that
helps you recall the items later.
• This can also be useful because it breaks down the amount of information to learn.
Imagery
• Visual imagery is a great way to help memorize items for some people.
• It’s often used to memorize pairs of words (green grass, yellow sun, blue water, etc.).
• Imagery usually works best with smaller pieces of information.
• For instance, when trying to remember someone’s name you’ve just been introduced
to. You can imagine a pirate with a wooden leg for “Peggy,” or a big grizzly bear for
“Harry.”