CHAPTER FOUR

MEMORY AND
FORGETTING
• Learning Outcomes
• Define memory and forgetting.
• Describe the stages and memory structures proposed by
theory of memory.
• Explain the processes that are at work in memory
functions.
• Identify how learned materials are organized in the long
term memory.
• State the factors underlying on the persistence, and loss
of memory.
• Explain different theories of forgetting.
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 Introduction
• Intelligent life does not exist without memory.
• Imagine what life could mean to a person who is unable
to recall things that are already seen, tested, heard
before.
• If you don‘t have a memory, you cannot remember
whatever information you acquire that makes your life
disorganized, confused and meaningless.
• Your memory provides the function that your life to
• have continuity in place and time,
• adapt to the new situations by using previous skills and
information,
• enriches your emotional life by recoiling your positive and
negative life experiences.
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 5.1 Memory
• 5.1.1 Meaning and Processes of Memory
• Memory is the retention of information/what is
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.
• To learn about the nature of memory, it is useful to
separate the process from the structure.

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Memory and Its Processes
• Memory - an active system that receives
information from the senses, organizes and alters
it as it stores it away, and then retrieves the
information from storage.
• Processes of Memory:
• Encoding - the set of mental operations that people perform on
sensory information to convert that information into a form that
is usable in the brain’s storage systems.
• Storage - holding onto information for some period of time.
• Retrieval - getting information that is in storage into a form that
can be used.

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5
 Processes of Memory
• Memory processes are the mental activities we perform to put
information into memory, to keep it there, and to make use of it
later. This involves three basic steps:
• a) Encoding: Taken from computer science, the term encoding refers
to the form (i.e. the code) in which an item of information is to be
placed in memory.
• It is the process by which information is initially recorded in a form usable to
memory.
• In encoding we transform a sensory input into a form or a memory code that
can be further processed.
• b) Storage: To be remembered the encoded experience must leave
some record in the nervous system (the memory trace);
• it must be squirreled away and held in some more or less enduring form for
later use.
• This is what memory specialists mean when they speak of placing
information in storage.
• It is the location in memory system in which material is saved. Storage is the
persistence of information in memory
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 Processes of Memory…..

• c) Retrieval: is the point at which one tries to remember

to dredge up a particular memory trace from among all
the others we have stored.
• In retrieval, material in memory storage is located, brought
into awareness and used.
• Failure to remember can result from problems during any
of the three phases of the memory process (see Figure).
• If, for example, you encode a new item of information only as a
sound pattern, there would be no memory trace of its
meaning.
• If both the sound and the meaning were encoded and held for
the length of the retention interval, the item might have been
misfiled in memory. If so, the item might be impossible to
retrieve even though it is still stored in memory.

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Processes of Memory

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 5.1.2 Stages/Structure of Memory
• Memory structure is the nature of memory storage itself- how
information is represented in memory and how long it lasts and
how it is organized.
• Although people usually refer to memory as a single faculty, the term
memory actually covers a complex collection of abilities and processes.
• Models of memory based on this idea are Information processing
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, which also
receives information from our current experience. Part of this
working memory is displayed on the mental “screen” we call
consciousness.
• A number of such models of memory have been proposed.
• One of the most important and influential of these is the one
developed by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968).
According to Atkinson and Shiffrin, memory has three structures:9
1) Sensory Memory/Sensory Register
• It is the entry way to memory.
• It is the first information storage area.
• Sensory memory acts as a holding bin, retaining information until we can
select items for attention from the stream of stimuli bombarding our senses.
• It gives us a brief time to decide whether information is extraneous or
important.
• Sensory memory includes a number of separate subsystems, as many as
there are senses. It can 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 sensory in 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.
• However, some of the information that has got attention and recognition pass on
short-term memory for further processing.
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2) Short-term Memory
• STM 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.

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 Four characteristics of STM
• 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.
• In this respect, the difference between STM and LTM is the difference between pulling
a file from the top of a desk versus searching for it in a file drawer, or 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 of
time.
• It keeps the information fresh until it goes to further analysis and stored in LTM in
meaningful way.
• Limited capacity- Years ago, George Miller (1956) estimated the capacity of
STM to be ―the magic number seven plus or minus 2‖.
• That is, on the average, people can hold about seven pieces of information in STM at a
time; with a normal range from five to nine items.
• Some researchers have questioned whether Miller‘s magical number is so magical
after all.
• Everyone agrees, however, that the number of items that short-term memory can
handle at any one time is small.
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 STM
• 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.
• The real capacity of short-term memory, therefore, is not a few bits
of information but a few chunks.
• 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.
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3. Long Term Memory
• It is a memory system used for the relatively
permanent storage of meaningful information.
• The capacity of LTM seems to have no practical
limits.
• The vast amount of information stored in LTM enables
us to learn, get around in the environment, and build a
sense of identity and personal history.
• LTM stores information for indefinite periods. It
may last for days, months, years, or even a lifetime.

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Type of Type of Capacity Characteristic Duration
memory Information

Sensory environmental a brief time

Memory information but
unprocessed

Short Term the contents of 7 Items • It is active 15-20

Memory our attention. • Rapid accessibility
• Preserves the temporal
sequence of information
• Limited capacity

Long Term meaningful Unlimited indefinite

Memory information periods

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 Types of LTM
• Declarative/ explicit memory- the conscious recollection of
information such as specific facts or events that can be verbally
communicated.
• It is further subdivided into semantic and episodic memories.
• Semantic memory- factual knowledge like the meaning of words,
concepts and our ability to do math.
• They are internal representations of the world, independent of any particular
context.
• Episodic memory- memories for events and situations from personal
experience.
• They are internal representations of personally experienced events.
• Non-declarative/ implicit memory- refers to a variety of phenomena of
memory in which behavior is affected by prior experience without that
experience being consciously recollected.
• One of the most important kinds of implicit memory is procedural
memory. It is the “how to” knowledge of procedures or skills:
• Knowing how to comb your hair, use a pencil, or swim.
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Serial Position Effect
• The three-box model of memory is often invoked to
explain interesting phenomenon called the 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.

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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.
• Serial position effect - tendency of
information at the beginning and end of a
body of information to be remembered
more accurately than information in the
middle of the body of information.
• Primacy effect - tendency to remember
information at the beginning of a body of
information better than the information that
follows.
• Recency effect - tendency to remember
information at the end of a body of
information better than the information
ahead of it.
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Menu
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 A serial position effect
• occurs when you are introduced to a lot of people at a party
and find you can recall the names of the first few people you
met and the last, but almost no one in between.
• According to the three-box model, the first few items on a list
are remembered well because short-term memory was
relatively “empty” when they entered, so these items did not
have to compete with others to make it into long term memory.
They were thoroughly processed, so they remain memorable.
• 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 short-term memory,
it is already crowded.
• As a result many of these items drop out of short-term memory before
they can be stored in long-term memory.
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5.1.3 Factors Affecting Memory
• Ability to retain:
• This depends upon good memory traces left in the brain
by past experiences.
• Good health:
• A person with good health can retain the learnt material
better than a person with poor health.
• Age of the learner:
• Youngsters can remember better than the aged.
• Maturity:
• Very young children cannot retain and remember complex
material.
• Will to remember:
• Willingness to remember helps for better retention.

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Factors Affecting Memory …

• Intelligence:
• More intelligent person will have better memory than a dull person,
• Interest:
• If a person has more interest, he will learn and retain better.
• Over learning:
• Experiments have proved that over learning will lead to better
memory.
• Speed of learning:
• Quicker learning leads to better retention,
• Meaningfulness of the material: Meaningful materials remain
in our memory for longer period than for nonsense material,
• Sleep or rest: Sleep or rest immediately after learning
strengthens connections in the brain and helps for clear
memory.

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5.2 Forgetting
• 5.2.1 Meaning and Concepts of Forgetting
• Psychologists generally use the term forgetting to refer to the apparent loss
of information already encoded and stored in the long-term memory.
• The first attempts to study forgetting were made by German psychologist
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885/1913).
• Using himself as his only subject, he memorized lists of three letter non-sense
syllables- meaningless sets of two consonants with a vowel in between, such as FIW
and BOZ.
• By measuring how easy it was to relearn a given list of words after varying
periods of time from initial learning had passed, he found that forgetting
occurred systematically.
• The most rapid forgetting occurs in the first hours, and particularly in the first hour.
• After nine hours, the rate of forgetting slows and declines little, even after the
passage of many days.
• Ebbinghaus‘s research had an important influence on subsequent research, and his
basic conclusions had been upheld. There is almost always a strong initial decline in
memory, followed by a more gradual drop over time.
• Furthermore, relearning of previously mastered material is almost always faster than
starting from a scratch, whether the material is academic information or a motor skill
such as serving a tennis ball.
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 5.2.2. Theories of Forgetting
• Psychologists have proposed five mechanisms to
account for forgetting:
• decay,
• replacement of old memories by new ones,
• interference,
• motivated forgetting, and
• cue dependent forgetting.

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 5.2.2.1.The Decay Theory
• Memory trace - physical change in the brain
that occurs when a memory is formed.
• Decay - loss of memory due to the passage of
time, during which the memory trace is not
used.
• Disuse - another name for decay, assuming
that memories that are not used will
eventually decay and disappear.
• The decay theory holds that memory traces
or engram fade with time if they are not
accessed now and then.
• This explanation assumes that when new Memories after
material is learned a memory trace or engram- many years – not
an actual physical change in the brain- occurs. explained by
memory trace
• decay occurs in sensory memory and that it theory.
occurs in short term memory as well, unless
Menu
we rehearse the material.
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 5.2.2.2. Interference

• Interference theory holds that forgetting occurs

because similar items of information interfere with one
another in either storage or retrieval.
• The information may get into memory, but it becomes
confused with other information.
• There are two kinds of interference that influence
forgetting: proactive and retroactive.
• In Proactive Interference, information learned earlier
interferes with recall of newer material.
• If new information interferes with the ability to
remember old information the interference is called
Retroactive Interference.
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 5.2.2.1. Interference Theory
• Interference theory holds that forgetting occurs because similar
items of information interfere with one another in either
storage or retrieval.
• The information may get into memory, but it becomes confused with
other information.
• Proactive interference - memory retrieval problem that occurs when
older information prevents or interferes with the retrieval of newer
information.
• Retroactive interference - memory retrieval problem that occurs when
newer information prevents or interferes with the retrieval of older
information.
Proactive interference –
problem driving in
England after learning in
US.

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5.2.2.3. New Memory for Old/ Displacement
Theory
• This theory holds that new information entering
memory can wipe out old information, just as
recording on an audio or videotape will
obliterate/wipe out the original material.
• This theory is mostly associated with the STM,
where the capacity for information is limited to
seven plus or minus chunks.
• It cannot be associated with the LTM because of its
virtually unlimited capacity.

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5.2.2.4. Motivated Forgetting
• Sigmund Freud maintained that people forget
because they block from consciousness those
memories that are too threatening or painful to
live with, and he called this self-protective process
Repression.
• Today many psychologists prefer to use a more
general term, motivated forgetting.

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5.2.2.5. Cue Dependent Forgetting
• Often when we need to remember, we rely on retrieval cues, items of
information that can help us find the specific information we‘re looking for.
• When we lack retrieval cues, we may feel as if we have lost the call number for an
entry in the mind‘s library.
• In long-term memory, this type of memory failure may be the most
common type of all. Cues that were present when you learned a new fact
or had an experience are apt to be especially useful later as retrieval aids.
• That may explain why remembering is often easier when you are in the
same physical environment as you were when an event occurred: Cues in
the present context match from the past.
• Cues present during the initial stage of learning help us to recall the
content of the specific learning materials in an easy manner.
• Your mental or physical state may also act as a retrieval cue, evoking a state
dependent memory. For example if you are intoxicated when something happens,
you may remember it better when you once again have had a few drinks than when
you are sober.
• Likewise, if your emotional arousal is specially high or low at the time of an
event, you may remember that event best when you are once again in the
same emotional state
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 5.3. Improving Memory
• Pay Attention: It seems obvious, but often we fail to remember
because we never encoded the information in the first place. When
you do have something to remember, you will do better if you encode
it.
• Encode information in more than one way: The more elaborate the
encoding of information, the more memorable it will be
• Add meaning: The more meaningful the material, the more likely it is
to link up with information already in long-term memory.
• Take your time: If possible, minimize interference by using study
breaks for rest or recreation. Sleep is the ultimate way to reduce
interference.
• Over learn: Studying information even after you think you already
know it- is one of the best ways to ensure that you‘ll remember it.
• Monitor your learning: By testing yourself frequently, rehearsing
thoroughly, and reviewing periodically, you will have a better idea of
how you are doing
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