This lesson covers how we retrieve memories, how depth of processing affects retention, the role of rehearsal, and why we forget.
1. Remembering
Three measures of memory retrieval: recall (retrieving information with few or no cues — free, serial or cued), recognition (identifying previously learnt information), and relearning (learning again material learnt before, usually faster the second time). Recall is an active process that usually requires effort.
2. Levels of processing (Craik and Lockhart, 1972)
Memory is affected by the level of processing involved in encoding. Shallow processing attends to the physical features of a word (structural) or its sound (phonemic); deep processing attends to the word's meaning (semantic). Deeper processing produces better recall.
3. Rehearsal
- Maintenance rehearsal — continuous repetition to keep information in short-term memory (e.g. repeating a phone number).
- Elaborative rehearsal — making meaningful connections between new information and existing knowledge.
- Repetition — as seen in Ebbinghaus and the forgetting curve (1885): repeated exposure to the same information improves retention and slows forgetting over time.
4. Forgetting
- Retrieval failure — information is in long-term memory but cannot be accessed.
- Interference — learning or recall is blocked by other conflicting information (proactive = old interferes with new; retroactive = new interferes with old).
- Motivated forgetting — blocking recall to avoid discomfort.
- Decay theory — the fading of information from memory over time.
Work through these together.
Levels of processing
For each question about the word "TABLE", decide as a class whether it requires shallow (structural/phonemic) or deep (semantic) processing — and predict which would be best recalled:
- Is the word in capital letters?
- Does it rhyme with "cable"?
- Does it fit the sentence: "She put the plate on the ___"?
Identifying types of forgetting
For each scenario, identify the type of forgetting:
Can't recall a fact during a test but remember it afterwards:
A new phone number makes you forget your old one:
A childhood memory simply fades after decades:
Answer independently, using examination-style directive verbs.
Q1. Distinguish between the terms 'recall' and 'forgetting' with regard to the process of memory. (4 marks)
Q2. Identify and outline four types of forgetting. (8 marks)
Q3. Identify and outline two different rehearsal strategies and propose an example for each. (6 marks)
Q4. Outline Craik and Lockhart's (1972) levels of processing model of memory. (4 marks)
Q5. Explain how Ebbinghaus proposed that memory retention could be improved over time. (3 marks)