Invitation to Psychology

ChaPteR 8 Memory 277

fragments depicted. Even when people could not

remember having been in the original experiment,

they identified the primed objects much better

than the new objects (Mitchell, 2006). These stud-

ies show that people know more than they think

they know—and that they can know it for a very

long time.

"Defend"

"Def–"

Responses to

different task

Exposure to

information

Inuences

PRIMING

"Defend"

Another way to measure implicit memory, the

relearning method, or savings method, was devised by

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885/1913) in the nine-

teenth century. The relearning method requires

you to relearn information or a task that you have

already learned. If you master it more quickly the

second time around, you must be remembering

something from the first experience.

Models of Memory LO 8.7

Although people usually refer to memory as a

single faculty, as in “I must be losing my memory”

or “He has a memory like an elephant’s,” the term

memory covers a complex collection of abilities

and processes. If a video camera is not an accurate

metaphor for capturing these diverse components

of memory, what metaphor would be better?

Many cognitive psychologists liken the mind to

an information processor, along the lines of a com-

puter, though more complex. They have constructed

information-processing models of cognitive processes,

liberally borrowing computer-programming terms

relearning method A

method for measuring re-

tention that compares the

time required to relearn

material with the time

used in the initial learn-

ing of the material.

the time—and so were people who had graduated
35 years earlier. The ability to recognize names
was nearly as impressive.
Sometimes, information encountered in the
past affects our thoughts and actions even though
we do not consciously or intentionally remem-
ber it, a phenomenon known as implicit memory
(Schacter, Chiu, & Ochsner, 1993). To get at this
subtle sort of memory, researchers must rely on
indirect methods instead of the direct ones used to
measure explicit memory. One common method,
priming, asks you to read or listen to some infor-
mation and then tests you later to see whether the
information affects your performance on another
type of task.
Suppose that you had to read a list of words,
some of which began with the letters def (such
as define, defend, or deform). Later, if you were
asked to complete word fragments (such as def-)
with the first word that came to mind, you
would be more likely to complete the frag-
ments so they turned into words from the list
than if you had never seen the list—even if
you could not remember the original words
very well (Richardson-Klavehn & Bjork, 1988;
Roediger, 1990). That is, the words on the list
have “primed” (made more available) your re-
sponses on the word-completion task.
Priming isn’t limited to words: Priming peo-
ple to complete sentence fragments by using a par-
ticular syntactic construction (as in Meghan gave
Michael a toy versus Meghan gave a toy to Michael)
biased them to produce the same construction
in another task a week later (Kaschak, Kutta, &
Schatschneider, 2011). Fragments of pictures, too,
can act as primes. In one study, people briefly saw
fragments of drawings depicting objects and ani-
mals and were asked to name the object the frag-
ments were part of. Then, 17 years later, they were
mailed the same fragments and also fragments of
new drawings, with a request to name what the

implicit memory

Unconscious retention in

memory, as evidenced by

the effect of a previous

experience or previously

encountered information

on current thoughts or

actions.

priming A method

for measuring implicit

memory in which a person

reads or listens to informa-

tion and is later tested to

see whether the informa-

tion affects performance

on another type of task.

Get Involved! Recalling Rudolph’s Friends

You can try this test of recall if you are familiar with the poem that begins

“’Twas the Night Before Christmas” or the song “Rudolph the Red-

Nosed Reindeer.” Rudolph had eight reindeer friends; name as many

of them as you can. After you have done your best, turn to the Get

Involved exercise on the next page for a recognition test on the same

information.