Memory

• What is the multistore model of memory proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin?

  • A theoretical cognitive model
  • Processes information through three stores:

  1. Sensory register
  2. Short-term memory
  3. Long-term memory
• What is the first store in the multistore model of memory?

  Sensory register
• What does the sensory register do?


  Receives raw sense impressions
• How long is the duration of the sensory register?

  Approximately 250 milliseconds
• How does information move from the sensory register to short-term memory?

  Through attention
• What is the capacity of short-term memory according to Miller?

  Seven plus or minus 2 items
• What is the coding method for short-term memory?

  Acoustic
• What is maintenance rehearsal in short-term memory?

  Repeating information to keep it
• What is the duration of short-term memory?

  Approximately 18 seconds
• What happens to information in short-term memory when new information enters?

  It is lost by displacement
• How is long-term memory coded?

  Semantically
• What is the duration of long-term memory?

  Very long, potentially permanent
• What did Glaser and Kunitz find about word recall?

  Primacy and recency effects in recall
• What does the term 'decay' refer to in memory?

  Loss of information over time
• What did Sperling's study suggest about sensory register capacity?

  It has a large capacity
• What did Jacobs find about the recall of letters and numbers?

  Average recall of seven letters, nine numbers
• What is chunking in memory?

  Grouping items to improve recall
• What did Peterson and Peterson find about short-term memory duration?

  Less than 10% recall after 18 seconds
• What did Wagner's diary study suggest about long-term memory?

  Very large capacity, potentially limitless
• What did Barck find about recalling school friends' names?

  90% recall after 15 years
• What is a criticism of cognitive tests of memory?

  They lack mundane realism
• What are the three types of long-term memory suggested?

  Declarative, non-declarative, procedural
• What is episodic memory?

  Memories of experiences and events
• What is semantic memory?

  Memories of facts and meanings
• What is procedural memory?

  Unconscious memories of skills
• What did Kadeem's study suggest about memory types?

  Different brain regions for memory types
• What is retrograde amnesia?

  Inability to recall past memories
• What is the central executive in the working memory model?

  Controls attention and filters information
• What is the phonological loop responsible for?

  Processing sound information
• What is the capacity of the phonological loop?

  Approximately 2 seconds of speech
• What does the visuospatial sketchpad process?

  Visual and spatial information
• What is the word length effect?

  Recall is better for shorter words
• What is the episodic buffer in the working memory model?

  A general store for combining information
• What is interference theory in forgetting?

  Confusion of long-term memories by new info
• What is proactive interference?

  Old information disrupts new information
• What is retroactive interference?

  New information disrupts old information
• What does the encoding specificity principle state?

  Cues help retrieve memories when present
• What are context-dependent cues?

  External environmental aspects aiding memory
• What are state-dependent cues?

  Internal emotional states aiding memory
• What are the main types of interference in forgetting?

  • Proactive interference
  • Retroactive interference
  • Similarity interference