I. MEMORY

1. Definition - Memory is the capacity to retain and retrieve information.

2. Three Basic Memory Processes - There are three basic tasks of memory. Encoding is the acquisition component. This is transforming raw information into a form in which it can be entered into memory. Storage is the retaining of information over time. Retrieval is the ability to get encoded material back into awareness.

3. Information-Processing Approach - This is an approach to understanding human memory that emphasizes the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information. It uses a computer analogy.


II. TYPES OF MEMORY STORAGE

1. Sensory Memory - This is the momentary persistence of sensory information after stimulation has ceased. It begins to decay almost immediately if you don't attend to it. You are constantly being bombarded by sensory information so you must control the selection of what you encode. This is called selective attention.

2. Short-Term Memory - This is the memory system that holds limited amounts of information for relatively short periods of time. Information must be transferred from sensory memory to STM in order for it to be processed and become meaningful. This is what we are consciously aware of at any time. The capacity of short-term memory is thought of as being 7 +/- 2 items. Information can be kept in STM indefinitely by rehearsing it. Short-term memory is thought to exist in a bio-electrical state and to be converted into long-term memory it must be incorporated into a chemical state.

3. Long-Term Memory - This is the memory system for large amounts of information over long periods of time. Its capacity is limitless yet retrieval of information is not always easy. For example, sometimes we know we know something but we can't remember it. This is referred to as Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon. Long-term memory can be Episodic Memory which is an autobiographical record of what we see, hear, or do or Semantic Memory which is organized knowledge about words or symbols and the rules for manipulating them.


III. FORGETTING

1. Trace Decay Hypothesis - This is the simplest view of forgetting. It is simply that information entered into long-term memory fades or decays with the passage of time. Can you remember who was sitting next to you in second grade?

2. Interference - If it is not time that makes you forget things it may be interference of other things that are stored in memory. It can take two forms. Retroactive Interference is when information you are currently learning interferes with what is already in memory. Proactive Interference is when information previously entered into memory interferes with what you are trying to learn now.

3. Infantile Amnesia - You generally cannot remember much of anything that happened to you during the first 3 years of life. This could be because you lacked the brain structures for long-term memory at this age or lacked language which may be necessary to encode information into long-term memory. What memories people think they have from this period are usually things they were told by someone at a later time although you may be certain that you remember it. This is very controversial now because some people, after therapy, insist they remember infantile abuse. Most experts in the field discount this as being suggestions given to them by their therapist.


IV. MEMORY RETRIEVAL

1. Types of Retrieval - Retrieval has two forms. Recognition is realizing that the information has been seen or heard before. A song for example. You may not know all the words but you know you have heard it before. Recall entails an active search of long-term memory to actually retrieve a specific piece of information.

2. Relearning - Relearning seemingly forgotten information can take less time than original learning because even though you have forgotten the details, there may be a trace left which facilitates storage and retrieval.

3. State Dependent Learning - Information which is learned in one physiological state may be difficult to retrieve when you are in another physiological state. If you meet someone when you are drunk you may not remember him sober but next time you are drunk you do.


4. Memory Distortion - Did you ever remember something one way and a friend remembered it totally different? We all possess schemas, or cognitive frameworks with which we view the world. Once a schema is formed it can influence the way you encode, store, or retrieve information. You are more likely to remember things that support you beliefs.

5. Construction - Our memory is also affected by construction which is our tendency to fill in details when recalling past events or even remembering experiences you never had. You can't possibly remember all of the details so when you recall the experience you may put things in that you assumed happened or you wish happened.

6. Amnesia - Amnesia is the loss of memory usually from illness, accident, or drug abuse. Retrograde amnesia is inability to remember things that happened prior to the amnesia inducing event. Anterograde amnesia is the inability to store in long-term memory information that occurs after the amnesia inducing event.