C O G N I T I V E P S Y C H O L O G Y
Memory Process
B Y G R O U P 4
D E L A N T A R - M A L V A R - N A B A L L I N
ICE BREAKER
Encoding and Transfer of Information
Short-term storage:
Forms 01
-The Conrad (1964) experiment shows the importance in
of short-term memory of an acoustic code rather than a
visual code.
Encoding
-Baddeley (1966) argued that short-term memory relies
primarily on an acoustic rather than a semantic code.
Encoding and Transfer of Information
Long-term storage:
02
Forms -Most information stored in long-term memory is primarily
semantically encoded. In other words, it is encoded by the
of meanings of words.
Encoding
-Encoding of information in long-term memory is not exclusively
semantic. There also is evidence for visual encoding.
Types of Memory:
Consolidation: The process of integrating
Nondeclarative Memory: Skills new information into stored information.
and procedures that are often
unconscious. Metamemory strategies involve reflecting
on our own memory processes with a view
Declarative Memory: Facts and
to improving memory.
events that can be consciously
recalled. Metacognition: The ability to think about
and control one's thought processes.
Rehearsal -The repeated recitation of an item to keep information active.
Overt Rehearsal: Aloud and obvious to observers.
Covert Rehearsal: Silent and hidden from view.
In elaborative rehearsal, the individual somehow elaborates the items to be remembered. Such
rehearsal makes the items either more meaningfully integrated into what the person already knows
In maintenance rehearsal, the individual simply repetitiously rehearses the items to be repeated. Such
rehearsal temporarily maintains information in short-term memory without transferring the information
to long-term memory.
The Spacing
Effect
The greater the distribution of learning
trials over time, the more the participants
remembered over long periods.
The Spacing Effect
Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that distributed practice
enhances memory consolidation
Example: Bahrick & Phelps (1987) demonstrated that participants
remembered Spanish vocabulary learned 8 years prior when spaced
appropriately
Distributed vs. Massed Practice
01 Distributed Practice: Learning sessions spaced over
time lead to better long-term retention.
Massed Practice: Cramming information in a short
02
period results in poorer memory retention.
Rapid Eye Movement (REM)
REM sleep is a particular stage of sleep
characterized by dreaming and increased
brainwave activity a person receives (Karni
et al., 1994).
Insomnia is a disorder that deprives a
person of much-needed sleep.
The Learning Systems
The hippocampus serves as a rapid learning system,
temporarily maintaining new experiences.
Upon recall, memories can return to an unstable state.
The reconsolidation process helps to stabilize
previously encoded memories.
Organization of Information
Free recall allows participants to recall
items in any order.
Serial recall requires them to recall items
in the exact order they were presented.
Mnemonic devices
Categorical clustering, organizes a list of items into a set of categories.
Interactive images, imagine as if the objects are interacting with each other.
Pegword system, link the new word to a memorized list and create an
interactive image between the two words.
Method of loci, visualize walking around an area and use various landmarks
to remember specific location.
Mnemonic devices
Acronyms, are formed by taking the first letter of each word in a phrase or
concept to create a new, shorter word.
Acrostics, create a sentence in which each word starts with the first letter of
the items you want to remember.
Keyword system, link the sound and meaning of a foreign word with a
familiar word.
Prospective vs. Retrospective Memory
01 Retrospective Memory: Memory for the past.
02 Prospective Memory: Memory for future tasks.
Prospective memory tends to retain better
than retrospective memory with age.
C O G N I T I V E P S Y C H O L O G Y
RETRIEVAL
FROM SHORT-
TERM MEMORY
D E L A N T A R - M A L V A R - N A B A L L I N
PARALLEL OR SERIAL
PROCESSING?
PARALLEL PROCESSING: Refers to the
01
simultaneous handling of multiple
operations.
02 SERIAL PROCESSING: Refers to operations
being done one after another.
EXHAUSTIVE OR SELF-
TERMINATING PROCESSING?
EXHAUSTIVE SERIAL PROCESSING:
01
Implies that the participant always checks
the test digit against all digits in the positive
set, even if a match were found partway
through the list.
02 SELF-TERMINATING SERIAL PROCESSING:
Implies that the participant would check the
test digit against only those digits needed to
make a response.
THE WINNER — A SERIAL
EXHAUSTIVE MODEL —
WITH SOME QUALIFICATIONS
Some cognitive psychologists have
suggested that we should seek not only to
understand the how of memory processes
but also the why of memory processes.
AVAILABILITY VS.
ACCESSIBILITY
Availability is the presence of
information stored in long-term
memory
Accessibility is the degree to which we
can gain access to the available
information.
C O G N I T I V E P S Y C H O L O G Y
INTELLIGENCE
AND
RETRIEVAL
D E L A N T A R - M A L V A R - N A B A L L I N
INITIAL RECALL PERFORMANCE:
01
Mediated by processing speed.
Older, slower participants showed
deficits.
02 LONGER-TERM RETENTION OF
INFORMATION: Speed of information
processing may influence initial
performance on recall and inspection
time tasks, but speed is not related to long
term learning.
C O G N I T I V E P S Y C H O L O G Y
PROCESSES OF
FORGETTING AND
MEMORY
DISTORTION
D E L A N T A R - M A L V A R - N A B A L L I N
INTERFERENCE: Occurs when competing
01
information causes us to forget something.
02 DECAY: Occurs when simply the passage
of time causes us to forget.
Processes of Forgetting and Memory Distortion
Why do we so easily and so quickly forget phone numbers we have just looked up or the names of people
whom we have just met?
Retroactive interference (or retroactive inhibition) - occurs when newly
acquired knowledge impedes the recall of older material.
Interference
Proactive interference (or proactive inhibition) - occurs when material that
Theory
was learned in the past impedes the learning of new material.
Serial-position curve represents the probability of recall of a given word, (order of
presentation)
Recency effect - refers to superior recall of words at and near the end of a list
Primacy effect - refers to superior recall of words at and near the beginning of a list.
Processes of Forgetting and Memory Distortion
Decay theory asserts that information is forgotten because of the
gradual disappearance, rather than displacement, of the memory
Decay
trace.
Theory
Even if both decay and interference contribute to forgetting, it can be
argued that interference has the strongest effect (Berman et al., 2009).
C O G N I T I V E P S Y C H O L O G Y
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
MEMORY
D E L A N T A R - M A L V A R - N A B A L L I N
FLASHBULB MEMORY
A memory of an event so
powerful that the person
remembers the event as vividly as
if it were indelibly preserved on
film.
Memory Distortions
People have tendencies to distort their memories (Aminoff et al., 2008; Roediger & McDermott,2000; Schacter & Curran,2000;
Schnider, 2008)
“Seven sins of memory.” (Schacter)
1. Transience - Memory fades quickly.
2. Absent-mindedness - People sometimes brush their teeth after already having brushed them.
3. Blocking - People sometimes have something that they know they should remember, but they can’t.
4. Misattribution - People often cannot remember where they heard what they heard or read what they read.
5. Suggestibility - People are susceptible to suggestion, so if it is suggested to them that they saw something,
they may think they remember seeing it.
6. Bias - People often are biased in their recall.
7. Persistence - People sometimes remember things as consequential that, in a broad context, are
inconsequential
C O G N I T I V E P S Y C H O L O G Y
EYEWITNESS
TESTIMONY AND
MEMORY
CONSTRUCTION
D E L A N T A R - M A L V A R - N A B A L L I N
These are two slides that were shown to participants in the experiment of Loftus
and colleagues (1978). Although the slides depicting the initial incident had
featured a stop sign, participants who had been questioned about a yield sign
often remembered having seen that yield sign in the original scene.
Post-Identification Feedback
Effect
Where a person's judgment or decision is influenced by the
feedback they receive after identifying or making an initial
judgment about something.
REPRESSED MEMORIES
Are memories that are
alleged to have been
pushed down into
unconsciousness because
of the distress they cause.
THE EFFECT OF CONTEXT ON
MEMORY
ENCODING SPECIFICITY: The results
of various experiments on retrieval
suggest that how items are encoded
has a strong effect both on how, and
on how well, items are retrieved.
C O G N I T I V E P S Y C H O L O G Y
Thank you !
D E L A N T A R - M A L V A R - N A B A L L I N
