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