6- What is Memory? Flashcards
How is memory defined?
The ability to hold and transform info
What are the 3 key components of memory?
Encoding –> storage –> retrieval
What is encoding?
Coding info to be stored
What is storage?
Maintenance of info
What is retrieval?
Recollection of info
What is sensory memory?
A very temporary sensory register
What does the sensory memory allow?
Input from the sensory modalities
Why does sensory memory prolong info?
So we can attend or process the important parts
What brain experience does the sensory memory have?
Some conscious, some unconscious
What 3 levels are in the hierarchy of the brain?
Sensation –> perception –> cognition
What is the capacity of sensory memory like?
Large, fades rapidly
What information will stay from the sensory memory?
What we attend to
What kind of memory is involved in sensory memory?
Memory for stimuli as opposed to memory for ideas
What stores does the sensory memory have for senses?
Modality specific
What is sensory memory’s visual store?
Iconic memory
What is sensory memory’s auditory store?
Echoic
What is sensory memory’s store for tactile/touch stimuli?
Haptic
What was Sperling’s (1960) experiment into iconic memory?
Participants were asked to look at a whole list (all letters) or a partial list (only one line of letters)- list was shown for a very short amount of time
Why did a partial list in Sperling’s experiment produce increased memory for letters?
The partial list directs attention to a specific part of the list
What is iconic memory not?
Continuous
Why does iconic memory seem continuous?
As the brain will prolong information
What is shadowing in echoic memory investigation?
Participants asked to attend to either right or left ear input which finds that they can’t keep track of both
What is the first stage of sensory memory and how long does it last?
Short and pre-perceptual, lasts about 250 milliseconds
What is the second stage of sensory memory and how long does it last?
Long and involving substantial process, lasts some seconds
How is sensory memory disrupted?
Backward masking
What is backward masking?
Disrupting transition from sensory memory to STM using a mask
What is a mask in backward masking?
An irrelevant stimulus in spatial or temporal proximity
What type of storage is short-term memory?
Where information is temporarily held in an accessible state
How are we processing information in STM?
Consciously
How many different types of long-term memory are there?
Many
What are the different types of long-term memory mostly about?
Things we learn
What type of system is long-term memory?
System where information is held for longer periods and can be accessed when needed
What is the path of external information in memory?
Sensory info –> short-term memory –> long-term memory
