6.2: Maintaining memories Over Time Flashcards
Storage
Maintaining information in memory over time
Sensory
Holds sensory information for a few seconds or less
- Iconic memories: fast-decaying store of a visual information; decay in 1 second or less
- Echoic memory: fast-decaying store of auditory information; echo in the mind’s ear; decay in about 5 minutes
Short term
Holds non-sensory information for more than a few seconds but less than a minute; e.g. phone number
- Rehearsal:
Process process of keeping information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it
- Serial position effect:
First few items and last few items in a series are more likely to be recalled than the items in the middle
Primacy effect
Enhanced recall of first items
Recency effect
Enhanced recall of last items
Short term memory is limited by how long information is held and how much is held (About 7 meaningful items at once)
Chunking
Combining small pieces of information into large clusters or chunks to make information easier to store
Working memory
Active maintenance of information in short-term storage
Two subsystems
Visual-spatial sketchpad (visual images) phonological loop(verbal information)
Episodic buffer
Integrates information into a code; coordinated by the central executive
Long term
Holds information for hours, days or yeas
-No capacity limits
Hippocampus patient HM
Removed part of temporal lobe(including hippocampus) to stop seizures
Could not remember anything that happened after the operation (anterograde amnesia)
Had all of his memories before operation but was unable to transmit any short-term memories into long term memories
Anterograde amnesia
Inability to transfer new information from short term storage into long term storage
Retrograde amnesia
Inability to retrieve information acquired before particular date, usually the date of an injury or surgery
