Memory Flashcards
What is the definition of memory?
The process in which information is encoded, stored and retrieved
What kind of basis are memories thought to have?
A physical basis
When are memories not usually made before?
The age 2 and a half
What are the three types of memory?
Sensory, short term (working) and long term
What are some examples of sensory organs?
Eyes, ears, mouth
How long is the sensory memory?
Millisecond - 1 second
How long is the short term memory?
Less than 1 minute
How long is the long term memory?
After 5 minutes - infinity
What are the two types of long term memory?
Procedural and declarative
What is procedural memory?
Knowing how e.g. knowing how to ride a bike
What is declarative memory?
Knowing what e.g. facts and events
What are the two types of declarative memory?
Episodic and semantic
What is episodic memory?
Personal recollections
What is semantic memory?
General knowledge
What are episodic and semantic both?
Explicit (conscious)
What type is procedural memory?
Implicit (unconscious)
Where may the fact that memory is reconstructive be a problem?
In crime investigation
Who made the multi-store model of memory?
Atkinson and Shiffrin (‘68)
What is a model?
A representation of something to help us understand how something works
What are the two key models of memory?
The multi-store model (MSM) and the Working memory model (WMM)
Why was the WMM produced?
Due to problems with the MSM
What is encoding?
The way in which information is transferred into a form to be stored
What is duration?
How long a memory lasts
What is capacity?
How much can be held in that particular memory store
Where does environmental stimuli go to?
The sensory register
What does the sensory register do?
Automatically responds to receiving information through the sense organs. It takes in the info and holds it in the same form
What are the 5 forms of memory in the SR?
Iconic, echoic, gustatory, haptic and olfactory
What is iconic memory?
Visual
What is echoic memory?
Auditory
What is gustatory memory?
Taste
What is haptic memory?
Touch
What is olfactory memory?
Smell
What happens to info received by the SR that is payed attention to?
It is passed to the short term memory
What happens to info received by the SR that is not payed attention to?
It will fade through trace decay, leaving no lasting impression
If information is the sensory register is payed attention to, where does it go?
Short term memory
How does information stay in the short term memory?
Maintenance rehearsal
How does information go from the short term memory to long term memory?
Elaborate rehearsal
What happens to information in the short term memory that is not elaborately rehearsed?
It decays (information retrieval)
Is the sensory register conscious or unconscious?
Unconscious (not under cognitive control)
What was Sperling’s experiment testing?
Iconic memory
When was Sperling’s experiment?
1960
What did Sperling do?
Presented a 3x4 grid of letters for less than a second and asked participants to recall the letters
What type of explanation of memory is the multi store model?
A cognitive explanation
What is coding?
The means by which information is represented in memory
What is the sensory register?
A short duration store, holding impressions of information received by the senses
In what way does information pass from store to store in the multistore model?
In a linear way
What type of stores are STM and LTM?
Unitary
What does the sensory register have a store for?
Each of the senses
What is the capacity of the sensory register?
Very limited
What is the capacity of the STM?
7 +/- 2 items
What is the capacity of the LTM?
Virtually unlimited
What is the duration of the sensory register?
Less than 1 second
What is the duration of the STM?
30 seconds
What is the duration of the LTM?
Virtually unlimited
What is the encoding of the sensory register?
Iconic, Echoic or Haptic
What is the encoding of the STM?
Mainly auditory and visual
What is the encoding of the LTM?
Semantic
What is the definition of the MSM?
An explanation of memory that sees information flowing through a series of storage systems
What is the definition of STM?
A temporary store holding small amounts of information for brief periods
What is the definition of LTM?
A permanent store holding limitless amounts of information for long periods
What is bad about the research into SR?
Research has only really investigated capacity and duration of iconic memory. It is possible other senses have different capacity and duration
Duration of SR decreases with age
