part 1 - types

• define memory


  the process by which we retain and recall information about events that have happened in the past
• what are the 3 stages that memory goes through

  coding/encoding

  storage

  retrieval
• what are the 2 assumptions the models of memory based on

  1. memory consists of a number of separate stores

  2. the memory processes are sequential
• what are the 3 permanent structures in the MSM

  1. sensory register/store (SR)

  2. short term memory (STM)

  3. long term memory (LTM)
• describe the multistore model of memory

  - info from environment is gathered by senses and enters SR

  - info paid attention to is transferred to STM, the rest is forgotten

  - info that is processed/rehearsed transfers to LTM, the rest is forgotten

  - info can then be retired from the LTM back into STM

  
• what are the 3 factors for each store (CDC)

  capacity = how much is stored

  duration = how long it's stored for

  coding = the form info is stored in (semantic/visual/acoustic)
• how is info coded in the SR

  encoded differently for each sense, e.g: sight/ iconic is stored visually
• what is the capacity for SR

  - large and detailed capacity

  - only information paid attention to is remembered

  - easy to study iconic store, difficult to study others
• what is the duration for SR

  - all sensory stores have their own limited duration and decay: iconic = milliseconds, echoic = 2 seconds
• what is the STM

  temporarily stores info from the SR, it contains anything currently being thought about/paid attention to
• how is the STM coded

  mainly acoustically, that's why maintainance rehearsal is used (elaborative rehearsal can transfer to LTM)
• what is the capacity for STM

  - limited: 7 +/- 2 (most people = 5-9 items)

  - it's possible to increase capacity by chunking
• what is the duration for STM

  18-30 seconds, can be extended by rehearsal of information to the LTM
• what is LTM


  storing info over long periods of time, anything held for longer than 30seconds and must have passed through the SR and STM
• how is LTM encoded


  - strong and semantic (uses the meaning of words)
• what is the capacity for LTM

  unlimited, but impossible to test
• what is the duration for LTM

  lifetime: early childhood memories to present day
• give evidence for SR coding

  Crowder:

  found that iconic info is stored for a few milliseconds but echoic is 2-3 seconds, this supports that info is coded into separate sensory stores
• give evidence for SR capacity

  Sperling:

  flashed a grid of letters on the screen for 1/20th of a second and p's were asked to recall a row of letters: recall was good, this suggests a detailed and large capacity, but only info paid attention to is remembered
• give evidence for SR duration

  Triesman:

  presented identical auditory messages to both ears of p's with a slight delay between each message, p's noticed the message was the same if the delays was 2 seconds or less: this suggests that the SR stores have their own limited duration and decay
• evidence for STM coding

  Baddeley:

  acoustically similair words were sometimes confused on immediate recall, showing we encode STM acoustically
• evidence for STM capacity

  Miller:

  asked p's to immediately recall a string of letters/numbers and people could generally recall between 5-9 items and chunking could increase capacity: this suggests that STM can recall between 5-9 items
• evidence for STM duration

  Peterson:

  read triagrams out to p's, they found that 90% were remembered after 3 seconds but only 5% after 18 seconds: this suggest that STM is stored for 18-30seconds
• evidence for LTM coding

  Baddeley:

  semantically similair words (big/large/huge) were confused on LTM recall: suggesting we exode LTM semantically
• evidence for LTM capacity

  Wagenaar:

  created a diary of 2400 events over 6 years, his recall was excellent: suggesting that LTM capacity is unlimited
• evidence for LTM duration

  Bahrick:

  showed that p's were able to recognise the names and faces of school mates from 50 years ago, suggest that LTM is stored for a lifetime
• strengths of MSM


  + research supports that there are different memory stores: words at the beginning & end of a list are easier to remember

  
  

  + brain scans have shown different areas of activation when doing STM tasks compared to LTM tasks

  STM = prefontal cortex is active

  LTM = hippocampus is active

  
  

  + support from case studies: HM

  removed hippocampus:

  LTM = very poor

  STM = unaffected
• weaknesses of MSM


  - over simplified - human memory is more complex

  (HM learnt new skills/ Clive wearing playing piano/KF difficulty with verbal but not visual processing)

  - outdated: WMM is much newer

  - rehearsal doesnt always force info into out LTM
• what does the working memory model (WMM) focus on

  STM not LTM and is in addition to the MSM so not an alternative
• who criticised the MSM

  Baddeley and Hitch
• why was the MSM criticised

  the STM store was too simplistic and not a single store, B & H see it as an active store where info is held that is currently being worked on
• what is the WMM

  An explanation of how STM is organised and how it functions
• what are the 5 aspects to this model

  1. central executive

  2. episodic buffer

  3. phonological loop: articulatory & phonological

  4. visuo-spatial sketchpad

  5. long term memory
• which parts of the model are the inner ear and eye

  phonological loop = inner ear

  Visuospatial sketchpad = inner eye
• what is the central executive (CE)

  - a filter that determines which information is paid attention to (attention can be switched between tasks if needed)

  - oversees and co-ordinated the other 'slave' components
• what is the capacity and coding for CE

  - limited attention capacity, no more than 4 items

  - coded differently for each sense
• where might the CE be located and why

  in the prefrontal cortex

  D'esposito: CE was activated (shown via fMRI scans) when verbal and spatial tasks were done together, but not activated when done alone; it controls both types of tasks and it's located in a different place than the tasks individually
• what is the phonological loop (PL)

  - deals with auditory information in speech form
• what is the coding and capacity of PL

  - coded acoustically —> inner ear

  - capacity: what can be said in 2 seconds
• what is the PL divided into

  - phonological store: stores the words you hear

  - articulatory process: rehearsal of info, repeating in a loop keeps them in STM