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Long-Term Memory
Chapter 5
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Gradient of Memory
- Think of the first day of class and recall as much information as possible do the same for a class last semester. You will realize that recall of information for this class will be greater than the last semester class.
- It is clear form this demonstration that memories recall is tied up with length of time.
- Long-term memory (LTM) is long lasting and durable memory comprising of events over a lifetime. 3
Terminology
Before going into detail let us familiarize ourselves with a variety of long-term memories.
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Encoding in Long-Term
Memory
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Depth of Processing
- Are we likely to remember information that is processed in some deep meaningful way or in a shallow superficial way?
- Craik and Lockhart (1972) carried out a study to address this question explicitly.
- They designed stimulus items that manipulated three levels of processing. 6
Levels of Processing
“Whale” Q: Did the word begin with a capital letter? Structural Encoding Shallow Intermediate Deep Q: Did the word rhyme with the word “weight”? Phonemic Encoding Q: Would the word fit in the sentence? He met a ____ in the street. Semantic Encoding
10 Recall Test 20 40 60 80 Percent Recalled Less More Elaboration 11 Elaborative Rehearsal Other research has shown that deep processing enhances our memories for faces, for instance if faces were judged as honest versus how wide was the nose (Bloom & Mudd, 1991; Sporer, 1991). 12 Self-Reference Effect
- Recall of information improves when information is related to ourselves, called the self-reference effect.
- Rogers et al., (1977) used depth of processing model along with the self-reference as one condition to assess recall, and found that recall was superior when it was related to self- reference.
13 Self-Reference Effect 0 25 50 75 100 Physical Characteristics Acoustic Characteristics Semantic Characteristics Self-reference Characteristics Depth of Processing Recall (%) 14 Self-Reference Effect: Reasons
- The concept of “self,” has a rich and organized set of internal mental cues (like “my room”) to which information can be associated (Bellezza, 1984).
- When items are stored into this well-organized (personal trait) system, retrieval is easier (Klein & Kihlstrom, 1986).
- We rehearse (elaborative) material more frequently if it is associated with ourselves (Thompson et al., 1996). 15 Biology of Self-reference Effect It was thought at one time that left prefrontal cortex is involved with deeper levels of processing and the self- reference effect with the right prefrontal cortex (Crick and 2003), however recent studies suggest no such localization (??)
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Learn!
RECOGNIZE !hand waxableclawcoinjukekitefuzz-------ROADGRAYLARDJUTETEALJACKLICK---WANE-----ROSEFROGTRAYTREEPALMLEAFBEEP
Thomson & Tulving (1970) 20
Correct List
claw-BEEP - ROAD fuzz-LEAF
- TEAL coin-TREE - LARD
- GRAY wax-WANE able-FROG
- LICK juke-TRAY - JUTE kite-ROSE hand-PALM - JACK 0 25 50 75 100 Male Female Encoding Recognition (%) Male Speaker Female Speaker 21
Imaginary Context
Imaginary context can also produce effective encoding and recall (Geiselman and Glenny, 1977). A list of words was learnt as if it was being spoken by a familiar male or a female voice. Recognition was later tested with a male or a female speaker.
22 Emotions, Moods and Memory
- How do emotional factors affect memory?
- Emotion is defined as a reaction (pleasant or unpleasant) to a stimulus.
- Mood is generally a longer lasting experience which can be pleasant or unpleasant. 23 Pollyanna Principle Pleasant items are encoded more efficiently than unpleasant items. This is called the Pollyanna Principle. Rate these colors 1 (unpleasant) to 10 (pleasant) Did you start with pleasant colors? Green Brown Blue Pale Red Orange White Pink Yellow Black 24 TV Violence and Memory
- Segments from two movies, Karate Kid III (violent) and Gorillas in the Mist (non-violent) were shown.
- Two commercial were also shown during the movie segments and later recalled.
- Poor memory of commercial during the violent film clip compared to non-violent film (Bushman, 1998).
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Retrieval in Long-Term
Memory
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Memory Retrieval
To study memory retrieval two task are employed.
- Explicit Memory Task: Requires the subject to recall contents of information previously learnt with the instructions that would be tested for recall, e.g., define cognitive psychology
- Implicit Memory Task: Information recalled by the subject where no specific instructions were given for subsequent recall, e.g., what did you eat for dinner yesterday? 30
Memory Retrieval: Which is better?
Which is better?
- With normal adults, retrieval of explicit memory is always more difficult than implicit memory.
- Anesthetized patients show similar patterns; they are unable to recall conversation explicitly during surgery but do implicitly recall substantial information afterwards.
31 Dissociation Better recognition results for explicit memory if individuals encode materials semantically than perceptually (orthographically). Recognition is poor for both kinds of encoding for implicit memory tasks. 0 25 50 75 100 Semantic Perceptual Task Recognition (%) Explicit Implicit 32 Retrieval Difficulties: Amnesia
- Retrieval difficulties can result from amnesic conditions produced either by brain damage or a traumatic experience.
- In retrograde amnesia the patient cannot recall past events after traumatic experience and in anterograde he cannot recall new formed memories after the traumatic experience. 33 Retrieval Difficulties: Amnesia
- After an operation of his temporal lobes patient HM lost both of his hippocampi (a nucleus that consolidates memories) which resulted in anterograde amnesia.
- Although HM cannot make new declarative memories, he can make new procedural memories. www.brainconnection.com
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Autobiographical
Memory
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Autobiographical Memory
- Autobiographical memory is memory for events and issues related to yourself.
- It usually include verbal narrative, and may also include imagery, emotional reactions, and procedural information (Roediger et al., 2002; Rubin, 1996).
- Studies with autobiographical memory involve accuracy of recall and focuses on ecological validity in research. 39
Research
- Personal events and academic lectures (Burt et al., 1998; Thompson et al., 1996).
- Older adults describing themes in their life stories (Bluck & Habermas, 2001; Pauspathi, 2001).
- Grades from college courses (Bahrick et al., 1993).
- Immigrants recalling in two languages (Schrauf & Rubin, 2001).
- Thanksgiving dinner (Friedman & deWinstanley, 1998).
- Brain imaging studies Conway et al., 2000; 2001).
40 Type of Autobiographical Memories Flashbulb Memory is your memory for the situation in which you first learned of a very surprising and emotionally arousing event. Such memories are usually very vivid. www.geocities.com Twin Towers on fire 41 Accuracy of Flashbulb Memory However studies show that such memories may not as accurate as a photograph, however people are able to recall six kinds of information from these memories. Think of a memory…
- Place.
- Ongoing event that was interrupted by the news.
- The person who gave the news.
- Your own feelings.
- The emotions in others.
- The aftermath. 42 Flashbulb Memory: Factors Three factors affect flashbulb memory:
- High level of surprise.
- High level of emotional arousal.
- These events are rehearsed silently or in conversation.
46 Schemas: Office www.mun.ca 47 Consistency Bias
- How do we know schemas are abstractions build from past life events?
- During recall we often reveal a consistency bias; that is we tend exaggerate the consistency between our past feelings and beliefs and our current view point (Davis and Loftus, 2007; Schacter, 1999, 2001).
- As a result memory of the past may be distorted. 48 Source Monitoring
- The process of identifying the origins of memories and beliefs is called source monitoring
- When you recall some background information about a movie and then question yourself whether you read it in a magazine or a perhaps friend told you about it, you are engaged in source monitoring.
49 Source Monitoring Q: “How could the university be improved?” About 20 students pondered this issue in open-group discussion. Given a recognition test. List of ideas. Open-ended group discussion. Seldom engaged in source monitoring. Frequently engaged in source monitoring. 50 Eyewitness Testimony Eyewitness is another form of autobiographical memory which is reasonably accurate however not flawless. Elizabeth Loftus 51 Misinformation Effect
- Misinformation Effect: Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event.
- While tapping our memories, we filter or fill in missing pieces of information to make our recall more coherent (constructive approach to memory).
55 Learn ChocolateHoneyCandyReadyRecallToothSugarBitterGoodHeartTasteCake SourNiceSodaTartPie Roediger & McDermott (1995) Have you written the word “sweet”? 56 Recovered vs. False Memory
- When memories of long lost events flood back into consciousness through assistance, they are termed by experts as recovered-memories. Such memories these experts (Smith & Gleaves, 2007) believe are helpful in reconstructing events that have taken place in an individual’s previous life (e.g., child abuse).
- Other experts believe that recovered memories are merely reconstructions and in fact represent incorrect memories called false-memories (Davis & Loftus, 2007). 57 Comparison Recovered Memory Perspective False Memory Perspective Guilt provoking events can be recovered through kind and sympathetic listening. Recall is based on schemas. Trauma may leave indelible marks on memory, thus one does not falsely recall sources. Source monitoring research shows recall cannot to be pinpointed. Lab research does not ecologically hold valid Lab research shows evidence of false memories. Both perspectives may be partially correct.
0 25 50 75 100 125 0 1 2 3 5 10 25 40 55 Retention Interval in Years Percent Remembered Low Math High Math 58 Permastore Bahrick (1984) proposed there are some memories that are stored over a life time. Skills, languages learnt early in life are committed to our permastore (Very Long-Term Memory).
