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Module 7 - Lesson 1 - I hope it will help you.
Cognitive Psychology (P105)
University of the Cordilleras
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MODULE 7 - MEMORY
Psychologists are concerned with how people learn and create memories of their experiences. For example, early psychologists such as Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner performed experiments that explained human action by measuring changes in behavior. These experiments informed our understanding of the process of learning and marked the beginning of the field of behaviorism. Memory is the faculty of the brain by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. It refers to the processes that are used to acquire, store, retain, and later retrieve information. There are three major processes involved in memory : encoding, storage, and retrieval. Human memory involves the ability to both preserve and recover information we have learned or experienced.
Lesson 1: Memory
What is Memory? Memory is the term given to the structures and processes involved in the storage and subsequent retrieval of information. It is the faculty of the brain by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. It is essential to all our lives. Without a memory of the past, we cannot operate in the present or think about the future. Memory encompasses the facts and experiential details that people consciously call to mind as well as ingrained knowledge that surface without effort or even awareness. It is both a short-term cache of information and the more permanent record of what one has learned. The types of memory described by scientists include episodic memory, semantic memory, procedural memory, working memory, sensory memory, and prospective memory. Each kind of memory has distinct uses—from the vivid recollections of episodic memory to the functional know-how of procedural memory. Yet there are
commonalities in how memory works overall, and key brain structures, such as the hippocampus, that are integral to different kinds of memory.
TYPES AND FUNCTIONS OF
MEMORY
Take a few minutes to imagine what your day might be like if you could not remember anything you had learned. You would have to figure out how to get dressed, what clothing should you wear, and how do buttons and zippers work? Who would you ask for help with these tasks, since you wouldn’t recognize the faces of these people in your house It is a disaster that you do not remember about many things? What do you think had happened? Our memory has three basic functions: encoding, storing, and retrieving information. Encoding is the act of getting information into our memory system through automatic or effortful processing. Storage is retention of the information, and retrieval is the act of getting information out of storage and into conscious awareness through recall, recognition, and relearning. There are
various models that aim to explain how we utilize our memory.
ENCODING
We get information into our brains through a process called encoding, which is the input of information into the memory system. Once we receive sensory information from the environment, our brains label or code it. For example, when someone asks you what you ate for lunch today, more than likely you could recall this information quite easily. This is known as automatic processing, or the encoding of details like time, space, frequency, and the meaning of words. But what about the actual test material you studied? It probably required a lot of work, focus and attention on your part in order to encode that information. This is known as effortful processing There are three types of encoding. The encoding of words and their meaning is known as semantic encoding. It was first demonstrated by William Bousfield (1935) in an experiment in which he asked people to memorize words. The 60 words were actually divided into 4 categories of meaning, although the participants did not know this because the words were randomly presented.
you can remember that happened more than just a few minutes ago up to everything that you can remember that happened days, weeks, and years ago. Long-term memory is divided into two types: explicit and implicit.
- Explicit memories also known as declarative memory, are those we consciously try to remember and recall. For example, if you are studying for your Math exam, the material you are learning will be part of your explicit memory. You will try to recall on the procedure that you need to do to solve the specific math problem.
Explicit (declarative) memory has two parts : semantic memory and episodic memory. Semantic means having to do with language and knowledge about language. Stored in our semantic memory is knowledge about words, concepts, and language- based knowledge and facts such as general information, or commonly known information.
- Episodic memory is information about events we have personally experienced about happenings in particular places at particular times, the what, where, and
when of an event. It involves recollection of visual imagery as well as the feeling of familiarity (Tulving, 2002).
- Implicit memories are memories that are not part of our consciousness. They are memories formed from behaviors. Implicit memory is also known as non- declarative memory.
- Procedural memory is a type of implicit memory that stores information about how to do things. It is the memory for skilled actions, such as how to brush your teeth, how to drive a car, how to swim quite well, etc.
RETRIEVAL
When you have worked hard to encode and store some important information for your upcoming final exam. How do you get that information back out of storage when you need it? The act of getting information out of memory storage and back into conscious awareness is known as retrieval. Our ability to retrieve information from long- term memory is vital to our everyday functioning.
Types of Retrieval
- Recall means you can access information without cues. For example, you would use recall for an essay test.
- Recognition happens when you identify information that you have previously learned after encountering it again. It involves a process of comparison. For example, you will attend a reunion after you graduated from high school 10 years ago. You may not be able to recall all of your classmates, but you recognize many of them based on their yearbook photos.
- Relearning is learning information that you previously learned. Carlos took Spanish in College, but he did not have the opportunity to speak Spanish. After 5
years, he was offered an opportunity to work in their Mexico City office. To prepare himself, he enrolls in a Spanish course online. He is surprised at how quickly he is able to relearn the language after not speaking it for 5 years.
Module 7 - Lesson 1 - I hope it will help you.
Course: Cognitive Psychology (P105)
University: University of the Cordilleras
