CHAPTER FOUR

MEMORY AND FORGETTING

5.1 Memory
5.1.1 Meaning and Processes of Memory
• Memory is the retention of information learned
earlier over time.
• It is the way in which we record the past for later
use in the present.
• Memory is a blanket label for a large number of
processes that form the bridges between our
past and our present.
 Processes of Memory
a) Encoding: refers to the form (i.e. the code) in which an
item of information is to be recorded/placed in memory.
In encoding we transform a sensory input into a form or
a memory code that can be further processed.
b) Storage: It is the location in memory system in which
material is saved. Storage is the persistence of
information in memory.
c) Retrieval: is the point at which one tries to remember a
particular information (brought into awareness and
used) from among all the others we have stored.
 5.1.2 Stages/Structure of Memory
• Memory structure refers how information is
represented in memory and how long it lasts and how
it is organized.
• Many cognitive psychologists relate the mind to a
digital computer that takes items of information in
processes or in stages, and then produces an output.
• Models of memory based on this idea are Information
processing models/theories.
• Like computer, we also store vast amounts of
information in our memory storehouse. From this
storehouse, we can retrieve some information onto a
limited capacity of working memory (consciousness).
 Three Stages of Memory

• Three memory stores that differ in function,

capacity and duration
 .
According to Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968), memory has three structures:
1) Sensory Memory/Sensory Register: It is the entry way to memory,
where information stay for a brief time (until we select it for attention).
• Sensory memory hold virtually all the information reaching our senses
for a brief time. For instance,
• Visual images (Iconic memory) remain in the visual system for a
maximum of one second.
• Auditory images (Echoic memory) remain in the auditory system for a
slightly longer time, by most estimates up to two second or so.
• The information stored in sensory memory is a fairly accurate
representation of the environmental information but unprocessed.
• Most information briefly held in the sensory memory simply decays
from the register. Those information that has got attention and
recognition pass on short-term memory for further processing.
 .
Short term memory is distinguished by four characteristics:
• It is active - information remains in STM only so long as the person is
consciously processing, examining, or manipulating it. People use STM
as a “workspace” to process new information and to call up relevant
information from LTM.
• Rapid accessibility - Information in STM is readily available for use. The
difference between STM and LTM is the difference between searching for
information in an open computer file versus file stored on the hard drive.
• Preserves the temporal sequence of information-STM usually helps us to
maintain the information in sequential manner for a temporary period. It
keeps information fresh until it goes to further analysis and stored in LTM
in meaningful way.
• Limited capacity-the number of items that short-term memory can handle
at any one time is small - about “7 plus or minus 2” pieces of information
at a time (Miller,1956).
 ...
•According to most models of memory, we overcome this problem, by
grouping small groups of information into larger units or chunks.
•Chunking is the grouping or “packing” of information into higher order
units that can be remembered as single units.
•Chunking expands working memory by making large amounts of
information more manageable.
•A chunk may be a word, a phrase, a sentence, or even a visual image,
and it depends on previous experience.
•STM memory holds information (sounds, visual images, words, and
sentences and so on) received from SM for up to about 30 seconds by
most estimates.
•It is possible to prolong STM indefinitely by rehearsal- the conscious
repetition of information. Material in STM is easily displaced unless we do
something to keep it there.
 .
2) Short-term Memory: is part of our memory that holds the
contents of our attention.
• Unlike sensory memories, short-term memories are not brief
replicas of the environmental message. Instead, they consist of
the by-products or end results of perceptual analysis.
• STM is important in a variety of tasks such as thinking, reading,
speaking, and problem solving.
• There are various terms used to refer to this stage of memory,
including working memory, immediate memory, active memory,
and primary memory.
• Maintenance Rehearsal: Repeating information silently to prolong
its presence in STM
• Elaborative Rehearsal: Links new information with existing
memories and knowledge in LTM
 3. Long Term Memory
It is a relatively permanent storage of meaningful information.
The capacity of LTM seems to have no practical limits. The LTM is
assumed to be composed of different sub systems:
• Declarative/explicit memory-the conscious recollection of information
such as specific facts or events that can be verbally communicated.
Declarative memory is subdivided into semantic and episodic
memories.
– Semantic memory-memories of meaning of words, concepts and our
knowledge of the world, independent of any particular context.
– Episodic memory-memories of events and situations.
• Non-declarative/implicit memory-refers to memory without awareness;
memory that affects behavior but cannot consciously be recalled.
• One of the most important kinds of implicit memory is procedural
memory (habitual responses).
 .
• Serial Position Effect
If you are shown a list of items and are then asked immediately to recall
them, your retention of any particular item will depend on its position in
the list.
• That is, recall will be best for items at the beginning of the list (the
primacy effect) and at the end of the list (the recency effect). When
retention of all the items is plotted, the result will be a U-shaped curve.
• According to Serial Position Effect or the three-box model, the first few
items on a list are remembered well because short-term memory was
relatively “empty” when they entered. The last few items are remembered
for a different reason: At the time of recall, they are still sitting in STM.
• The items in the middle of the list, however, are not so well retained
because by the time they get into LTM, it is already crowded. As a result
many of these items drop out of STM before they can be stored in LTM.
 Semantic Networks
A complex web of semantic associations that link items in memory such that
retrieving one item triggers the retrieval of others as well .
 5.1.3 Factors Affecting Memory
Memory is a process which includes learning, retention and remembering. These
processes are important for good memory.
Eleven Factors that Influence Memory Process are as follows:
a. Ability to retain/past experience
b. Good health
c. Age of the learner
d. Maturity
e. Will to remember
f. Intelligence
g. Interest
h. Over learning
i. Speed of learning
j. Meaningfulness of the material
k. Sleep or rest
 5.2 Forgetting
5.2.1 Meaning and Concepts of Forgetting
•In our daily living, we encounter so much information. If we attempt to
encode, store & recall all the info, we are in trouble.
•Hence, we are selective in storing and forgetting information. Sometimes we
are motivated to forgot something and recall what we want to remember.
Psychologists call this phenomenon as motivated forgetting.
•Psychologists generally use the term forgetting to refer to the apparent loss of
information already encoded and stored in the long-term memory.
•According to Ebbinghaus (1885), the most rapid forgetting occurs in the first
hours, and particularly in the first hour f learning. After nine hours, the rate of
forgetting slows.
•Furthermore, relearning of previously mastered material is almost always
faster than starting from a scratch.
 The Forgetting Curve

Hermann Ebbinghaus
first began to study
forgetting using
nonsense syllables

Nonsense syllables
are three-letter
combinations that
look like words but
are meaningless
(ROH, KUF)
 5.2.2. Theories of Forgetting
Psychologists identified the following five mechanisms of forgetting:
The Decay Theory: The decay theory holds that memory traces or engram
fade with time if they are not - accessed now and then. In decay, the trace
simply fades away with nothing left behind, because of the passage of
time.
Interference theory: Interference theory holds that forgetting occurs
because similar items of information interfere with one another in either
storage or retrieval. It may be proactive or retroactive.
In Proactive Interference, information learned earlier interferes with recall
of newer material. In Retroactive Interference, new information interferes
with the ability to remember old information
New Memory for Old/ Displacement Theory: This theory holds that new
information entering to memory can wipe out old information. This works
for STM, where the capacity for information is limited to seven plus or
minus chunks. It cannot work for LTM having virtually unlimited capacity .
 .
Motivated Forgetting: According to Freud, it is blocking of those
memories from consciousness that are two threatening or
painful to live with, and he called this self-protective process
of Repression. Today many psychologists prefer to use a
more general term, motivated forgetting.
Cue Dependent Forgetting: refers forgetting due to lack of
retrieval cues in which we may feel as if we have lost the call
number for an entry in the mind‘s library.
That may also explain why remembering is often easier when
you are in the same physical environment as you were when
an event occurred.
 5.3. Improving Memory
• Some simple mnemonics/memory aids are useful, but
complicated ones are often more bothersome than benefitting.
A better approach is to follow some general guidelines.
• Pay Attention: We often fail to remember because we never
encoded the information in the first place.
• Encode information in more than one way/Add meaning: The
more elaborated (meaningful) the material, the more likely it is
to link up with information already in long-term memory.
• Take your time: Minimize interference by using study breaks
for rest. Sleep is the ultimate way to reduce interference.
• Over learn/Practice : Studying information even after you think
you already know it.
 …
• Monitor your learning (SQ3R): By testing yourself frequently,
rehearsing thoroughly, and reviewing periodically, you will have
a better idea of how you are doing
• Increase the Depth of Processing
• Hierarchical Organization
• Verbal Mnemonics
• Method of Loci
• Peg-Word Method
• Minimize Interference
• Utilize Context Effects