Definitions Flashcards
What is cognitive psychology
- cognitive psychology is concerned with people’s thought processes and how these affect the way in which they behave
What is memory
Memory is the process of retaining learned information, and accessing this information when it is needed.
-> memory is an important factor in how human beings process information
What are the 3 processes in memory
Coding, storage & retrieval
What is coding
The way information is changed so that it can be stored in memory
What is storage
Keeping information within the memory system until it is needed
What is retrieval
Recovering information stored in the memory system when it is required
What are the 3 memory stores
Sensory register (SR) -> Short-term memory (STM) -> Long term memory (LTM)
What is the sensory register
It contains unprocessed impressions of information received through the senses:
-> it has a separate sensory store for each sensory input.
E.g. iconic store (visual input) and echo I store (auditory info)
What is STM
Short term memory is a temporary store for information received from the SR
What is the LTM
Long term memory is a permanent store holding limitless amounts of information for long periods of time, potentially a lifetime
How does STM differ from LTM
In terms of coding, capacity, duration & how info is lost
What is capacity
The amount of information that can be held in memory before new incoming information displaces it
What is duration
The amount of time information can be held in a memory store before it lost due to decay
How can memory be lost
Displacement or decay