Week 7 — Readings & Resources · Memory

Course: Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Bennett
Objective covered: Objective 5 — Compare the major models of learning and memory and apply them to everyday behavior (the memory half).

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded.

This week's load is deliberately light — it's the week before the midterm. You get 2 short readings + 2 short videos, grouped by the ideas from the lecture, plus one optional full-chapter reference. Read or watch one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be very comfortable. Total time is roughly 35–45 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

Reading order that matches the lecture: ① encoding, the memory stages & working memory → ② retrieval & forgetting → ③ reconstructive memory & the misinformation effect.

A habit to start now (and use on the whole midterm): don't just reread these — after each one, close the page and say the idea back in your own words, then connect it to an example from your own life. That's deep, self-tested processing — exactly the study method this week is teaching.

① Encoding, the Memory Stages & Working Memory

Maps to Lecture Segments 2–4. The three processes (encode → store → retrieve); the three-stage model — sensory → short-term (≈7±2, ~20–30 sec) → long-term; why working memory actively manipulates rather than just holds; and why deep/elaborative encoding beats rote repetition.

Reading — "Multi-Store Memory Model: Atkinson and Shiffrin" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/multi-store.html
Why it's assigned: the cleanest plain-language walk through the three stores — their capacity, duration, and encoding — plus the difference between maintenance and elaborative rehearsal and a note on where working memory improves on the model. Exactly Segments 2–4.
⏱ ~9 min

Video — "How We Make Memories: Crash Course Psychology #13"
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSycdIx-C48
Why it earns the click: a fast, lively tour of getting information in — encoding, storage, working memory, explicit vs. implicit memory, the long-term types (procedural & episodic), chunking and mnemonics, and shallow vs. deep processing. Covers Segments 2–5 in ten minutes.
⏱ ~10 min

② Retrieval & Forgetting

Maps to Lecture Segments 5–6. Getting it back out — recall vs recognition, retrieval cues, context- and state-dependent memory, the serial position effect — and the real reasons we forget: encoding failure, decay (the Ebbinghaus curve), retrieval failure, and proactive vs retroactive interference.

Reading — "Theories of Forgetting in Psychology" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/forgetting.html
Why it's assigned: lays out decay, displacement, interference (with the pro = forward / retro = backward rule we stressed in class), and retrieval failure with context and state cues — the whole Segment-6 menu, plus the serial position curve from Segment 5. The perfect companion for the pair students most often reverse.
⏱ ~9 min

Video — "Remembering and Forgetting: Crash Course Psychology #14"
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVWbrNls-Kw
Why it earns the click: picks up where #13 leaves off — retrieval cues, priming, context- and state-dependent memory, the serial position effect, how information is forgotten, interference and misinformation, and the trouble with eyewitness accounts. Covers Segments 5–7.
⏱ ~10 min

③ Reconstructive Memory & the Misinformation Effect

Maps to Lecture Segment 7 (the signature study). The week's headline: memory is reconstructive, not a recording — and a single leading word can edit it. Why eyewitness testimony and even vivid flashbulb memories can be wrong, and why confidence ≠ accuracy.

Reading — "Loftus and Palmer (1974): Car Crash Experiment" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/loftus-palmer.html
Why it's assigned: the full account of the signature study from lecture — the "smashed" vs. "hit" verb change that shifted speed estimates, and the follow-up where "smashed" planted a false memory of broken glass that was never there. It names the takeaway directly: memory is reconstructive, and leading questions make eyewitness testimony unreliable.
⏱ ~8 min

Optional one-stop reference (free online text)

If you'd like one optional reference to skim for the midterm, OpenStax Psychology 2e keeps its full text free to read online. Chapter 8 ("Memory") covers everything in this week — how memory functions, the parts of the brain involved, problems with memory (including the misinformation effect and eyewitness issues), and evidence-based ways to enhance memory.
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/8-introduction
Why it's here: a reputable, currently-available reference you can return to for the cumulative review — entirely optional this week.

Pick-one quick path (≈19 min total)

In a hurry (it's a busy week)? Do exactly these two and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Watch Crash Course Psychology #13 — How We Make Memories (groups ①, and part of ②).
2. Read Loftus and Palmer (1974) (group ③), and skim the interference section of "Theories of Forgetting" (group ②).

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Bennett and use the OpenStax reference above (Chapter 8) in the meantime.