test

• What does 'capacity' refer to in the context of memory?

  It refers to the size of the memory store.
• What does 'encoding' mean in memory theory?

  It refers to how memories are registered as memories.
• What does 'storage' mean in the context of memory?

  It refers to how memories remain after being registered.
• What is 'retrieval' in memory theory?

  It is how we access memories when an output is needed.
• What does 'duration' mean in the context of memory?

  It refers to how long information will remain in the store.
• How many stores does Atkinson and Shiffrin's model suggest memory is made up of?

  Three stores.
• What is the first store in Atkinson and Shiffrin's model?

  The sensory store.
• How long does information last in the sensory store?

  Up to 2 seconds.
• What happens to information in the sensory store if we do not pay attention to it?

  It is lost through trace decay.
• How long can information last in short-term memory?

  Up to 30 seconds.
• What type of information is mainly held in short-term memory?

  Auditory information.
• What happens to information in short-term memory if it is not rehearsed?

  It is lost through trace decay.
• What is the capacity of short-term memory according to Atkinson and Shiffrin?

  It can hold around 7 pieces of information, plus or minus 2.
• What is the duration of short-term memory?

  18 to 30 seconds.
• What type of coding is primarily used in short-term memory?

  Acoustic coding.
• What is the capacity of long-term memory?

  It is potentially unlimited.
• How long can information last in long-term memory?

  It can last for years, potentially a lifetime.
• What type of information is mainly stored in long-term memory?

  Semantic information, which relates to meaning.
• How do we often retrieve information from long-term memory?

  We often rely on cues.
• who invented schema theory?

  Bartlett
• what is a schema?

  mental structure in memory - a ‘package’ containing all of our stored knowledge of the world

  (e.g. people, situations, actions, objects, events, etc.)
• give example of a schema

  asking a class to write 10 words linking to a robbery (represents our schema)
• what happens when we come across new knowledges / experiences?

  the relevant schema is activated
• what do we assume about a situation using schema?

  that the situation matches the knowledge contained in our schema - allows us to process info about the world efficiently, by making guesses on what the situation is probably like

  (e.g. telling someone you went to a gig so they make several assumptions on what happened
• more info on schemas

  • the way knowledge is organised in our brain
  • stereotype is a sub group
  • pre existing ideas of things
  • corrections adapt our schema
  • tend to remember things based on our schema and not memory
• what influences our schema?

  culture
• tulving (1972) - LTM

  • believed there is 2 types of LTM
  • declarative - semantic & episodic (you can say it, consciously recalled, describing past event)
• squire (1980) - LTM

  • non declarative - procedural (you can’t say it, unconscious)
• episodic memory


  auto biographical memory

  recalling personal knowledge not shared

  time stamped to specific moments

  contextual- sensory details & emotions

  auto biographical- personal to individual
• brain areas involved in episodic memory

  hippocampus - essential for forming & consolidating episodic memories
• semantic memory


  general knowledge & facts

  shared knowledge

  abstract- not tied to personal experiences

  timeless- unrelated to specific events
• brain areas involved in semantic memory

  temporal & frontal lobes
• case study evidence for LTM

  clive wearing & kent cochrane show that episodic & semantic memory are 2 different stores
• strengths of tulving’s model

  neuroimaging progides biological support for the distinction between the 2 memory stores

  case study evidence

  can use this in real life ( alzhimer’s disease, etc.) - generalisable
• weaknesses of tulving’s model

  doesn’t focus on procedural memory

  overlap of episodic & semantic memory
• strength of baddeley’s study

  • high internal validity
  • used well controlled procedures
  • e.g. groups 1,2,3,4 were matched with each other in terms of how frequently the words appear in english - this means the results couldn’t be explained by participants trying to remember more familiar words (this avoids potential confounding variables)
• limitation of baddeley’s study

  • low external validity
  • they were so tightly controlled that it was artificial and not like real life
  • e.g. in real life, STM and LTM probably do interact but baddeley saw this as a confounding variables that needed to be eliminated
  • only when he increased control over the procedure that semantic coding in LTM became obvious
• who proposed reconstructive memory

  bartlett (1932)
• key features of reconstructive memory

  • schemas
  • memory distortion
  • confabulation
  • rationalisation
• schemas in reconstructive memory

  • mental frameworks that help organise and interpret information
  • they influence how we encode, store and retrieve memories