MEMORY II:Long-Term Memory, Declarative Memory, Procedural Memory

<< MEMORY I:Functions of Memory, Encoding and Recoding, Retrieval

MEMORY III:Memory Disorders/Dysfunctions, Amnesia, Dementia >>

Introduction to Psychology PSY101

Lesson 24

MEMORY II

Long-Term Memory

This system stores information on a permanent or relatively permanent basis; the information thus stored

may or may not be retrieved easily. The term long-term memory is somewhat broad meaning phrase because it

can refer to facts learned a few minutes ago, personal memories many decades old, or skills learned with

practice. Generally, however, long-term memory describes a system in the brain that can store vast amounts

of information on a relatively enduring basis. When you play cricket, remember what you had for dinner last

night, recall your first birthday party, and remember how to play a board game, or to sing along to a favorite

song; for all this you draw on information and skills stored in long-term memory.

Psychologists have different theories about how information enters long-term memory. The traditional view

is that information enters short-term memory and, depending on how it is processed, may then be

transferred to long-term memory. However, another view is that short-term memory and long-term

memory are arranged in a parallel rather than sequential fashion. That is, information may be registered

simultaneously in the two systems.

There seems to be no finite capacity to long-term memory. People can learn and retain new facts and skills

throughout their lives. Although older adults may show a decline in certain capacities, for example, recalling

recent events. They can still have new experience even in old age. For example, vocabulary increases over

the entire life span. The brain remains plastic and capable of new learning throughout one's lifetime, at least

under normal conditions. Certain neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, can greatly diminish the

capacity for new learning.

Psychologists once thought of long-term memory as a single system. Today, most researchers distinguish

three long-term memory systems: episodic memory, semantic memory, and procedural memory: memory

related to incidents, language, and procedures.

The Components of Long-term Memory

Also known as modules of long- term memory:

Declarative memory

Procedural memory

Semantic memory

Episodic memory

Declarative Memory

The module responsible for factual data, dates, faces, names etc.

Procedural Memory

The memory center for skills and habits e.g., playing cricket, driving a car etc. It refers to the skills that

humans possess. Tying shoelaces, riding a bicycle, swimming, and hitting a football are examples of

procedural memory. Procedural memory is often contrasted with episodic and semantic memory. Episodic

and semantic memory are both classified as types of declarative memory because people can consciously

recall facts, events, and experiences and then verbally declare or describe their recollections. In contrast,

non-declarative, or procedural, memory is expressed through performance and typically does not require a

conscious effort to recall.

Semantic Memory

Storehouse for facts and general knowledge about the world e.g., historical facts, or scientific formulae. It

refers to our general knowledge of the world and all of the facts we know. Semantic memory allows a

person to know that the chemical symbol for water is H2O, or that cats have a tail etc.

142

Introduction to Psychology PSY101

Episodic Memory

Memory for information pertaining to life events, episodes, biographical details. It refers to memories of

specific episodes in one's life and is what most people think of as memory. Episodic memories are

connected with a specific time and place.

Associative Module

A strategy or process whereby material is recalled by thinking about related information e.g., whose son was

the Mughal Emperor "Shah Jehan"?

Priming and long-term memory

If an individual is exposed to a piece of information earlier, then later on it is easier for him to recall the

same or similar pieces of information.

Explicit and Implicit Memory

Explicit Memory

Recollection of memory that is intentional and conscious e.g., date of your interview, or the day when your

course started. Explicit memory refers to the deliberate, conscious recollection of facts and past

experiences. If someone asked you to recall everything you did yesterday, this task would require explicit

memory processes. There are two basic types of explicit memory tests: recall tests and recognition tests.

Implicit Memory

There are many pieces of information or memories that are stored in our system but which we are

not aware of at the conscious level. These can and do affect our behavior and performance later

e.g., childhood fear of blood hindering the performance of becoming a doctor.

Implicit memory refers to using stored information without trying to retrieve it. People often retain and use

prior experiences without realizing it. For example, suppose that the word `ostentatiously' is not part of your

normal working vocabulary, and one day you hear the word used in a conversation. A day later you find

yourself using the word in conversation and wonder why. The earlier exposure to the word primed you to

retrieve it automatically in the right situation without intending to do so.

Single Process Approach

Some psychologists do not agree with the idea of three sequential stages of memory; they had a single process

approach i.e., levels-of- processing theory.

Levels-of- Processing Theory

What is most important in the process of memorizing or learning material is the degree to which the

material is mentally analyzed.

How much of new information will be remembered will be determined by the extent or amount of

information processing that takes place when new material is encountered.

The information will be more and more likely to be remembered as the initial processing becomes

more and more intense.

Information that is paid little attention will not be processed thoroughly, will remain at the shallow level of memory, and will be

forgotten soon.

On the other hand information that receives greater attention is processed thoroughly; such information

enters the deeper level of memory.

Shallow Level Memory

This is the physical and sensory aspect of information.

Deepest Level Memory

Meaning of information is considered important in analysis of information.

A wider context, rather than a limited or restricted, perspective may be taken.

143

Introduction to Psychology PSY101

Associations between what this information means, and the already existing and known broader

networks of knowledge, may be drawn

Recall and Retrieval of Long-term Memory

Why do we remember certain events very vividly even after a very long time?

Why can't we remember something that we thought we know very well?

Are the memories that we can recall very clearly, really exact reproductions or distorted, or may be

exaggerated?

Flashbulb Memories

The memories that are as clear and vivid as a snapshot.

Such memories are of events that are important for us, are specific, or surprising or astonishing e.g.,

an interview room, an accident, first day at class.

Although flashbulb memories are vivid, clear and detailed, still they may be lacking many important

details.

At times the recall may be very different from the actual event whereas the person believes he is

remembering right.

Many elements may be missed and many added.

Tip-of-the-tongue Phenomenon

Inability to recall events, details, or information that we thought we knew very well.

Causes of the Tip-of-the-tongue Phenomenon

Information overload

Accumulation of pieces of similar and confusing information

Preoccupation]

Retrieval Cues Are Helpful!!!

Autobiographical Memory: The Episodic Aspect of Long-term Memory

Autobiographical memories are recollections of past life events, circumstances, episodes, and

happenings.

These memories, although they seem perfect to us, may also be distorted, exaggerated, changed.

Schemas: According to Bartlet information is remembered in terms of schemas i.e., general

themes in memory that contain relatively little specific detail.

Irrelevant or unimportant details are discarded.

People's understanding of the situation, their expectations, and awareness of others' motivation

affect memory and recall.

Forgetting

Forgetting is the inability to retrieve or recall information from the long- term memory.

Forgetting may occur due to a number of factors such as:

· Information discarded / decayed due to the non- use of the learned material.

· At times we know something, but are unable to access and retrieve it properly.

· Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist, was the first one to study the phenomenon of

forgetting by using himself as a subject for his own experiments.

· Used non- sense syllables; in sets of three; one vowel in between and the two consonants at the ends

e.g. FIW, BOZ etc. His experiments, indicated that forgetting occurred systematically; in the initial

stages (the first hour and, in all the first nine hours) forgetting was most rapid, but then, the rate of

forgetting decreased and slowed down and did not change much with the passage of time.

144

Introduction to Psychology PSY101

Forgetting should not be understood as a problem alone, since it has some advantages too: it helps us

discard irrelevant information and enables us to learn new things.

Theories of Forgetting

Why do we forget???

o Several theories have been posed to explain this phenomenon:

1. Decay theory of forgetting

2. Interference theory of forgetting

3. Repression

Decay Theory of Forgetting

The oldest concept which states that stored information decays and is disintegrated with the passage of

time.

Criticism against the decay theory

1)It can be taken as a general explanation of how forgetting takes place, but can not be accepted as the actual

reason, i.e. the process of forgetting.

2)At times recollection of memories occurs after a long passage of time, which is an experimentally proven

fact, and this theory fails to explain this phenomenon.

As decay theory could not explain the actual process of forgetting, another theory emerged, called interference theory of forgetting.

Interference Theory of Forgetting

Interference results when the recall of the learned phenomena is blocked/ displaced by other

information.

John Jenkins and Karl Dallenbach (1924) were the first ones to experimentally prove the role of

interference in forgetting.

Experiments on students showed that they recalled non- sense syllables relatively well after waking

from the sleep, than when they were fully awake for the whole day.

Maximum forgetting occurred when they were awake than when they were allowed to sleep which

showed that interference of the activities and happenings has a relationship with forgetting.

Interference, however, sometimes is found to be helpful in the sense that it improves our ability to

remember important events of life; not the exact and true characterization, but the important

portions/ episodes

Retrieval of the learned phenomena may be influenced by the two processes:

i. Proactive interference

ii. Retroactive interference

Proactive interference

Proactive interference occurs when the already stored memories come in between or interfere with the recall of

the newly learned material e.g., you learned psychology this semester and sociology in the last semester. When

exam was taken in psychology, material from sociology, rather than that of psychology, kept coming into mind.

Retroactive interference

Retroactive interference occurs when the newly learned material interferes with or blocks our ability to

recall the previously learned material

In the psychology-sociology example, when examinations were taken, the memories of newly learned

material (psychology) may interfere with recall of the formerly learned material (sociology).

Repression

Repression: putting the undesirable thoughts, events and fears into the unconsciousness and trying

not to remember it again.

Repression is a Freudian concept". In spite of being sent into the unconscious, unpleasant feelings

continuously influence person's attitudes and behaviors.

145

Introduction to Psychology PSY101

Improving Memory and Recall

Elaborative rehearsal

Mnemonics

Method of loci

The Keyword technique: Pairing foreign word with a similarly sounding common word in native

language in order to remember the foreign word e.g., pairing English "amaze" with "maze' in Urdu.

The Encoding Specificity Phenomenon

Information is best learnt and remembered at a time and place, or environment, similar to or same as the

one where it was initially learnt.

Mental Organization of Text Material

When the material is being read for the first time, it should be in the memory.

Taking Notes

Take cue notes instead of taking down everything.

Listen and think too.

Other Strategies for Better Memory

Keeping distractions away

Chunking

Rhyming

Reading aloud

Sleep intervals

Improving Memory: Memory Skills for Students

Over learning

Learning the material over and over again.

Very effective in case of natural science, mathematics or history.

Mnemonics

Short devices that help encode information better. These provide ready cues for quick and accurate retrieval.

S - Q - 3R

A five- step approach. S-Q-3R is an approach for improved learning and recall of material to be

learned.

S = Surveying and skimming.

Q = Questioning: asking questions about what one has read.

3R's:

Read: Going through the surveyed material thoroughly.

Recite: Recitation makes learning active than passive and adds activity to learning.

Review: Reviewing and going through the learnt material from time to time

REMEMBER!!!!! THE SEQUENCE OF THESE STEPS IS IMPORTAN

146

Table of Contents: