memory Flashcards
What property of memory is best described as how long a memory store can keep information?
Duration refers to how long a memory can be stored. If a memory store has a longer duration, the information can be stored for a longer period of time.
what does capacity mean
Capacity refers to how much information can be stored in a memory store. The larger the capacity of the memory store, the greater amount of information that can be stored
what does coding mean
Coding refers to the format of the information being stored. Different types of information are coded differently, depending on where the information is coming from.
what does longer duration mean?
information can be kept for longer
what are the three properties on which memory stores can vary are
coding, capacity and duration
acoustic code
acoustic coding is the storing of information in terms of the sound
visual code
the process of encoding images and visual sensory information.
what is sensory coding
storing sensory information
what is the memory store that holds sensory information for a very short period of time while we process the information
sensory register
what did sterling want to determine
how many letters his participants would recall
what feature of sensory memory was sterling investigating
capacity
what did Sperling want to determine
how many letters his participants would recall
what was the method for Sperling’s study
- 4 by 3 grids of letters were displayed for milliseconds
- there are two conditions: full grid recall one row recall
- He conducted a lab experiment investigating the capacity of sensory register
how many seconds does the sensory register hold information
1-2 seconds
what was the results of sperling’s study
the sensory register has large capacity and a short duration
what was the results of Sperling’s study
the sensory register has large capacity and a short duration
what conditions did Sperling use in his study
Sperling’s study had two conditions. One where the participants had to recall as many of the 12 letters as possible, and another where they had to recall just the one row. This happened immediately after the grid was shown, so participants did not have time to attach meaning to the letters before recall.
what were the results of Sperling’s study
In condition 1, where participants had to recall the entire grid, they usually recalled around 4-7 letters. When participants were asked to recall only one of the rows, they usually recalled around 3 letters.
what did Sperling conclude ?
Sperling concluded that the sensory register had a large capacity. Sperling argued that the capacity size of the sensory register was the reason that participants could recall most of the letters in a single row condition.
what did Sperling conclude about the duration length
participants could only recall 4-5 letters
what was the reason for the amount of words recalled
the short duration led to some letters being forgotten in the full grid condition by the time they had to recall the letters
what is the short term memory
- the limited capacity memory store
- coding mainly acoustic (sounds)
- capacity is between 5 and 9 items on average
what is the long term memory
- the permanent memory store
- coding is mainly sematic (meaning)
- it has unlimited capacity and can store up to a lifetime ‘
what is the multi store model of memory
Atkinson and Shiffrin’s multi store model is a representation of how memory works in terms if three stores called sensory register, STM and LTM. it describes how information is transferred from one store to another, how it is remembered and how it is forgotten
what are the two main stores of the multi store model of memory
iconic memory- visual information is coded visually
echoic memory- sound and auditory information is coded acoustically
what is maintenance rehearsal
occurs when we repeat material to ourselves. if we rehearse it long enough it transfers to long term memory
what is retrieval
retrieval is the ability to access information when you need it. information is stored in LTM, when we recall it, it has to be transferred back to STM by a retrieval
advantages for the multi store model of memory
-studies into coding, capacity and duration demonstrate differences between STM and LTM.
limitations of the multi store model of memory
- there is more than one type of STM, studies of amnesia show different STM for auditory and visual material
- more than one type o rehearsal, elaborative rehearsal necessary for transfer to LTM, not maintenance rehearsal
what are the three types of LTM that Tulving proposed
episodic, sematic and procedural
what is episodic memory
ability to recall events (episodes) from our lives. e.g. objects/ places. memories from this store have to be retrieved consciously and with effort
what is sematic memory
memory for knowledge of the world like an dictionary. includes language. needs to be recorded deliberately
what is procedural memory
memory store for knowledge on how to do things =. this incudes our memories of learnt skills. we usually recall these memories without making a conscious or deliberate hope
advantages of the three different multi store models proposed by Tulving
Clive and Hm had damaged episodic memories but sematic and procedural memories were fine. This evidence that there are three different stores in LTM. one store can be damaged but other stores unaffected.
neuroimaging evidence. episodic and procedural memories recalled from different parts of the pre frontal cortex
what is the working memory model
is an explanation of how one aspect of memory (STM) is organised and how it functions. concerned with the part of the mind that is active when we are temporarily storing and manipulating information
what are four main components of the WMM
central executive
phonological loop
visual sketch patch
episodic buffer
what is the central executive
co-ordinates slave systems and allocates resources, very limited storage
what is the phonological loop
limited capacity. processes information in terms of sound. this includes both written and spoken material. it is divided into phonological store and the articulatory process
what is the phonological store
stores words you hear
what is the articulatory process
maintenance rehearsal
what is the visual sketchpad
limited capacity. processes visual and spatial information in a mental space often called or “inner eye”. Logie divided the VSS into the visual cache and inner scribe
what is the visual cache
stores visual date
what is the inner scribe
spatial arrangement
what is the episodic buffer
brings together material from other sub-systems into a single memory rather than separate strands. provides bridge between STM and LTM
Advantages of the WMM
patient KF had poor auditory memory but good spatial memory damaged phonological loop. VSS fine
limitations of WMM
lack of clarity over central executive, not fully explained yet probably has different components
what is the interference theory
- forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten
- explanation for forgetting in LTM.
what are the two types interference
proactive interference
retroactive interference
what is proactive interreference
forgetting occurs when older memories, already sorted, disrupt the recall of newer memories. the degree of forgetting is greater when memories are similar
retroactive interference
forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories are similar
what is retrieval failure
a form of forgetting. it occurs when we don’t have necessary cues to access memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided
duration
the length of time information can be held in memory
