Getting Into Long Term Memory

Psy315 - Class 13, Part 1

(This page last updated 12 October, 2006.)

Two Types of Rehearsal

• Maintenance Rehearsal
  • Simply repeating material to keep it in working memory.
• Elaborative Rehearsal
  • Thinking about material and how it relates to other things in memory.
• The effectiveness of these two types of rehearsal depends on how memory is tested, but in many circumstances, elaborative rehearsal is more effective than maintenance rehearsal.
  • If maintenance rehearsal is effective, then we should easily remember things that we have seen repeatedly.
    • Test: Draw a picture of the front of a penny.
    • Demonstrates that repeated exposures do not automatically lead to good recall.

Levels of Processing and their Effects on Memory

Deeper processing generally produces better recall.

See textbook Fig. 5.8 and associated text.

Deep processing probably leads to better recall because it creates more different connections to the new material. With more connections to a stored fact, there is a higher probability that you can find it when you are searching for it later.

Understanding Improves Recall

You are more likely to recall material if you understand it well. A deeper understanding leads to more connections being made in memory. These connections make it easier to find the information during recall.

For an extreme example of the importance of understanding, remember the ambiguous pictures such as the ship and the dalmation we saw earlier. Imagine how hard they would be to remember if you did not understand them.

Intention to Remember

Performance is the same for all three levels of processing, regardless of whether subjects know they will be tested or not. Intending to remember, by itself, does not improve retrieval.

 

Mnemonics: Aids to Memory

• Associate items on list with locations along familiar path.
• Mnemonics based on initial letters.
  • "She Made Harry Eat Onions"

Recall is best when learned material can be connected to existing memories via many different paths. The more organized and connected the information is in memory, the better recall will be.

Relevant Web Pages

• Description of the U.S. Memory Championship
  
• Memory Mnemonics
  • Amanda's Menomics Page
  • Medical Mnemonics
  • Wordplay
  • Large Collection of Mnemonics

next topic: Getting Back Out of Long Term Memory

Psych 315: Cognitive Psychology Kyle Cave Psychology Dept. U. Mass.