Reading Activity Week #8 (Due Monday)

Chapter 7 Reading Activity

1a) Retroactive interference and proactive interference are interesting.
1b) These interferences are interesting as I can relate to each. Retroactive interference is when new memories hurt the recovery of old memories. For example, you may remember your telephone number from when you were little. Then you receive a new phone number and suddenly you can’t remember your old number because you only recall your new number. Proactive interference is just the opposite. It is when old memories hurt the recovery of new memories. With this, you may also go to your assigned seat in a classroom, but one day you have to start sitting in a new seat. However, every time you go to the classroom, you first go to your old seat before you remember that you no longer sit there. I can relate to both of these examples, which causes me to take interest in these interferences.

2a) I found the Method of Loci interesting.
2b) The Method of Loci is interesting because it is a method in which you associate certain objects with certain places in order to recall the objects. I find myself using the Method of Loci often. I typically remember classmates’ names by remembering the names of people that sit in particular seats every class period. Then looking back to that class, I can associate where a certain person sits relative to where I sit. It is interesting that I use this technique all the time, but I never knew the term for it until now.

3a) The use of acronyms is an interesting technique.
3b) With my job at John Deere, I frequently use acronyms as a technique of remembering concepts. I can also remember in middle school that the teachers would teach their students acronyms to remember important information for tests. Acronyms are important and beneficial for everyone. It think countless people can relate to a time when they used an acronym to recall a concept.

4a) The least interesting concept from chapter 7 was repression.
4b) Repression is when you unknowingly push memories out of your conscious awareness because they are threatening or scary to think about. Repression is something I was already aware of and something most people do. However, no matter how much we don’t want to think about threatening thoughts, many people do. Some people may repress memories, but it doesn’t always happen, so this concept is not very interesting to me.

5) Learning about the different memory methods is something useful in helping to understand Cognitive Psychology. These methods allow me to think about how our brains recall thoughts and how we store memories in our conscious awareness. Without our short- and long-term memory, there would be no use for these memory methods.

6) This chapter built onto previous chapters by applying methods to our short- and long-term memories and how we recognize ideas. This chapter discussed how and why we forget things and why we remember certain things. The chapter also discussed how our brain may experience memory errors and may fail in retrieving information which ties to what we have learned about the areas of our brain.

7a) I would like to learn more about false memories.
7b) I would like to learn more about this as I am curious to know how a false memory could be instilled in someone’s brain. I would also like to know how false memories occur and how you can prevent false memories. Do false memories occur in all ages of people?

8) When reading this chapter, I thought about how individuals can enhance their memory. I wondered why we forget certain things. Do we want to repress those thoughts or can we only store so much detail in our brain? Therefore, it lead me to think about enhancing our memory, so we can hold onto concepts for a longer period of time.

9) Retroactive interference, proactive interference, Method of Loci, acronyms, repression, false memories, short-term memory, long-term memory

1--The concept of false memories and the way in which the brain can manipulate and create scenarios in our minds without them actually occurring was intriguing to read about. I found this section particularly interesting because of the ease with which experimenters are able to instill these false memories in participants. The study done by Roediger and McDermott where they presented a list of words related to, but not mentioning the word “sleep”, shows an aspect of generalizing that our brains obviously utilize when remembering groups of related items. Many of these students incorrectly recalled seeing the word “sleep” because of the related words like “rest, night, snooze, yawn, etc. But is this a defect of our brain that we remember things which never actually happened, or a type of shortcut that enables us to chunk alike memories and improve our recall?

2--Certainly the information on extraordinary memories, in particular Luria’s work with his patient “S.”, is a phenomenon that is compelling to learn about. Cases like this always draw me to try and place myself in that person’s shoes, like having an extraordinary capacity for memory through synesthesia and how daily life must have been different for S. compared to the average Joe. It seems completely foreign to hear something and have it accompanied by a distinct smell as well, but that’s what it’s like for someone with synesthesia. Synesthesia reminds me of a double-edged sword condition somewhat along the lines of savant syndrome. Both cases result in a person having a certain mental process that is superhuman in ability (memory, music, math, and so forth), but they both are accompanied by a mental process that is severely lacking compared with other people. In the study, S. also had trouble comprehending and analyzing literature because his senses would be bombarded with the sound and sight and smell of the various things he would be reading about. All of these extra inputs in his brain made it hard for him to sort through language and text. The fact that someone like S. can possess a memory that is hundreds of times better than possibly any other person, but struggles with a skill like reading comprehension that most people have well developed by their teens is what baffles me but keeps me interested as a student of psychology.

3--Retrieval failure and how the context in which a memory is first embedded is key to later retrieval is something that I have had interest in for some time. The example used in the text showed that retrieval is improved if it is done so in the same context and environment as when the memory was formed. This is a concept I had a little familiarity with prior in how it relates to studying environment and grades on a test. I went to another university prior to UNI, and had several classes where all tests were held at a different time and in a different classroom than regular meetings. This is when I first heard of retrieval failure and it made me wonder why a school would employ procedures like this which have been shown to negatively affect memory and recall ability. It would be interesting to see how test scores would differ from regular if taken at a time and place other than regularly scheduled classes. Or even with standardized tests like the SAT or ACT, what if students were able to take those in a classroom in their own school, which they are familiar with, at a regular school hour, rather than in a local community college on a Saturday?

4--It wasn’t so much the fact that it was not interesting, but the section on mnemonic techniques seemed to drag on and become a little redundant. Obviously there are a number of unique methods of mnemonics mentioned, but they are all rather similar. It seemed like almost the entire section on remembering was dedicated to mnemonics and just failed to keep my interest level as much as the first half of the chapter that dealt with forgetting.

5--To me, knowing the many different aspects of forgetting and being able to distinguish amongst them will be the most useful from this chapter. I think it will be necessary to know the different forms of amnesia and interference, and to be able to distinguish between those and retrieval failure, motivated forgetting, repression, and the other aspects of forgetting.

6--The past several chapters have all dealt with different aspects of memory; short and long term, encoding, coding, memory models, etc. Chapter 7 branches out in the fact that it deals with memories that are already in the brain, and how well people are at remembering them and their accuracy. This chapter helps to explain techniques with which we remember information (mnemonics), and also reasons why we forget things as well (amnesia, decay).

7--The section on repression and motivated forgetting was rather concise and I would like to find out more about the two and their unique traits. These were a big cornerstone of Freud’s work, who thought the brain did a lot of unconscious repressing to help the mind deal with difficult, negative memories. Much of his work is overlooked in this area of psychology because the ability to draw out these repressed memories is difficult and their validity and accuracy is tough to discern. I would like to find out why some memories are repressed unconsciously, according to Freud, while others are simply a part of a conscious motivated forgetting in which the person simply avoids remembering or talking about a subject that is difficult to them.

8--The section on false memories piqued my interest because we touched on the subject in my Psychology & Law class last semester. We discussed a lot on false confessions and the way they police interrogators often fill innocent suspects heads with leading questions and create false memories that become very real and intense for the suspect although they never actually happened. Very small indications and suggestive cues are often subconsciously displayed by investigators while questioning suspects and administering criminal lineups, meaning that guidelines must be followed so an investigators knowledge of the case does not bias their treatment of suspects. The disheartening to know that so much information is available on the subject of false memories and how they often lead to false confessions, which often result in convictions and are very difficult to overturn.

9--False memories, extraordinary memories, synesthesia, retrieval failure, mnemonic techniques, motivated forgetting, repression, amnesia, decay

1)Something I found interesting was the concept of when people confabulate memories to fill in details they can’t remember. I found it interesting right aways simply because I thought it was such an interesting word! However I also think it’s an engaging concept because it’s strange to think of how our brains literally make up memories sometimes. I remember discussing in class last week how when this happens and our brain makes up a memory, that memory is no less real to us than any memory that actually happened.

2)Another portion of the chapter I found interesting was in regards to false memory. It’s amazing what some different studies have shown with how easy it can be to taint people’s memories. In some circumstances it was as simple as changing a single word in a question being asked about the memory. If a more aggressive word was used, the memory was more likely to be seen as more aggressive, and vice versa. This knowledge can be very important in many scenarios when trying to learn about people and when asking them to recall their memories. Our wording of questions can be very important and can definitely influence their answers.

3)Something else I found interesting was the key word method. I liked that it was associated with the learning of a foreign language in order to help us understand how it works. I took Spanish back in high school and really enjoyed learning another language. I was a bit amused as I read about the key word method because I realized I used this method quite often when I was trying to learn Spanish vocabulary or phrases. It was interesting to learn that this method I used actually had a name and some scientific background!

4)A part of this chapter I found a bit less interesting were the concepts of decay and interference in regards to memory. This knowledge just seems to be common sense to anyone who would be reading this book and likely taking a college credit course. The fact that as you age memory can decay, or fade, is a concept learned previously by many people and therefore not that interesting. As well as with interference, or the concept that if there is too much distraction it’s harder to consolidate a memory, logic only makes sense to say that this would indeed be the case.

5)In this chapter I learned about what sometimes causes people to forget things and what people can do to increase their chances of remembering things. I think this will help in my understanding of Cognitive psychology because it’s helping me to know more about how the brain works, and particularly the cognitions involved in memory.

6)This chapter builds on previous chapters by yet again expanding our knowledge on various functions of the brain and some of the interesting science and studies behind it. The chapter more specifically builds on the last two chapters because those were both about memory, and this chapter builds upon those by talking in more detail about how various parts of our memory work.

7)I’m interested in learning more about factors that enhance memory. As a college student, this is obviously an appeealing topic to me. We’re often expected to fill endless facts in our brains and remember them (at least until the test, but ideally afterwards as well so that it can be used in our career fields if needed). I’m curious about what other “tricks” or recommendations there are out there to help increase our memory that may actually be scientifically based.

8)While reading the chapter I was thinking about how it’s interesting that so many of us seem to develop some of these memory tricks on our own sometimes. I know myself and many people developed acronyms or other memory cues when studying in order to help prompt our memory and not forget information when needing to recall it. Some of these things we may have been taught when we were younger, but I was thinking about how interesting it is that some of these things our brains developed on their own in order to help with our memory.

9)confabulate, key word method, decay, interference, consolidate

1. One of the things I found really interesting was the concept of failure to encode. I think too often we rely too heavily on our memories, when in this case the information may not have ever entered our brain. There are so many things that we do that lead to a failure to encode, the book gives the example of simply not seeing and spacing out to the point that we don’t get the information at all because our senses are preoccupied. I find this so interesting because I, like most people at first assume that when there is a failure to encode that it is a problem in the brain processes involved however in most cases it is an attention problem. If we don’t pay attention, then we don’t have any information to work with in the first place.
2. Another thing I find interesting is anterograde amnesia. From what the text discusses this sounds much like the woman in Fifty First Dates, where she has the capacity to remember throughout the day however once she goes to sleep, everything erases back to the moments after her accident. Unfortunately anterograde amnesia in real life is either much less severe, or far more severe than this Hollywood example. In usual cases of anterograde amnesia people who wake up from mild comas won’t remember the first few visits from doctors or family members however after a period of a few days their ability to encode new memories returns and they are normal. In the very severe and very rare cases the LTM does not form any new memories. As a result once the person shifts their attention, they have no recollection of the last thing they were doing. Their STM is constantly working and as long as the idea or topic is still in their working memory then they are able to discuss it, but once they shift their attention it is lost.
3. The last thing I found really interesting in this chapter was false memory. It is the topic that I researched for last week’s topical blog but I just find it so amazing how easy it is to trick our brain, and not only to just fool it as is the case with optical illusions, but to permanently add something that is false. What I find the most interesting is not only how easy it is to implant a false memory, but just how permanent and often detailed the memory is even if we consciously know that it is a wrong memory. Much like an optical illusion that is dependent upon bottom-up processing even if you are consciously aware that the dots don’t exist or what have you, there is nothing you can do about it at a conscious level to change your perception or in the case of false memory to change the memory.
4. One of the things I found boring or uninteresting are the mnemonic techniques not because they aren’t cool to know, but because I have already learned about most of them. It’s a lot like science when you’re still in elementary school in that you learn about space very limitedly, then two years later you relearn it in more depth and so on.
5. The most important part of this chapter is understanding the limitations of LTM because too often we assume that our memories are nearly perfect when in reality they are just as susceptible to injury and decay as the rest of our body.
6. This chapter, like the last few has focused solely on memory but I feel like in the study of cognition it is vastly important to understand memory because it serves as the basis of most of our cognition. Without memory we would not be able to perform any higher cognitions because we would have no ability to recall and draw from what we’ve previously learned.
7. I would really enjoy learning more about amnesia because I think that the media and Hollywood portray it very poorly and I would like to correct my misconceptions.
8. I’m really glad that the book discussed Ebbinghaus’ work at the very beginning of the chapter because I always wonder how the study started, and what inspired it so for me it was interesting to find that the first study of memory was done by him on himself.
9. failure to encode, anterograde amnesia, encode, new memories, LTM, STM, working memory, false memory, optical illusion, bottom-up processing, mnemonic techniques, Ebbinghaus

1. One thing that I found interesting while reading this chapter was the difference between motivated forgetting and repression of memories. Both of these theories of forgetting involve pushing unwanted and threatening thoughts or memories out of our consciousness. Repression is a defense mechanism that does this to memories unconsciously. A good example of repression is adults that were victims of sexual abuse as children. Many times these adults have no memories of the event and will claim that they were never victims of such crimes, thinking that they are telling the truth. Motivated forgetting produces the same result of repressing memories out of consciousness, but it does through knowingly by that person. If a person refuses to admit that something occurred, the memories of that event will remain unused and can experience decay due to that lack of recall. There are cases where people experience "recovered memories" in which these memories are brought back to consciousness. The way that these memories were uncovered should be looked at critically. We know how easily it can be to manipulate memories and many cases of these recovered memories have been shown to have been manipulated due to the process that was use to uncover them. I found it interesting that we are able to shut out formed memories that we have gone through personally. It is amazing that our minds are about to unconsciously do this process in order to protect us from the harm that they could bring.

2. I found it interesting to learn about the different types of amnesia that are possible. Amnesia is usually though of as memory loss and that is simply it. I found reading about this interesting because it expanded on a simple understanding that the general public has of what amnesia is. It also cleared up a common myth that amnesia brings about the loss of memory for ones self. The chapter talked about two different types of amnesia. Amnesia typically comes about from traumatic brain injury or as a result of a disease. Retrograde amnesia occurs when the memories that are lose are those that came before injury to the brain. The amount of time back from the incident that memories are lost can greatly vary. Some only lose memories for a few minutes are even a few seconds before the events while others can lose their retrograde memories from years prior to the event. Those that lose a great amount of retrograde memory tend to have a temporal gradient of memory loss where the most severe memory loss occurs closest to the event with the severity slowly decreasing as you go further back in time from the event. The other type of amnesia that is discussed in the chapter is anterograde amnesia which effects memories after injury to the brain. People can develop one or both of these types of amnesia from the same injury.

3. I found it interesting to learn about acrostics and acronyms and the science behind why they work so well in helping to improve the memory of things. We have all been taught to use such methods to attempt to better learn a large amount of connecting information. I found it interesting to learn that studies have shown that the first letter of a word carries the most information out of all of the letters in a word. This suggests that words are coded into long term memory using the first letter as well. The evidence from the studies explain why we use methods such as acronyms and acrostics so often in everyday life as well as why they work. I found this interesting especially because many times the phrases and sentences that we come up with to form these acronyms or acrostics do not make very much sense or are even extremely bizarre. It has been shown that this actually helps with remembering them that much more because they stick out to us. Those that can be made meaningful or personal also tend to increase their usefulness is memorization.

4. The thing that I found the least interesting in this chapter was the small section about he case study of VP. I would have liked more information about VP and the study and the significance that it has within the field. It was an extremely short section that provided little information that added to the section. I found the overall section covering extraordinary memories very interesting, but I felt that this case study either needs to have additional information added to it or that it is not needed. I liked how the other two explained more about the study and the comparison with other control groups and this case study did not do that. I found this whole chapter really interesting and so picking out something that I did not enjoy was harder for this chapter.

5. I think that the understanding that there are two different time frames of memories that create different types of amnesia and interference is important in understanding memory. Above I talked about the difference between retrograde and anterograde amnesia. There is also retroactive and proactive interference which deals with old and new memories as well. Retroactive interference occurs when new memories hurt the retrieval of old memories. Proactive interference occurs when old memories hurt the retrieval of new memories. I think that these concepts are important to understand because it shows that there is more division in memory storage beyond short term and long term memory. This helps to show how complicated the memory process is. The case studies showing the loss of one memory ability without the loss of the other allows for us to understand that there are two different kinds of systems in our brains for the different types of memories that we make.

6. The section of false memories builds on to the previous chapter where it listed some ways that our brains manipulate memories when they are reconstructed. We know understand the extent to which memories are able to he manipulated as well as additional ways that this can be done. The different mnemonic techniques that were talked about in this chapter build on to the idea that we are able to do things to enhance our memories of certain things. This was talked about in earlier chapters with techniques such as chunking and connecting information with personal aspects that have been shown to help form stronger long term memories with more information. Acronyms and acrostics are both examples of chunking information. Previous sections have laid the ground work for understanding how information makes its way to long term memory and with that we are able to better understand how we can lose it as well.

7. I would like to learn more about retroactive and proactive interference. I want to learn about why each type of interference happens and if there are different types of information or circumstances that bring one type of interference on more than the other. I am interested in this topic because we were simply give the basic definition of what these two things are and not given an explanation as to how they happen or why exactly they happen. These are things that you notice happening all of the time in our day to day lives and maybe learning more about why or how they happen will allow for me to learn how to prevent them from happening.

8. While reading this chapter I started to think about all of the different acronyms and acrostics that I have been taught throughout my life and was amazed at some of the seemingly random information I was able to recall. It was fun to see how well these methods truly worked. The section also made me think about the two instances that I have personally gone through having a concussion. Thinking back onto those events I realized that the only things that I remember right before the accidents occurred is what I had been told by those that witnessed them. It was crazy to think that I had not actually created those memories from the event itself but from what others recreated of it and lead me to wonder how accurate my memory of those events truly are. I hope to implement some of the strategies for better long term memory of information in my classes to see if they work well for me.

9. Terms used- repression, motivated forgetting, conscious, decay, amnesia, retrograde amnesia, anterograde amnesia, acronym, acrostic, long term memory, retroactive interference, proactive interference, short term memory, chunking

Chapter 7 Blog

The first thing that I found interesting about chapter 7 is the difference between failure to encode and retrieval failure. If you go through failure to encode, it means that you fail to store the information into your short term memory. You memory doesn’t encode it into storage. In a sense there was never any memory there since it was never stored. Retrieval failure is quite the opposite. When you experience retrieval failure, it means that the information is stored, but you are unable to get it out of your short term memory. I think that retrieval failure is similar to a tip of the tongue experience, except someone might not ever be able to retrieve the information. The reason that I find these two theories of forgetting so interesting is because they are so different. They are opposite of each other. There are also many other theories of forgetting, but I believe that these are the main two. I am learning about memory in one of my other courses. We have already been over the concept of forgetting. We talked a lot about failure to encode and retrieval failure. I think that these are both interesting because no one really picks apart “forgetting”. If someone asks me something and I can’t think of the answer – I either say “I don’t know” or “I forgot.” A person never says “I failed to encode that information.” And they also never say “I think I’m experiencing retrieval failure.” No one ever really thinks about why they can’t recall information. And I think that the two main problems in recalling information are failure to encode and retrieval failure.

The next thing I found interesting in this chapter was the information about false memories. False memories can be installed into a person’s memory. False memories can be created in someone’s memory by the way the person elicits questions. The person trying to place the false memory must ask questions in a certain way that will make it easier to store into the person’s mind. The example that the book gives is about questions on car accidents. If the researched is trying to get the person to have a false memory, they will show several clips of car accidents and ask the person, “What do you predict the speed was when the cars (X) into each other?” The words that were replaced by X ranged from smashed into each other to made contact with each other. This study shows that people will predict much faster speeds when more intense words are used. If the researcher uses the word “smashed” – the person is more likely to think the cars are going faster. If the researcher says something about the cars “coming in contact” – the person will predict that the cars were going slower. What’s even more interesting is that the people would even add on exaggerated memories about things that didn’t happen. They would report broken glass and a much more graphic wreck when more harsh words were used. This shows that the way a question is asked can greatly influence the person’s answer. I think that this is very interesting. We don’t really notice when this is happening. This is a phenomenon that most people aren’t aware of. I’m sure that it happens a lot more often than we think – and that’s why I find this concept of false memories so interesting.

The last section in this chapter that I found interesting was the information about the different examples of extraordinary memory. There are three different cases that the book talks about in detail. The first case is about a man the book calls S. S. was a normal man, just like all of us, but he had an exceptional gift for recalling items on a list. He could recall up to 30, 50, or even 70 items. It took him longer to recall the lists with more items, but he could do it eventually. Even after a certain amount of time had passed, he was still able to recall all of the items on the list. The second case was a man the book calls V.P. V.P was able to (almost verbatim) recall entire stories. Even after time had passed, much like S., he was still able to recall the stories. The thirst and last case was a woman that the book refers to as E. Her name was Elizabeth – and she had what we would consider photographic memory. It isn’t technically photographic memory. What the book calls it, and what psychologists call it, is eidetic imagery. Elizabeth could recall certain pictures with every detail correct. She could also recall things like poems or short stories. These are all really interesting to me because most people don’t possess the ability to store memories like that. There is a reason that these people are said to have extraordinary memory.

The thing that I found the least interesting was the peg word system. I was taught this method in high school. I thought that it worked to a certain extent, but it’s not something that I ever use. Our teacher taught us this method and I never really started using it. The peg word system is where you associate a number with an object. For example: one/bun, two/shoe, three/tree, etc. Once you have this list down, you can relate the list you are trying to remember to this first list. The example that the book gives is a grocery list. If the first item on the list is eggs – you will have to visualize eggs with the word bun. Maybe you will imagine eggs inside of the bun like an egg sandwich. So now when you have to go back and recall what the first word was on the list, you can do that much more easily. You will first remember that one goes with bun. Then you will remember the egg sandwich, and realize that number one on your list was eggs. I can see how this method of remembering works, but I have never used it. I think that it is too much work and I would rather just use repetition or imagery to remember my information.

I think that this chapter will help me to learn about cognitive psychology because it is all about how the brain and mind work in remembering and forgetting. Memory is very important in cognitive functions. And if memory is very important – then forgetting is also very important. Cognitive psychology is all about how the mind works and why it works the way it does. In learning about memory and forgetting, we are learning more and more about the mind.

This chapter builds on other chapters very well. The first couple chapters we read were all about perception and sensation. The first few chapters were all about how we perceive things. The next couple chapters were about how we store what we perceive. The last couple chapters we have read were about short term memory and long term memory. Short term and long term memories are both ways that we store what we sense and perceive. Now this most current chapter (chapter 7) is about forgetting. Forgetting is a very important part of memory. Not everything can be stored and not everything can be retrieved. In order to learn about memory fully – we will have to learn about forgetting as well.

I would definitely like to learn more about false memories. I know that there were quite a few topical blogs done on false memories last week, but I would like to look into it more this week. I have always thought that false memories are fascinating. I would like to learn more about how people can easily create false memories for us. I would also like to learn more about how we can spot false memories – or if we can spot false memories at all. I would also like to learn how often false memories are created. And I would like to know if people realize that they are creating false memories. I’m sure that counselors/therapists and detectives don’t intend to create false memories for these people. They might just use leading questions because of some sort of bias that they have. This might lead the person to think that they have a memory of something when they really don’t. This could be similar to false eyewitness testimonies.

While I was reading this chapter I was thinking a lot about my own memory. I used to think that I had a pretty awful memory. But I am starting to realize after reading these past few chapters, that my memory isn’t really that bad. I have realized after reading chapters 5 and 6 that I have a decent short term memory and a very good long term memory. I can remember things from my childhood that my parents might not even remember. After reading this chapter, I have realized that I don’t really forget much information either. There are certain things I forget, but I realize now why I forget those certain things. I will never forget my mom’s birthday or my best friend’s phone number. Those things matter a lot to me. So I will always remember them. I have realized after reading this chapter that I have quite a selective memory, and I forget the things that I don’t really care about. If I have an assignment due in a couple days, and it’s not worth many points/it’s not detrimental to my grade, I will most likely forget that I have to do that assignment. Over reading the last few chapters, I have thought a lot about my own memory and my own rate of forgetting.

Terms: Failure to Encode, Retrieval Failure, Tip of the Tongue, Theories of Forgetting, False Memories, Extraordinary Memory, S., V.P., E./Elizabeth, Photographic Memory, Eidetic Imagery, Peg Word System, Forgetting, Short Term Memory, Long Term Memory, Cognitive Psychology

1.A. Korsakoff’s syndrome

1.B. Korsakoff’s syndrome is a condition that can impact a person’s memory, even causing amnesia. People afflicted by korsakoff’s syndrome have difficulty in remembering recent events. Our text describes people with this condition as confabulating details they can not remember. I believe that society at large believes brain trauma is the way one acquires amnesia and media/entertainment reinforce this notion in my opinion. I find it interesting that the factor that gives rise to Korsakoff’s syndrome is a deficiency of the vitamin B1. Though it the text describes the deficiency as being “serious” when someone has Korsakof’s, lack of a vitamin still seems like a surprisingly benign way of developing a condition that can so seriously impair an individual’s memory.

2.A. Retrieval failure

2.B. Retrieval failure is the failure to find an appropriate memory cue for some given memory. The text encoding operations determine the type of memory trace that gets stored. This in turn dictates what retrieval cue will effectively access a memory. Our text also describes a study in which researchers taught then tested people in two different environments. Participants who learned and were tested in the same environment tended to earn the best scores. I find it interesting that location can have a significant impact on what we successfully remember.

3.A. Eidetic imagery

3.B. Eidetic imagery is what lay people more commonly refer to as photographic memory. This is the form of memory that allows an individual who possesses it to remember stimuli seemingly near perfectly accurately. Though our text reports that cases of eidetic imagery are not well documented it also shares some examples of cases where eidetic memory has been documented. These individuals do seem to have what a lay person would describe as being photographic memory. I find this interesting because often times popular conceptions about a psychological construct are either to basic or grandiose to effectively describe the complex nature of some given construct. I find it surprising/interesting that there are documented cases of eidetic imagery because I always assumed that in reality photographic memory was just extremely good but still very imperfect memory.

4.A. Total Anterograde amnesia

B. I did not enjoy reading about total anterograde amnesia. Total anterograde amnesia is when someone can not form new memories. An example about a man who could not form new memories is shared and this man attempted to keep a diary in order to cope with every moment seeming new to him. I always find discussions of this type of amnesia depressing both to how troubling it could be for the individual and their family/loved ones.

5.A. Factors that enhance memory

B. I think the factors that enhance memory section of the chapter may be the most important part of the chapter for understanding cognitive psychology. In this section multiple techniques for memorizing and remembering things are delineated. While one could argue these techniques could be useful in remembering course material, they may be of further use. It may be that understanding strategies for remembering gives us important insight into how our brain functions and attempts to store memories.

6. In chapter five, modals and research relevant to short term memory were discussed. Chapter six was similar but was different in that its primary focus was on long term memory. Again in chapter seven, the content of the chapter is linked to memory. This chapter builds off of the last chapters information on long term and short term memory by going more in depth about processes by which we may experience forgetting or remembering something.

7. Motivated forgetting

Motivated forgetting is consciously trying not to think about something. This is done as method of not remembering or having to deal with something one does not want to remember. Our text notes that this technique is usually employed to help avoid the stress of traumatic experiences. When I read it I could not help but think about eternal sunshine of the spotless mind and felt more interested in it because of that.

8. While reading the chapter I thought about whether or not motivated forgetting was ultimately positive or negative strategy for dealing with post traumatic memories. I also wondered if it would be of use to people who feel guilty about past events or very anxious. I also thought about how sad I found anterograde amnesia. I also wondered about how ethical it was to show the man’s diary and if he could actually give informed consent for that.

9. Anterograde Amnesia, long term memory, short term memory, Korsakoff’s syndrome, retrieval failure, eidetic memory

1) The topic on theories of forgetting I found to be quite interesting. The first reason we forget, is the failure to encode, which is the failure to put information into long term memory. The book also mentioned that stress can have a big impact on why we forget things, as very high and very low levels of arousal can impair our memory. When we have very high levels of arousal, the memory may be just another part of the experience. Another memory failure is referred to as consolidation failure, which is the memory loss due to organic disruption while the memory is being formed, resulting in the memory not being formed. This is a failure in the long term memory system, as opposed to short term memory.

Interference is when memories that are similar are meshed together, resulting in confusion of the two. Retroactive interference is when you obtain new memories, old memories become hard to recall. On the other hand, proactive interference occurs when old memories interfere with your recall of new memories. Another type of forgetting is retrieval failure, which is the inability to find the necessary memory cue for retrieval. The encoding specificity principle states that specific encoding determines the memory trace stored. One aspect of this concept researched is that of context. Participants were asked to memorize a list under water or on land, and then take a memory test either on land or under water. What they found was that the participants did best if they were tested at the same place in which they first memorized their list.

Lastly, there are times in which the memories we do have are traumatic, which can lead to motivated forgetting and/or repression. Repression is the unconscious pushing away of memories. Motivated forgetting, however, is when an individual that has gone through something traumatic, refuses to talk or think about the event, therefore forgetting it happened.

2) Amnesia has been mentioned in other chapters but just the fact that someone loses their memory even for a brief period always seems interesting. Amnesia is the forgetting as a result of some sort of brain damage or problems in the brain. One example of this is Alzheimer’s, which can start out as simply forgetting occasionally to a serious breakdown of memory, as well as other serious medical problems. Another example is Korsakoff’s syndrome, which is a serious deficiency in vitamin B1, typically as a result of prolonged alcoholism. People with this syndrome lose memory of recent events, and make up things to fill in the memories that are missing.

Retrograde amnesia is memory loss that wipes out memories that occurred before the brain injury event. This type of loss is typically seen in the inability to recall what happened right before they were in a car accident, for instance. The hit to the brain disrupts the memory storage. Research done in this area of amnesia has found that while those playing football that are on the receiving end of a particularly hard tackle may remember what happened right after the event, but not 30 minutes later. This is a result of the failure to consolidate the memory into long term memory.
A more severe form of amnesia, which is seen in those with temporal lobe damage, is called anterograde amnesia. This type of amnesia leaves the oldest memories intact, but may lose in varying degrees new memories. In more extreme cases, such as with Clive Wearing, he literally has a “reset” every 7 second-5 minutes. He cannot make new memories.

3) False memories always peaks my interest because just how a person is able to think they experienced something when they didn't. Like the pseudomemories in a previous chapter, and how victims in a crime can have memories of a criminal even if it was not the person who committed it. The book gave an example of looking at a set of words, then writing down as many as you could remember. Based on the words, many people will remember seeing a word that wasn’t actually on the list, based on the other words used. The basis for this happening is that when things are semantically similar or strongly associated, you tend to remember something that was never there.

Another factor that can dictate what we remember is the way in which we are asked about the event. In one study, participants were asked to watched clips of car accidents and then estimate speed at time of the accident. The independent variable was the word used to describe the accident. The word smashed had the highest rate of speed estimates, while the word contacted had the slowest speed. The word choice in the question dictated the memory, which even included remembering broken glass at the scene when there was none. False memory research also has discovered that when confronted with a wrong doing, participants will “confess” to the wrong, even if they didn’t commit it. Some even go so far as to indicate false details to go along with the false memory. This area of study is especially important in relation to eye witness testimony, as well as criminal confessions.

4) Mnemonic Techniques I feel as if I am never able to tap into this to use it for my own memory. This is especially true of acronyms. I tend to remember just the acronym or saying and forget what they mean.

5) I think the reasons we forget are especially important in understanding how our memory works. Finding ways to defy the memory retention problem is important for many people.

6) This chapter builds on memory loss, but it was a bit more on damage to the brain being related why we have memory loss.

7) Korsakoff’s Syndrome is something I would like to look into more. I have come across this disease before, and even done a little research on it but I barely even scratched the surface.

8) Reading about why I forget things and then how to enhance my memory just had me thinking about how my own memory system and how to improve it.

Terms: acronym, amnesia, anterograde amnesia, consolidation failure, failure to encode, interference, mnemonic, motivated forgetting, proactive interference, repression, retroactive interference, retrograde amnesia, retrieval failure.

1a) What did you find interesting?
I liked the section on failure to encoding.
1b) Why was it interesting to you?
I liked this section because I am incredibly forgetful. This helped me learn that I may not be forgetting something because I never really learned it in the first place. This also helped me realize why I don’t always do the best on tests. I am in class almost every day but I am definitely not always mentally present. I also found the information on stress interesting. I like knowing that stress can lead to forgetting. I seem to be stressed quite often, so that could definitely be a reason I don’t always get the grades I desire.
2a) What did you find interesting?
I found the story on Clive Wearing interesting.
2b) Why was it interesting to you?
I was surprised that Herpes affected his memory because I wasn’t aware that could happen. I also found it interesting how drastically his memory was affected. I found it surprising that by him getting Herpes, his whole world now resides in a time span of anywhere from 1-5 minutes. I also found it interesting how his new memory works. It is crazy that once he loses focus from one thing, he immediately forgets what was going on. I thought the most interesting part of his story was that he keeps a diary. It was interesting to see how keeping a diary affected him. You might think it was good for him, but it seemed to stress him out even more than he probably already was.
3a) What did you find interesting?
I found the section on Extraordinary Memories interesting.
3b) Why was it interesting to you?
I found this interesting because I loved the examples that were given. It is interesting to read about people who have exceptional memories, especially after reading about people who have poor memories. The most interesting part to me was how having an extraordinary memory is not always a good thing. The story of S. Luria interested me. It was interesting to learn how his vivid imagery interfered with his ability to understand simple sentences.
4a) What one (1) thing did you find the least interesting?
My least favorite section was the section on acronyms.
4b) Why wasn't it interesting to you?
I like learning about acronyms but I felt like it was a review. I know what acronyms are so I was pretty familiar with most of what was talked about. I did find it interesting, but it was probably the least interesting section for me. This chapter was my favorite chapter to read so far.
5) What did you read in the chapter that you think will be most useful to in understanding Cognitive Psychology?
I think the most useful thing that I read in this chapter was the section on acronyms. I know this was my least favorite section but I think it is the most useful. This information will help us learn how to remember things which will help with numerous things, such as work and school.
6) How, in what ways, does this chapter relate (build on) to the previous chapters?
This chapter builds on the memory discussion we have been having for the past few weeks. Each chapter seems to be giving new, useful information on memory.
7a) What topic would you like to learn more about?
I would like to learn more about Clive Wearing.
7b) Why?
His name was mentioned and talked about a little in this chapter but I would like to learn more about him and his situation.
8) What ideas related to what you were reading (what did you think about) did you have while reading the chapter?
The only thing I thought of while reading this chapter was the information I knew about false memories. I have heard of the “mall” story before I read this information.
9) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Failure to encode, Clive Wearing, extraordinary memories, S. Luria, acronyms

1) False memory really caught my eye as an interesting topic. In one of their studies they had participants watch a video and tell how fast cars were moving before they crashed. The experimenters used key words like smashed, collided, bumped, etc. These words had different impacts on how the participants decided on how fast the cars were moving. It also made the people have a false memory of the video they had watched. Some of the participants saw glass in the video that wasn’t actually there. Another was the “lost in the mall” technique. They told participants of a false event about how when the participants were little they got lost in the mall. Some of the participants believed this story and made a whole story off of that one event. This is really interesting to me that we can just make up events that seem so real.
2)Mnemonic techniques are something we are told to use in school to help remember things. This is interesting to me in how they work and how it works with your memory and making it stick. The method of loci is remembering an object by associating it with a place. In their example Simonides was about to remember that guests at a banquet by the location of their seats. Peg word system is one learning a set of words that serve as a peg in which items are hung. One is bun word that needs to be recalled in milk so finding an outrageous way is better to help memorize. Key word method is usually used when learning another language. This is associating a word with the word you are using to help remember and make sense of it. Verbal techniques which would include acronyms. Acronyms are when you have to remember a list of information and you change the letters into a phase to help you remember. FACE would help you remember the spaces in a musical staff. Recalling names is taking a name and breaking it down to an easy to remember phase of pronunciation. Then you would use physical properties to go with the names.
3)S. Luria was an interesting topic to read about. People have an amazing memory really amaze me. I have a horrible memory so to hear of people who can memorize a list of 50 words over time and still recite it is mind boggling. Not only is it amazing that he could do that, it only took his 45 seconds to memorize the list. When people spoke to him he could see images that interfered with each other. He had a hard time concentrating because everything brought in a new question.
4) I thought everything was pretty interesting to me this week. We can do some many things with our memory and not even know that we are doing it. This is just something that always keeps my attention because there’s always something that I didn’t know about.
5) The usage of the mnemonics I think would be useful for just school in general. The help with learning how to use mnemonic devices can come in handy
6) Last weeks focus was more on memory and long term memory. This week we have more of forgetting remembering for memory.
7)I would like to learn more about the people with abnormal memories. I think it is amazing there are people who can retain really big lists of words and are able to recall them with no problem.
8) The things I was thinking about while reading this chapter was how many people have amazing memories like the ones in the book. Is there ways to enhance your memory and the different types of forgetting or what causes it.
9) false memory, mnemonic

1a) What did you find interesting?
Korsakoff’s syndrome.
1b) Why was it interesting to you?
The section covering forgetting theories really interested me because there are so many ways our memory can fail us but Korsakoff’s syndrome is one where the individual is almost directly responsible for failing their memory. Unfortunately when I read the section about Korsakoff’s syndrome I thought of my grandfather. He passed away a few years ago but the last 5-10 years of his life he was not all there. My grandfather served in the Korean War and lived to the age of 81 but for many years he was a drinker and I always knew it had an effect on him cognitively. It wasn’t until I read about Korsakoff’s syndrome that I realized this may have been what he suffered from later in life. The syndrome causes memory problems due to a serious vitamin B1 deficiency and can be more prevalent in people who have had long term alcoholism. He was always a good man but had trouble remembering recent events and would often get upset when he was unable to recall something another person in my family would bring up. Whether it was dementia, alzheimers or korsakoff’s syndrome they are all scary and can take the people we love away in no time.
2a) What did you find interesting?
False Memory
2b) Why was it interesting to you?
The section on false memory was particularly fascinating to me because after we discussed it briefly in class last week I realized I had some false memories myself. I have this memory of skiing in Colorado about two years ago when I took a trip with a few of my friends. The false memory occurs when we are actually at the ski resort and who was actually there with me. For some reason I can recall two of my best friends being there and skiing with me but after bringing this up in conversation and asking them if they remembered as well they informed me they were never there. I have this vivid memory of skiing down the mountain and seeing both of them, but neither were ever there. After reading about how false memories can be formed I realized I must have been spending far too much time with them because I just inserted them into that memory I shared with other friends. It took a long time to convince me they were not there, I had to be shown photos because my desire to remember them there was so strong the memory could not be easily altered.
3a) What did you find interesting?
Mnemonic techniques and the method of loci.
3b) Why was it interesting to you?
Any technique that promotes ways to improve memory is fascinating to me because as we age our memories and memory recall becomes less attuned. Mnemonic techniques and the method of loci are techniques which enhance the storage and recall of information in our memory. The method of loci is based on the idea that information can be recalled by associating that information with certain places. The loci can be a room, a specific path or even a front door. Other mnemonic techniques that are commonly used today are cue cards, visual indexes or even handbooks. All of these techniques are designed to give our memory a “hint” to gain the rest of the information that is stored.
4a) What one (1) thing did you find the least interesting?
Peg word system.
4b) Why wasn't it interesting to you?
This was not interesting to me because I have used this technique before in trying to remember information or stimuli and I found it very unreliable. While it may be useful for others I found it to be more confusing because instead of remembering one item you have to think of rimes or more ways to remember what you are trying to remember.
5) What did you read in the chapter that you think will be most useful to in understanding Cognitive Psychology?
This chapter was useful to help my understanding of all the different techniques to improve memory but also the many ways memory can fail us or be damaged. Many of the techniques to improve memory are based on organizing material, the speed at which it is encoded and how often you practice it.
6) How, in what ways, does this chapter relate (build on) to the previous chapters?
This chapter has built off the previous chapter very well, the previous two chapters discussed STM and LTM, this chapter explains how to improve upon both of those but also how each can be negatively affected. In the previous chapters we learned how our memory can fail us and in this chapter we learned why and how.
7a) What topic would you like to learn more about?
Photographic memory.
7b) Why?
I often hear people say they have a photographic memory and I am always skeptical of these people because I know how hard it is to remember even the simplest of things. I would like to know how many people in the population have a legitimate photographic memory and if it affects other areas of their life as far as how social they are and if they have other cognitive abilities because of it.
8) What ideas related to what you were reading (what did you think about) did you have while reading the chapter?
As I wrote about in the question one this chapter made me think of my grandfather who suffered from an unknown disease or disorder that had a negative effect on his memory. I also thought of other people I have known who have had mild concussions and how they will be affected later in life because of head trauma earlier in life.
9) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
-mnemonic, method of loci, peg word system, photographic memory, false memory, Korsakoff’s syndrome

The first thing I found interesting was the section on the theories of forgetting. There are multiple reasons why someone may not remember something. One possibility is that there was a failure to encode. This means that our sensory receptors did not send the information to the brain. We may not have heard the information, we may have been paying attention to something else, etc. When there is nothing sent to the brain there is nothing to store into your long-term memory and nothing to recall. Consolidation failure occurs when there is a disruption when the path to the memory is being formed. This causes poor quality memories with the perception of forgetting. The information is fine in the short-term, but in long-term memory it is disrupted. Amnesia is when an issue in the brain causes the forgetting. It normally does not impact information about yourself, but can affect your memory of others. Traumatic brain injuries and dementia, such as Alzheimer's, can be causes. People with amnesia will make up their own details to fill in the gaps of their memory. This is called confabulation. Retrograde amnesia is when you forget memories that occurred prior to the injury. The trauma interferes with memory storage and is linked to consolidation failure. Anterograde amnesia is memory loss for the memories after the injury occurs. Decay occurs when a memory fades over a period of time or because it has not been used.

I liked this section because I never realized that there were multiple ways of forgetting. I just assumed that I always store the memories correctly but have trouble retrieving them. Knowing that I could have never had the memory in the LTM adds an unexpected twist. Knowing what causes these problems can help you to prevent them from occurring and make your memory better than ever.

Another section I found interesting was the one on false memories. False memories can be caused by the types of questions a person is asked, as shown by Loftus and Palmer. This was shown when they conducted a study where two cars are involved in an accident and the word used to describe the collision impacted how fast the subject perceived the cars to be moving. Subjects would even recall broken glass at the scene, even though there was none. Different therapies have been shown to cause false memories, including hypnotic suggestion, guided imagery, the stories of others, and leading questions. The memories created can be simple or very complex.

I found this section interesting because I have had the false memory example that Roediger and McDermott tested done to me in previous classes and it surprises me just how sure of a false memory you can be. Thinking about false memories makes me wonder how many details of my memories are false and how many of my whole memories themselves are false.

A third thing I found interesting was the section on mnemonic techniques. A mnemonic technique is something that enhances the storage and recall of memories. One mnemonic is the method of loci. This is where you associate an object with a certain place. For example, you may remember a group of people's names by assigning each of them to a room in a building that you are familiar with. The research shows that this is a very effective method for remembering information such as lists. Another technique is the peg word system. One variation of this requires you to remember a list of rhyming pair, such as one is a bun, two is a shoe, etc. After you learn this list you pair you "hook" each thing you need to remember to a peg. To use this you create a way for the item to interact with the hook word. Another method is the key word method. This works best when learning a new language. In this method you link the word you want to learn with the meaning of the word in the language that you already know. Linking this is strange ways allows it to work the best. Verbal techniques, such as acronyms, are effective at increasing memory as well.

I found this interesting because after reading about all the ways that memory can go wrong, you want to feel like there is something you can do to increase your chances of remembering. These techniques may take some learning, but once you have them down you will be able to remember various things with relative ease.

One section I found less interesting was the one on the historical perspective of forgetting and remembering. Ebbinghaus wrote the first scientific account of memory experiments. Before his work there had been no systematic test or experiment of memory. Instead of working from an idea back to the source Ebbinghaus decided to look at how a memory developed and was able to find variables that others missed. He also used nonsense syllables so that he could test his experiments out on himself.

This section was less interesting to me because there was not a whole lot of description on how Ebbinghaus did his work. It is interesting that he went against the standard operating procedure at the time, but other than that I was not intrigued by his work.

I think that understanding all the areas where remembering can go wrong really helps us to understand cognition. A big part of cognition is memory and ensuring proper storage and retrieval of memories is key.

This chapter builds on the previous ones in that the last two chapters talked about short-term and long-term memory and now we are talking about errors in memory.

I would like to learn more about false memories and extraordinary memories, because it is always interesting to see how memories work (or don't work) and what causes people to remember things especially well.

While reading this chapter I thought about all the techniques that I use to remember things, as well as all the instances in which I have forgotten information that I needed.

terms:
theories of forgetting, failure to encode, sensory receptors, consolidation failure, short-term, long-term, amnesia, traumatic brain injuries, dementia, alzheimer's, confabulation, retrograde amnesia, anterograde amnesia, false memories, Loftus, Palmer, Roediger, McDermott, mnemonic techniques, method of loci, peg and word system, key word method, verbal techniques, acronyms, Ebbinghaus