ENCODING
CHAPTER 9
Before we begin with the Encoding content of Terry Ch. 9, let's review 2 processing approaches from Ch. 7--Depth of Processing Theory and Transfer Appropriate Processing.
I. Depth of Processing Theory argues that a single LTM system exists, and the different memory effects observed within this system stem from the type of quality of information processing that occurs.
1. Maintenance Rehearsal involves the continuous, passive repetition of to-be-learned material.
2. Elaborative Rehearsal involves engaging in a meaningful and comprehension-based analysis of to-be-learned material.
Craik & Lockhart (1972) suggested that processing was more important than the underlying structure of memory
Instructions
A
Instructions
B
List
A.
Four assumptions:
(1)
Memory is result of a series of analyses performed on the to-be-processed
information.
Shallow
level vs. deep level
(2)
The deeper the level, the more durable the resulting memory.
Focusing on the meaning of the to-be-remembered item should lead to a stronger memory, rather than focusing on how the item sounds.
(3)
Rehearsal will be beneficial only to the extent that it induces a deeper level
of processing.
Elaborative vs. maintenance rehearsal
(4)
Experimenter should control type of processing.
Incidental
vs Intentional learning
B.
Deep processing aids recall because of two factors
1.
Distinctiveness—ways that a stimulus is different from all other memory
traces
2. Elaboration—operates with deep levels of processing and requires rich processing in terms of meaning. We rarely think about an item in isolation. This relational processing (how the item fits with other items in memory) is helpful because it emphasizes organization. See III. below.
C. Levels of Processing and Memory for Verbal Material
Is intention necessary for learning?
Hyde
& Jenkins (1973)
To-be-remembered
items were 24 common words presented auditorily. Free recall task
Groups
differed in orienting instructions and whether they were told of the free recall
test.
Shallow
Slightly
deeper
Deeper
Deepest
Intentional
group—told about later test
Incidental
group—not told about test
Control
group--told to remember the words for a later free recall test (level of
processing was free to vary)
D.
Levels of Processing and Memory for Faces
Shallow
processing of faces—like shallow processing of words—leads to poor recall.
How
can we explain why depth of processing facilitates memory
for faces?
E.
Problems with levels of processing
(1)
Circular assumption--no clear definition of "depth"
(2)
All encoding, very little about retrieval
II. Transfer Appropriate
Processing (TAP)
A. TAP argues that in order for our memory abilities to function well, the cognitive conditions under which information was initially encoded must be reinstated at the time of retrieval.
In
general, deep processing leads to better performance than
shallow processing for free recall tests
What
about other types of tests?
Is deeper processing always better?
B.
Morris, Bransford, and Franks (1977)
Does deeper processing ALWAYS lead to better memory performance or does
performance DEPEND on the method used to test memory?
Perhaps retention depends on the level of processing (at encoding) and the type of information requested on the test (at retrieval).
Auditorily
presented 32 sentences
Two
levels of incidental learning
Ss
judged whether a target word filled in the blank (The ___ had a silver engine).
TRAIN yes or
no? OR
Ss
judged whether the target word rhymed with another (___ rhymes with legal).
Two
types of tests—recognition and rhyming recognition
Recognition
test-- deeper task led to better performance
Rhyme
recognition-- shallow task led to better performance
Interpreted
their results as supporting transfer appropriate processing.
Conclusion--a
type of processing will lead to better memory performance if it is appropriate
for the particular test; no one type of processing is good for all tests.
III. SOME BASIC VARIABLES IN ENCODING
A. Elaborative rehearsal tends to promote better retention than maintenance rehearsal.
1. Maintenance rehearsal involves recycling information in STM to keep it active.
2. Elaborative rehearsal, on the other hand, relates to-be-remembered information to other data, providing a stronger memory trace for the critical information.
B. What does elaborative processing do?
1. Elaboration connects ideas together.
2. Elaboration increases the distinctiveness of information.
3. Elaboration requires cognitive effort, which is seen as enhancing retention.
C. Another basic idea involved in the encoding of information involves the utilization of imagery, as not all encoding occurs at the verbal level.
1. When using visualization as an encoding aid, concrete words (e.g., house) tend to be recalled better than abstract words (e.g., justice).
2. Why does visualization work?
a. Visual information, such as a picture, can contain many more details that can serve as cues, as compared to words.
b. Dual-Coding Theory also suggests that pictures tend to be encoded in two ways: a visual representation and a verbal representation of the picture.
D. Meaningfulness also plays a role in encoding.
1. Meaningful words tend to have a) an easy pronounceability, b) more associations to other concepts, and c) easier to image in comparison to non-meaningful words.
2. How does meaningfulness develop? The key seems to be prior experience.
IV. PRESENTATION VARIABLES
A. Continued testing, in comparison to additional study time, has been shown to enhance memory ability; this is referred to as a testing effect.
1. The typical design has two experimental conditions:
a. subjects exposed to material two or more times, followed by a final test
b. subjects exposed to material once,
then tested in a practice manner, and then tested formally (final test)
We are interested in performance on the final test.
2. Why does the testing effect occur? Several reasons have been proposed.
a. The practice test provides additional exposure to the material (more study).
b. The practice test provides a more challenging exposure to the material compared to simply studying it.
c. The practice test simulates what students will be required to do on the actual exam (i.e., they’re engaging in transfer-appropriate processing).
B. The von Restorff (or isolation) effect (VRE) illustrates the role of distinctiveness in material presentation. Try this
Occurs when some piece of to-be-remembered material is made distinct among other to-be-remembered items. The distinctiveness of the one item isolates that stimulus from the others, making it more distinct and easier to remember.
C. The Seductive Detail Effect occurs when people have trouble remembering critical main ideas regarding a particular piece of information, but do recall tangential elements of a topic that are designed to grab one’s attention.
1. This effect is said to be due to having one’s attention diverted away from the main idea, which then reduces the amount of processing that occurs around the critical information.
D. The Spacing Effect suggests that spaced (or distributed) practice leads to better memory than massed practice.
1. One, controversial, reason that the spacing effect occurs , the Retrograde Amnesia hypothesis, suggests that sequential massed presentations of items tend to interfere with a prior memory of information, allowing spaced practice to be more effective .
2. Another alternative, known as the Attention Deficit hypothesis, suggests that one’s attention to detail tends to diminish if practice sessions occur too closely together in time; such attentional problems are typically not seen when spaced practice is utilized.
3. The Encoding Variability hypothesis suggests that spaced practices lead to different encodings of information, which allows for the possibility of multiple retrieval cues to enhance memory.
4. The optimal spacing interval has been suggested to be a ratio between the length of the spacing interval and the length of the retention interval.
a. For example, having two study sessions separated by 2 days (i.e., spacing interval = 2), followed by a test 5 days later (i.e., retention interval = 5), yields a ratio of 2/5, or 40%.
b. Optimal ratios are believed to be in the 10-20% range.
E. The Generation Effect (GE) has also been shown to have a profound impact on information encoding.
1. The GE occurs when subjects, rather than experimenters, generate material to be studied in a memory experiment.
2. An example of the type of generation involved in the GE would be to give a subject the nouns BOAT and DOG, and have them create their own sentence using these items.
F. Many of the memory-enhancing effects connected to the encoding/presentation of information are limited to tasks involving explicit information processing; implicit memory for information tends to not be influenced by these memory-enhancing processes.
III. LEARNER VARIABLES
A. Not all memory-enhancing effects stem from the manner in which information processing is manipulated by an experimenter; individual subjects can control the memory experiment environment as well.
B. A learner can take an incidental (where learning occurs without any intention to learn) or intentional (where a deliberate attempt to commit something to memory occurs) approach to learning.
C. The promise of an incentive for high recall can also influence memory.
1. An incentive does not influence memory itself; it simply makes one engage in behaviors that are likely to lead to better information retention.
D. If a learner has a personal interest in the material, retention of the material is also likely to increase.
E. One’s level of physiological arousal can also influence memory, but not in an all-or-none manner.
1. The Yerkes-Dodson Law suggests that the relationship between physiological arousal and memory generates an inverted-U curve:
2. Different chemical agents (e.g., stimulant drugs and glucose) can have an arousing effect on the brain, and such arousal tends to be positively correlated with improved memory. REMEMBER, HOWEVER--CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION.
3. Some research has even shown that circadian rhythms may play a role in learning and memory ability.
a. Specifically, recall skills tend to peak earlier in the day (during the AM hours) for individuals on a typical day/night sleep schedule.
F. The emotions surrounding an encoding event can also play a role in how memories are formed. Several ideas attempt to explain how emotion influences memory.
1. Emotional arousal tends to focus one’s attention on critical information, eliminating peripheral pieces of information.
2. Emotional stimuli lead to the production of epinephrine, which in turn stimulates the amygdala in the brain’s limbic system. The amygdala, in turn, is said to be responsible for the creation of emotional memories.
3. Emotional events are distinct, which leads to them being rehearsed and elaborated more than non-distinct memories.
a. Related to this notion of distinctiveness is the idea of flashbulb memories--vivid memories for surprising, emotional, and consequential experiences.
Some people have made the claim that flashbulb memories are highly clear and accurate, although others have shown that the professed accuracy of flashbulb memories is not always true.
In addition, the search for a special cognitive mechanism that processes flashbulb memories has not yielded any valid options, as empirical tests have shown that vivid memories are recalled with the same amount of detail as everyday events.
G. Related to the interaction of emotions and memory is the subdiscipline of eyewitness memories.
1. Eyewitnesses to crimes and other events may be believed (by jurors, for example) to be highly accurate, but research shows that this is not always the case.
2. The Weapons Focus Phenomenon is one experience related to eyewitness recall--witnesses remember certain details (e.g., the type of gun used in a mugging) about an event, but fail to recall other information (e.g., a description of the perpetrator).
IV. SCHEMAS
A. Schemas are outlines of knowledge (e.g., “how to drive a car”) that are stored in memory and allow us to organize information in LTM.
B. Schemas influence several variables when information needs to be processed.
1. Schemas guide the selection of what information will be encoded.
2. Schemas provide a general storage framework, allowing our minds to be efficient when storing information.
3. Schemas look for common features across events and store abstract, general knowledge in a concise form, as opposed to redundantly storing needless details.
4. Schemas provide cues that enable us to retrieve information when necessary.
5. Schemas can sometimes distort our perceptions of events, as we sometimes see what is expected (according to an existing schema), as opposed to what is really there.
a. These encoding errors can be influenced by stereotypes and the loss of event details that tend to occur over time.
V. METAMEMORY
A. Metamemory is another critical encoding variable, as it reflects our knowledge of how our memory system(s) operate to process information.
B. The effectiveness of metamemory follows a developmental pattern: as we age, our metamemory tends to increase.