The Psychobiological Process of Memory (Atkinson-Shiffrin Multi-Store Model of Memory) Flashcards
KKDP 4
Memory
Memory is an information processing system that actively receives, organises, stores and recovers information
● It is not a passive system, it involves purposeful mental actions
Memory as Information Processing
● Encoding: Converting information to a useable form
● Storage: Retaining information in memory. Keeping it there for later on.
● Retrieval: Information recovered from memory when needed
Encoding
The process of converting sensory information into a useable form which can be manipulated/processed and stored in the brain
● Changing information into a format which allows it to be placed in storage.
● Encoding is essential to information being stored.
● The better it is encoded the easier it will be to retrieve when needed.
Storage
Retaining information in memory over time
Retrieval
The process of locating and recovering information stored in memory. Bringing it into conscious awareness for use when needed.
Structural Features & Control Processes
Structural Features are the permanent, built in, fixed features of memory that do not vary from one situation to the next.
● E.g: The three ‘Stores’ are structural.
● Other structural features include the function of each component (its role),
the storage of each component and the duration of each component
Control Processes are selected and used by each indi dual and may vary across different situations.
● E.g: ‘Attention’ is a control process. The indi dual chooses to attend to info and this determines whether it transfers to the next memory store or not.
Sensory Memory
● The entry area of memory, all stimuli which bombard the senses are retained in their original form for a very brief time in memory subsystems called sensory registers
● A person is not consciously aware of most of the information that enters sensory memory.
● Information that enters this register may then be transferred to the short – term memory if the person pays attention to it
● An important function of sensory memory is that it stores sensory impressions long enough for each impression to slightly overlap the next. Thus we perceive the world around us as continuous, rather than as a series of disconnected sual images or disjointed sounds.
Types of Sensory Memory:
Iconic Memory: Visual Sensory Information
● Is used to describe visual sensory memory, that is, the brief sensory memory
for incoming visual information.
● Stores visual images in their original sensory form for 0.2-0.4 seconds
● Holds visual memories as “snapshots”, but decays instantaneously
Echoic Memory: Auditory Sensory Information
● Echoic memory registers all kinds of sounds, such as speech
● Stores sounds in their original sensory form for up to three or four seconds
● Important role in language comprehension, enables storage of all sounds
that make a word so the word can be processed as a whole
The main difference between iconic and echoic memory is that echoic memory stores info for longer periods – 3-4 seconds – while visual info is retained in iconic memory on average 0.2-0.4 seconds
Short-Term Memory (STM)/Working Memory
● All the sensory information a person pays attention to enters their STM
Short term memory is a memory system with a limited storage capacity in which information is stored for a relatively short amount of time (unless rehearsed)
● STM stores information temporarily, but longer than sensory memory
● It is where all conscious learning, perceivi ng, feeling, thinking and reasoning take place
Vulnerable to interference. There must be none ➡
● Information is lost though decay (fading) or displacement (being pushed out
by new information)
● Unimportant information is quickly dumped a er use
○ E.g: shopping lists, Phone numbers, mental arithmetic
Improng Short Term Memory’s Capacity
Chunking expands short term memory by grouping separate pieces of information into one or more larger units or ‘chunks’ of information.
● Chunks can be numbers, images, words, abbre viations etc.
Short Term Memory Duration & Capacity
Duration: Most information is lost from STM a er 18-20 seconds unless rehearsed, in which case it can be extended to 30 seconds. Capacity: Limited storage (7 + or – 2)
Improving Short Term Memory’s Duration:
Rehearsal: The process of doing something so that information can be retained in memory and then retrieved when required, can be verbal, vocal, non-verbal, sub-vocal or mental imagery.
Types of Rehearsal: Maintenance Rehearsal
Maintenance rehearsal is repeating things verbally without relating it to any other knowledge to retain info in STM
● Can be effective for retaining info in STM, but does not always lead to long-term retention
Types of Rehearsal: Elaborative Rehearsal
Elaborative rehearsal involves the process of linking new information in a meaningful way with information already stored in long term memory.
● It’s a more active and effortful process than maintenance rehearsal
● It is also more effective for remembering new info because it helps ensure
that info is encoded well.
● The more someone elaborates, or ‘flesh out’, the various features of the
concept and link it to their own experience, the more likely they are to remember it Self-reference effect
Long Term Memory (LTM)
Long Term Memory is the relatively permanent memory system that holds vast amounts of information for a long time, possibly indefinitely.
● LTM differs from STM and Sensory in the way it is stored. Information in LTM is encoded by its meaning ‘semantically’
➡
● Retrieve information from LTM using Retrieval Cues
● Forgetting long term memories can be put down to poor retrieval cues
● Information which is more important is transferred to LTM.
Capacity: Unlimited Capacity Duration: Relatively Permanent
Types of Long Term Memory
Explicit Memory: a type of long-term memory that is consciously retrieved Implicit Memory: a type of long-term memory that is unconsciously retrieved
