Memory Flashcards
What is memory?
It is the process by which we retain information about events that have happened in the past.
What is the sensory register or sensory memory?
Sensory memory is information at the senses - information collected by your eyes, ears, nose, fingers etc.
What is short-term memory (STM)?
Short-term memory (STM) is the memory of immediate events. STM’s are measured in seconds and minutes as they have a short duration and disappear if they are not rehearsed. STM also has a limited capacity of about four items or chunks and tends to be coded acoustically. This type of memory is sometimes referred to as working memory.
What is Long-term memory (LTM)?
Long-term memory is memory for events that have happened in the past. This lasts anywhere from 2 minutes to 100 years. LTM has a potentially limited duration and capacity tends to be coded semantically.
What is Capacity?
This is a measure of how much can be held in memory. It is represented in terms of bits of information, such as the number of digits.
What is Duration?
Duration is a measure of how long memory lasts before it is no longer available.
What is coding or encoding?
Coding is the way information is changed so that it can be stored in memory. Information enters the brain via the senses (e.g eyes and ears). It is then stored in various forms, such as visual codes (like a picture), acoustic codes (sounds) or semantic codes (the meaning of the experience).
How does coding work in the sensory register?
Information is stored in a raw, unprocessed form. There are separate sensory stores:
a) The echoic store for auditory information
b) The iconic store for visual information
c) The haptic store for tactile information
d) The gustatory store for taste information
e) The olfactory store for smell
How does information pass on from the sensory register?
Information that is paid attention to passes on to the STM. Information that is not attended to fades quickly.
How do we know that there are different sensory stores?
Crowder (19930
Found:
SR only retains information in the iconic store for a few milliseconds.
SR only retains information in the echoic store for 2-3 seconds.
What is the capacity of the sensory memory?
The capacity of each sensory memory store is very large. Different stores have different capacities.
Briefly outline the procedure of Sperling’s research into the sensory register.
Sperling (1960) presented participants with a 3x4 grid of letters onto a screen for 50 milliseconds and asked participants to recall as many of the letters as possible.
Briefly outline the findings of Sperling’s research into the sensory register.
Sperling found that participants could only recall about 4 or 5 letters. They reported having seen more though. The information would fade very quickly, so he sounded different tones (high medium or low), to indicate which row had to be recalled ( 1st 2nd or 3rd ). He found that the recall of letters in the indicated row was high (average 3 items) suggesting that all the information was originally there.
What did Sperling conclude from his research in (1960)?
He concluded that the capacity of the SR (especially iconic) store is large.
State one advantage and one disadvantage of Sterling’s research into the sensory register (1960).
Advantage - it can be replicated.
Disadvantage - The stimuli were artificial. May not reflect everyday life.
