Retrieval
Retrieval is getting information out of memory. You may have your own techniques for retrieval but here are some that have been researched.
The first are mnemonics. We've learned about mnemonics before and they are a special type of association that allows you to encode and retrieve information.
You may know the technique that allows you to use your knuckles and the spaces between to remember the months and the number of days in each month.
Read "Memory Retrieval" to learn about retrieving information from memory.
Cues
A second technique are cues.
See if you can recall the name of the seven dwarves. If you are having trouble remember them all look at the list below.
Sleepy Bashful Sneezy
Goofy Dreamy Dopey
Daffy Grumpy Silly
Doc Happy Giddy
Students do better on multiple choice questions because there is recognition or cues. They do worse on fill in the blank or recall questions.
If you are taking a test and do not know the answer, read through the entire test. Often tests have questions that have cues in them that will help you get to the correct answer.
Retrieval Problems
At times we are not able to retrieve the information that is stored in our long term memory. We encounter problems with getting to the information.
The first retrieval problem is state dependent memory. This is experienced because you need to be in the same emotional, mental and drug state when you input information as when you want to retrieve it.
An example would be if you stayed up
all night studying for an exam. To help
you stay up all night, you drank coffee
and high energy drinks. When you
take the tests, you should also be super
caffeinated.
A second retrieval problem is context.
It is easier to remember things in the same place as where they are learned. That is why it is best to take a test in the same room where the information was learned.
A third retrieval problem is reconstruction. This occurs when people fill in the gaps of memory.
An example of this would be if three people saw a robbery and give testimony to the police.
If you compare their accounts of the event, there would be many differences. The people did not give different versions purposely, they just filled in the gaps of what they did not remember.
The fourth retrieval error is that of eyewitness accounts.
Elizabeth Loftus has done research on eyewitness accounts and how they differ.
If you asked eyewitnesses how fast the car was going when they smashed into each other versus how fast it was going when it hit each other you will get different answers. The witnesses will say the car was going faster if you use the word smash.
Children are especially prone to eyewitness errors because they want to please the person asking the question. The police have found that eyewitness testimony is not very accurate.
Forgetting
At times we experience forgetting or the inability to get information out of long term memory. One of the reasons for this is there may not be any cues to get the information out.
For example if I asked you to remember the names of the states and capitals and you are able to remember the states but not the capitals.
You do not have any cues to help you remember the names of the capitals.
A second type of forgetting is interference. This is when old and new information complete with each other.
There are two types of interference.
Proactive interference is when old information won't let you remember new information. For example, if your mom asked the name of your new math teacher but you can only remember last years math teacher.
Retroactive interference is when new information blocks old information. When you cannot remember the name of last year's math teacher - you can only recall the name of this year's math teacher.
Look at the chart and say the color you see not the word you are reading:
It isn't very easy, is it?
Your right brain tries to say the color but your left brain insists on reading the word. This is an example of proactive interference.
A third type of forgetting is tip-of-the-tongue syndrome.
The name is exactly what happens.
For example, if you are taking a test and you
are nervous then you read the first question
and don't know the answer and you say to
yourself 'I can see it in my notebook and I
know the answer but I just can't answer it.'
Then you turn in the test and the answer
comes to you. This happens because of stress.
A fourth type of forgetting is childhood amnesia.
Memories are not formed until around the age of three. Many of the memories people have before then are reconstructed from pictures.
A fifth type of forgetting is Repression.
Sigmund Freud believed we took unpleasant memories and shoved them into our subconscious and would not be able to be consciously aware of them.
Injury
Physical injury or trauma can also interfere with memory and cause retrieval problems. This is known as Amnesia.
There are two major types of amnesia:
Anterograde amnesia involves the loss of the ability to form new memories.
Retrograde amnesia involves losing the ability to recollect past memories, although the ability to create new memories may remain intact.
Both types of amnesia have been the subject of movies. While most movie depictions of amnesia involve retrograde amnesia, anterograde amnesia is actually far more common. Movies include: Regarding Henry, The Bourne Identity, Fifty First Dates and Finding Nemo.
The Brain
The last area to examine is where in the brain all of this takes place. Not all of the questions are answered but here is what is known.
No one area is responsible but some areas take on major tasks.
The frontal lobes are involved in short term memory tasks.
The temporal lobes are involved in the encoding of words and pictures. The hippocampus is involved in the formation of long term memories. The hippocampus helps move short-term memories to long term.
The cerebellum is involved in the formation and retention of classically conditioned responses.
Finally the convolutions of the cerebral cortex store the memories.
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