2.4 Encoding Memories

• Explicit memories


  -facts and experiences we can consciously know and declare

  -we encode many explicit memories through conscious effortful processing
• Effortful processing


  -encoding that requires attention & conscious effort

  -explicit memories go through
• Implicit Memories


  -learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection

  -go through automatic processing
• Automatic processing

  -unconscious encoding of unimportant information: space, time, and frequency

  -familiar or well learned information: sounds, smells, and word meanings

  -Ex: remembering someones name in voluntarily
• Implicit memories include...


  -procedural memory for automatic skills: how to ride a bike

  -classically conditioned associations: organism comes to associate stimuli and anticipate events
• If attacked by a dog, years later you might tense up when you see one. What process you might not recall?

  conditioned association
• Iconic memory


  -a momentary sensory memory of visual stimulus; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second. Example: When you stare at an image for so long, when you close your eyes, you may see it for a brief moment.
• Echoic memory


  -a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; If attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 to 4 seconds

  -Example: zoned out in class but then teacher asks you to repeat, you can recall 3-4 seconds worth of information
• short term memory can store about 7 pieces of information
• Chunking


  -organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

  -Example: basketball player peeks at a basketball game and remember player positions

  -organize info into personally meaningful chunks
• Mnemonics


  -memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

  -Example -> Peg-word system: one is a bun, two is a shoe. Then you can remember like "bun, shoe"

  -Method of loci: adding vivid new details to memories of a familiar place.
• Spacing effect


  -the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice
• Testing effect


  -quizzing on a subject to learn better
• Shallow processing


  -encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words

  -Example: Is the word in capital letters?
• Deep processing

  -encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words, tends to yield the best retention (keeping something in one's memory) - Example: "Would the word fit in this sentence? The girl put the _ on the table."