Computer analogy

• what do cognitive psychologists compare the human mind to?

  computers
• why do psychologists compare the human mind to computer?

  how we take in info (input), change/store it (process), then recall it when necessary (output)
• what does the computer analogy highlight?

  how brain does not passively receive info, but actively processes it
• how does the brain actively process info?

  Perception

  Attention

  Language

  Memory
• thus, what is the mind compared with?

  hardware of a computer & cognitive processes with computers hardware
• what is the example for computer analogy?

  multistore model of memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)
• what was proposed in this model?

  that info is input through the senses & if attention is paid, moves to short-term memory (STM) store
• what do you have to do to keep info in the STM store?

  maintenance rehearsal
• what does maintenance rehearsal result in?

  info transferring to the long-term memory (LTM) store
• what happens if rehearsal does not occur?

  info lost through process of decay
• how can info be transferred from LTM to STM?

  retrieval (output when required)