Unit 4 Memory and Forgetting

UNIT 4
MEMORY AND
FORGETTING
Nature and Definition of Memory
Memory: is the process by which we encode, store &
retrieve infn (what was learned earlier).
 Simply memory is remembering previously learned
experience.
 Memory process is the mental activities we perform
to put infn in the memory, to keep it there & to
make use of it later.
 It indicates how infn is represented in memory, how
long it lasts & how it is organized.
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Process of Memory
Memory process involves three basic steps. These are:
A.Encoding: refers to the process by w/h infn is initially
recorded in form usable to memory.
- Transform a sensory input in to a form or a memory code
that can be further processed.
B.Storage: involves keeping/maintaining infn in the memory.
- It is the location in memory system in w/h materials are
saved.
C. Retrieval: it involves the use of stored infn when it is
needed.
- Materials from storage memory brought in to awareness &
used.
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Structures/Stages/Forms/of memory
• According to Atkinson & Sheferin, human
memory consists of three different but
interacting systems. These are:
 Sensory memory/registrar(SM)
 Short-term memory (STM)
 Long- term memory (LTM)
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Structures of Memory
Infn from
SM Selection
STM Retrieval
LTM
the env’t
Decay Decay Forgetting
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1. Sensory Memory/ Registrar (SR)
• It is a component of the memory system that receives
infn from the env’t.
• It is the entryway to memory & the first infn storage
area.
• The type of infn is a very accurate & complete
representation of the env’t but it is unprocessed.
• Capacity of SM is very large, more infn than we can
possibly handle at once.
• Duration if the infn is visual infn it stores in the iconic
memory in the form of images for a maximum of one
second.
- If the infn is auditory it stores in echoic memory in the
form of sound patterns for two seconds.
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2. Short Term Memory (STM)
® It holds the contents of our attention.
®Consists of the by-products or end results of perceptual
analysis.
®it is also called working/immediate/active/primary
memory.
® type of infn in STM are visual images, words sentences &
so on received from SM.
® duration of infn in STM is short, about 20 to30 seconds.
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® We can overcome the limitation of the infn
duration by using rehearsals(1).
- There are two types of rehearsals. These are:
Maintenance Rehearsal – involves repeating the
infn in the mind.
 Elaborative Rehearsal – involves associated with
the infn to d/f things & persons that already
knows.
This kind of rehearsal is not only retains infn in the
STM but also helps to move infn from STM to LTM.
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Through chunking(2); a piece of grouping small
pieces of infn into meaningful larger units.
The chunk may be a word, a phrase, a sentences
even visual images, and it depends on previous
experiences.
E.g.From 12 digit no 3,4,5,8,1,2,6,9,6,7,1,5 it is
easier to put them in to three chunks like
3458,1269,6715.
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3. Long Term Memory
- It is a relatively permanent storage of meaningful
infn.
- It holds infn that is well learned.
- Type of infn is facts, events, knowledge, skills, either
visual images or verbal units or both.
- Capacity of LTM also has no practical limits.
- Duration of the infn in this memory has no limited
time. Or it stores infn for indefinite periods.
-The access of infn from STM is immediate but the
access of infn from LTM requires time and effort.
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- LTM has two categories. These are:
A, Declarative/Explicit/ Memory - contains the conscious collections of
infn such as facts or events that can be verbally communicated. It is
divided in to two:
1, Semantic Memory - stores factual knowledge like rules, concepts,
words, propositions, & images.
2, Episodic Memory- memories of events & situations from personal
experience/life experience/.
B, Non-declarative/Implicit/Memory: - are memories that cannot be
brought in to conscious & declared, rather they are shown in actions.
- Procedural memory- This memory is a memory of “how to do things”
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Serial position effect
 “It states that if you are shown a list of items and
then asked immediately to recall them, your
retention of any particular item will depend on
its position on the list.”
Primacy effect- best recall of items at the
beginning of the list
Recency effect- best recall of items at the end of
the list.
When retention of all the items is plotted, the
result will be a U-shaped curve.
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-The first few items on a list are remembered well
b/s STM was relatively “empty” when they are
entered, so these items did not have to compete
with others to make it in to LTM. They were
thoroughly processed, so they remain memorable.
- The last items remembered easily b/s they are still
sitting in STM.
-The items in the middle of the list are not so well
retained because by the time they get into STM, it
is already crowded. As a result many of this items
drop out of STM before they can be stored in STM.
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Forgetting
- It is the apparent loss of infn already stored & encoded in the
LTM.
- There are five theories of forgetting.
1. Decay Theory
- It states that memory traces fades with time if they are not
accessed now & then.
- Or the trace simply fades away b/s of disuse & the passage of
time.
2. Interference Theory
- Forgetting occurs b/s similar items of infn interfere on another
in either storage or retrieval.
- There are two forms of interference
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- Proactive /Forward/ Interference -the infn learned
earlier interferes with recall of newer
infn/materials/.
- Example:- If you call your new girlfriend your old girlfriend’s name.
-Retroactive/Backward/Interference-the new infn
interferes with the ability to remember old infn.
Example:- When you finally remember this years locker combination, you forget last
years.
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3. New Memory for Old/Displacement/Theory
-It states that the new infn entering in the
memory can wipe out old infn, just as recording
on an audio or videotape will obliterate/wipe
out the original material.
- As you continue to store more and more infn at
the same time you lose other infn, which was
stored before.
4. Motivated Forgetting Theory
 People forget b/s they block from consciousness those
memories that are too threatening or painful to live with
 People forget b/s they are motivated to forget/we
forget, we forget that we forget/.
5. Cue Dependent Forgetting
- When we lack retrieval cues, we may fell as if we have
lost the call number for an entry in the mind’s library.
- To remember, we rely on retrieval cues-items of infn that
can help us find the specific infn we are looking for.
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Improving Memory
 Developing good studying habits w/h is scheduled in
the comfortable place.
Ø Paying attention:
Ø Encode the infn in more than one way:
Ø Add meaning:
Ø Take your time & Over learn:
Ø Monitor you learning:
 Expanding by using illustrations or examples:
Ø Use rehearsals and form Acronyms:
Ø Use the method of loci:
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UNIT 4

Decay Decay Forgetting

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