Video Module 11: Intro to Memory

Question 1

What are the three central aspects of memory?

Answer 1

1. encoding
2. storage
3. retrieval

Question 2

What are the three steps of the modal model?

Answer 2

1. sensory memory: any unattended information is lost; up to 10 units; 0.5-3 seconds
2. short term memory: any unrehearsed information is lost; 7±2 chunks; 5-15 seconds
3. long term memory: information cannot be lost but can become inaccessible; infinite storage and duration

Question 3

sensory memory

Answer 3

a brief store of sensory information in its most basic form
- any information unattended to will be lost
- iconic, echoic, and haptic

Question 4

iconic sensory memory

Answer 4

the visual sensory store
- lasts <1 second

Question 5

echoic memory

Answer 5

the auditory sensory store
- lasts 3-5 seconds

Question 6

haptic sensory memory

Answer 6

the touch-related store
- lasts around 10 seconds

Question 7

How do partial report experiments help us study the capacity of sensory memory?

Answer 7

Partial report experiments require participants to recall stimuli that they were exposed to briefly.
One study showed that participants could accurately recall rows of letters from a 12-letter grid when prompted, even if they didn’t know beforehand which row they were going to be asked to recall. This showed us the capacity of sensory memory.

Question 8

short-term memory

Answer 8

• information which you hold actively in your mind until it can be transferred to long-term memory
• requires rehearsal to maintain information
• lasts less than 20 seconds

Question 9

declarative (explicit) memory

Answer 9

long-term memory which consists of that which can be verbally expressed
- episodic: specific life events with spatial and temporal context
- semantic: memory for facts and general knowledge, without spatial and temporal context

Question 10

non-declarative (implicit) memory

Answer 10

long-term memory which consists of that which cannot be verbally expressed
- procedural: skills and habits which can only be demonstrated by doing; muscle memory
- classical conditioning: associations between stimuli that co-occur frequently
- priming: implicit memory for recent and frequent stimuli

Question 11

What is an example of classical conditioning?

Answer 11

Classical conditioning is a kind of LTM in which we develop associations between co-occuring stimuli. An example of CC is Pavlov’s dogs.

Question 12

How can we test memory?

Answer 12

1. direct tests: involves recall and recognition tasks
2. indirect tests: involves relearning and priming

Question 13

direct tests for memory

Answer 13

• useful to test explicit (declarative) LTM
  recall tasks: asking participants to report information from memory
  recognition tasks: presenting participants with old and new stimuli and asking them to determine if they’ve seen something before

Question 14

indirect tests for memory

Answer 14

• useful to test implicit (non-declarative) LTM
  relearning tasks: measuring how long it tasks participants to relearn a skill
  priming tasks: measuring response time to a stimulus participants were previously exposed to