Chapter 10- Memory and Thought
Processes of Memory
 Memory- the storage and retrieval of what has been ______________________
 Three Memory Processes:
 Encoding- _______________ information
 Storage - ______________ information
 Retrieval- ______________ information
Encoding
 The transforming of information so the nervous system
can process it
 __________________________
 ___________- say out loud to yourself
 Visual- mental pictures
 ____________- make some sense of the info
Storage
 The process by which _______________________________ over
a period of time
 Ranges from a few seconds to longer depending on effort and
importance
Retrieval
 Obtaining information that has been stored in memory
 Ease of retrieval depends on how ________________________________
3 Stages of Memory
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Sensory Memory
 Very brief memory storage immediately following
_______________________________
 Senses hold info for a fraction of a second before it disappears
 Gaps between frames in movies
Sensory Memory- Sperling’s Experiment
 Used a tachistoscope to present a group of letters and numbers to people for a
20th of a second.
 In the past if you presented people this…
7 1 V F
X L 5 3
B 7 W 4
 They would remember ___________.
 Sperling believed this was because the stimulus created a
___________________ and only a few could be read back before the image
faded- ________________________ (Visual Sensory Memory)
 Sperling told participants that after he flashed the letters, he would
present a tone.
 Upon hearing a high tone, participants were to tell him the top row
 Medium tone= ____________
 Low tone= _____________
Sperling’s Results
 Once people learned this system, they were able to remember about _____ of any
one row if asked to recall immediately
 This proved that the participant _______________________________
and can still read off the items in the correct row after the picture has left
the screen
 Echoic- auditory sensory memory (held for _________________)
Three Functions of Sensory Memory
 1) Prevents you from being
__________________________________________
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 2) Gives you enough decision time to figure out if
__________________________- automatically transferred to short term
memory
 3) Allows for _______________________
Short-Term Memory
 Memory that is limited in capacity to about _________________
and in duration by the subject’s active rehearsal
 Does not necessarily involve ____________________
 AKA __________________- processing and working with new information
 STM + Recalled LTM
Maintenance Rehearsal
 A system for remembering that involves _______________________________
without attempting to find meaning in it
 ________________ lead to losses in STM
 STM measured by seeing how long a participant can retain information without
rehearsal
 About _______________
Chunking
 ST Memory- only _________________________
 Chunking- the process of grouping items together to make them
______________________
 Usually items are either related or rehearsed
 Miller- if a collection is packaged into a chunk, it is
________________________
 Radio station names, phone numbers, initials, etc.
 Memorizing trick- chunk ASAP
 555-6794 instead of 5-5-5-6-7-9-4
 Even with chunking, no more than __________________ without rehearsal. Must
be rehearsed to transfer to LT memory with ____________________.
Primary-Recency Effect
 We are better able to recall information presented
at ________________________________
 Primary- ______
 Recency- ______
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Long-Term Memory
 The storage of information over ______________________________
 Not like a filing cabinet- you reconstruct what you must recall when you need it
 Capacity appears to be _________________
 Only ______________ are maintained (i.e. movies)
Types of Long-Term Memory
 Semantic vs. Episodic (Tulving)
 ____________ vs. ___________________
 Declarative vs. Procedural (Squire)
 ___________________________ vs. ___________________________
Memory and the Brain
 What happens when we remember?
 Change in ____________ structure
 Change in ____________ structure
 Evidence that procedural memories are formed in the __________ in the
frontal cortex and declarative memories occur in the _____________
(words, facts, events) and the ____________ (emotions)
Retrieving Information
 Stored information is useless unless ___________________
 Human brain has to be extremely well-organized
Recognition
 A person ____________ an object, idea, or stimulation as
one he or she has not experienced before.
 Multiple choice tests
 A single item of information may be indexed under
______________________
 Identifying musical instruments regardless of the
song
 A person’s features: more files, easier to retrieve
Recall
 Reconstructing __________________________
 Searching for and finding information
 In a ____________, each word and bit of information must be retrieved
separately
 Involves knowledge, attitudes, and inferences
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 Influenced by __________________- alteration of a recalled memory that may
be ___________ or ___________ depending on experiences, attitudes, or
references
 _______________- act of filling in memory gaps if our reconstruction is
incomplete, sometimes in terms of our schemas
 Schema- ___________________________________________
 _________________- ability to remember with great accuracy based on ST
exposure (5% of children but _____________ in adults)
State-Dependent Learning
 Recalling information easily when you are in
_______________________________________ as you were when you encoded
the information
 Studying
Relearning
 Both declarative and procedural memory
 Learn more quickly _________________________
Forgetting
 __________- fading away over time
 Not certain if long term memories can ever decay- can sometimes be
remembered by
________________________________________________
 _________________- blockage of a memory by previous or subsequent memories
 Proactive- earlier memory prevents you from
__________________________
 Retroactive- a later memory or new information blocks remembering
____________________________
 May sometimes erase memories permanently but sometimes
_____________________________
 ___________- people may subconsciously block memories- ____________
Amnesia
 A ___________________ that may occur due to brain damage,
drug use, or severe psychological stress
 Infant amnesia- the relative lack of
___________________________
 Freud- infancy is filled with ___________________
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 Because infants do not yet understand language, their
memory is _______________
 The ________________ is not mature enough to
spark memories
Improving Memory
 Meaningfulness and Association
 Elaborate rehearsal- relate the information to
________________________
 Rearranging: DFIRNE-FRIEND
 Use of ________________
 __________________ to prevent interference- rehearse even when you
know it
 Avoid studying ________________________
 Space out your learning
 Mnemonic Devices
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