Memory

Information Processing

Sensory RegisterTemporary storageUnlimited capacity Iconic memoryEchoic memory

Iconic memory

Information Processing

Information Processing

Short Term Memory (STM)Holds information that we are thinking about

or are aware of (consciously)Has two primary tasks

Storing new information briefly Working on that information

Also known as working memory

Serial Position Effect

Short Term Memory Storage

Verbal information is stored phonologicallyBy its sound

Some information is stored visually Images are often stored visually and verbally

Short Term Memory Capacity

Limited capacity7 ± 2 units

Short Term Memory

Chunking

Information lasts longer in STM than in the sensory registers because we can rehearse it.Rote rehearsal

Retaining information in STM simply by repeating it over and over

Information Processing

Long Term Memory (LTM)

CapacityLong-term memory can store a vast amount

of information that can last for many years.

EncodingMost of the information in LTM seems to be

encoded according to its meaning.

Types of LTM Declarative Memory

Episodic memory Personally experienced events

Semantic memory General facts and information

Procedural Memory Information relating to skills, habits, motor

tasks

Organization of LTM

Associative Models of MemoryConcepts activates other concepts

Semantic Network

Organization of LTM

Associative Models of MemoryConcepts activates other conceptsPriming

Exposure to word/concept easier recall

Explicit vs. Implicit Memories

Explicit memoryMemories we are aware of, including

Episodic and semantic memories

Implicit memoryMemories for information not intentionally

committed Procedural & emotional memories

Organization of LTM

Associative Models of Memory

SchemasOrganized, repeatedly exercised patterns of

thought or behavior

Encoding

Rote rehearsal Elaborative rehearsal

Visual imageryMnemonics

Acronyms and acrostics Method of loci Pegword method

Retrieval

Organizationencoding

Retrieval Cues Encoding Specificity Principle

Environmental contextState dependent learning

Flashbulb Memories

memories centered on a specific, important, or surprising event that are so vivid it is as if they represented a snapshot of the event Vividness comes from importance of the event as well

as emotional content

Reconstruction of Memories

As memories fade, fill in details May use schemas Hindsight bias

Forgetting

Decay theory Interference theory

RetroactiveProactive

List A B C

Group 1 X X X

Group 2 X X

Group 3 X X

Group 4 X

Forgetting

Motivated ForgettingSuppressionRepressionProspective forgetting

Encoding failure Retrieval failure

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

The Biology of Memory

AmnesiaRetrogradeAnterograde Childhood

The Biology of Memory

Hippocampus explicit memory

The Biology of Memory

Cerebral cortex, striatum, amygdala implicit memory

Hormones and Memory

Adrenaline Noradrenaline Cortisol

Korsakoff’s SyndromeDiencephalon (thalamus/hypothalamus)

Alzheimer’s DiseaseAmyloid beta proteinBasal forebrain, hippocampus, cerebral cortexAcetylcholine