Unit 7: Memory, Thinking, and Language Checks for Understanding

Objective 1| Define memory. What does it mean to encode, store and retrieve?
Memory is the persistence of learning over time, through the storage and retrieval of information. Encoding is the
first step in the memory process; it is getting information into your brain. Storage is the second step; it saves
information for later recall. Retrieval is the final step, getting information back out of your brain for immediate use
(Pulls from long-term memory to be used by working memory).
Objective 2| Describe Atkinson-Shiffrins classic three-stage processing model of memory, and explain how the
contemporary model of working memory differs.
The Atkinson-Shiffrin classic three-stage model of memory suggests that we (1) register fleeting sensory
memories, some of which are (2) processed into on-screen short-term memories, a tiny fraction of which are (3)
encoded for long-term memory and, possibly, later retrieval. In pointing out the limits of this model, contemporary
memory researchers note that we register some information automatically, bypassing the first two stages. And
they prefer the term working memory (rather than short-term memory) because it emphasizes a more active role
in this second processing stage, where we rehearse and manipulate information, associating new stimuli with older
stored memories. The working-memory model includes visual-spatial and auditory subsystems, coordinated by a
central executive processor that focuses attention where needed.
Objective 3| Contrast effortful processing with automatic processing. List some of the types of information we
encode automatically.
Automatic processing happens unconsciously, as we absorb information (space, time, frequency, well-learned
material) in our environment. Effortful processing (of meaning, imagery, organization) requires conscious
attention and deliberate effort (rehearsal). We unconsciously and automatically encode incidental information,
such as space, time, and frequency. We also register well-learned information, such as words in our native
language, by this form of processing.
Objective 4| Briefly summarize Hermann Ebbinghaus experiments. Explain his findings on rehearsal and his

forgetting curve.

Ebbinghaus created a list of nonsense syllables, practiced them, and tested his memory. One day later, Ebbinghaus
could recall few of the syllables, however he found that the more frequently he repeated the list aloud on day 1, it
took fewer repitions of the list on day 2. Finding: Rehearsal increases retention/memory. Ebbinghaus forgetting
curve explains how even after we learn material well, we sometimes later forget it. Finding: forgetting is initially

rapid, then levels off over time.

Objective 5| Discuss the next-in-line effect, the spacing effect, and the serial position effect.
The next-in-line effect is our tendency to forget (through failure to encode) what the person ahead of us in line has
said because we are focusing on what we will say in our upcoming turn. The spacing effect is our tendency to retain
information more easily if we practice it repeatedly over time (spaced study) than if we practice it in one long
session (cramming). The serial position effect is our tendency to recall the first and last items in a long list (such as
a grocery list) more easily than we recall the intervening items.
Objective 6| Compare the benefits of visual, acoustic, and semantic encoding in remembering verbal information.
How does creating self-reference also enhance memory?
Visual encoding (of picture images) and acoustic encoding (of sounds, especially of words) are shallower forms of
processing than is semantic encoding (of meaning). We process verbal information best when we encode it
semantically, especially if we apply the self-reference effect, making information relevant to me.
Objective 7| Explain how encoding imagery aids effortful processing, and describe some memory-enhancing
strategies that use visual encoding.
Encoding imagery aids effortful processing because vivid images are very memorable. We tend to remember
concrete nouns better than abstract nouns because, for example, we can associate both an image and a meaning
with gorilla, but only a meaning with process. Many mnemonic devices (memory strategies or aids) rely on
imagery. Others trap items in memory by combining visual encoding (imagining a series of vivid images) and
acoustic encoding (a memorable rhyme).

Objective 8 | Discuss the use of chunking and hierarchies in effortful processing.

We remember organized information better than we do random data, and chunking and hierarchies are two ways
to organize information. In chunking, we cluster information into familiar, manageable units, such as words into
sentences. In hierarchies, we process information by dividing it into logical levels, beginning with the most general
and moving to the most specific.
Objective 9| Contrast two types of sensory memory.
As information enters the memory system through our senses, we register and store visual images via iconic
memory, in which picture images last no more than a few tenths of a second. We register and store sounds via
echoic memory, where echoes of auditory stimuli may linger as long as 3 or 4 seconds.
Objective 10| Describe the duration and working capacity of short-term memory.
At any given time, we can focus on and process only about seven items of information (either new or retrieved
from our memory store). Without rehearsal, information disappears within seconds from short-term memory and
is forgotten.
Objective 11 | Describe the capacity and duration of long-term memory.
Our capacity for storing information permanently in longterm memory is essentially unlimited.
Objective 12 | Discuss the synaptic changes that accompany memory formation and storage.
Contemporary researchers are focusing on memory-related changes within and between single neurons. As
experience strengthens the pathways between neurons, synapses transmit signals more efficiently. In a process
known as long-term potentiation (LTP), sending neurons in these pathways release neurotransmitters more
quickly, and receiving neurons may develop additional receptors, increasing their ability to detect the incoming
neurotransmitters. LTP appears to be the neural basis for learning and memory.
Objective 13 | Discuss some ways stress hormones can affect memory. Explain how flashbulb memories differ from
other memories.
By enabling the production of extra glucose (which fuels brain activity), stress hormones alert the brain to
important events. The amygdala, an emotion-processing structure in the brains limbic system, arouses brain areas
that process emotion. These emotion-triggered hormonal changes may produce indelible memories. Flashbulb
memories, which are attached to emotionally significant moments or events, differ from most other memories in
their striking clarity.
Objective 14| Distinguish between implicit and explicit memory, and identify the main brain structure associated
with each.
We are often not aware of our implicit (procedural) memoriesour memory of our own skills and operantly and
classically conditioned responses. These memories are processed in part by the cerebellum, near the brainstem.
We consciously recall our explicit (declarative) memoriesour general knowledge, specific facts, and personally
experienced events. Explicit memories are processed in various subregions of the hippocampus (a neural center in
the limbic system) and sent for storage in other areas in the brain. The implicit and explicit memory systems are
independent. Damage to the hippocampus may destroy the ability to consciously recall memories, without
destroying skills or classically conditioned responses.
Objective 15| Contrast recall, recognition, and relearning measures of memory.
Recall is the ability to retrieve information not in conscious awareness; a fill-in-the-blank question tests recall.
Recognition is the ability to identify items previously learned; a multiple choice question tests recognition.
Relearning is the ability to master previously stored information more quickly than you originally learned it.
Objective 16| Explain how retrieval cues help us access stored memories, and describe the process of priming.
Retrieval cues are bits of related information we encode while processing a target piece of information. These bits
are linked in some way to the context of the target, and they become a part of a web of stored associations. When
one of these associated bits catches our attention, it is as though we are pulling on a strand in the web of

associations, retrieving the target information into our conscious awareness. This process of activating
associations (often unconsciously) is priming.
Objective 17| Cite some ways that context can affect retrieval.
The context in which we originally experienced an event or encoded a thought can flood our memories with
retrieval cues, leading us to the target memory. If we are in a different context that is very similar to the original
one, we may experience dj vu as many of these cues return and trick us into unconsciously retrieving the target
memory.
Objective 18| Describe the effects of internal states (MOOD) on retrieval.
Specific states or emotions can prime us to recall events associated with those states or emotions. While in a good
mood, we tend to retrieve memories consistentor congruentwith that happy state. When depressed, we more
easily recall negative memories. Moods also prime us to interpret others behavior in ways consistent with our
emotions.
Objective 19| Discuss the role of encoding failure in forgetting.
What we encode (whether automatically or through effortful processing) is only a very limited portion of the
sensory stimuli around us. And as we age, our encoding grows slower and less efficient. Without encoding,
information does not enter our long-term memory store and cannot be retrieved.
Objective 20| Discuss the concept of storage decay, and describe Ebbinghaus forgetting curve.
Encoded memories may fade after storage. From his research on learning and retention, Ebbinghaus determined
that the course of forgetting is initially rapid, then levels off with time; this principle became known as the
forgetting curve.
Objective 21| Contrast proactive and retroactive interference, and explain how they can cause retrieval failure.
One way retrieval failure happens is when old and new information compete for retrieval. In proactive
interference, something we learned in the past (a friends old phone number) interferes with our ability to recall
something we have recently learned (the friends new number). In retroactive interference, something we have
recently learned (vocabulary in this semesters Spanish course) interferes with something we learned in the past
(vocabulary in last years French course).
Objective 22| Summarize Freuds concept of repression, and state whether this view is reflected in current memory
research.
Freud believed that we banish from conscious thought anxiety-arousing embarrassing thoughts, feelings, and
memoriesa concept he called repression. In his view, this motivated forgetting submerges memories but leaves
them available for later retrieval under the right conditions. Memory researchers tend to believe that repression
rarely occurs.
Objective 23| Explain how misinformation and imagination can distort our memory of an event.
Memories are not stored or retrieved as exact copies of our experiences. Rather, we construct our memories, using
both stored and new information. If children or adults are subtly exposed to misinformation after an event, or if
they repeatedly imagine and rehearse an event that never occurred, they may incorporate the misleading details
into their memory of what actually happened. Memory is thus best understood not only as a cognitive and a
biological phenomenon, but also as a social-cultural phenomenon (see FIGURE 9.28).
Objective 24| Describe source amnesias contribution to false memories.
When we process memories, we encode and store various aspects of them in different locations in the brain. In
reassembling a memory during retrieval, we may successfully retrieve something we have heard, read, or
imagined, but attribute it to the wrong source. Source amnesia is one of two main components of false memories.
(The other is the misinformation effect.)
Objective 25| List some differences and similarities between true and false memories.

False memories feel like true memories and are equally durable, so neither the sincerity nor the longevity of a
memory signifies it is real. True memories contain more details than imagined ones, which tend to be the gist of an
eventthe meaning and feelings associated with it.
Objective 26| Give arguments supporting and rejecting the position that very young childrens reports of abuse are
reliable.
A supporting argument: Even very young children can accurately recall events (and the people involved) if a
neutral person talks with them in words they can understand, asks nonleading questions, and uses the cognitive
interview technique. A rejecting argument: Preschoolers are more suggestible than older children or adults, and
they can be induced, through suggestive questions, to report false events.
Objective 27| Discuss the controversy over reports of repressed and recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse.
Psychologists motivated to protect abused children and wrongly accused adults tend to agree on seven points: (1)
Innocent people have been falsely convicted of abuse that never happened, and true abusers have used the
controversy over recovered memories to avoid punishment. (2) Incest and abuse happen, and they can leave
lasting scars. (3) Forgetting isolated past events, either good or bad, is an everyday occurrence for all of us. (4)
Recovering good or bad memories, triggered by some memory cue, is commonplace, but memory researchers
question whether we forcibly repress memories, in Freuds sense, to avoid anxiety or pain. (5) Memories obtained
under the influence of hypnosis or drugs are unreliable. (6) Infantile amnesiathe inability to recall memories
from the first three years of lifemakes recovery of very early childhood memories unlikely. (7) Both real and
false memories cause suffering and can lead to stress disorders.
Objective 28| Explain how an understanding of memory can contribute to effective study techniques.
The psychology of memory suggests concrete strategies for improving memory. These include scheduling spaced
study times; actively rehearsing information to be learned; aiding encoding by making well-organized, vivid, and
personally meaningful associations; using mnemonic techniques; returning to contexts and moods that are rich
with associations; recording memories before misinformation can corrupt them; minimizing interference; and selftesting to rehearse information and find gaps in your memory.
Objective 29| Define cognition. Cognition is a term covering all the mental activities associated with thinking,
knowing, remembering, and communicating.
Objective 30| Describe the roles of categories, hierarchies, definitions, and prototypes in concept formation. We use
concepts to simplify and order the world around us. We divide clusters of objects, events, ideas, or people into
categories based on their similarities. In creating hierarchies, we subdivide these categories into smaller and more
detailed units. We form other concepts, such as triangles, by definition (three-sided objects). But we form most
concepts around prototypes, or best examples of a category. Matching objects and ideas against prototypes is an
efficient way of making snap judgments about what belongs in a specific category.
Objective 31| Compare algorithms and heuristics as problem solving strategies, and explain how insight differs from
both of them. An algorithm is a time-consuming but thorough set of rules or procedures (such as a recipe for
cookies, or a step-by-step description for evacuating a building during a fire) that guarantees a solution to a
problem. A heuristic is a simpler thinking strategy (such as running for an exit if you smell heavy smoke) that may
allow us to solve problems quickly, but sometimes leads us to incorrect solutions. Insight differs from both because
it is not a strategy-based solution, but rather an Aha! reactiona sudden flash of inspiration that solves a problem.
Objective 32| Contrast the confirmation bias and fixation, and explain how they can interfere with effective problem
solving. The confirmation bias predisposes us to verify rather than challenge our hypotheses. Fixation, such as
mental set and functional fixedness, may leave us doggedly pursuing one line of reasoning and prevent us from
taking the fresh perspective that would let us solve the problem.
Objective 33| Contrast the representativeness and availability heuristics, and explain how they can cause us to
underestimate or ignore important information. The representativeness heuristic leads us to judge the likelihood of
things in terms of how they represent our prototype for a group of items. The availability heuristic leads us to
judge the likelihood of things based on how vivid they are or how readily they come to mind. Either of these two

thinking shortcuts can cause us to ignore important information or to underestimate the chances of something
happening.
Objective 34| Describe the drawbacks and advantages of overconfidence in decision making. The main drawback of
overconfidence is that our tendencies to seek confirmation of our hypotheses and to use quick and easy heuristics
can blind us to our vulnerability to errora fault that can be tragic if we are in a position of responsibility. But on a
personal level, overconfident people tend to live happier lives, make difficult decisions more easily, and seem more
credible.
Objective 35| Describe how others can use framing to elicit from us the answers they want. An issue can be
presented (or framed) in different but equally logical ways, but the subtle wording can nudge us in the direction
the questioner wants us to take. (Consider, for example, Do you think people should be free to smoke in public
places? versus Do you think smokers should have the right to expose the lungs of nonsmokers to second-hand
smoke?)
Objective 36| Define belief bias and explain how our preexisting beliefs can distort our logic. We tend to judge
conclusions that agree with our beliefs as more logical than those that do not match our beliefs. This belief bias can
lead us to accept invalid conclusions and reject valid ones.
Objective 37| Define belief perseverance and describe the remedy for the belief perseverance phenomenon. Belief
perseverance is clinging to our ideas because the explanation we once accepted as valid lingers in our mind even
after it has been discredited. The best remedy for this form of bias is making the effort to consider evidence
supporting the opposite position.
Objective 38| Describe the basic structural units of a language. All languages have the same basic structural units.
Phonemes are the basic units of sound in a language. Morphemes are the elementary units of meaning; some (such
as I) are words, but most are elements such as prefixes (anti-) or suffixes (-ing).Grammar is the system of rules
(mental rules, not those taught in English classes) that enable us to communicate and understand others.
Semantics, which is part of grammar, is a set of rules for deriving meaning in a given language. Syntax, also a part of
grammar, is a set of rules for ordering words into sentences.
Objective 39| Trace the course of language acquisition from the babbling stage through the two-word stage. At about
4 months of age, infants babble, making a wide range of sounds found in languages located all over the world. By
about 10 months, their babbling contains only the sounds found in their household language. Around 12 months of
age, babies speak in single words. This one-word stage evolves into two-word (telegraphic) utterances before their
second birthday. Shortly after that, children begin speaking in full sentences. The timing of these stages varies a
little from one child to another, but all children follow this sequence.
Objective 40| Discuss Skinners and Chomskys contributions to the nature-nurture debate over how children acquire
language, and explain why statistical learning and critical periods are important concepts in childrens language and
learning. Behaviorist B. F. Skinner (representing the nurture side of the language-development debate) proposed
that we learn language by the familiar principles of association (of sights of things with sounds of words), imitation
(of words and syntax modeled by others), and reinforcement (with smiles and hugs after saying something right).
Challenging this claim, linguist Noam Chomsky (representing the nature position) argues that we are born with a
language acquisition device that biologically prepares us to learn language. He cites as evidence the species-wide
presence of language and its underlying universal grammar; childrens amazing rate of acquiring vocabulary; and
the uniform sequence of the stages of language development. Statistical learning is the ability to detect speech
patterns (such as syllable breaks). Childhood is a critical period for learning spoken and signed language: Children
who do not learn language during this early period lose their ability to fully master language.
Objective 41| Summarize Whorfs linguistic determinism hypothesis, and comment on its standing in contemporary
psychology. Although the linguistic determinism hypothesis suggested that language determines thought, it is more
accurate to say that language influences thought. Words convey ideas, and research on people who are bilingual
demonstrates that different languages embody different ways of thinking. Studies of the effects of the generic
pronoun he show that subtle prejudices can be conveyed by the words we choose to express our everyday

thoughts. Some evidence indicates that vocabulary enrichment, particularly immersion in bilingual education, can
enhance thinking.
Objective 42| Discuss the value of thinking in images. We often think in images when we use procedural memory
our unconscious memory system for motor and cognitive skills and conditioned associations. Researchers have
found that thinking in images is especially useful for mentally practicing upcoming events and can actually increase
our skills.