Lecture 1 - Memory Flashcards
What is memory according to Colman 2015?
The psychological function of preserving information, involving the processes of encoding, storage and retrieval
What are the three processes involved in memory? (Colman, 2015)
- Encoding
- Storage
- Retrieval
What is ‘encoding’?
Converting information into a different form or representation, e.g., physical sensory information is transformed into a representation suitable for storage in memory
What is ‘Storage’?
The act or process of storing anything, e.g., storing encoded information in memory for subsequent retrieval
What is ‘retrieval’?
The act or process of retrieving anything, e.g., recovering encoded information from storage in memory and bringing it into consciousness
What is short term memory?
- Memory system capable of holding a limited amount of info for a brief period (Coleman, 2015)
- Capacity: only a few items
- Duration: a few seconds
What is long term memory?
- Type of memory containing info that is stored for periods ranging from about 30secs to many decades (Coleman, 2015)
- Capacity: essentially unlimited
- Duration: up to several decades
What is a unitary-store model?
Feature a single memory store
What is a multi-store model?
Feature several memory stores
Explain Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) - sensory stores
- Sensory input goes into sensory stores
- Either lost through decay or moves to the short-term store via attention
- Either lost here through displacement or moves into long-term memory via rehearsal
- Can be lost from here via interference
What is a limitation of Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) - Sensory stores
Assumption that short-term memory is a gateway between the sensory stores and the long-term memory which may not be correct
What is iconic memory?
The sensory store for visual information (250-1000ms)
What is echoic memory?
The sensory store for auditory information (2-3s)
Atkinson % Shiffrin (1968) - Short-term memory
- Short-term store has a limited capacity
- Max number of items that you can recall without error is typically 7
What is a single dissociation?
When a manipulation leaves one cognitive function intact whilst severing another - indicating the functions of A and B are at least partially independent.
What is a double dissociation?
When there exists, in addiction, a manipulation that does the reverse (leave B intact whilst severing A)
Double dissociation study - Spiers et al., 2001
Amnesic patients have long-term memory impairments while short-term memory is virtually intact.
Double dissociation study - Shallice & Warrington, 1970
Brain-damaged patients who have impaired short-term memory but intact long-term memory
What is the working memory?
The ability to process information over a period of a couple of seconds
What are the four main components of the working memory model?
- Central executive
- Episodic buffer
- Visuo-spatial sketch pad
- Phonological loop
What is the visual cache?
The part of visuospatial sketchpad that stores information about visual form and colour
What is the inner scribe?
The part of the visuospatial sketchpad dealing with spatial and movement information and visual and spatial tasks (Smith & Jonides, 199&)
According to Zimmer (2008), where in the brain does visual processing occur?
The occipital and temporal lobes
According to Zimmer (2008), where in the brain does spatial processing occur?
Parietal cortex
