The means by which we retain and draw on our past experiences to use that information in the present
Processes in memory
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
Tasks used for measuring memory
Recall versus Recognition Memory
Implicit versus Explicit Memory
Recall
You produce a fact, a word, or other item from memory
3 main types of recall tasks
Serial recall
Free recall
Cued recall or paired-associates recall
Recognition
You select or otherwise identify an item as being one that you have been exposed to previously
Explicit memory
Participants engage in conscious recollection
Implicit memory
We use information from memory but are not consciously aware that we are doing so
2 tasks that involve implicit memory
Priming
Procedural knowledge
Methods to assess procedural memory
Rotary-pursuit task
Mirror-tracing task
Models of memory
Atkinson & Shiffrin's three-stage model processing model
Baddeley's working memory model
Tulving's multiple memory systems model
McClelland & Rumelhart's connectionist model
Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) three-stage model
Emphasizes the passive storage areas in which memories are stored; but it also alludes to some control processes that govern the transfer of information from one store to another
Holds visual information for 250 msec longer, information held is pre-categorical, capacity: up to 12 items, information fades quickly
Echoic or auditory sensory register
Holds auditory information for 2-3 seconds longer to enable processing
Processes in short-term memory
Attention
Rehearsal
Retrieval
Miller (1956)
Examined memory capacity, 7+/- 2 items or "chunks"
Chunking
Organize input into larger units
Long-term memory
Capacity is thus far limitless, duration is potentially permanent
Bahrick's research on very long-term memory
Levels of processing model of memory
Deep processing leads to better memory, shallow processing emphasizes the physical features of the stimulus, distinguished between maintenance rehearsal and elaborative rehearsal
Craik & Tulving (1975) study on levels of processing
Self-reference effect
Encoding with respect to oneself increases memory
Baddeley's working memory model
Includes phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketch pad, episodic buffer, and central executive
Baddeley (1986) study on working memory model
Visuo-spatial sketch pad can be disrupted by dual-task paradigm
Neuroscience and working memory
Tulving's multiple-memory systems model
Includes semantic memory and episodic memory
Nyberg, Cabeza, & Tulving (1996) study on multiple-memory systems model
Connectionist perspective
Memory uses a network, meaning comes from patterns of activation across the entire network, supported by priming effects
Memorymovies
Case studies of mnemonists
Retrograde amnesia
Loss of memory for events that occurred before the trauma
Infantile amnesia
Inability to recall events of young childhood
Anterograde amnesia
No memory for events that occur after the trauma
Amnesia studies
Hippocampus and memory
Critical for integration and consolidation, essential for declarative memory, without the hippocampus only the learning of skills and habits, simple conditioning, and the phenomenon of priming can occur