Memory

Memory:

The Atkinson-Shiffrin (1969) Model of Memory:

Stage 1: Sensory Memory:

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• Iconic Memory:
  

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• Echoic Memory:
  

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Stage 2: Short-term Memory: (STM)

 

 

 

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• Holds a relatively small amount of information
  

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    e.g. remember the following sets of numbers

     

     

    
    

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    e.g. remembering a list of letters
    

    C, B, S, N, F, L, F, B, I, M, T, V
    

    
    

    J, T, L, O, F, B, C, W, E, P, Z, Q
    
    

     

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    e.g.

     

     

     

 

Stage 3: Long-Term Memory: (LTM)

 

 

analogous to a library

 

 

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  e.g. Think about your first best friend as a child.

 

 

 

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• Encoding of Information into LTM:

   

  • Levels of Processing Theory:

   

   

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  • Experiment by Craik & Tulving:
    
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Long-Term Memory continued:

Tulving's Types of Long-term memories:

 

• Semantic Memory:

 

 

e.g. Who is the current president of the U.S.?

e.g. At what temperature does water freeze?

e.g. What is the definition of Psychology?

 

 

• Episodic Memory:

 

 

e.g. Remembering what you did last weekend.

Remembering your 16th birthday party.

 

 

• Flashbulb memories:

 

 

e.g. a vivid memory of the moment when you first heard about September 11th.

 

 

Experiment by Weaver on Flashbulb memories (1991)

Method:

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Results:

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• Procedural Memory:

 

 

e.g. riding a bicycle

knowing how to swim

knowing how to make an omlette

skiing or snowboarding

 

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Forgetting

Forgetting:

3 main reasons for forgetting:

1. Diverted Attention:

 

 

e.g. not remembering where you put your car keys because you were thinking of something else at the time.

e.g. being distracted while trying to read a book. Don't remember what you've read.

 

e.g. Which image is actually a penny?

 

 

2. Decay:

 

 

Ebbinghaus (1885) studies on forgetting:

Method: he learned lists of nonsense syllables (TPQ, VEH) until he could recall them perfectly. Then he tested how much of the list he forgot over time.

Results:

 

 

 

 

3. Interference:

 

 

• Proactive Interference:

   

   

  e.g. if you buy a new padlock with a combination, the old combination may interfere with your memory

  e.g. if you move, your old phone number may interfere with remembering your new phone number.

 

 

• Retroactive Interference:

 

 

e.g. learning Spanish now makes it more difficult to remember the French you learned earlier.

 

 

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Jenkins & Dallenbach (1924)

Method: students learn a list of nonsense syllables, which they had to recall 8 hours later.

• 1st group was awake doing other things for the 8 hours

• 2nd group was asleep for the 8 hours.
  

Results:

 

 

Memory Distortions:

Elizabeth Loftus: done more than 200 experiments on memory distortions

• misinformation effect:

Loftus' classic experiment:

Method: showed students a video of a car accident

• Group 1 was asked "How fast was the car going when it smashed into the other car?"

• Group 2 was asked "How fast was the car going when it bumped into the other car?"

• One week later they asked subjects whether there was any broken glass (correct answer=no)

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

Conclusion:

 

 

 

 

• False memories:

Goff & Roediger (1998) -- showed that imagining nonexistent actions and events can create false memories.

Method: Students had to imagine doing simple acts during the experiment such as breaking a toothpick or picking up a stapler.

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garry (1996)

Method: students had to imagine themselves doing some activity as a child that they had never done before (e.g. running, then tripping & falling, and cutting their hand as it went throught a window).

 

Results:

 

 

 

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