Chapter 7

Human Memory and intelligence

What is memory?

It refers to the processes that are used to acquire stores, retain, and later retrieve information.

 Most scientists agree that it is very useful to describe human memory as a set of STORES which are places to put information, plus a set of PROCESSES that act on the stores. A very simple model might contains 3 different stores: - The sensory store/memory (SM) - The short-term store/ memory (STM) - The long-term store(LTM) And 3 processes: - Encoding (putting information into a store) - Maintenance (keeping it alive) - Retrieval ( finding encoded information)

 In relatively simple model of memory presented here, sensory information ( from eyes , ears ,etc) enters the sensory store/memory(SIM) and either ignored or paid attention to. Ignored information doesnt last very long. New perceptual information quickly writes over (masks) the old, a process sometimes described as interference. Attended information is not only protected from interference, it is processed by higher level mechanisms that figure out what it means . For instance , information in the SM might indicate a bright red ob.ect somewhere ahead. Attending to this information might reveal that there it is a stop-sign. Once information is processed in this way , it can be encoded into the short=term store/ Memory (STM). In many cases , the reason one wishes to maintain information in the STM is to allow time for it to be encoded into the long-term memory (LTM), and this become more permanently available.

Encoding
Encoding: the first stage of information processing is changing information so that we can place it in memory encoding When we encode information , we transform it in to psychological format that can be represented mentally.

Retrieval
The retrieval of stored information means locating it and returning it to consciousness when it is needed at later time .

Storage
Storage means maintaining or storing information over time. We attempt to place and keep the information in the storage by maintenance rehearsals ( by mentally repeated the information or saying it to your self).

Retrieval
The retrieval of stored information means locating it and returning it to consciousness when is needed at later time.

 The atkinson shiffrin model proposed that human memory involves a sequence of three stages: 1. Sensory memory (SM) 2. Working memory or short term memory (STM) 3. Long term memory(LTM)

Sensory memory (SM)

Information which first come to us through our senses is stored for a very short period of time with the sensory register. The sensory associated with five senses. The sensory buffers that have received the most attention in the research literature are visual and auditory sensory. Sensory information is stored for just as instant in sensory registers in the brain and relatively unprocessed. While this information is stored in our sensory memory we decide which information is worth further processing.

Sensory memory has basically two types:

Iconic

(visual sensory memory) Less than one second.

Echoic

(Auditory sensory memory) Less than four second.

Sensory memory
Capacity of memory store refers to the amount of information that it can hold at any one instant. Research demonstrated that iconic memories are though to last somewhat longer than the Echoic memories. Attention is the gate that lies between sensory memory and working memory. In order for the gate to be effective, it must discriminate between useful and non useful information.

Short term (working ) memory

Short term memory is also roughly synonymous with working memory. Some of information processed in the sensory memory move into the next compartment which is called working memory. His is convinced of as a major work place of the mind it is among other things the seat of the conscious thought.

Short term (Working) memory

Items fade quickly and are lost within second ( about 15 to 20 seconds) Our short term memory capacity for wide range of items appears to be about 7 items, plus or minus 2. An items can be something simple such as a digit or some thing more complex such as aword.

How to increase capacity of working memory

The short term storage process of working memory can hold only about 7 items at time. To deal with more information than that must be organized in to larger chunks.
For example: Words can combined into sentences or stories, then more than 7 words can be held in working memory.

 We can increase the absolute capacity of short-term memory by combining bits of information into meaningful units or chunks this process is called chunking. A chunk is a unit of some kind, it could be a letter , word, or a short sentence. miller examined short-term memory Task and found that typical subjects could hold about 7 chunk in memory at once. If the items can be grouped and treated as chunk in memory, then the capacity of memory can be increased by organizing and grouping thins.

To demonstrate this to your self read the string of 15 letters below then close your eyes and try to repeat them back

BGI TAE LTE GDO HTE

Most of people cannot do this. There are 15 letters and this exceeds the capacity of working memory, however if we rearrange the letters, this same task can be easy.

THE EAT DOG BIG LET

Even through there are still 15 letters most people will get all letters this time. When the letters are arranged to form word they easier to remember.

Why were letters easier to remember this time?

THE EAT DOG BIG LET THE EAT DOG BIG LET LET THE DOG EAT If the word are arranged in order to form of sentence, they are even to remember as the sentence it self becomes a unit of meaning.

Each letters was the unit of meaning so you have 15 units to remembers.

Each word was a units of meaning so there were only 5 units to remembers.

How to increase the duration of the working memory?

Imagine that you are asked to remember a telephone number that is new to you. You could probably keep in your memory for more 30 second but only by saying it over and over again in your head this is called rote rehearsal or maintenance rehearsal

Long term memory

The long term store is where we keep memories that stay with us over long periods of time. The short term memory systems are associated with the process of encoding information in memory. Forgetting: the loss of information from long-term memory and its usually because we dont have enough cues to find it. Retrieval of information is easiest if we focus on the meaning of the information both while learning and retrieving it.

Long term memory

retrieved

Sensory memory 1. Large all capacity Sensory memory: 1. Contains sensory information 2. Very brief retention of images ( up to 1/2 seconds for visual semi columns 2 seconds for auditory)

Information from environment

transferred

short-term memory (STM): 1. Limited capacity 2. Brief storage of items ( up to 30 seconds if no rehearsal ). 3. Involved in conclusions processing of information.

transferred

retrieved

Long term memory (LTM): 1. Unlimited capacity. 2. Storage thought by some to be permanent. 3. Information organized and indexed.

forgotten

forgotten

Subsystems of long term memory: 1. Explicit memory: all those of things that you are aware of remembering and you can describe. Explicit memory has two types: A. Episodic memory: they are the memories of the things that take place in presence and you memories the events and the entire context surrounding them. B. Semantic memory: it concerns ideas, meaning and concepts which are not related to personal experiences. 2. Implicit memory: it can be expressed by means other than words.

forgetting
Forgetting: is the inability to recall something that you could recall previously. Some explanation for forgetting information: 1. Encoding failure theory: the information was never put into long-term memory in first place. 2. Retrieval failure: it proposes that the information is retained in the memory store cannot be accessed . 3. Storage decay theory: it occurs because memory traces fade with time. 4. Interference theory: newly learned material interferes with it. The two basic types of interference are: a) Retroactive interference: new learning interferes with the retrieval of old learning. b) Proactive interference: older learning interferes with the capacity to retrieve more recently learned material. 5.Motivated forgetting theory: forget things that are too painful to think about. Keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in ones unconscious.

Retrieval failure
Attention Encoding External events

Sensory memory
Encoding

Short-term memory
Retrieval

Long-term memory

Retrieval Failure leads to forgetting

How to improving your memory

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Study repeatedly to boost long term recall Spend more time rehearsing Make material personally meaningful Use mnemonic devices ( such as peg words) Activate retrieval cues Recall events while theyre fresh Minimize interferences: Test your own knowledge Rehearse and determine what you dont yet know

intelligence
Intelligence means the general mental ability to learn and apply knowledge to manipulate thought. The aspects of intelligence: Problem solving ability Mental speed General knowledge Creativity Abstract of intellegence

Intelligence : Nature VS. Nature

The causes of individual differences in intelligence by nature is the relative contribution of genetics and environment. The modern view of the intelligence by nature is interactionsit and its expressed by culture, language, learning and education to program ourselves with.

Measuring intelligence
The cousin of Charles Darwin believes that we could assign a score to intelligence. Alfred Binet was the first who developed workable intelligence test. He & Theodore Simon believed that intelligence was the key to effective teaching and developed a formula stated as MA/CA X100 Mental age ( MA ) divided by chronological age ( CA ). Binets tests were soon revised and adapted for use in many countries. Its popularity was how it yielded a single score assumed to reflect an individuals level of intelligence ( the famous IQ ).

IQ score
IQ: stood for intelligence quotient and a quotient is precisely what the scores represented. The normal IQ score was 100 which meant that mental and chronological ages coincided. A score above 100 meant that your mental age was higher than your chronological age. The Wenchsler scale were developed by David Wenchsler and designed to measure intellectual performance by adults.

IQ classification tables
Classification table can be as a guideline to help interpret individual scores ( Baron & Kalsher 2008 ). The classification table has three columns: IQ range ( 69 and below to 130 and above ), classification ( extremely deficient to very superior), percent of population from 2.2 low intellectually to 2.2 high superior). Scores over 20 are considered high and a normal IQ score between 90 and 19.

IQ Range 130+ 120 129 110 119 90 109 80 89 70 79 69 & below

Classification Very superior Superior High average Average Low average Borderline Extremely low / intellectually deficient

Percent of population 2.2 6.7 16.1 50.0 16.1 6.7 2.2

IQ score Distribution
IQ tests available fall into two categories: 1. Individual tests: Stanford Binet & Wechsler scales are both individual IQ tests that a psychologist works face to face with a single examinee at a time. Problems with an individual IQ tests. o Expensive o Time consuming 2. Group tests: Researchers have developed a number of IQ tests that can be administered to large groups od people at once ( kaufman, 2000).

IQ score distribution