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Psychology

<OpenstaxParagraph>
	We get information into our brains through a process called <OpenstaxTerm>encoding</OpenstaxTerm>, which is the input of information into the memory system. Once we receive sensory information from the environment, our brains label or code it. We organize the information with other similar information and connect new concepts to existing concepts. Encoding information occurs through automatic processing and effortful processing.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	If someone asks you what you ate for lunch today, more than likely you could recall this information quite easily. This is known as <OpenstaxTerm>automatic processing</OpenstaxTerm>, or the encoding of details like time, space, frequency, and the meaning of words. Automatic processing is usually done without any conscious awareness. Recalling the last time you studied for a test is another example of automatic processing. But what about the actual test material you studied? It probably required a lot of work and attention on your part in order to encode that information. This is known as <OpenstaxTerm>effortful processing</OpenstaxTerm> (<a href="#Figure_08_01_Driving">Figure 8.3</a>).
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxFigure id="Figure_08_01_Driving" src="https://openstax.org/apps/archive/20240226.174525/resources/f53084901c92f365db1850b264978d5d88e70bfb" alt="A photograph shows a person driving a car." mediaType="image/jpeg" width="487" height="298" />
<OpenstaxFigureText width="487">
	<strong>Figure 8.3</strong> When you first learn new skills such as driving a car, you have to put forth effort and attention to encode information about how to start a car, how to brake, how to handle a turn, and so on. Once you know how to drive, you can encode additional information about this skill automatically. (credit: Robert Couse-Baker)
</OpenstaxFigureText>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	What are the most effective ways to ensure that important memories are well encoded? Even a simple sentence is easier to recall when it is meaningful (Anderson, 1984). Read the following sentences (Bransford &amp; McCarrell, 1974), then look away and count backwards from 30 by threes to zero, and then try to write down the sentences (no peeking back at this page!).
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxOl>
	<OpenstaxLi>
		The notes were sour because the seams split.
	</OpenstaxLi>
	<OpenstaxLi>
		The voyage wasn't delayed because the bottle shattered.
	</OpenstaxLi>
	<OpenstaxLi>
		The haystack was important because the cloth ripped.
	</OpenstaxLi>
</OpenstaxOl>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	How well did you do? By themselves, the statements that you wrote down were most likely confusing and difficult for you to recall. Now, try writing them again, using the following prompts: bagpipe, ship christening, and parachutist. Next count backwards from 40 by fours, then check yourself to see how well you recalled the sentences this time. You can see that the sentences are now much more memorable because each of the sentences was placed in context. Material is far better encoded when you make it meaningful.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	There are three types of encoding. The encoding of words and their meaning is known as <OpenstaxTerm>semantic encoding</OpenstaxTerm>. It was first demonstrated by William Bousfield (1935) in an experiment in which he asked people to memorize words. The 60 words were actually divided into 4 categories of meaning, although the participants did not know this because the words were randomly presented. When they were asked to remember the words, they tended to recall them in categories, showing that they paid attention to the meanings of the words as they learned them.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	<OpenstaxTerm>Visual encoding</OpenstaxTerm> is the encoding of images, and <OpenstaxTerm>acoustic encoding</OpenstaxTerm> is the encoding of sounds, words in particular. To see how visual encoding works, read over this list of words: <OpenstaxEm>car, level, dog, truth, book, value</OpenstaxEm>. If you were asked later to recall the words from this list, which ones do you think you’d most likely remember? You would probably have an easier time recalling the words <OpenstaxEm>car, dog,</OpenstaxEm> and <OpenstaxEm>book</OpenstaxEm>, and a more difficult time recalling the words <OpenstaxEm>level, truth,</OpenstaxEm> and <OpenstaxEm>value</OpenstaxEm>. Why is this? Because you can recall images (mental pictures) more easily than words alone. When you read the words <OpenstaxEm>car, dog,</OpenstaxEm> and <OpenstaxEm>book</OpenstaxEm> you created images of these things in your mind. These are concrete, high-imagery words. On the other hand, abstract words like <OpenstaxEm>level, truth,</OpenstaxEm> and <OpenstaxEm>value</OpenstaxEm> are low-imagery words. High-imagery words are encoded both visually and semantically (Paivio, 1986), thus building a stronger memory.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Now let’s turn our attention to acoustic encoding. You are driving in your car and a song comes on the radio that you haven’t heard in at least 10 years, but you sing along, recalling every word. In the United States, children often learn the alphabet through song, and they learn the number of days in each month through rhyme: <OpenstaxEm>“</OpenstaxEm>Thirty days hath September, / April, June, and November; / All the rest have thirty-one, / Save February, with twenty-eight days clear, / And twenty-nine each leap year.” These lessons are easy to remember because of acoustic encoding. We encode the sounds the words make. This is one of the reasons why much of what we teach young children is done through song, rhyme, and rhythm.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Which of the three types of encoding do you think would give you the best memory of verbal information? Some years ago, psychologists Fergus Craik and Endel Tulving (1975) conducted a series of experiments to find out. Participants were given words along with questions about them. The questions required the participants to process the words at one of the three levels. The visual processing questions included such things as asking the participants about the font of the letters. The acoustic processing questions asked the participants about the sound or rhyming of the words, and the semantic processing questions asked the participants about the meaning of the words. After participants were presented with the words and questions, they were given an unexpected recall or recognition task.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Words that had been encoded semantically were better remembered than those encoded visually or acoustically. Semantic encoding involves a deeper level of processing than the shallower visual or acoustic encoding. Craik and Tulving concluded that we process verbal information best through semantic encoding, especially if we apply what is called the self-reference effect. The <OpenstaxTerm>self-reference effect</OpenstaxTerm> is the tendency for an individual to have better memory for information that relates to oneself in comparison to material that has less personal relevance (Rogers, Kuiper, &amp; Kirker, 1977). Could semantic encoding be beneficial to you as you attempt to memorize the concepts in this chapter?
</OpenstaxParagraph>

8.1.1 Encoding

1 Introduction to Psychology

1.1 What Is Psychology?

1.1.1 Why Study Psychology?

1.2 History of Psychology

1.2.1 Wundt and Structuralism

1.2.2 Functionalism

1.2.3 Freud and Psychoanalytic Theory

1.2.4 Wertheimer, Koffka, Köhler, and Gestalt Psychology

1.2.5 Pavlov, Watson, Skinner, and Behaviorism

1.2.6 Maslow, Rogers, and Humanism

1.2.7 The Cognitive Revolution

1.2.8 Multicultural And Cross-Cultural Psychology

1.2.9 Women in Psychology

1.3 Contemporary Psychology

1.3.1 Biopsychology and Evolutionary Psychology

1.3.2 Sensation and Perception

1.3.3 Cognitive Psychology

1.3.4 Developmental Psychology

1.3.5 Personality Psychology

1.3.6 Social Psychology

1.3.7 Industrial-Organizational Psychology

1.3.8 Health Psychology

1.3.9 Sport and Exercise Psychology

1.3.10 Clinical Psychology

1.3.11 Forensic Psychology

1.4 Careers in Psychology

1.4.1 Other Careers in Academic Settings

1.4.2 Career Options Outside of Academic Settings

2 Psychological Research

2.1 Why Is Research Important?

2.1.1 Use of Research Information

2.1.2 NOTABLE RESEARCHERS

2.1.3 The Process of Scientific Research

2.2 Approaches to Research

2.2.1 Clinical or Case Studies

2.2.2 Naturalistic Observation

2.2.3 Surveys

2.2.4 Archival Research

2.2.5 Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Research

2.3 Analyzing Findings

2.3.1 Correlational Research

2.3.2 Causality: Conducting Experiments and Using the Data

2.3.3 Reliability and Validity

2.4 Ethics

2.4.1 Research Involving Human Participants

2.4.2 Research Involving Animal Subjects

3 Biopsychology

3.1 Human Genetics

3.1.1 Genetic Variation

3.1.2 Gene-Environment Interactions

3.2 Cells of the Nervous System

3.2.1 Neuron Structure

3.2.2 Neuronal Communication

3.2.3 Neurotransmitters and Drugs

3.3 Parts of the Nervous System

3.3.1 Peripheral Nervous System

3.4 The Brain and Spinal Cord

3.4.1 The Spinal Cord

3.4.2 The Two Hemispheres

3.4.3 Forebrain Structures

3.4.4 Midbrain and Hindbrain Structures

3.4.5 Brain Imaging

3.5 The Endocrine System

3.5.1 Major Glands

4 States of Consciousness

4.1 What Is Consciousness?

4.1.1 Biological Rhythms

4.1.2 Problems With Circadian Rhythms

4.2 Sleep and Why We Sleep

4.2.1 What is Sleep?

4.2.2 Why Do We Sleep?

4.3 Stages of Sleep

4.3.1 NREM Stages of Sleep

4.3.2 REM Sleep

4.4 Sleep Problems and Disorders

4.4.1 Insomnia

4.4.2 Parasomnias

4.4.3 Sleep Apnea

4.4.4 Narcolepsy

4.5 Substance Use and Abuse

4.5.1 Substance Use Disorders

4.5.2 Drug Categories

4.6 Other States of Consciousness

4.6.1 Hypnosis

4.6.2 Meditation

5 Sensation and Perception

5.1 Sensation versus Perception

5.1.1 Sensation

5.1.2 Perception

5.2 Waves and Wavelengths

5.2.1 Amplitude and Wavelength

5.2.2 Light Waves

5.2.3 Sound Waves

5.3 Vision

5.3.1 Anatomy of the Visual System

5.3.2 Color and Depth Perception

5.4 Hearing

5.4.1 Anatomy of the Auditory System

5.4.2 Pitch Perception

Question	Answer
input of sounds, words, and music	acoustic encoding
encoding of informational details like time, space, frequency, and the meaning of words	automatic processing
encoding of information that takes effort and attention	effortful processing
input of information into the memory system	encoding
tendency for an individual to have better memory for information that relates to oneself in comparison to material that has less personal relevance	self-reference effect
input of words and their meaning	semantic encoding
input of images	visual encoding