Memory

&
Mnemonics

Presented by:
Dr. Pooja Arora
MCA Department
 Contents
• Memory Process
• Memory stages
• How are memory organized?
• Semantic Network Model
• Why do we forget?
• What is learning?
• Mnemonics
 Memory Processes
• Encoding--transforming information into a
form that can be entered and retained in the
the memory system
• Storage--retaining information in memory so
that it can be used at a later time
• Retrieval--recovering information stored in
memory so that we are consciously aware of it
 Three Stages of Memory

• Three memory stores that differ in function,

capacity and duration

Maintenance Rehearsal

Encoding
Sensory Attention
Sensory Working or Long-term
Memory Short-term memory
Input
Memory Retrieval
 Sensory Memory
• Function —process for basic physical
characteristics
• Capacity—large
– can hold many items at once
• Duration—very brief retention of
Sensory images
Sensory – .3 sec for visual info
Input – 2 sec for auditory info
Memory
• Divided into two types:
– iconic memory–visual information
– echoic memory– auditory information
• Attention is needed to transfer
information to working memory
 Sensory Memory
• Visual sensory memory—brief memory of an
image or icon. Also called iconic memory.
• Auditory sensory memory—brief memory of
a sound or echo. Also called echoic memory.
• Auditory sensory memories may last a bit
longer than visual sensory memories
Short Term or Working Memory

Sensory Attention Working or

Sensory
Short-term
Input Memory
Memory
 Short-Term Memory

• Function—conscious processing of information

– where information is actively worked on
• Capacity—limited (holds 7+/-2 items)
• Duration—brief storage (about 30 seconds)

Sensory Attention Working or

Sensory
Short-term
Input Memory
Memory
 Maintenance Rehearsal

• Mental or verbal repetition of information allows

information to remain in working memory longer
than the usual 30 seconds
Maintenance Rehearsal

Sensory Attention
Sensory Working or
Memory Short-term
Input
Memory
 Chunking
• Grouping small bits of information into
larger units of information
– expands working memory load
• Which is easier to remember?
–4 8 3 7 9 2 5 1 6
– 483 792 516
 Long-Term Memory

• Once information passes from sensory to

working memory, it can be encoded into
long-term memory
Maintenance Rehearsal

Encoding
Sensory Attention
Sensory Working or Long-term
Memory Short-term memory
Input
Memory Retrieval
 Long-Term Memory

• Function—organizes and stores information

– more passive form of storage than working memory
• Unlimited capacity
• Duration—thought by some to be permanent
Maintenance Rehearsal

Encoding
Sensory Attention
Sensory Working or Long-term
Memory Short-term memory
Input
Memory Retrieval
 Long-Term Memory

• Encoding—process that controls movement from

working to long-term memory store
• Retrieval—process that controls flow of information
from long-term to working memory store
Maintenance Rehearsal

Encoding
Sensory Attention
Sensory Working or Long-term
Memory Short-term memory
Input
Memory Retrieval
Automatic vs. Effortful Encoding

• Automatic processing
– Unconscious encoding of information
– Examples:
• What did you eat for lunch today?
• Was the last time you studied during the day or night?
• You know the meanings of these very words you are
reading. Are you actively trying to process the definition
of the words?
Automatic vs. Effortful Encoding

• Effortful processing
– Requires attention and conscious effort
– Examples:
• Memorizing your notes for your upcoming
exams
• Repeating a phone number in your head until
you can write it down
 Types of Long-Term Memory
• Explicit memory—memory with awareness;
information can be consciously recollected;
also called declarative memory
• Implicit memory—memory without
awareness; memory that affects behavior but
cannot consciously be recalled; also called
nondeclarative memory
 Explicit Memory
• Declarative or conscious memory
• Memory consciously recalled or
declared
• Can use explicit memory to directly
respond to a question
• Two subtypes of explicit memory
 Explicit Memory

• Episodic information—information about

events or “episodes”
• Semantic information—information about
facts, general knowledge, school work
 Episodic Memory
• Memory tied to your own personal experiences
• Examples:
– What month is your birthday?
– Do you like to eat apples?
• These are explicit memories.
• Because you can actively declare your answers
to these questions
 Semantic Memory
• Memory not tied to personal events
• General facts and definitions about the world
• Examples:
– How many tires on a car?
– What is a cloud?
– What color is a banana?
• Does NOT depend on tying the item to your past
 Implicit Memory

• Non-declarative memory
• Influences your thoughts or
behavior, but does not enter
consciousness
• Eg. Procedural memory
 Procedural Memory
• Memory that enables you to perform specific
learned skills or habitual responses
• Examples:
– Riding a bike
– Using the stick while walking
– Tying your shoe laces
• These procedural memories are implicit.
• Don’t have to consciously remember the steps involved
in these actions to perform them
– Try to explain to someone how to tie a shoelace
 How are memories organized?

Clustering--organizing items into

related groups which helps during
recall from long-term memory
 Semantic Network Model
• Mental links between concepts
– common properties provide basis for mental link
• Shorter path between two concepts = stronger
association in memory
• Activation of a concept starts decremental
spread of activity to nearby concepts
 Semantic Network Model

Car Bus
Truck Fire
House
Engine
Fire
Ambulance
Red Hot Stove
Rose
Apple Cherry Pot Pan
Violet
Flower
Pear Pie
 Why do we forget?
Sensory memory
The senses momentarily register
amazing detail

Short-term memory
• Forgetting
A few items are both noticed
and encoded
can occur
at any
Long-term storage
Some items are altered or lost
memory
stage
Retrieval from long-term memory
Depending on interference, retrieval
cues, moods, and motives, some
things get retrieved, some don’t
 Forgetting as retrieval failure

• Retrieval—process of accessing stored information

• Sometimes information is encoded into LTM, but we
can’t retrieve it

Encoding
Short-term Long-term
memory memory

X
Retrieval

Retrieval failure
leads to forgetting
 Measures of Retrieval
• Recall—test of LTM that involves retrieving memories
without cues, also termed free recall
• Cued recall—test of LTM that involves remembering an
item of information in response to a retrieval cue
• Recognition—test of LTM that involves identifying
correct information from a series of possible choices
• Serial position effect—tendency to remember items at
the beginning and end of a list better than items in the
middle
 Encoding Specificity
– When conditions of retrieval are similar to
conditions of encoding, retrieval is more likely
to be successful
– You are more likely to remember things if the
conditions under which you recall them are
similar to the conditions under which you
learned them
 Memory Distortion

• Memory can be distorted as people try

to fit new information into existing
schemas
• Giving misleading information after an
event causes subjects to unknowingly
distort their memories to incorporate the
new misleading information
 Forgetting as encoding failure

• Information never encoded into LTM

Short-term X
Encoding Long-term
memory memory

Encoding failure
leads to forgetting
Which is the real coin?
Which is the real coin?
 Which is the real penny?

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

(f) (g) (h) (i) (j)

(k) (l) (m) (n) (o)

 Answer

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

(f) (g) (h) (i) (j)

(k) (l) (m) (n) (o)

 Encoding Failures

Even though you’ve seen

thousands of pennies, you’ve
probably never looked at one
closely to encode specific
features
 What is learning?
Learning = m + u

• Learning = memory + understanding

Ability to recognize, recall,

retain and store information INTEREST, INTENT,
MAKE ASSOCIATIONS
REVIEW, REVIEW
, REVIEW!!!
 WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO LEARN?

Learning a new skill or idea involves a combination of

using your memory with your ability to understand the
new ideas.

In other words, you don’t truly learn something unless

you can remember as well as understand it.
 Fibers in my head?

•You learn what you practice

because when you are
practicing, your brain is
growing new fibers (dendrites)
and connecting them at
synapses.

This is what learning is.

If information does not get enough attention or if is “not
deemed necessary for long term memory, it will be
encoded in short term memory only and ultimately
discarded and reclassified.
Brain needs to make sense of information
Asking questions promotes positive attitude as well as
critical thinking.
 Mnemonics
• Tricks and strategies to help memory!

• Repetition
• Chunking
• First letter technique
• Rhyming
• Visualization
• Keyword
• Link
• Method of Loci
• Pegword
 Learn the following list by ONLY reading; go
through list as many times as possible
• Horse – Table • Basket – Cloud
• Island – Hat • Ring – Ship
• Door – Note • Snow – Window
• Bear – Apple • Pencil – Hammer
• Clock – Moon • Bread – Car
• Building – Dog • Meat – Envelope
• River – Table • Box – Garden
• Road - Paper • Book - Cup
 Recall as many as possible

• Horse – • Basket –
• Island – • Ring –
• Door – • Snow –
• Bear – • Pencil –
• Clock – • Bread –
• Building – • Meat –
• River – • Box –
• Road - • Book –
 Answers

• Horse – Table • Basket – Cloud

• Island – Hat • Ring – Ship
• Door – Note • Snow – Window
• Bear – Apple • Pencil – Hammer
• Clock – Moon • Bread – Car
• Building – Dog • Meat – Envelope
• River – Table • Box – Garden
• Road - Paper • Book - Cup
 Repetition technique

• Repetition
– Forces you to pay attention
– Visual and verbal memory for material
• Spacing effect
– Distributed practice is best for delayed test
– Massed practice ok for immediate test
 Chunking
• Short-term memory capacity limit
– Magic number 7 +/- 2
– Memory span
• Remember: 7 0 4 8 6 4 2 3 2 1 8 9
• Or remember: 704 864 23 21 89
• Remember 7 +/- 2 CHUNKS
• Why helpful?
– Increase capacity by grouping information
– Gives meaning to random information
 First-letter techniques
• Acronym:
– ROY G BIV: colors of the rainbow

• Acrostic: first letter of each word of sentence is

cue
– Planets: My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us
Namkeen
 Rhyming technique

• When did Columbus discover America?

– “In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed
the ocean blue”
• “i before e except after c; or when sounded
like a, as in neighbor and weigh”
• “Thirty days has September, April, June, and
November”
• ABC’s song (rhyming and chunking)
 Learn the following list by creating a mental
image of two items in vivid interaction
• Bird – Fruit • Ice – Train
• Rain – Rock • Fence – Letter
• Dress – Money • Egg – Chair
• House – Mountain • Book – Water
• Cow – Flower • Coat – Glass
• Corn – Gate • Candy – Sign
• Roof – Nest • Rabbit – Paint
• Baby – Hair • Hammer - Book
 Recall

• Bird – • Ice –
• Rain – • Fence –
• Dress – • Egg –
• House – • Book –
• Cow – • Coat –
• Corn – • Candy –
• Roof – • Rabbit –
• Baby – • Hammer -
 Answers

• Bird – Fruit • Ice – Train

• Rain – Rock • Fence – Letter
• Dress – Money • Egg – Chair
• House – Mountain • Book – Water
• Cow – Flower • Coat – Glass
• Corn – Gate • Candy – Sign
• Roof – Nest • Rabbit – Paint
• Baby – Hair • Hammer - Book
 Keyword mnemonic

• Use to learn foreign language vocabulary

– Spanish example: Pato = Duck
• First step:
– Concrete keyword that sounds like foreign word = Pot
• Second step:
– Form visual image connecting keyword with meaning
– Picture: Duck wearing a pot on its head
 Link mnemonic
• Chaining or Link system
– First: form visual image for each item
– Second: associate image with next image
– Important to SEE associations

• Narrative technique
– Form a story using items you want to remember

• Appropriate for serial learning

• Problem: if forget one item then next items may be
inaccessible too
 Method of Loci

• “In the first place”

• 1. Memorize familiar locations in natural order

• 2. Create visual image of word with each
location
• 3. Recall: take a “mental walk”
 Method of Loci: Campus Map

Memorize physical locations and create mental images of the to-be-remembered items.
To remember just “stroll” through locations – “seeing” items you have placed there.
 Peg-word technique

• First: use memorized concrete

nouns
• Rhyming words with numbers
helps to remember words
• Second: create visual image of
target word with peg-word
• Similar to Loci: objects instead of
locations
• Problem: limited # peg-words
 Why mnemonic devices work
• Attention
– Ensure encoding
• Repetition
• Structured retrieval cues
• Dual-coding cues
– Verbal and visual representations
– Visual imagery: picture superiority effect
• Organization
– “chunks”
• Elaboration
– Think about meaning and make distinctive
• Generation
– Your ideas makes it personal
 Limitations of Mnemonics

• Time
• How to deal with abstract material?
• Learning vs. retention
• Creative ability
• Interference
• Doesn’t help memory in general
• No help if you fail to use technique
• Does not help understanding of material
• Need to practice mnemonics!