Human

Memory
 01
Introduction
 What is memory?
Memory refers to retaining
and recalling information
over a period of time,
depending on the nature of
the cognitive task required
to perform
 Introduction

Since memory is the central of all the

cognitive process psychologists have
attempted to understand the manner in
which the information is processed.
• Ebbinghaus started by memorizing lists of words and testing how many he could recall.

• To avoid the use of association, he created 2,300 “nonsense syllables”, all three letters long

and using the standard word format of consonant-vowel-consonant like “ZUC” and “QAX”.

• Grouping these into lists, he looked at each syllable for a fraction of a second, pausing for 15

seconds before going through a list again until he could recite a series correctly at speed.

• He tested different lengths and different learning intervals, noting the speed of learning and

forgetting.

• He found that he could remember meaningful material ten times more easily than his

nonsense lists and the more times the stimuli (the nonsense syllables) were repeated, the

less time was needed to reproduce the memorized information.

• Also, the first few repetitions proved the most effective in memorizing a list.

• When looking at his results for evidence of forgetting, Ebbinghaus found,

unsurprisingly, that he tended to forget less quickly the lists that he had spent the

most time memorizing, and that recall is best performed immediately after

learning.

• Ebbinghaus also uncovered an unexpected pattern in memory retention. He found

that there is typically a very rapid loss of recall in the first hour, followed by a

slightly slower loss so that after nine hours eventually it stabilizes.

FREDERICK BARTLETT (1932)

■ Another view on memory is, it is not passive but

an active process. With the help of meaningful

verbal materials such as stories and texts, He

demonstrated memory is a constructive process.

 02
Nature of
Memory
 NATURE OF MEMORY
• Memory refers to retaining and recalling information over a period of time
• It might be necessary to hold an information for few seconds
● Eg: Remembering Names or a number
● Memory is conceptualized as three processes consisting of three independent though
interrelated stages
○ Encoding
○ Storage
○ Retrieval
 Encoding
• First stage

o Information is recorded and registered to be made

usable

o Incoming messages are received and some meanings

are derived

o Then is represented in a way which some meaning is

derived
 Storage

• Second stage
• Information that is encoded must be stored
• If information is not stored accurately then
material cannot be recalled
• Storage refers to the process where information
is retained and held over a period of time
 Retrieval
• Is third stage of memory
• Information can be used only when it can be recovered
• It refers to bringing information to awareness to be used for
cognitive tasks such as problem solving and decision making
Stage Model of Memory

• Proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

• Three memory Systems namely
• Sensory Memory
• Short-Term memory
• Long term Memory
• Different features perform different functions with respect to
sensory inputs
 Sensory Memory
● Incoming information enters the sensory memory
● Large capacity but short duration
● Less than a second
● Momentary storage
● The two most studied type of sensory memory are iconic memory and echohic
memory
● Eg: Visual after images(switiching off bulb)
 Short Term Memory
● For long term retention and to make sense the information is transferred to next stage
that is the short term memory.
● Holds for brief period of time 30 seconds or less
● Repetitive rehearsals retains into short term memory
 Long term Memory
● Information that survives the capacity and duration limits of STM enter long term
memory
● It has vast capacity and a permanent store house
● Recent information(Your breakfast) long term(what you did on 16 th bday)
● Information is never forgotten because it encoded semantically(facts)
How does information travel to LTM?
● Atkinson and shiffrin propose the notion of Control processes
● Information that is attended enters the STM, Selective attention is the first control
process that decides what should enter the STM otherwise it fades away.
● Than STM enters into another control process Maintenance rehearsal. As the name
suggests these rehearsals maintain info through repetition and once repetition
discontinues info is lost
● Another control process that acts in STM is the process of chunking
● Which means meaningful grouping of stimuli that can be stored as a unit in STM
 Elaborative rehearsals
● From STM information enters into LTM through elaborative rehearsals
● This rehearsal occurs when the information is organised in some fashions
● It involves organisation of the incoming information in as many ways as possible.
● The information is some kind of logical framework or else can create a mental image.
 Types of Long Term Memory
● The major classification are Declarative and Procedural.
● Declarative: Factual information, Names, faces, facts such as bikes have two wheels
● Procedural: Memory for skills and habits such as how to ride a bike
● Declarative can be futher divided into
● Semantic and episodic
● Semantic: Memory for GK and facts about the worlds eg capitals
● Episodic: Memory related to biographical details of an individuals. Experiences of an
individual
Knowledge representation and
organization of memory
● Since long term memory holds
information for long time. It would be
useful to know how they would
organize the information so that right
information is presented at the right
time
● The most important knowledge
representation and organization of
memory is CONCEPTS
 Concepts
● Concepts are mental categories for objects and events. which are similar to each
other in one or more way.
● Concepts once formed get organised into categories
● Category is also a concept that would organize the similarities among the other
concepts.
● Concepts also get organised in schemas
● Schemas are mental framework which represents our knowledge.
 03
Forgetting
 Nature and causes of forgetting
● The first systematic attempt to understand the nature of forgetting was made by
Hermann Ebbinghaus
● He memorized list of non sense syllables and measured the number of trials he took to
learn the words at varying intervals of time
● He observed that the course of forgetting follows a certain pattern
● The rate of forgetting is maximum in the first nine hours, particularly during the first
hour
● After that, the rate slows down and not much is forgotten.
Theories of
Forgetting
 Forgetting due to Trace Decay
● This theory is also known as the disuse theory
● Acc to this theory memory leads to modification in central nervous system which is
similar to Physical changes in the brain and are hence called Memory Traces
● When the memory traces are not used for a long time, they fade and become
unavailable

This theory was discredited because if memory traces fade due to disuse then people who
sleep after memorizing should be forgetting what they have learnt. However, research has
shown contrary to this theory, people who stay awake after memorizing are more likely to
forget than those who sleep after memorizing.
 Forgetting due to interference
This theory suggests that forgetting occurs due to interference.

Learning and memorizing form associations which remain intact in memory. We

keep acquiring these associations and they remain mutually independent.

Interference comes at the time of retrieval; these associations compete

with each other for retrieval.

Proactive: which means what u have learnt earlier

interferes with the recall of your learning
There are two kinds of interference Retroactive: Later learning interferes with the past
learning
Forgetting due to retrieval failure
● Forgetting can also occur because Retrieval cues are absent or
inappropriate
● Retrieval cues are aids which help us in recovering information
stored in memory.
● Eg: remembering words with category.
 Enhancing memory
● There are a number of strategies for improving memory called Mnemonics
● Some of the Mnemonics involves images.
● Some self-induced organisation
 Mnemonic using Images
● Use images that require to create vivid and interracting images
● The prominent Mnemonic devices are
1) Keyword Method: suppose you want to learn new words you choose a word that would
act as the keyword
2) Method of Loci: Items you want to remember are placed in a physical place in the form
of visual image
You visualize the object and were they are located.
 Enhancing memory
● Mnemonics using organisation
○ Imposing certain order on the material you want to remember.
1. Chunking : Several smaller units are combined to form larger chunks.
Organisation principles are needed to link smaller units. It can be used to
increase capacity of short term memory and improve memory.
2. First letter technique : Pick up first letter of every word you want to learn in a
certain sequence and memorise. Eg: Rainbow : VIBGYOR
 Memory Improvement
● Engage in Deep level processing: Craik and Lockart have demonstrated
that processing information in the terms of meaning that they convey leads
to better memory as compared to attending the surface features.
● Deep processing requires asking questions, examining relationships etc
● Minimise Interference: Interference is the major cause of forgetting
● Maximum interference is caused when very similar materials are learnt in a
sequence.
● Give yourself enough retrieval cues: Think of retrieval cues.
● Identify the cues and link it to the part of the study material
 Levels of Processing
● Proposed by Craik and Lockhart in 1972.

● "Processing of any new information relates to the manner in which

it is perceived, analysed and understood which in turn determines
the extent to which it will be retained."
● Analysis of information happens at multiple levels.
 3 Levels of Processing
1st Level: Physical/Structural

• Focused on surface features (e.g., letter shapes, ink color).

• Shallow processing.

2nd Level: Phonetic

• Considers sounds associated with letters.

• Intermediate processing.

3rd Level: Semantic

• Analyzing meaning and associations.

• Deepest processing, leads to long-term retention.
36

Implication for learning

● Levels of Processing has acute implications on learning.

○ Encourages focusing on elaborative learning.
○ Emphasizes the importance of understanding, not rote
memorization.
○ Connecting information to meaning, facts, concepts,
and personal experiences enhances long-term retention.
PQRST