Exam Revision: remembering&forgetting

• 1. Retrieval failure theory

  In completing these tasks you can retrieve information from various storage systems using your LTM using a retrieval cue to assist you in locating the info

  Retrieval cue definition⇒ is any stimulus that assists the process of locating and recovering information stored in the LTM. It acts as a prompt that guides the search and recovery process within memory.
• 1. According to the Retrieval failure theory, we sometimes forget because we lack or fail to use the right cues to retrieve information stored in LTM
  2. This explanation of forgetting suggests that memories stored in the LTM are available and not actually forgotten, however, the memories are temporarily inaccessible because of an inappropriate or faulty cue
  3. A limitation of this theory is that it doesn’t explain forgetting due to anxiety-related memories, brain trauma, or memories that interfere with one another.
• 1. Interference theory

  • The interference theory ⇒ proposes that forgetting in the LTM occurs because other memories interfere with the retrieval of what we are trying to recover, particularly if the other memories are similar.
  • The more similar the information the more likely that interference will occur.
  • Also, the closer in time that the information was learnt the more interference will occur.
• • There are two types of interference:

  a)Retroactive interference definition⇒ When new information interferes with the ability to remember old information

  b) Proactive interference definition⇒ Information learnt previously can interfere with our ability to remember new information
• 1. Motivated forgetting

  Definition⇒ Describes forgetting that arises from a strong motive or desire to forget, usually because the experience is too disturbing or upsetting to remember

  1. Repression

  Definition⇒ unconsciously blocking a memory of an event or experience from entering conscious awareness

  b) Suppression

  Definition⇒ involves being motivated to forget an event or experience by making a deliberate conscious effort to keep it out of conscious awareness.
• 1. Decay theory

  Definition⇒ Forgetting occurs because the neural representation of a memory (called a memory trace) fades through disuse as time passes unless it’s reactivated by being used occasionally

  • this is the earliest theory of forgetting
  • It is not a psychological theory but more of a physiological theory
  • The passage of tie may contribute to forgetting both in sensory memory and STM, but not LTM
• 3 Main measures are available for use by psychologists to assess how much information has been retained- Recall, recognition, and re-learning
• 1. Recall

  Definition⇒ involves reproducing information stored in memory, whether or not a cue is used to assist the retrieval process

  • Least sensitive out of recall, recognition, and re-learning.
  • There are 3 types of recall
• Methods of recall


  • Free recall
  • Serial recall
  • Cued recall
• 1. Free recall- involves reproducing as much information as possible in no particular order. E.g. Being asked to learn a list of words, and then recalling as many words as possible in any order.
• b) Serial recall- involves reproducing information in the order in which it was presented. e.g. learning a list of words and recalling them in the order in which they were presented
• c) Cued recall- involves the use of specific prompts (Cues) to aid retrieval and therefore reproduction of the required information E.g. learn a list of words, and then participants are given the first letter of each word in the list as a cue
• 1. Recognition

  Definition⇒ involves identifying the correct information from among alternatives. Sometimes there is incorrect information amongst the correct information.

  • Recognition is a better way of retrieving information than recall as it provides more useful cues that assist in locating and retrieving information from the LTM
  • Recognition is also a more sensitive measure than recall
• 1. Re-learning

  Definition⇒ involves learning information again that has been previously learned and stored in the LTM

  • If information is learned more quickly the second time, it is assumed that some of the information must be retained (saved) from the first learning experience whether the person realises it or not
  • Of all the measures of retention, re-learning is considered to be the most sensitive (sensitivity refers to its ability to access the amount of information that has been stored in memory)
• • Re-learning something takes less time than it did to learn it originally. You will have discovered this when you learn for exams and tests. You think youve forgotten everything but even a small amount of reviewing you remember the information relatively quickly. By ‘restudying’, a weak association regains its original strength in your memory.
  • Ebinghaus (1885) was the first researcher to scientifically study re-learning (as above)
  • Re-learning is also called the Method of savings because it can be used to measure the amount of info ‘saved’ from previous learning.
• Levels of processing model of memory (Craik & Lockheart)

  • Some psychologists have argued against the concept that human memory has a specific structure that can be divided into different storage systems and subsystems through which information flows in some kind of sequence (Like Baddeley and Hitch, and Atkinson-Shiffron)
  • The most influential were Canadian scientists Craik & Lockheart
  • In 1972 they proposed a ‘conceptual framework of memory’ that emphasised the importance of the level at which the new information is processed
• Some psychologists have argued against the concept that human memory has a specific structure that can be divided into different storage systems and subsystems through which information flows in some kind of sequence
• Craik & Lockheart


  Canadian scientists who proposed a 'conceptual framework of memory' in 1972
• Craik and Lockheart's levels of processing framework


  Proposes that the level or depth at which we process information during learning determines how well it is stored in the LTM
• Craik and Lockheart's model


  • Memories are best encoded, organised, and stored in LTM by meaning (or semantically)
  • If meaning is processed during learning, then LTM will be better than if meaning is not processed
  • Processing meaning occurs on a continuum of levels of processing ranging from shallow to deep processing, with levels of processing in between
  • Information will be retained only briefly if it is processed at a shallow level but will be retained much longer if processed at a deeper level
• Elaborative rehearsal


  Involves a deep level of processing because there is so much focus on assigning meaning to the information
• Shallow level of processing


  • Involves structural and phonemic processing
  • Structural processing (appearance) which is when we encode only the physical qualities of something
  • Phonemic processing- which is when we encode its sound
  • Shallow processing only involves maintenance rehearsal and leads to fairly short-term retention of information
• Deep level of processing


  • Involves semantic and elaborative processing
  • Semantic processing happens when we encode the meaning of a word and relate it to similar words with similar meanings
  • Deep processing involves elaborative rehearsal which involves a more meaningful analysis (E.g. images, thinking, associations, etc.) of information and leads to better recall
• Considerable research evidence indicates that LTM is better when we process new information semantically, or meaningfully, as opposed to attending to its more superficial physical features
• Study: Depth of Processing and the Retention of Words in Episodic Memory (Craik & Tulving 1975)
• Depth of Processing and the Retention of Words in Episodic Memory

  Aim:

  • to investigate how deep and shallow processing affects memory recall
• Study:

  Method:

  • Participants were presented with a series of 60 words about which they had to answer one of three questions. Some questions required the participants to process the word in a deep way (Semantic) and others in a shallow way (Structural and phonemic) For example:

  1. Structural/visual processing: ‘Is the word in capital letters or small letters?’
  2. Phonemic/auditory processing: ‘Does the word rhyme with?’
  3. Semantic processing: ‘Does the word go in this sentence?’
• study:

  Results/findings:

  • Participants recalled more words that were semantically processed compared to phonemically and visually processed words
• Study:

  Conclusion:

  • Semantically processed words involve elaborative rehearsal and deep processing which results in more accurate recall. Phonemic and visually processed words involve shallow processing and less accurate recall.
• Study:

  Contribution of the study to psychology/real-life applications

  • This explanation of memory is useful for everyday life because it highlights how elaboration, which requires deeper processing of information, can aid memory. Three examples of this are:
  • Reworking: putting information in your own words or talking about it with someone else
  • Method of Loci: When trying to remember a list of items, linking each with a familiar place or route
• Study Contribution of the study to psychology/real-life applications

  • Imagery: By creating an image of something you want to remember, you elaborate on it and encode it visually (I.E. a mind map)
  • The above examples could all be used to help you at school using semantic processing (E.g. explaining memory models to your mum, using mind maps etc..) and should result in deeper processing through using elaborative rehearsal.
• Study:

  Strengths:

  • Craik and Tulving’s research supports their level of processing theory.
  • This explanation of memory is useful in everyday life because it highlights how elaboration, which requires deeper processing of information can aid memory.
• Study:

  Weaknesses

  • It does not explain how deep processing results in better memories
  • Deeper processing takes more effort than shallow processing, which could be this, rather than the depth of processing, that makes it more likely people will remember something.
  • The concept of depth is vague and cannot be observed. Therefore, it cannot be objectively measured.
  • Craik & Tulving’s experiment lacks a degree of ecological validity in that only word recall is tested. In reality, structural and visual processing might be higher if a person is asked to recall a picture they have seen, for example.
• Rehearsal


  The process of consciously manipulating information to keep it in STM, to transfer it to LTM, or to aid storage and retrieval
• Types of rehearsal


  • Maintenance rehearsal
  • Elaborative rehearsal
• Maintenance rehearsal


  Involves repeating the information being remembered over and over again so that it can be retained in STM (Working memory)
• Maintenance rehearsal


  • Involves simple repetition of words or auditory information such as the sounds of words and visual or spatial information such as images or mental maps
  • To transfer info to LTM it is more effective to use elaborative rehearsal
• Elaborative rehearsal


  The process of linking new information in a meaningful way with other new information or information already stored in the LTM to aid in its storage and retrieval from LTM
• Elaborative rehearsal


  • Forming an association between learning a complicated definition in psychology and something that reminds you of a holiday you went on
• Mnemonics do the same thing as elaborative rehearsal