3.3

Question 1

What is memory?

Answer 1

the ability of the brain to encode, store and retrieve information

Question 2

What are the types of memory?

Answer 2

sensory memory
short-term memory (STM)
long-term memory (LTM)

Question 3

Describe the process by which information is retained or discarded

Answer 3

information enters the brain and passes through sensory memory into short-term memory. The information is either discarded, by displacement or decay, or transferred to long-term memory.

Question 4

What is sensory memory?

Answer 4

sensory memory retains sensory information received for a few seconds

Question 5

How can chunking be used to increase short-term memory?

Answer 5

Short-term memory has limited capacity and cannot store information for a long period of time.

Chunking involves breaking larger pieces of information into smaller pieces and improves the capacity of short-term memory.

Question 6

How can rehearsal be used to improve short-term memory?

Answer 6

Rehearsal allows information to be repeated over and over, thus keeping information more fresh in the short-term memory, making it more likely to transfer to long-term memory.

Question 7

What is working memory?

Answer 7

The short-term memory can process and store information to a limited capacity. This allows the short-term memory to perform simple cognitive tasks and is called the ‘working memory’.

Question 8

What is the serial position effect?

Answer 8

If we are to attempt to memorise a list of information, we are likely to more-so recall the items at the start and the end of the list.

Question 9

Give 3 methods that can be used to transfer information from short-term memory to long-term memory.

Answer 9

1. rehearsal - repeating information over and over
2. organisation - placing information into a logical, ordered manner
3. elaboration - elaborating and adding more context to information can make it more interesting and more likely to transfer to long-term memory

Question 10

How can retrieval of information from long-term memory be aided?

Answer 10

contextual cues

Question 11

What can the brain capture?

Answer 11

the brain can capture images of sights, sounds, smells, sensations and emotions all experienced at one time and retain them as memories.

it includes past experiences, knowledge and thoughts.

Question 12

What is selective memory?

Answer 12

the receptors in human sense organs are continuously picking up stimuli and transmitting the impulses to the brain. However, only a fraction of sensory images formed become committed to memory, because the process is highly selective.

Question 13

What does encoded mean?

Answer 13

the sensory image is converted to a form that the brain can process and store

Question 14

What is storage?

Answer 14

the retention of information over a period of time. This may last for only a brief spell such as 30 seconds of for a very long period

Question 15

What is retrieval?

Answer 15

the recovery of stored material. This involves the recall of information that has been committed to either short-term memory or long-term memory.

Question 16

Describe sensory memory

Answer 16

• stimuli from the outside world are continuously being perceived as sensory images by the brain
• sensory memory retains all the visual and auditory input received for a few seconds
• only selected images and sounds are encoded into short-term memory

Question 17

Describe short-term memory

Answer 17

• the STM has a limited capacity (about 7 items at one time) and holds information for a short time (30 seconds)
• during this time, retrieval of item is vey accurate. After this they are either transferred to level 3 (long-term memory) or lost by displacement or decay

Question 18

What is displacement?

Answer 18

the pushing out of ‘old’ by new incoming information

Question 19

What is decay?

Answer 19

the breakdown of fragile ‘memory trace’ formed when a group of neurons briefly become activated

Question 20

How can someone’s memory span be measured?

Answer 20

by finding out the number of individual ‘meaningless’ items that the person can reproduce correctly, and in order, immediately after seeing or hearing them once

Question 21

What is a cognitive task?

Answer 21

a task that requires processes such as perception, intuition and reasoning

Question 22

Describe long-term memory

Answer 22

• LTM has a unlimited capacity and holds information for a long time.
• the transfer of information from STM to LTM occurs by rehearsal, organisation and elaboration

Question 23

What is rehearsal (LTM)?

Answer 23

is regarded as a shallow form of encoding information into the LTM

Question 24

What is organisation?

Answer 24

when information is organised into logical catergories and is more easily transferred from the STM to the LTM

Question 25

What is elaboration?

Answer 25

is regarded as a deeper form of encoding which improves information retention