exam 4 Flashcards
what is memory?
-capacity to retain and retrieve information
-is reconstruction of things that have already occurred. not a recording device that makes exact copies
-without memory we would need round the clock care. it provides us with our identities
processes of memory, three stage memory
encoding, storage, retrieval
encoding
We transform what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory
storage
Process of maintaining information in memory over time
retrieval
Process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored
2 models of memory
information-processing model
parallel distributed-processing model
Information-Processing Model
information passes through three memory stores during encoding, storage, and retrieval
memories are stored in a network of associations throughout our brains
make connections
Parallel Distributed-Processing Model
information is represented in the brain as a pattern of activation across entire neural networks
memory is similar to a computer
storage
maintaining information in memory
analogy
information storage in computers information storage in human memory
information-processing theories
3 different
sensory, short-term, long-term
sensory memory
purpose: holds sensory information
duration: lasts up to 1/2 sec for visual, 2-4 sec for auditory
capacity: large
working memory (short term)
purpose: holds information temporarily for analysis
duration: up to 30 sec without rehearsal
capacity: limited to 5-9 items
long term memory
purpose: relatively permanent storage
duration; relatively permanent
capacity: relatively unlimited
sensory memory
• Brief preservation of information in original sensory form
• Auditory/echoic + visual/iconic – approximately 1⁄4- second
• George Sperling (1960)
• Classic experiment on visual sensory store
iconic memory (what you see)
a fleeting photographic memory
encoding
•The role of attention
•Focusing awareness
•Selective attention = selection of input
•Divided attention
information processing model
• We are presented with a stimulus and our brain retains a sensory memory of it for less than a second
• Sensory memories include:
o What we see (iconic)
o What we hear (echoic)
levels of processing
• Incoming information processed at different levels:
• Deeper processing = longer lasting memory codes
• Encoding levels:
• Visual = shallow= just the letters
• Phonemic = intermediate= sounds, reading
• Semantic = deep = meaning
Information Processing Model
If we pay attention, information enters our….
• Working (short-term) memory, which holds information for 30 seconds; capacity is 5-9 items
There are two ways to encode:
• Automatic processing
• Effortful processing
If we encode the information, it enters our…
• Long-term memory, which stores information forever
automatic processing
when you remember something without much conscious awareness or effort
effortful processing
when you remember something with careful attention and conscious effort
Organizational Encoding
• Categorizing information according to the relationships among a series of items
How Is Knowledge Represented and Organized in Memory?
•Clustering and conceptual hierarchies
•Schemas and scripts
•Semantic networks
•Connectionist networks and PDP models
Enriching Encoding
elaboration, visual imagery, and self-referent encoding
elaboration
linking a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding
• Thinking of examples
visual imagery
creation of visual images to represent words to be
remembered
• Easier for concrete objects: dual-coding theory
Self-referent encoding
Making information personally meaningful
Short-Term Memory (STM)
• Durability of storage – about 20 seconds without rehearsal
• Rehearsal – the process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking about the
information
• Maintenance vs. elaborative rehearsal
• Capacity of storage – magical number 7 plus or minus 2 (4 plus or
minus 1?)
• Chunking – grouping familiar stimuli for storage as a single unit
Non-sensory information that is held for more than a few seconds
Short-Term Memory as “Working Memory”
• STM not limited to phonemic encoding
• Loss of information not due only to decay
• Working Memory: Active maintenance of information in short-term storage
• A mental workspace that actively and simultaneously processes different types of information and supports other cognitive functions like problem- solving, planning, and interacts with LTM.
• Working memory capacity (WMC)
Long-Term Memory
• Storage that holds information for hours, days, weeks, or years; no known capacity
• Permanent storage?
• Flashbulb memories
• Debate: Are STM and LTM really different?
• Phonemic vs. semantic encoding
• Decay vs. interference-based forgetting
Systems and Types of Memory
• Implicit vs. explicit
• Declarative vs. Non-declarative (procedural)
• Semantic vs. episodic
• Prospective vs. retrospective
Long-term Potentiation (LTP)
• Main neural mechanism by which a memory is stored in the brain.
• During LTP, dendrites grow and branch out and certain synapses increase in number.
• Changes take time so LTM’s remain vulnerable because they are undergoing consolidation/stabilization which can take years.
• LTM’s then solidify.
Retrieval: Getting Information Out of Memory
-Using Cues to Aid Retrieval
-The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
-A failure in retrieval
-Retrieval cues
-Reinstating the Context of an Event
-Context cues
-Reconstructing memories
-Misinformation effect
• Source monitoring, reality monitoring
Retrieval: Bringing Memories to Mind
Information is sometimes available in memory even when it is not accessible
Retrieval cues
External information that helps bring stored information to mind.
Encoding specificity principle
Idea that a retrieval cue can serve as an effective reminder when it helps recreate the specific way in which information was initially encoded
State dependent retrieval
Tendency for information to be better recalled when the person is in the same mental or physical state during encoding and retrieval
