Chapter

6 Human Memory

After reading this chapter, you would be able to

• understand the nature of memory,
• distinguish between different types of memory,
• understand the nature and causes of forgetting, and
• learn the strategies for improving memory.

Contents
Introduction
Nature of Memory
Information Processing Approach : The Stage Model
Memory Systems : Sensory, Short-term and Long-term Memories
Working Memory (Box 6.1)
Levels of Processing
Types of Long-term Memory
Declarative and Procedural; Episodic and Semantic
Long-term Memory Classification (Box 6.2)
Methods of Memory Measurement (Box 6.3)
Nature and Causes of Forgetting
Forgetting due to Trace Decay, Interference and Retrieval Failure
Repressed Memories (Box 6.4)
The advantage of bad Enhancing Memory
Mnemonics using Images and Organisation
memory is that one
enjoys several times, Key Terms
the same good things Summary
for the first time. Review Questions
Project Ideas
– Friedrich Nietzsche

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 Introduction
All of us are aware of the tricks that memory plays on us throughout our lives.
Have you ever felt embarrassed because you could not remember the name of a
known person you were talking to? Or anxious and helpless because everything
you memorised well the previous day before taking your examination has suddenly
become unavailable? Or felt excited because you can now flawlessly recite lines of
a famous poem you had learnt as a child? Memory indeed is a very fascinating yet
intriguing human faculty. It functions to preserve our sense of who we are, maintains
our interpersonal relationships and helps us in solving problems and taking
decisions. Since memory is central to almost all cognitive processes such as
perception, thinking and problem solving, psychologists have attempted to
understand the manner in which any information is committed to memory, the
mechanisms through which it is retained over a period of time, the reasons why it is
lost from memory, and the techniques which can lead to memory improvement. In
this chapter, we shall examine all these aspects of memory and understand various
theories which explain the mechanisms of memory.
The history of psychological research on memory spans over hundred years.
The first systematic exploration of memory is credited to Hermann Ebbinghaus, a
German psychologist of late nineteenth century (1885). He carried out many
experiments on himself and found that we do not forget the learned material at an
even pace or completely. Initially the rate of forgetting is faster but eventually it
stabilises. There are other psychologists who have influenced memory research in
a major way. We shall review their contributions in this chapter at appropriate
places.

process consisting of three independent,

NATURE OF MEMORY
though interrelated stages. These are
Memory refers to retaining and recalling encoding, storage, and retrieval. Any
information over a period of time, depending information received by us necessarily goes
upon the nature of cognitive task you are through these stages.
required to perform. It might be necessary to (a) Encoding is the first stage which refers to a
hold an information for a few seconds. For process by which information is recorded and
example, you use your memory to retain an registered for the first time so that it becomes
unfamiliar telephone number till you have usable by our memory system. Whenever an
reached the telephone instrument to dial, or external stimulus impinges on our sensory
for many years you still remember the organs, it generates neural impulses. These are
techniques of addition and subtraction which received in different areas of our brain for
you perhaps learned during your early further processing. In encoding, incoming
schooling. Memory is conceptualised as a information is received and some meaning is

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derived. It is then represented in a way so that does. Both register, store, and manipulate large
it can be processed further. amount of information and act on the basis of
(b) Storage is the second stage of memory. the outcome of such manipulations. If you
Information which was encoded must also be have worked on a computer then you would
stored so that it can be put to use later. Storage, know that it has a temporary memory (random
therefore, refers to the process through which access memory or RAM) and a permanent
information is retained and held over a period memory (e.g., a hard disk). Based on the
of time. programme commands, the computer
(c) Retrieval is the third stage of memory. manipulates the contents of its memories and
Information can be used only when one is able displays the output on the screen. In the same
to recover it from her/his memory. Retrieval way, human beings too register information,
refers to bringing the stored information to her/
store and manipulate the stored information
his awareness so that it can be used for
depending on the task that they need to
performing various cognitive tasks such as
perform. For example, when you are required
problem solving or decision-making. It may be
to solve a mathematical problem, the memory
interesting to note that memory failure can
occur at any of these stages. You may fail to relating to mathematical operations, such as
recall an information because you did not division or subtraction are carried out,
encode it properly, or the storage was weak so activated and put to use, and receive the
you could not access or retrieve it when output (the problem solution). This analogy led
required. to the development of the first model of
memory, which was proposed by Atkinson and
Shiffrin in 1968. It is known as Stage Model.
INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH :
THE STAGE MODEL
MEMORY SYSTEMS : SENSORY, SHORT-TERM
Initially, it was thought that memory is the AND LONG-TERM MEMORIES
capacity to store all information that we acquire
through learning and experience. It was seen According to the Stage Model, there are three
as a vast storehouse where all information that memory systems : the Sensory Memory, the
we knew was kept so that we could retrieve Short-term Memory and the Long-term
and use it as and when needed. But with the Memory. Each of these systems have different
advent of the computer, human memory came features and perform different functions with
to be seen as a system that processes respect to the sensory inputs (see Fig.6.1). Let
information in the same way as a computer us examine what these systems are:

Sensory Memory Short-term Long-term

Iconic (Sight) Memory Memory
Echoic (Sound) Store Capacity - Elaborative Permanent
and other senses Attention small Rehearsals Store Capacity -
Information Store Capacity - Duration - less unlimited
large than 30 seconds Duration - upto
Duration - less a lifetime
than one second

Fig.6.1 : The Stage Model of Memory

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Sensory Memory registers where the information decays
automatically in less than a second.
The incoming information first enters the
sensory memory. Sensory memory has a large
Long-term Memory
capacity. However, it is of very short duration,
i.e. less than a second. It is a memory system Materials that survive the capacity and
that registers information from each of the duration limitations of the STM finally enter
senses with reasonable accuracy. Often this the long-term memory (abbreviated as LTM)
system is referred to as sensory memories or which has a vast capacity. It is a permanent
sensory registers because information from all storehouse of all information that may be as
the senses are registered here as exact replica recent as what you ate for breakfast yesterday
of the stimulus. If you have experienced visual to as distant as how you celebrated your sixth
after-images (the trail of light that stays after birthday. It has been shown that once any
the bulb is switched off) or when you hear information enters the long-term memory
reverberations of a sound when the sound has store it is never forgotten because it gets
ceased, then you are familiar with iconic encoded semantically, i.e. in terms of the
(visual) or echoic (auditory) sensory registers. meaning that any information carries. What
you experience as forgetting is in fact retrieval
Short-term Memory failure; for various reasons you cannot retrieve
the stored information. You will read about
You will perhaps agree that we do not attend retrieval related forgetting later in this chapter.
to all the information that impinge on our So far we have only discussed the structural
senses. Information that is attended to enters features of the stage model. Questions which
the second memory store called the short-term still remain to be addressed are how does
memory (abbreviated as STM), which holds information travel from one store to another
small amount of information for a brief period and by what mechanisms it continues to stay
of time (usually for 30 seconds or less). in any particular memory store. Let us examine
Atkinson and Shif frin propose that the answers to these questions.
information in STM is primarily encoded How does information travel from one store
acoustically, i.e. in terms of sound and unless to another? As an answer to this question,
rehearsed continuously, it may get lost from Atkinson and Shiffrin propose the notion of
the STM in less than 30 seconds. Note that control processes which function to monitor
the STM is fragile but not as fragile as sensory the flow of information through various

B o x 6.1 Working Memory

In recent years, psychologists have suggested that holds a limited number of sounds and unless rehearsed
the short-term memory is not unitary, rather it may they decay within 2 seconds. The second component
consist of many components. This multi- visuospatial sketchpad stores visual and spatial
component view of short-term memory was first information and like phonological loop the capacity of
proposed by Baddeley (1986) who suggested that the sketchpad too is limited. The third component, which
the short-term memory is not a passive storehouse Baddeley calls the Central Executive, organises
but rather a work bench that holds a wide variety information from phonological loop, visuospatial
of memory materials that are constantly handled, sketchpad as well as from the long-term memory. Like
manipulated and transformed as people perform a true executive, it allocates attentional resources to be
various cognitive tasks. This work bench is called distributed to various information needed to perform a
the working memory. The first component of the given cognitive operation and monitors, plans, and
working memory is the phonological loop which controls behaviour.

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memory stores. As suggested earlier, all as many ways as possible. You can expand
informations which our senses receive are not the information in some kind of logical
registered; if that be the case, imagine the kind framework, link it to similar memories or else
of pressure that our memory system will have can create a mental image. Figure 6.1, that
to cope with. Only that information which is presents the stage model of memory, also
attended to enters the STM from sensory depicts the arrows to show the manner in
registers and in that sense, selective attention, which information travels from one stage to
as you have already read in Chapter 5, is the another.
first control process that decides what will Experiments, which were carried out to
travel from sensory registers to STM. Sense test the stage model of memory, have produced
impressions, which do not receive attention, mixed results. While some experiments
fade away quickly. The STM then sets into unequivocally show that the STM and LTM
motion another control process of are indeed two separate memory stores, other
maintenance rehearsal to retain the evidences have questioned their
information for as much time as required. As distinctiveness. For example, earlier it was
the name suggests, these kinds of rehearsals shown that in the STM information is encoded
simply maintain infor mation through acoustically, while in LTM it is encoded
repetition and when such repetitions semantically, but later experimental evidences
discontinue the information is lost. Another show that information can also be encoded
control process, which operates in STM to semantically in STM and acoustically in LTM.
expand its capacity, is Chunking. Through
chunking it is possible to expand the capacity
of STM which is otherwise 7+2. For example, Activity 6.1
if you are told to remember a string of digits
such as 194719492004 (note that the number I. Try to remember the following list of digits
exceeds the capacity of STM), you may create (individual digits)
19254981121
the chunks as 1947, 1949, and 2004 and
Now try to memorise them in the following
remember them as the year when India became groups:
independent, the year when the Indian 1 9 25 49 81 121
Constitution was adopted, and the year when Finally memorise them in the following
the tsunami hit the coastal regions of India and manner:
South East Asian countries. 12 32 52 72 92 112
From the STM, information enters the long- What difference do you observe?
term memory through elaborative rehearsals. II. Read out the lists given below in a row at the
As against maintenance rehearsals, which are speed of one digit per second to your friend
carried through silent or vocal repetition, this and ask her/him to repeat all the digits in
rehearsal attempts to connect the ‘to be the same order:
retained information’ to the already existing List Digits
infor mation in long-term memory. For 1 (6 digits) 2-6-3-8-3-4
example, the task of remembering the meaning 2 (7 digits) 7-4-8-2-4-1-2
of the word ‘humanity’ will be easier if the 3 (8 digits) 4-3-7-2-9-0-3-6
meanings of concepts such as ‘compassion’, 4 (10 digits) 9-2-4-1-7-8-2-6-5-3
5 (12 digits) 8-2-5-4-7-4-7-7-3-9-1-6
‘truth’ and ‘benevolence’ are already in place.
The number of associations you can create Remember that your friend will recall the
around the new information will determine its digits as soon as you finish the list. Note how
many digits are recalled. The memory score
permanence. In elaborative rehearsals one of your friend will be the number of digits
attempts to analyse the information in terms correctly recalled by her/him. Discuss your
of various associations it arouses. It involves findings with your classmates and teacher.
organisation of the incoming information in

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 Shallice and Warrington in the year 1970 produces memory that is fragile and is likely
had cited the case of a man known as KF who to decay rather quickly. However, there is a
met with an accident and damaged a portion third and the deepest level at which
of the left side of his cerebral hemisphere. information can be processed. In order to
Subsequently, it was found that his long-term ensure that the information is retained for a
memory was intact but the short-term memory longer period, it is important that it gets
was seriously affected. The stage model analysed and understood in terms of its
suggests that information are committed to the meaning. For instance, you may think of cat
long-term memory via STM and if KF’s STM as an animal that has furs, has four legs, a
was affected, how can his long-term memory tail, and is a mammal. You can also invoke an
be normal? Several other studies have also image of a cat and connect that image with
shown that memory processes are similar your experiences. To sum up, analysing
irrespective of whether any information is information in terms of its structural and
retained for a few seconds or for many years phonetic features amounts to shallower
and that memory can be adequately processing while encoding it in terms of the
understood without positing separate memory meaning it carries (the semantic encoding) is
stores. All these evidences led to the the deepest processing level that leads to
development of another conceptualisation memory that resists forgetting considerably.
about memory which is discussed below as Understanding memory as an outcome of
the second model of memory. the manner in which information is encoded
initially has an important implication for
learning. This view of memory will help you
LEVELS OF PROCESSING
realise that while you are learning a new
The levels of processing view was proposed lesson, you must focus on elaborating the
by Craik and Lockhart in 1972. This view meaning of its contents in as much detail as
suggests that the processing of any new possible and must not depend on rote
information relates to the manner in which it memorisation. Attempt this and you will soon
is perceived, analysed, and understood which realise that understanding the meaning of
in turn determines the extent to which it will information and reflecting on how it relates
eventually be retained. Although this view has to other facts, concepts, and your life
undergone many revisions since then, yet its experiences is a sure way to long-term
basic idea remains the same. Let us examine retention.
this view in greater detail.
Craik and Lockhart proposed that it is TYPES OF LONG-TERM MEMORY
possible to analyse the incoming information
at more than one level. One may analyse it in As you have read in Box 6.1, the short-term
terms of its physical or structural features. memory is now seen as consisting of more than
For example, one might attend only to the one component (working memory). In the same
shape of letters in a word say cat - inspite of way it is suggested that long-term memory too
whether the word is written in capital or small is not unitary because it contains a wide
letters or the colour of the ink in which it is variety of information. In view of this,
written. This is the first and the shallowest contemporary formulations envisage long-
level of processing. At an intermediate level term memory as consisting of various types.
one might consider and attend to the phonetic For instance, one major classification within
sounds that are attached to the letters and the LTM is that of Declarative and Procedural
therefore the structural features are (sometimes called nondeclarative) memories.
transformed into at least one meaningful word All information pertaining to facts, names,
say, a word cat that has three specific letters. dates, such as a rickshaw has three wheels or
Analysing information at these two levels that India became independent on August 15

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1947 or a frog is an amphibian or you and Episodic memory contains biographical
your friend share the same name, are part of details of our lives. Memories relating to our
declarative memory. Procedural memory, on personal life experiences constitute the
the other hand, refers to memories relating to episodic memory and it is for this reason that
procedures for accomplishing various tasks its contents are generally emotional in nature.
and skills such as how to ride a bicycle, how How did you feel when you stood first in your
to make tea or play basketball. Facts retained class? Or how angry was your friend and what
in the declarative memory are amenable to did s/he say when you did not fulfil a promise?
verbal descriptions while contents of If such incidents did actually happen in your
procedural memory cannot be described life, you perhaps will be able to answer these
easily. For example, when asked you can questions with reasonable accuracy. Although
describe how the game of cricket is played but such experiences are hard to forget, yet it is
if someone asks you how do you ride a bicycle, equally true that many events take place
you may find it difficult to narrate. continuously in our lives and that we do not
Tulving has proposed yet another remember all of them. Besides, there are
classification and has suggested that the painful and unpleasant experiences which are
declarative memory can either be Episodic or not remembered in as much detail as pleasant
Semantic. life experiences.

B o x 6.2 Long-term Memory Classification

The study of memory is a fascinating field and events contribute to it. During old age, the most recent
researchers have reported many new phenomena. years of life are likely to be well remembered. However,
The following phenomena show the complex and before this, around 30 years of age, decline in certain
dynamic nature of human memory. kinds of memory starts.
Flashbulb Memories : These are memories of Implicit Memory : Recent studies have indicated
events that are very arousing or surprising. Such that many of the memories remain outside the
memories are very detailed. They are like a photo conscious awareness of a person. Implicit memory is
taken with an advanced model camera. You can a kind of memory that a person is not aware of. It is
push the button, and after one minute you have a a memory that is retrieved automatically. One
recreation of the scene. You can look at the interesting example of implicit memory comes from
photograph whenever you want. Flashbulb the experience of typing. If someone knows typing
memories are like images frozen in memory and that means s/he also knows the particular letters
tied to particular places, dates, and times. on the keyboard. But many typists cannot correctly
Perhaps, people put in greater effort in the label blank keys in a drawing of a keyboard. Implicit
formation of these memories, and highlighting memories lie outside the boundaries of awareness.
details might lead to deeper levels of processing In other words, we are not conscious of the fact that
as well as offer more cues for retrieval. a memory or record of a given experience exists.
Autobiographical Memory : These are personal Nevertheless, implicit memories do influence our
memories. They are not distributed evenly behaviour. This kind of memory was found in patients
throughout our lives. Some periods in our lives suffering from brain injuries. They were presented a
produce more memories than others. For instance, list of common words. A few minutes later the patient
no memories are reported pertaining to early was asked to recall words from the list. No memory
childhood particularly during the first 4 to 5 years. was shown for the words. However, if s/he was
This is called childhood amnesia. There is a prompted to say a word that begins with these letters
dramatic increase in the frequency of memories and two letters are given, the patient was able to
just after early adulthood, i.e. in the twenties. recall words. Implicit memories are also observed in
Perhaps emotionality, novelty, and importance of people with normal memories.

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 Semantic memory, on the other hand, is various other classifications of long-term
the memory of general awareness and memory.
knowledge. All concepts, ideas and rules of
logic are stored in semantic memory. For
instance, it is because of semantic memory that
Activity 6.2
we remember the meaning of say ‘non-violence’
1. Think about your early school days. Write
or remember that 2+6=8 or the STD code of down two separate events that occurred during
New Delhi is 011 or that the word ‘elaphant’ is those days, and which you remember vividly.
misspelt. Unlike episodic memory this kind of Use separate sheets for writing about each
memory is not dated; you perhaps will not be event.
able to tell when you learnt the meaning of non- 2. Think of the first month in Class XI. Write down
violence or on which date you came to know two separate events that occurred during the
that Bangalore is the capital of Karnataka. month, and which you remember vividly. Use
separate sheets for each event.
Since the contents of semantic memory relate
to facts and ideas of general awareness and Compare these in terms of length, felt emotions,
knowledge, it is affect-neutral and not and coherence.
susceptible to forgetting. See Box 7.2 for

Activity 6.3
Write the sentences given below on separate cards. Invite some junior students to play this
game with you. Seat her/him across a table in front of you. Tell her/him “In this game you will
be shown some cards one by one at a steady pace, you have to read the question written on
each card and answer it in yes or no”.
Note down the answers.
1. Is the word written in capital letters? BELT
2. Does the word rhyme with the word crew? grew
3. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
“____________ study in school”. Students
4. Does the word rhyme with the word gold? mood
5. Is the word written in capital letters? bread
6. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
“The son of my uncle is my ____________.” cousin
7. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
My _________ is a vegetable. home
8. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
“__________ is a piece of furniture”. Potato
9. Is the word written in capital letters? TABLE
10. Does the word rhyme with the word wears? bears
11. Is the word written in capital letters? marks
12. Does the word rhyme with the word clear? five
13. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
“Children like to play __________ .” games
14. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
“People usually meet __________ in the bucket.” friends
15. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
“My class room is filled with ________.” shirts
16. Does the word fit in the following sentence?
“My mother gives me enough pocket __________.” money
After completing the task of reading the cards, ask the students to recall the words about which
the questions were asked. Note down the words recalled. Count the number of words recalled in
the structural, phonological, and semantic types of processing required by the question.
Discuss results with your teacher.

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 B o x 6.3 Methods of Memory M easurement

There are many ways in which memory is semantic memory is not amenable to any
measured experimentally. Since there are many forgetting because it embodies general knowledge
kinds of memories, any method appropriate for that we all possess. In sentence verification task,
studying one type of memory may not be suited the participants are asked to indicate whether the
for studying another. The major methods which given sentences are true or false. Faster the
are used for memory measurement are being participants respond, better retained is the
presented here : information needed to verify those sentences (see
a) Free Recall and Recognition (for measuring Activity 7.3 for use of this task in measurement of
facts/episodes related memory) : In free recall semantic knowledge).
method, participants are presented with c) Priming (for measuring information we cannot
some words which they are asked to report verbally) : We store many kinds of
memorise and after some time they are asked information that we can’t report verbally - for
to recall them in any order. The more they instance, information necessary to ride a bicycle
are able to recall, the better their memory is. or play a sitar. Besides, we also store information
In recognition, instead of being asked to that we are not aware of, which is described as
generate items, participants see the items implicit memory. In priming method, participants
that they had memorised along with are shown a list of words, such as garden,
distracter items (those that they had not seen) playground, house, etc. and then they are shown
and their task is to recognise which one of parts of these words like gar, pla, ho, along with
those they had learnt. The greater the parts of other words they had not seen.
number of recognition of ‘old items’, better is Participants complete parts of seen words more
the memory. quickly than parts of words they had not seen.
b) Sentence Verification Task (for measuring When asked, they are often unaware of this and
semantic memory) : As you have already read, report that they have only guessed.

NATURE CAUSES FORGETTING

100

AND OF
Amount retained (per cent)

Amount0forgotten (per cent)

Each one of us has experienced forgetting and

25
75

20 min.
its consequences almost routinely. Why do we Amount
1 hr. forgotten
forget? Is it because the information we commit
8.8 hrs.
50

50
to our long-term memory is somehow lost? Is
it because we did not memorise it well enough?
Is it because we did not encode the information 75
25

correctly or is it because during storage, it got Amount

distorted or misplaced? Many theories have retained
been forwarded to explain forgetting and now
you will read about those that seem plausible 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 30 31 100
and have received considerable attention.
Time since learning (in days)
The first systematic attempt to understand
the nature of forgetting was made by Hermann
Fig.6.2 : Ebbinghaus’s Curve of Forgetting
Ebbinghaus, who memorised lists of nonsense
syllables (CVC trigrams such as NOK or SEP As the figure indicates, the rate of forgetting
etc.) and then measured the number of trials is maximum in the first nine hours, particularly
he took to relearn the same list at varying time during the first hour. After that the rate slows
intervals. He observed that the course of down and not much is forgotten even after
forgetting follows a certain pattern which you many days. Although Ebbinghaus’s
can see in Figure 6.2. experiments constituted initial explorations

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and were not very sophisticated yet they have Forgetting due to Interference
influenced memory research in many
If forgetting is not due to trace decay then why
important ways. It is now upheld, almost does it take place? A theory of forgetting that
unanimously, that there is always a sharp drop has perhaps been the most influential one is
in memory and thereafter the decline is very the interference theory which suggests that
gradual. Let us now examine the main theories, forgetting is due to interference between various
which have been advanced to explain information that the memory store contains. This
forgetting. theory assumes that learning and memorising
involve forming of associations between items
Forgetting due to Trace Decay and once acquired, these associations remain
Trace decay (also called disuse theory) is the intact in the memory. People keep acquiring
earliest theory of forgetting. The assumption numerous such associations and each of these
here is that memory leads to modification in rests independently without any mutual
conflict. However, interference comes about at a
the central nervous system, which is akin to
time of retrieval when these various sets of
physical changes in the brain called memory
associations compete with each other for
traces. When these memory traces are not used
retrieval. This interference process will become
for a long time, they simply fade away and
clearer with a simple exercise. Request your
become unavailable. This theory has been friend to learn two separate lists of nonsense
proved inadequate on several grounds. If syllables (list A and list B) one after the other
forgetting takes place because memory traces and after a while ask her/him to recall the
decay due to disuse, then people who go to nonsense syllables of list A. If while trying to
sleep after memorising should forget more recall the items of list A, s/he recalls some of the
compared to those who remain awake, simply items of list B, it is because of the association
because there is no way in which memory formed while learning list B are interfering with
traces can be put to use during sleep. Results, the earlier association which were formed while
however, show just the opposite. Those who learning list A.
remain awake after memorising (waking There are atleast two kinds of interferences
condition) show greater forgetting than those that may result in forgetting. Interference can
who sleep (sleeping condition). be proactive (forward moving) which means
Because trace decay theory did not explain what you have learnt earlier interferes with the
forgetting adequately, it was soon replaced by recall of your subsequent learning or
another theory of forgetting which suggested retroactive (backward moving) which refers to
that new information that enters the long-term difficulty in recalling what you have learnt
memory interferes with the recall of earlier earlier because of learning a new material. In
memories and therefore, interference is the main other words, in proactive interference, past
cause of forgetting.

Table 6.1 Experimental Designs ffor

or Retroactive and PProactive
roactive Interf erence
Interference

Retroactive Interference Phase 1 Phase 2 Testing Phase

Experimental participant/group Learns A Learns B Recalls A
Control participant/group Learns A Rests Recalls A

Proactive Interference
Experimental participant/group Learns A Learns B Recalls B
Control participant/group Rests Learns B Recalls B

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 Box 6.4 Repressed Memories

Some individuals undergo experiences that are in highly generalised amnesia. One of the results of
traumatic. A traumatic experience emotionally such flights is the emergence of a disorder known as
hurts a person. Sigmund Freud posited that such ‘fugue state’. Persons who become victims of such a
experiences are repressed into the unconscious state assume a new identity, name, address, etc.
and are not available for retrieval from memory. They have two personalities and one knows nothing
It is a kind of repression — painful, threatening, about the other.
and embarrassing memories are held out of Forgetfulness or loss of memory under stress
consciousness. and high anxiety is not uncommon. Many hard
In some persons, traumatic experiences may working and ambitious students aspire for high
give rise to psychological amnesia. Some scores in final examinations and to achieve such
individuals experience crisis, and are utterly ends they put in long hours in studies. But when
incapable of coping with such events. They close they receive the question paper, they become
their eyes, ears and mind to such harsh realities extremely nervous and forget everything they had
of life, and take mental flight from them. It results prepared well.

learning interferes with the recall of later learning of meaningful words like hut, wasp, cottage,
while in retroactive interference the later learning gold, bronze, ant, etc. in which words belonged
interferes with the recall of past learning. For to six categories (like places of living, names of
example, if you know English and you find it insects, types of metal, etc.). If after a while you
difficult to learn French, it is because of proactive are asked to recall those you may recall a
interference and if, on the other hand, you couple of them but if during the second recall
cannot recall English equivalents of French attempt, you are also provided with category
words that you are currently memorising, then names, then you may find that your recall is
it is an example of retroactive interference. A near total. Category names in this example act
typical experimental design that is used to as retrieval cues. Besides category names, the
demonstrate proactive and retroactive physical context in which you learn also
interference has been presented in Table 6.1. provides effective retrieval cues.
Forgetting due to Retrieval Failure
ENHANCING MEMORY
Forgetting can occur not only because the
memory traces have decayed over time (as All of us desire to possess an excellent memory
suggested by the disuse theory) or because system that is robust and dependable. Who,
independent sets of stored associations
after all, likes to face situations of memory
compete at the time of recall (as suggested by
failures that lead to so much of anxiety and
the interference theory) but also because at the
embarrassment? After learning about various
time of recall, either the retrieval cues are
absent or they are inappropriate. Retrieval cues memory related processes, you certainly would
are aids which help us in recovering like to know how your memory can be
information stored in the memory. This view improved. There are a number of strategies for
was advanced by Tulving and his associates improving memory called mnemonics
who carried out several experiments to show (pronounced ni-mo-nicks) to help you improve
that contents of memory may become your memory. Some of these mnemonics
inaccessible either due to absence or involve use of images whereas others
inappropriateness of retrieval cues that are emphasise self-induced organisation of learned
available/employed at the time of recall. infor mation. You will now read about
Let us understand this with the help of an mnemonics and some suggestions given for
example. Suppose you have memorised a list memory improvement.

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 Activity 6.4
Given below are two lists of words. First memorise the list in such a way that you are able to
recall the words without any error. Now you take up the second list and memorise it to the
criterion of correct recall error. Forget about the list and read something else for an hour. Now
recall the words in the first list and write them down. Note the total number of words correctly
recalled and the number of words incorrectly recalled.
List 1
Goat Sheep Leopard
Jackal Monkey Camel
Mule Deer Squirrel
Horse Cheetah Wolf
Snake Rabbit Parrot
List 2
Pig Elephant Donkey
Pigeon Cobra Tiger
Mynah Lion Calf
Bears Fox Crow
Buffalo Mouse
Get the cooperation of one of your friends and request her/him to memorise the words of List 1
to the criterion as stated above. Request her/him to sing a song and have a cup of tea with you.
Keep her/him engaged in some conversation for an hour or so. Then request her/him to write
down the words s/he had memorised earlier.
Compare your recall with the one made by your friend.

Mnemonics using Images (b) The Method of Loci : In order to use the
method of loci, items you want to remember
Mnemonics using images require that you are placed as objects arranged in a physical
create vivid and interacting images of and
space in the form of visual images. This method
around the material you wish to remember. The
is particularly helpful in remembering items
two prominent mnemonic devices, which make
in a serial order. It requires that you first
interesting use of images, are the keyword
visualise objects/places that you know well in
method and the method of loci.
a specific sequence, imagine the objects you
(a) The Keyword Method : Suppose you want want to remember and associate them one by
to learn words of any foreign language. In one to the physical locations. For example,
keyword method, an English word (the suppose you want to remember bread, eggs,
assumption here is that you know English tomatoes, and soap on your way to the market,
language) that sounds similar to the word of a you may visualise a loaf of bread and eggs
foreign language is identified. This English placed in your kitchen, tomatoes kept on a
word will function as the keyword. For example, table and soap in the bathroom. When you
if you want to remember the Spanish word for enter the market all you need to do is to take a
duck which is ‘Pato’, you may choose ‘pot’ as mental walk along the route from your kitchen
the keyword and then evoke images of keyword to the bathroom recalling all the items of your
and the target word (the Spanish word you want shopping list in a sequence.
to remember) and imagine them as interacting.
You might, in this case, imagine a duck in a pot Mnemonics using Organisation
full of water. This method of learning words of a
foreign language is much superior compared Organisation refers to imposing certain order
to any kind of rote memorisation. on the material you want to remember.

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Mnemonics of this kind are helpful because of remembered are increased.
the framework you create while organisation
(b) Minimise Interference : Interference, as we
makes the retrieval task fairly easy.
have read, is a major cause of forgetting and
(a) Chunking : While describing the features therefore you should try to avoid it as much
of short-term memory, we noted how chunking as possible. You know that maximum
can increase the capacity of short-term interference is caused when very similar
memory. In chunking, several smaller units are materials are learned in a sequence. Avoid this.
combined to form large chunks. For creating Arrange your study in such a way that you do
chunks, it is important to discover some not learn similar subjects one after the other.
organisation principles, which can link smaller Instead, pick up some other subject unrelated
units. Therefore, apart from being a control to the previous one. If that is not possible,
mechanism to increase the capacity of short- distribute your learning/practice. This means
term memory, chunking can be used to giving yourself intermittent rest periods while
improve memory as well. studying to minimise interference.
(b) First Letter Technique : In order to employ (c) Give Yourself enough Retrieval Cues : While
the first letter technique, you need to pick up you learn something, think of retrieval cues
the first letter of each word you want to inherent in your study material. Identify them
remember and arrange them to form another and link parts of the study material to these
word or a sentence. For example, colours of a cues. Cues will be easier to remember
rainbow are remembered in this way compared to the entire content and the links
(VIBGYOR- that stands for Violet, Indigo, Blue, you have created between cues and the content
Green, Yellow, Orange and Red). will facilitate the retrieval process.
Mnemonic strategies for memory Thomas and Robinson have developed
enhancement are too simplistic and perhaps another strategy to help students in
underestimate complexities of memory tasks remembering more which they called the
and difficulties people experience while methods of PQRST. This acronym stands for
memorising. In place of mnemonics, a more Preview, Question, Read, Self-recitation, and
comprehensive approach to memory Test. Preview refers to giving a cursory look at
improvement has been suggested by many the chapter and familiarising oneself with its
psychologists. In such an approach, emphasis contents. Question means raising questions
is laid on applying knowledge about memory and seeking answers from the lesson. Now start
processes to the task of memory improvement. reading and look for answers of questions you
Let us examine some of these suggestions. had raised. After reading try to rewrite what
It is suggested that one must : you have read and at the end test how much
(a) Engage in Deep Level Processing : If you you have been able to understand.
want to memorise any information well, engage At the end, a note of caution must be
in deep level processing. Craik and Lockhart sounded. There is no one method that can solve
have demonstrated that processing all problems related to retention and bring
information in terms of meaning that they about an overnight memory improvement. In
convey leads to better memory as compared to
order to improve your memory, you need to
attending to their surface features. Deep
attend to a wide variety of factors which affect
processing would involve asking as many
your memory such as your health status, your
questions related to the information as
interest and motivation, your familiarity with
possible, considering its meaning and
examining its relationships to the facts you the subject matter and so on. In addition, you
already know. In this way, the new information must learn to use strategies for memory
will become a part of your existing knowledge improvement depending upon the nature of
framework and the chances that it will be memory tasks you are required to accomplish.

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 Key Terms
Chunking, Control process, Echoic memory,
Encoding, Episodic memory, Elaborative
rehearsals, Fugue state, Information
processing approach, Maintenance
rehearsals, Memory making, Mnemonics,
Semantic memory, Serial reproduction,
Working memory
Summary
• Memory is seen as consisting of three interrelated processes of encoding, storage and
retrieval.
• While encoding is registering the incoming information in a way that it becomes compatible
to the memory system, storage and retrieval refers to holding the information over a period
of time and bringing the information back to one’s awareness, respectively.
• The Stage Model of Memory compares memory processes with the working of a computer
and suggests that incoming information is processed through three distinct stages of sensory
memory, short-term memory and long-term memory.
• Levels of processing view of memory contends that the information can be encoded at any
of the three levels, namely, the structural, the phonetic and the semantic. If an information
is analysed and encoded semantically, which is the deepest level of processing, then it
leads to better retention.
• Long-term memory has been classified in many ways. One major classification is that of
declarative and procedural memory and another is that of episodic and semantic memory.
• Forgetting refers to loss of stored information over a period of time. After a material is
learnt, there is a sharp drop in its memory and then the decline is very gradual.
• Forgetting has been explained as resulting from trace decay and interference. It may also
be caused due to absence of appropriate cues at the time of retrieval.
• Mnemonics are strategies for improving memory. While some mnemonics use images,
other emphasise organisation of the learnt material.

Review Questions
1. What is the meaning of the terms ‘encoding’, ‘storage’ and ‘retrieval’?
2. How is information processed through sensory, short-term and long-term memory systems?
3. How are maintenance rehearsals different from elaborative rehearsals?
4. Differenciate between declarative and procedural memories?
5. Why does forgetting take place?
6. How is retrieval related forgetting different from forgetting due to interference?
7. Define mnemonics? Suggest a plan to improve your own memory.

Project Idea
Recall and write down an event of your life that you remember very clearly. Also request
others (those who were participants of that event such as your brother/sister, parents or
other relatives/friends) to do the same. Compare the two recalled versions and look for
discrepancies and similarities. Try to reason why there are similarities and discrepancies.

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