Hello Dr Alicia and class mates,
I found this chapter on memory very interesting to study. I take
pride that I am not the type of person who loses or misplaces my keys,
wallet, cell phone, purse, etc on a daily basis , as my husband usually
does these things. And yet in other ways I am quite forgetful about
certain things in some areas of trying to remember where I parked my car
at a busy shopping mall parking lot, or trying to remember the long
drive to my mother in laws new house, even with directions and a map , I
still tend to get lost in general.
Memory decay ~ The fading or weakness of memories assumed to occur when memory traces become weaker.
Encoding failure ~ Failure to store sufficient information to form a useful memory.
Disuse ~ Theory that memory traces weaken when memories are not periodically used or retrieved.
Memory cue ~ Any stimulus associated with a particular memory. Memory cues usually enhance retrievals.
Interference ~ The tendency of new memories to impair retrievals of older memories , and the reverse.
(Example #1)
In the situation of me not being able to find my parked car in the
malls busy parking lot sometimes, I would think that involves my sensory
and short term memory, as my sensory memory can hold an exact record of
incoming information for a few seconds or less. For example, the exact
space where I parked my vehicle. And my short term memory can hold
small amounts of information for a relatively brief period of time. For
example, me identifying the cars I have parked next too and how close it
is to the entrance of the shopping mall. Once in the mall, with my
children and husband all quickly ready to divide the shopping list and
take off in different directions to retrieve the items on the list can
easily break my concentration of maintaining a memory of who is off to
get what items and meet back where. Which can cause an interference in
helping me to remember the new memories and impair me in retrieving my
old memories. Once all back in line on the check out counter, its is a
matter of making sure who got what, who forget to get something of the
list which will then be marked for us to get next time when shopping to
avoid any more confusion. Exiting the mall in the same way I entered
it, helps to put me in a brief remembrance of where I parked, provided I
can remember which lane it was and the cars that I have parked next to
have not since moved. Usually 6 out of 10 times I go through this
process I can find my car within minutes. But 4 out the those times
with the kids babbling and husband complaining about the high prices
going over the receipts as we try and retrieve our vehicle. I sometimes
have to wonder around for 5 minutes or more before I eventually find my
SUV again.
(Example #2)
Another example is my mother in laws recent move to another part of
town. We only visit infrequently maybe twice a month on one day on the
weekend to visit with the kids and catch up on our busy schedules. I try
to drive most of the time as I need to practice how to get to and from
her place without my husbands assistance at times. I would say that the
memory involved in this area is memory decay, a fading or weakness of
memories assumed to occur when memory traces become weaker, due to my
lack or driving there regularly which would probably increase my memory
of the correct paths over time. As well as disuse, due to the
infrequency of the trips and each time my husband or I take turns
driving to and from moms. But, I am assuming it will all come together
with more practice and with more time driving back and forth.
~ Vanessa
Reference
Coon, D., & Mitterer, J. O. (2010). Introduction to psychology:
Gateways to mind and behavior, Chapter 8, Memory, pp 251-282, (12th ed )