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Lecture 1 - Memory

Memory is defined as the recording of past experiences for future use, involving processes of encoding, storage, and retrieval. Key concepts include episodic, semantic, autobiographical, and emotional memory, along with studies by Hermann Ebbinghaus and Peterson and Peterson that explore memory retention and forgetting. Understanding memory requires considering various levels of explanation and its significance in shaping personal identity and life experiences.

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22 views22 pages

Lecture 1 - Memory

Memory is defined as the recording of past experiences for future use, involving processes of encoding, storage, and retrieval. Key concepts include episodic, semantic, autobiographical, and emotional memory, along with studies by Hermann Ebbinghaus and Peterson and Peterson that explore memory retention and forgetting. Understanding memory requires considering various levels of explanation and its significance in shaping personal identity and life experiences.

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elliegillespie55
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Memory 1

What is memory?
Key Concepts and Terms

Episodic Memory
Semantic Memory
Autobiographical Memory
Emotional Memory
Encoding, Storage and Retrieval
Hermann Ebbinghaus
Forgetting curve
Peterson and Peterson (1959) study
Miller (1956) study
Problems with a unitary model of memory
Levels of explanation
What is memory?

Memory is the recording of the past for later use in the present

For example: What did you at lunchtime yesterday?

An example of Episodic memory - memory of personal life


experiences (what where when)
Memory involves:
Encoding
The conversion of information into a form that
can be stored in memory

Storage
The creation of a trace of this information within the
nervous system

Retrieval
An attempt to recover a memory trace
A unitary model of memory

input encoding

storage
output retrieval

Retention for decades


Massive capacity

Forgetting
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909) was the first person to
investigate memory scientifically and systematically
Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve

120

100
% syllables retained

80

60

40
20

0
0 20 min 60min 9 hrs 1 day 2 days 5 days 31 days

Retention interval

Nonsense Syllables e.g. juz bul gof


Peterson and Peterson’s (1959) experiment
Peterson and Peterson’s (1959) experiment
Peterson and Peterson’s (1959) experiment
Data from Peterson and Peterson’s (1959) experiment

120
100
Percentage recalled

80
60
40
20
0
0 3 6 9 12 15 18
Retention interval in seconds
Memory span stimuli

Miller (1956) The magic number 7 + 2


A unitary model of memory

input encoding

storage
output retrieval

Retention for decades


Massive capacity

Forgetting
A Radium Wedding Anniversary in Pukekohe 1909

Te Ara
Semantic memory
The recollection of ideas, concepts and facts

Autobiographical memory
Memory for one's personal history
A combination of episodic and semantic memory

Emotional memory
Emotion-memory interactions
Often important in episodic memory
What is memory?

Memory is the recording of the past for later use in the present

What else could that include?


The changes in our brains that encode experience

Pixabay
The information stored in our genes

Agonistic displays in a human and mandrill


The stories we tell

Te Reo Wainene o Tua: The Sweet Story of Yester-year


Our cultural practices
It is important to consider Levels of Explanation

Gazzaniga, Heatherton & Halpern(2016)


“You have to begin to lose your memory, if only in bits
and pieces, to realize that memory is what makes our
lives. Life without memory is no life at all... Our memory is
our coherence, our reason, our feeling, even our action.
Without it we are nothing.”

Luis Buñuel, Spanish filmmaker

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