INTRODUCTION TO MEMORY

Learning Outcome

At the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

 Identify the different types of memories.

 Explain forgetting.

 Differentiate between anterograde and retrograde

amnesia.

 Identify memory improvement strategies

What is Memory?
Memory

 Memory is the retention of information.

 It is our ability to store and retrieve information.

 The field of psychology that is involved in learning

about memory is cognitive psychology and cognitive
neuroscience.
Memory

Involves skills...

Facts that never change...

Facts that seldom change...

Facts that frequently change...

 Brain Areas Included in Memory
 The hippocampus, a primitive structure deep in the brain,
plays the single largest role in processing information as
memory.
 The amygdala, an almond-shaped area near the
hippocampus, processes emotion and helps imprint
memories that involve emotion.
 The cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain, stores
most long-term memory in different zones, depending on
what kind of processing the information involves:
language, sensory input, problem-solving, and so forth.
In addition, memory involves communication among the
brain’s network of neurons, millions of cells activated by
brain chemicals called neurotransmitters.
Information Processing Model of Memory

 There are 3 processes:

Encoding Storage Retrieval

How do we remember?

 Encoding
 Three ways in which information can be encoded:
 Visual (picture)
 Acoustic (sound)
 Semantic (meaning)
Encoding

 Mere repetition does not guarantee strong memory.

 Attention and emotional arousal can enhance

memory encoding.

 Giving meaning to the information that you want to

remember will also enhance that memory.
Storage

 Process of maintaining or keeping information readily

available.

 Memories are stored in the short-term memory or long-

term memory.

 The process of converting information from short-term

memory to long-term memory is called consolidation.
Atkinson-Shiffrin Multi-Store Model
(Shiffrin & Atkinson, 1969)

 The Atkinson-Shiffrin Multi-Store Model argues

that memory has three main storage areas:
 Sensory memory
 Short-term memory
 Long-term memory
1. Sensory Memory

 Sensory memory is the shortest-term element of

memory, which is related to sensory information.

 Duration is ~1 second.

 There are two types of sensory memory:

 Iconic memory – sensory store for visual information
 Lasts about quarter of a second (Sperling, 1960)
 Echoic memory – sensory store for auditory
information
 Lasts about two seconds (Darwin et al., 1972)
2. Short-Term Memory

 Short-term memory holds the information we are

currently thinking about

 Information can be brought into short-term memory by

paying attention.

 Memory retention is brief, but if information is rehearsed or

repeated, the information can be kept in mind.

 Short-term memory capacity is about 7±2 chunks of

information (Miller, 1956).

 Chunks are combinations of many small pieces of

information. This memory strategy is called chunking.
 Chunking

 Chunks are combinations of many small pieces of

information. This memory strategy is called chunking.

Letters can be chunks E H F T A E R

One can fit
more
information
Words can be chunks Flock Birds A Feather Of into short-term
Together memory by
combining
Birds of a feather flock smaller chunks
Phrases can be chunks
together into larger
A stich in time saves nine chunks
Look before you leap
3. Long-Term Memory

 Storing information relatively permanent.

 Duration is about a lifetime.

 Stored on basis of meaning and importance.

 Long-Term Memory

 Types of long-term memory:

Long Term Memory

Declarative Procedural (implicit)

(explicit) Memory Memory
(“Knowing What”) (“Knowing How”)

Semantic Memory Episodic Memory

(General Knowledge) (Experience)
Long-Term Memory Definitions

 Declarative (explicit) memory is memory that we are

conscious about.
 Semantic memory is memory for general information,
including both facts and language.
 Example: Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia; carrot
is a type of vegetable.
 Episodic memory is memory for experience.
 Example: Your time in secondary school; your birthday party
last year.

 Procedural (implicit) memory is memory for how to do

things
 Example: Riding a bike, driving, playing piano
Baddeley’s (2000) Working Memory
Model
Working Memory

 Baddeley & Hitch (1974) developed an alternative

model of short-term memory called working
memory.

 In contrast to short-term memory proposed by

Atkinson & Shiffrin, working memory involves active
processing, and is composed of several different
components.
 Working Memory

 Working memory consist four components:

Central executive, which
controls and coordinates the
phonological loop and
visuospatial sketchpad.

Phonological loop that Episodic buffer, Visuospatial sketchpad

stores and processes which integrates that stores and processes
spoken and written information from visual and spatial
information different systems. information
 Pat you head and rub your stomach

 Pat your head and say alphabet

 Serial Position Effect
 Serial position effect
 We tend to remember items in the beginning of the series
(primacy effect) and the end (recency effect), and forget
the middle
 Items early in the list are better
remembered because they
make it into long-term
memory, whereas items at the
end of the list are better
remembered because they
are still in short-term memory.
Retrieval

 Process by which stored information is recovered from

memory

 “Remembering”
Forgetting
What is it?
 Forgetting
 Three parts to forgetting:
 Transience – refers to that fact that memories
sometimes seem to just fade away – storage decay theory
 Absentmindedness – forgetfulness due to not paying
attention
 Blocking – information that is stored in memory but we
can’t seem to find it.
 E.g., tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
 Retroactive interference – more recent information
goes backward (retroactively) to interfere with earlier
information.
 Proactive interference – older material goes forward
(proactively) to interfere with something new
Blocking (Forgetting)
Forgetting Curve
 Amnesia
 Organic amnesia is a deficit in memory that has
been caused by brain damage.

 There are two types of organic amnesia:

 Anterograde amnesia (AA)
 Retrograde amnesia (RA)
The Curious Case of HM

 Henry Molaison (HM) had

incapacitating temporal lobe
epilepsy.
 At 27 years old, he had parts of his
brain removed, including parts of his
temporal lobes and hippocampus.
 It resolved his seizures, but he had
now anterograde amnesia.
 Researchers concluded that
hippocampus plays a role in the
formation of new memories.
What can we do to improve our
memory?
 Memory Improvement
Strategies
 Mnemonics are memory techniques
 Acronyms – making a word or phrase out of the first letter
material that you want to recall
 Example: ASAP; MAS; KPJ; OCEAN
 Acrostics – new word is generated from each letter and the
words are arranged in a sentence
 Example:
My Mercury
Very Venus
Excellent Earth
Mother Mars
Just Jupiter
Served Saturn
Us Uranus
Nachos Neptune
Memory Improvement
Strategies
 Method of loci
(journey method)
thinking of a series of
places that you can
remember in order, and
mentally place the
information that you
want to remember in
those locations.
 Summary

 There are three main types of memory storages,

sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term
memory.

 Retrograde amnesia refers to the inability of

remembering past events, and anterograde amnesia
refers to the inability of remembering new events.

 Memory can be improved by using mnemonics, which

include acronyms and acrostics, and method of loci.