• Explore how we

process and use

information to
solve problems.
 Major Concepts
• Encoding • Serial position effect
• Storage • Sematic encoding
• Retrieval • Acoustic encoding
• Automatic processing • Visual encoding
• Effortful processing • Mnemonic devices
• Rehearsal • Chunking
• Hermann Ebbinghaus
 Encoding
Encoding is the process of getting information into the
memory system
 Storage
Storage is the retention of encoded information in
memory over time
 Retrieval
Retrieval is the process of getting information out of
memory storage
 Automatic Processing
Automatic processing is the
unconscious and effortless process
of encoding information such as
space, time, and frequency
 Effortful Processing
Effortful processing is encoding
that requires attention and
conscious effort

• The best processing is through

rehearsal or practice
 Rehearsal
Rehearsal is the conscious
repetition of information

• The more time spent

on rehearsal, the more
information one tends
to remember
 Hermann Ebbinghaus
Hermann Ebbinghaus was a
German philosopher who did
pioneering memory studies

• Developed the forgetting

curve also called the
“retention curve” or
“Ebbinghaus curve”
 Overlearning
• Continuing to rehearse even after the information
has been memorized
• Rehearsing past the point of mastery
• Helps ensure information will be available even
under stress
 Serial Position Effect
Serial position effect is the
tendency to recall the first and
last items in a list more easily

• Primacy effect – the ability to

recall information near the
beginning of a list
• Recency effect – the ability to
recall information near the
end of a list
 Distributed Rehearsal
• Spreading rehearsal out in several sessions separated
by periods of time
• Usually enhances the recalling of the information
 Massed Rehearsal
• Putting all rehearsal together in one long session
(cramming)
• Not as effective as distributed rehearsal
 Spacing Effect
• The tendency for
distributed
practice to yield
better retention
than is achieved
through massed
practice
 Semantic Encoding
Semantic encoding is encoding the meaning
• Encoding information that is meaningful enhanced
recall
 Acoustic Encoding
• Encoding information based on the sounds of the
information
 Visual Encoding
• Encoding information based on the images of the
information
 Self-Reference Effect
• Enhanced semantic encoding of information that is
personally relevant
• Making information meaningful to a person by
making it relevant to one’s life
 Encoding Imagery
• Visual images easily encode
• Especially extremely positive or negative images
 Mnemonic Device
Mnemonic device is a memory
trick or technique
• “Every good boy does fine” to
remember the notes on the
lines of the scale
• “People say you could have odd
lots of good years” as a way to
remember how to spell
“psychology”
 Method of Loci
• Mnemonic device in which you associate items you
want to remember with imaginary places
 Peg-Word System
• Mnemonic device in which you associate items you
want to remember with a list of words you have
already memorized
• Goal is to visualize the items to remember with the
items on the page
 Chunking
Chunking is organizing information into meaningful units

• More information can be encoded if organized into

meaningful chunks
• A means to keep more items in short-term memory
 Chunking
Chunking is organizing information into meaningful units

• More information can be encoded if organized into

meaningful chunks
• A means to keep more items in short-term memory
Tips for Becoming a Better Encoder
• Rehearse
• Overlearn
• Overcome the serial position effect
• Benefits from spacing effect
• Take advantage of the self-reference effect
• Use mnemonic devices
• Chunk material or arrange it in a hierarchy
 23-1 Learning Goal Summary
• Automatic processing is the unconscious process of
encoding certain information without effort. Effortful
processing is encoding that requires attention and
conscious effort.
• The serial position effect is the tendency to recall the
first and last items on a list more easily. Distributed
rehearsal works better than massed rehearsal.
 23-1 Learning Goal Summary
• Semantic encoding is the process of making material
meaningful. Visual images are often automatically
encoded and remembered well. Mnemonic devices are
memory tricks like the method of loci and the peg-word
system. Chunking and organizing information into a
hierarchy are effective encoding techniques.
 Major Concepts
• Sensory memory • Explicit memory
• Short term memory • Implicit memory
• Working memory
• Long term memory
• Flashbulb memory
• Long term potentiation
 Three Storage Systems
• Three distinct storage systems:
• Sensory memory
• Short-term memory (includes working memory)
• Long-term memory
 Sensory Memory
Sensory memory is brief, initial encoding of sensory
information in the memory system
• Iconic store – visual information
• Echoic store – sound information

• Information held just long enough to make a decision

of its importance
 Short Term/Working Memory
Short term/working memory is the part of your
memory system that contains information you are
consciously aware of before it is stored more
permanently or forgotten

• Holds approximately seven, plus

or minus two, chunks of
information
• Also called “working memory”
 Long-Term Memory
Long-term memory is the
relatively permanent and
limitless storehouse of
the memory system

• Holds memories
without conscious
effort
 Flashbulb Memory
Flashbulb memory is a
vivid, clear memory of an
emotionally significant
moment or event

• Can be personal
memories or centered
around a shared event
 Long-Term Potentiation
Long-term potentiation is an increase in a synapse’s
firing efficiency that occurs when the sequence of
neurons that represents a particular memory fires
repeatedly; believed to be the neural basis of learning
and memory
 Explicit Memory
Explicit memory is the memory of facts and experiences

• Processed through the hippocampus

 Implicit Memory
Implicit memory is the memory of skills and practices

• Processed through the cerebellum

Memory and the Hippocampus
• Damage to the hippocampus would result in the
inability to form new explicit memories, but the
ability to remember the skills of implicit memories
 Memory and the Cerebellum
• Implicit memories are processed in the cerebellum
 23-2 Learning Goal Summary
• Sensory memory is the brief, initial encoding of iconic
(visual) and echoic (sound) information in the memory
system. Short-term/working memory contains
information you are consciously aware of before it is
stored more permanently or forgotten. Long-term
memory is the relatively permanent and limitless
storehouse of the memory system. Memories are
stored in the brain through long term potentiation.
 23-2 Learning Goal Summary
• Stress hormones tell your body that something
significant is happening, triggering biological changes
that enhance memories. Explicit memories—recall of
facts and experiences— are processed through the
hippocampus. Implicit memories—recall of skills and
procedures—are processed through the cerebellum.
 Major Concepts
• Retrieval
• Recall
• Recognition
• Context effect
• State dependent memory
 Retrieval
• The process of getting information out of memory
storage
• Two forms of retrieval
• Recall
• Recognition
 Recall
Recall is the type of retrieval in which you must search
for information that you previously stored, as on a fill-in-
the-blank test
 Recognition
Recognition is the type of retrieval in which you must
identify items you learned earlier, as on a multiple-
choice test
 Context Effect
Context effect is the
enhanced ability to
retrieve information when
you are in an environment
similar to the one in
which you encoded the
information
 State-Dependent Memory
State-dependent memory is the enhanced ability to
retrieve information when you are in the same physical
and emotional state you were in when you encoded the
information

• The retrieval state is congruent with the encoding

state
 23-3 Learning Goal Summary
• Identifying whether something matches information in
our long-term memory (recognition) is easier than
recalling information.
• The other major factor that influences what we
remember is context: It is easier to remember
information if we are in an environment similar to the
environment the information was encoded in (context
effect) or if we are in the same emotional and physical
state we were in when we encoded the information
(state-dependent memory).