Invitation to Psychology

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Memory

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304 ChaPteR 8 Memory

Memory refers to the capacity to retain and retrieve information

and also to the structures that account for this capacity.

Reconstructing the Past

Memory and the Power of Suggestion

The Manufacture of Memory

• Human memory is reconstructive: People add, delete, and change
  elements of many memories.


• Source misattribution is the inability to distinguish information
  stored during an event from information added later.


• Even flashbulb memories, though emotionally powerful and vivid, are
  often embellished or change over time.

The Conditions of Confabulation

Confabulation is the confusion of imagined events with real ones, or

confusion of an event that happened to someone else with one that

happened to you. Confabulation is especially likely when:

• one has thought, heard, or told others about the imagined event many
  times.


• the image of the event contains lots of details that make it feel real.


• the event is easy to imagine.

The Eyewitness on Trial

Eyewitness testimony is

especially vulnerable to

error when:

• the suspect’s ethnicity
  differs from the
  witness’s.


• leading questions are put
  to the witness.


• witnesses are exposed to
  misleading information.

Children’s Testimony

Children can be

suggestible when:

• interviewers use leading
  questions or suggestive
  techniques, or pressure
  the child to give
  particular answers.


• the child is affected by
  rumor and hearsay.

Measuring Memory

• In tests of explicit memory, or conscious recollec-
  tion, recognition is usually better than recall.


• In tests of implicit memory, which is measured by
  indirect methods such as priming and the relearning
  method, past experiences may affect current
  thoughts or actions.

Models of Memory

• In information-processing models, memory involves encoding,
  storage, and retrieval.


• In parallel distributed processing (PDP) models, knowledge is
  represented as connections among thousands of interacting
  processing units, all operating in parallel.

In Pursuit of Memory

Sensory Register

Incoming information stops

in the sensory register,

which momentarily retains

it in the form of sensory

images.

The Three-Box Model of Memory

Three Memory Systems

Short-Term Memory (STM)

Short-term memory (STM) retains information for up

to 30 seconds, although estimates extend to a few minutes

for certain tasks.

• Chunking extends the capacity of STM.


• Many models now envision STM as a part of a more
  general working memory system, which includes an
  “executive” that controls the retrieval of information
  from long-term memory and focuses attention on
  information needed for a task.

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

Information in long-term memory (LTM) is

organized as a network of interrelated concepts and

includes:

• procedural memories.


• declarative memories, which may be semantic
  or episodic.
  The serial-position effect is the tendency to recall
  the first and last items on a list better than those in
  the middle.

Short-term memory (STM)

1. Limited capacity2. Brief storage of items (up to
   30 seconds if no rehearsal)


2. Involved in conscious processing of information

Transferred Transferred/Retrieved

Retrieved

Information from

environment

Sensory register

1. Lar2. Contains sensory informationge capacity


2. Very brief retention of images
   (up to 1/2 second for visual 2 seconds for auditory) ;

Long-term memory (LTM)

1. Unlimited capacity2. Some memories are
   permanent3. Information organized and
   indexed

Forgotten Forgotten