© Ane Venter
Chapter 7
Key Processes in Memory
1
,© Ane Venter
Introduction
→ Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon:
○ Feeling like the forgotten information is just out of reach
○ Forgetting a word but remembering the first letter of the word or what it sounds like
○ When you cannot remember a term that you are certain you know (like in exams)
○ Words usually come to you at a later stage
→ Memory entails more than taking in information and storing it in some mental compartment
→ 3 Key questions regarding memory:
a. How does information get into memory? (Encoding)
b. How is information maintained in memory? (Storage)
c. How is information pulled back out of memory? (Retrieval)
→ Encoding:
○ Involves forming a memory code
○ Usually requires attention
→ Storage:
○ Involves maintaining encoded information in memory over a period of time
○ Information storage not enough to guarantee you will remember something
→ Retrieval:
○ Involves recovering information from memory stores
○ Research concerned with retrieval includes study of how people search memory + why some
retrieval strategies are more successful than others
PROCESS ENCODING STORAGE RETRIEVAL
DEFINITION Involves forming a memory Involves maintaining encoded Involves recovering
code information in memory over information from memory
time stores
ANALOGY TO
INFORMATION
PROCESSING
BY A
COMPUTER
Entering data through a Saving data files on a hard Calling up the files and
keyboard disk displaying data on a monitor
Encoding: Getting Information into Memory
1. The role of attention
2. Levels of processing
3. Enriching encoding
2
, © Ane Venter
1. The Role of Attention
→ When people are forced to divide their attention between memory processing and some other task =
large reductions in memory performance seen
→ Divided attention can have a negative impact on variety of tasks
→ Multitasking:
○ Brain can only handle 1 attention-consuming task at a time
○ People switch attention back and forth between tasks rather than processing them simultaneously
○ Cost of divided attention = profound implications
Like talking on the phone while driving
- Cell phone conversations are more distracting than conversations in the car
- Passengers can adapt their conversations depending on the traffic + provide assistance to
the driver
○ There is variability in how well people can multitask
○ Age plays a role in the success of multitasking
People over 60 find it more difficult to remember after a task has been interrupted compared to
younger people
2. Levels of Processing
→ Attention = critical to the encoding of memories
→ Not all attention is created equal – can attend to things in different ways / focus on different aspects of
stimulus input
→ Qualitative differences in way people attend to information – important factors that influence how much
we remember
→ Fergus Craig and Robert Lockheart
○ Proposed incoming information can be processed at different levels
○ Maintained that in dealing with verbal information – people engage in 3 progressively deeper levels
of processing
a. Structural encoding
b. Phonemic encoding
c. Sematic encoding
Level of Processing Type of encoding Example of questions to elicit
appropriate encoding
Structural Encoding:
Is the word written in capital
Shallow Processing Emphasises the physical
Depth of Processing
letters?
structure of the stimulus
Phonemic Encoding:
Does the word rhyme with
Intermediate Processing Emphasises what a word weight?
sounds like
Semantic Encoding: Would the word fit in the
Deep Processing Emphasises the meaning of sentence?
the verbal input “He met a _____ on the street”
3
Chapter 7
Key Processes in Memory
1
,© Ane Venter
Introduction
→ Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon:
○ Feeling like the forgotten information is just out of reach
○ Forgetting a word but remembering the first letter of the word or what it sounds like
○ When you cannot remember a term that you are certain you know (like in exams)
○ Words usually come to you at a later stage
→ Memory entails more than taking in information and storing it in some mental compartment
→ 3 Key questions regarding memory:
a. How does information get into memory? (Encoding)
b. How is information maintained in memory? (Storage)
c. How is information pulled back out of memory? (Retrieval)
→ Encoding:
○ Involves forming a memory code
○ Usually requires attention
→ Storage:
○ Involves maintaining encoded information in memory over a period of time
○ Information storage not enough to guarantee you will remember something
→ Retrieval:
○ Involves recovering information from memory stores
○ Research concerned with retrieval includes study of how people search memory + why some
retrieval strategies are more successful than others
PROCESS ENCODING STORAGE RETRIEVAL
DEFINITION Involves forming a memory Involves maintaining encoded Involves recovering
code information in memory over information from memory
time stores
ANALOGY TO
INFORMATION
PROCESSING
BY A
COMPUTER
Entering data through a Saving data files on a hard Calling up the files and
keyboard disk displaying data on a monitor
Encoding: Getting Information into Memory
1. The role of attention
2. Levels of processing
3. Enriching encoding
2
, © Ane Venter
1. The Role of Attention
→ When people are forced to divide their attention between memory processing and some other task =
large reductions in memory performance seen
→ Divided attention can have a negative impact on variety of tasks
→ Multitasking:
○ Brain can only handle 1 attention-consuming task at a time
○ People switch attention back and forth between tasks rather than processing them simultaneously
○ Cost of divided attention = profound implications
Like talking on the phone while driving
- Cell phone conversations are more distracting than conversations in the car
- Passengers can adapt their conversations depending on the traffic + provide assistance to
the driver
○ There is variability in how well people can multitask
○ Age plays a role in the success of multitasking
People over 60 find it more difficult to remember after a task has been interrupted compared to
younger people
2. Levels of Processing
→ Attention = critical to the encoding of memories
→ Not all attention is created equal – can attend to things in different ways / focus on different aspects of
stimulus input
→ Qualitative differences in way people attend to information – important factors that influence how much
we remember
→ Fergus Craig and Robert Lockheart
○ Proposed incoming information can be processed at different levels
○ Maintained that in dealing with verbal information – people engage in 3 progressively deeper levels
of processing
a. Structural encoding
b. Phonemic encoding
c. Sematic encoding
Level of Processing Type of encoding Example of questions to elicit
appropriate encoding
Structural Encoding:
Is the word written in capital
Shallow Processing Emphasises the physical
Depth of Processing
letters?
structure of the stimulus
Phonemic Encoding:
Does the word rhyme with
Intermediate Processing Emphasises what a word weight?
sounds like
Semantic Encoding: Would the word fit in the
Deep Processing Emphasises the meaning of sentence?
the verbal input “He met a _____ on the street”
3
