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Organization of Memories

     Network theory of memory organization - In the network model, knowledge is stored in "a network of interrelated propositions." Networks are simple "node-link" structures which can be related in complex ways. You might think of a network as a collection of contents ("propositions") which are interconnected in very specific ways that reveal important relationships. Information is filed in interconnected nodes or categories.

     Forgetting Curves - Hermann Ebbinghaus found that the familiar & interesting are remembered 60% longer than nonsense syllables.

Four reasons for forgetting:

1. Repression (Freud)
2. Retrieval cues (poor)
3. Amnesia - the result of brain injury, disease, or trauma
4. Interference - Most forgetting occurs because of interference, similar events, or experiences make it difficult for us to retrieve the information for which we are searching.
 
     Proactive interference - old info blocks retrieval of new info.
     Retroactive interference - new info blocks retrieval of old info.

     Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon - Sometimes our inability to retrieve long-term memories is only temporary. If you have ever experienced the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon then you have experienced this blocking. The shallow encoding of information leads to the forgetting of information and tip-of-the-tongue experiences.

     State-dependent learning - if you learned it when you where sad it is recalled best when you are sad.

  Location of memories in the brain:

     Cortex: short-term memories - surface activity
        Cortex: long-term memories - dispersed throughout
            Amygdala: adds emotional associations
                Hippocampus: transfers data into long-term memory

LTP - The Long-Term Potentiation process which changes the structure of the neuron through repetition is considered by many neuroscientists to be the most likely basis for learning & memory.

Notes!

False memories can be implanted.

Eyewitnesses can be misled.

Questions can be worded in such a way as to change answers.

Source misattribution is a memory error that occurs when the participant cannot distinguish whether the original event or some later event was the true source of the information.

The cognitive interview technique works best.

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General Psychology   Robert C. Gates