PSYC 213 – Textbook Notes –
Chapter 6:
Memory System (Required reading ø whole chapter)
I.
Tulving and the Theory of Memory Systems
a.
Endel Tulving: Very influential way of carving up memory. Explored in depth the question of how many
memory systems there are and what each of them does.
b.
Encoding Specificity
i.
Principle of encoding specificity:
The way an item is retrieved from memory depends on the
way it was stored in memory.
1.
“A critical condition for effective retrieval is the extent to which the processing that
occurs during retrieval reinstates the processing that took place during encoding
a.
Example: Poker
à
Metal prod or card game
2.
Experiment: List of 24 pairs of words that we weakly associated in meanings.
a.
First word: weak cue word
b.
Second word: target word
c.
Shown a new list with words: strong cue words (correlated a lot with the target
words)
d.
Asked to come up with words to pair with those strong cue words (Came up with
18/24 target words)
e.
Asked how many were words from the original list (target words)
i.
Only found on average: 4
f.
Were given the original 24 weak cue words and asked to recall original target
words
i.
Found on average 15
ii.
Conditions can be created in which information about a word event is available in memory in a
form sufficient for the production of the appropriate response and yet a literal copy of the
word is not recognized
1.
Recognition failure of recallable words
iii.
Tulving argued that the ability to remember a given item depends on how that item was encoded
at input
iv.
Episodic memory:
The memory system concerned with personally experienced events
v.
Semantic memory:
The memory system concerned with knowledge of words, concepts, and their
relationships.
II.
The Development of the Theory of Memory Systems
a.
Some researchers have suggested that in all there may be as many as five memory systems:
i.
Episodic memory (Autonoetic consciousness)
ii.
Semantic memory (Noetic consciousness)
iii.
Procedural memory (Anoetic consciousness)
iv.
Perceptual representation system
v.
Working memory
b.
Procedural Memory
i.
Procedural memory:
The memory system concerned with knowing how to things. Underlies skills,
such as riding a bike, playing a musical instrument, or even reading.
ii.
Tacit knowledge:
Knowing how to do something without being able to say exactly what it is that
you know
iii.
Explicit knowledge:
Knowing that something is the case.
III.
Episodic Memory and Autonoetic Consciousness
a.
Anoetic:
“non-knowing”
à
concerned only with our immediate situation
b.
Noetic:
“knowing”
à
aware not only of our immediate surroundings, but also of things that lie beyond it
c.
Autonoetic:
“self-knowing”
à
aware not only of our immediate surroundings, but also of things that lie
beyond it
d.
“Mental time travel” (episodic memory) enables us to set goals and plan future actions
e.
Autonoetic awareness requires healthy functioning of the frontal lobe.
