psychology memory

• what are the key points of sensory memory


  shortest term memory

  ability to retain impressions of sensory info after original stimuli has ended

  received through the 5 senses are retained accurately but very briefly
• what are they key points of short term memory


  memory for immediate events

  sum are measured in seconds and minutes

  limited capacity

  coded acoustically
• what are the key points of long term memory


  memory for events that have happened in the past or knowledge-gained facts

  long duration

  potentially unlimited capacity+duration

  coded semantically
• what is coding


  the way information is changed so it can be stored in memory

  in enters the brain via the senses then is stored in various forms
• what are the 3 ways memory are saved via coding


  visual codes

  acoustic codes

  semantic codes
• what is the capacity for sensory memory


  unknown
• what is the duration for sensory memory


  half a second
• what is the coding for sensory memory


  5 senses
• what is the capacity for STM


  7+or-2 items

  4 small chunks
• what is the duration for STM


  up to 30 seconds
• what is the coding for STM


  acoustically
• what is the capacity for LTM


  potentially unlimited
• what is the duration for LTM


  unlimited
• what is the coding for LTM


  semantically
• how does sensory memory disappear


  through decay
• how does STM disappear


  decay and displacement
• how does LTM disappear


  retrieval failure and interference
• what does episodic memory consist of


  personal experiences

  may recall the time, place+who was there

  may recall context surrounding+associated emotions

  3 elements: specific details, content, emotion
• what is the working memory model


  an explanation of STM,this is not a fault; it is a more complete explanation of STM than the MSM
• what is the multi store model\what does it consist of.


  environmental stimuli

  sensory memory

  attention

  maintenance rehearsal

  short term memory

  retrieval

  elabrotive rehearsal

  retrieval

  long term memory
• what does the working memory model consist of


  central executive

  episodic buffer

  articulatory/phonological loop

  visuospatial scratchpad
• what does the central executive do


  drives the whole system+allocates tasks to the subsystems

  decides what info goes to LTM and what is discarded
• what does the general buffer do


  communicates with both LTM and other components of working memory
• what does the articulatory/phonological loop consist of


  remembers in speech form

  practise words in head

  make sure words make sense

  inner voice sub vocal rehearsal + inner ear acoustic reading

  deals with spoken and written material
• what does the visuo spatial scratchpad consist of


  stores and processes information in a visual or spatial form

  the VSS is used for navigation
• what two predictions does the WMM make


  1-if two tasks make use of the same component they can't be performed successfully together

  2-if two tasks make use of different components, it should be possible to perform them together and separately.
• what is proactive interference


  involves old information interfering with new information
• what is the test for proactive interference


  give p's nonsense syllables to learn for 6 mins, after this ask them to recall.

  performance wasn't as good if there was intervening tasks.

  shows RI,later task interfered with previously learnt

  George muller (1900)
• what is retroactive interference


  involves new info interfering with new info
• what is the test for retroactive interference


  p's memorised 10 or more lists, tested them after 24 hrs to recall.

  they remembered 20%

  Benton underwood (1957)
• What does the retrieval failure theory explain about forgetting in long-term memory (LTM)?

  It explains forgetting as retrieval failure where information is stored but cannot be accessed.
• According to the retrieval failure theory, what is the primary cause of forgetting?

  Forgetting is due to a lack of cues, not a lack of accessibility.
• Who proposed the encoding specificity principle?

  Tulving
• What does the encoding specificity principle state?

  Information is more easily retrieved if the cues present during encoding are also present during retrieval.
• How does being happy during learning affect information retrieval during an exam?

  If you are happy while learning and during the exam, you will retrieve information better due to the physiological state acting as a cue.
• What was the procedure used in the study involving 40 words and recall conditions?

  • Participants learned 40 words from 12 categories.
  • They were tested on recall or given cues in the form of category names.
• What is context-dependent forgetting?

  It occurs when relevant environmental cues present during learning are missing at recall.
• What is state-dependent forgetting?

  It occurs in the absence of relevant psychological or physiological cues present during learning.
• Give an example of state-dependent forgetting.


  If someone is happy while learning and is not happy during recall, they may forget information.
• What was the focus of Godden and Baddeley's (1975) study?


  The study focused on deep-sea divers learning and recalling words in different environments.