Unit 6 Notes

Memory

• The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information

Encoding

• The processing of information into the memory system
• Typing into a computer
• Storage
• The retention of encoded material over time
• Retrieval
• The process of getting the information out of memory storage
• The Next-In-Line Effect- We seldom remember what the person has just said or done if we are next
• Information minutes before sleep is seldom remembered; in the hour before sleep, well remembered

Recall v. Recognition

• Recall- You must retrieve the information from your memory (fill-in-the blank tests)
• Recognition- You must identify the target from possible targets (multiple-choice tests)

Flashbulb Memory

• A clear moment of an emotionally significant moment or event

Types of Memory

• Sensory Memory:
• The immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system
• Stored just for an instant, and most gets unprocessed
• Short-Term Memory:
• Memory that holds a few items briefly
• Seven digits (plus or minus two)
• The info will be stored into long-term or forgotten
• Working Memory (Modern Day STM)
• Another way of describing the use of short-term memory is called working memory
• Working-Memory has three parts:
• Audio
• Visual
• Integration of audio and visual (controls where you attention lies)
• Long-Term Memory:
• The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

Automatic Processing

• Unconscious encoding of incidental information
• You encode space, time, and word meaning without effort
• Things can become automatic with practice

Effortful Processing

• Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
• Rehearsal is the most common effortful processing technique
• Through enough rehearsal, what was effortful becomes automatic

Spacing Effect

• We encode better when we study or practice over time
• Do not cram

Serial Positioning Effect

• Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

Types of Encoding

• Semantic Encoding: the encoding of meaning, like the meaning of words
• Acoustic Encoding: the encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words
• Visual Encoding; the encoding of picture images

Tricks to Encode

• Use imagery: mental pictures
• Mnemonic Devices use imagery. Like my "peg word" system or any other system

Chunking

• Organizing items into familiar, manageable units
• Often it will occur automatically
• Modules is a way of chunking

Sleep Disorders

• Insomnia- persistent problems falling asleep
• Narcolepsy- suffer from sleeplessness and may fall asleep at unpredictable times.
• Sleep Apnea- stop breathing during sleep
• Night Terror- Being terrified and highly aroused
• Sleepwalking- Occurs in NREM Sleep early in night

States of Consciousness

Sleep

• Conscious

Reasons for Daydreaming

• Help us prepare for future events
• Nourish our social development
• Substitute impulsive behavior

Fantasy Prone Personalities

• Someone who imagines and recalls experiences with lifelike vividness and who spends considerable time fantasizing

Biological Rhythms

• Annual Cycles- Seasonal variations (bears hibernation/ seasonal affective disorder)
• 28 Day Cycles- Menstrual cycle
• 24 Hour Cycle- Our circadian rhythm
• 90 Minute Cycle- Sleep cycles

Circadian Rhythm

• 24 Hour Biological Clock
• Body temperature and awareness changes throughout the day

Sleep

• 5 Identified Stages of Sleep:
• Stage 1
• Kind of awake and kind of asleep
• Only lasts a few minutes, usually only experience once a night
• Eyes begin to roll slightly (Heart rate slows down)
• Brain produces theta waves (High amplitude, low frequency)
• Stage 2
• “Baseline” of sleep
• 90 minute cycle and occupies approx. 45-60% of sleep
• More theta waves that get progressively slower
• Brain to show sleep spindles (short bursts of rapid brain waves)
• Stages 3 and 4
• Slow wave sleep
• You produce delta waves
• If awoken you will be very groggy
• Vital for restoring body’s growth hormones and good overall health
• Lasts about 15-30 minutes
• Called “slow wave” sleep because brain activity slows down dramatically from the “theta” rhythm of Stage 2 to a much slower rhythm called “delta” and the height or amplitude of the waves increases dramatically
• Takes about 90-100 minutes to pass through 5 stages
• Brain’s waves will change according to sleep stage you are in
• First four stages known as NREM sleep
• Fifth stage known as REM Sleep

REM Sleep

• Rapid Eye Movement
• Brain is very active
• Dreams usually occur in REM
• Body is essentially paralyzed
• 20-25% of normal night sleep
• Breathing, heart rate, and brain wave activity quicken
• Vivid dreams can occur
• From REM, you go back to Stage 2