Memory

liudexiang

contents

• The sensory registers

• Short term memory

• Long term memory

• forgetting

The sensory registers

• *Memory : the ability to remember the things that we have experienced, imagined, and learned.

• Information-processing model: a computerlike model used to describe the way humans encode, store, and retrieve information.

Information-processing model

The sensory registers

• Sensory registers: entry points for raw information from the senses.

• Attention: the selection of some incoming information for further processing.

Short-term memory (STM)

• *Short-term memory (STM) : Working memory; briefly stores and processes selected information from the sensory registers.

Primary tasks

• Store new information

• Work on the new information

Capacity of STM

• *Chunking: the grouping of information into meaningful units for easier handling by short-term memory.

Encoding in STM

• We encode verbal information for storage in STM phonological—that is, according to how it sounds.

• Some material is stored in visual form, and other information is retained on the basis of its meaning.

Maintaining STM

• Rote rehearsal : retaining information in memory simply by repeating it over and over.

Long-term memory

• Long-term memory (LTM): The portion of memory that is more or less permanent, corresponding to everything we “ know .”

Capacity of LTM

• Long-term memory can store a vast amount of information for many years.

Encoding in LTM

• Some LTM memories are codes in terms of nonverbal images: shapes, sounds, smells, tastes, and so on.

• Most of the information in LTM seems to be encoded in terms of meaning.

*Serial position effect

• Serial position effect : The finding that when asked to recall a list of unrelated items, performance is better for the items at the beginning and end of the list.

*The recency effect

• The recency effect occurs because the last items that are presented are still contained in STM and thus are available to recall.

*The primacy effect

• The primacy effect reflects the opportunity to rehearse the first few items in the list--- increasing their likelihood of being transferred to LTM.

Maintaining LTM

• Rote rehearsal • Elaborative rehearsal: The linking of new

information in STM to familiar material stored in LTM.

• Mnemonics: Techniques that make material easier to remember.

• Schema: A set of beliefs or expectations about something that is based on past experience.

Improving your memory

• Develop motivation

• Practice memory skills

• Be confident in your ability to remember

• Minimize distractions

• Stay focused

• Use mental imagery

Improving your memory

• Make connections between new material and other information already stored in your LTM

• Use retrieval cues

• Rely on more than memory alone

• Be aware that your own personal schemata may distort your recall of events

*Types of LTM

• Episodic memory: the portion of LTM that stores personally experienced events.

• Semantic memory: the portion of LTM that stores general facts and information.

• Procedural memory: the portion of LTM that stores information relating to skills, habits, and other perceptual-motor tasks.

• Emotional memory: learned emotional responses to various stimuli.

Explicit and implicit memory

• Explicit memory : memory for information that we can readily express in words and are aware of having; these memories can be intentionally retrieved from memory.

• Implicit memory : memory for information that we cannot readily express in words and may not be aware of having; these memories cannot be intentionally retrieved from memory.

Forgetting

• *Decay theory : A theory that argues that the passage of time causes forgetting.

• Retrograde amnesia: The ability to recall events preceding an accident or injury, but without loss of earlier memory.

Interference

• *Retroactive interference : the process by which new information interfere with information already in memory

• *Proactive interference: the process by which information already in memory interfere with new information

•End