memory models Flashcards
what are the 3 stages of memory?
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
what is encoding?
the creation of memory
what is storage?
the biological trace of where memory is stored in the brain
what is retrieval?
recalling information
what are the two types of memory?
short term memory (STM)
long term memory (LTM)
what is short term memory?
If sensory information is recognized or considered important it is coded and sent to short-term memory, which has limited capacity of 7+-2 items and is supposed to last only around 30 seconds.
what is long term memory?
If the information is rehearsed and re-coded, it gets transferred into long-term memory, which has unlimited capacity and may last forever.
what are memory models?
a way to conceptualize processes of the memory system
what are two memory models ?
multi-store model (MSM) of memory
Working memory model (WMM)
who made the MSM?
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
what are the 3 stores that the MSM suggests memory goes to?
the sensory store
the short term memory store
the long term memory store
what are two strengths of the MSM?
There is significant research to support the theory of separate memory store
The model is of historical importance
what are three limitations of the MSM?
over-simplified
doesn’t explain why some things can be learned easily and remembered and some can be studied for a long time and not remembered
focuses on structure rather than process
what are two studies supporting the MSM?
HM (Milner)
Glanzer and Cunitz
what is the link between the MSM and the case study of HM by Milner?
supports the distinction between STM store and LTM
His LTMs from before the operation were intact but he was not able to form new LTMs.
As soon as his attention was directed to some other information, the number was lost, showing that he could not transfer new information from his STM store to his LTM store.
what is the serial position effect?
It refers to the finding that recall accuracy depends on an item’s position within a list.
what is the recency effect?
that when asked to recall a list people would tend to remember the words said last since these items are still present in working memory when recall is solicited
what is the primacy effect?
that when asked to recall a list people would tend to remember the words said first since the initial items presented are most effectively stored in long-term memory because of the greater amount of processing devoted to them.
what was the aim of Glanzer and Cunitz?
Investigate the existence of two separate memory stores: the STM store and the LTM store.
what were the three conditions in Glanzer and Cunitz?
- Immediate Free Recall Condition (IFR): wrote words down immediately after seeing them.
- Delayed Free Recall Condition (DFR) – 10 seconds: wrote words down after a delay of 10 seconds.
- Delayed Free Recall Condition (DFR) – 30 seconds: wrote words down after a delay of 30 seconds.
what was the distraction task?
had to count backwards in 3s to prevent further rehearsal.
what were the results of Glanzer and Cunitz?
The results showed that when there was no delay in recall (IFR) the primacy and recency effect were demonstrated as per usual.
However, in the DFR conditions, and specifically in the 30s group, only the primacy effect was present and the longer the delay, the more reduced the recency effect was.
who suggested the WMM?
Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
what does the WMM suggest?
that STM is not a single store but rather consists of a number of different stores.
what are the 4 components of STM suggested by the WMM?
the central executive
the phonological loop
the visuospatial sketchpad
the episodic buffer