memory

• Memory

  The ability to store and retrieve information over time
• Implicit memory

  Non-declarative memory that is apparent when retention is exhibited on a task that does not require intentional remembering

  
• Procedural memory

  Memory for performing actions

  
• Implicit memory

  • Largely unaffected by age, amnesia, administration of certain drugs, length of retention interval, or manipulations/interference

  
• Explicit (declarative) memory

  Memory that handles factual information and involves the intentional recollection of previous experiences

  
• Semantic memory

  Memory for general information
• Episodic memory

  Memory for personal events that is unique to the individual

  
• There is evidence that semantic and episodic memories are processed in different brain areas

  
• Information-processing model of memory

  Compares human memory to computer operations and involves encoding, storage, and retrieval

  
• Connectionism information-processing model of memory

  Focuses on multitrack, parallel processing and views memories as products of interconnected neural networks

  
• Encoding

  Forming a memory code
• Attention

  Focusing awareness on a narrow range of stimuli/events
• Attention acts as a filter in memory

  
• The cocktail party phenomenon suggests late selection of information based on meaning
• The location of the attention filter is not fixed, as there is evidence to support late, middle, and early filtering of information

  
• Divided attention results in decreased memory performance on a variety of cognitive tasks
• Levels of processing

  Incoming information is processed at different levels: shallow (structural), intermediate (phonemic), and deep (semantic)
• Deeper processing (semantic encoding) results in longer lasting memory codes
• Semantic encoding

  Relating new information to knowledge already stored in memory

  
• Elaboration (organizational encoding)

  Linking a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding
• Visual imagery

  Creation of visual images to represent words to be remembered

  
• Dual-coding theory

  Memory is enhanced by forming both visual and semantic memory codes
• Self-referent encoding

  Making information personally meaningful
• Researchers have investigated whether we are more likely to remember words that have survival or adaptive relevance
• Storage

  The process of maintaining information in memory over time
• Major kinds of memory storage

  • Sensory
  • Short-term
  • Long-term

  
• Explicit memories

  Memories represented in the brain
• Atkinson-Shiffrin model

  Three processing stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory

  
• Memory consolidation

  The neural storage of a long-term memory - A hypothetical process involving the gradual conversion of information into durable memory codes stored in long-term memory
• Sensory memory

  Fleeting memory storage, just long enough for memory to pass into short-term memory (few seconds or less)
• Hippocampus and frontal lobes

  • Dedicated to explicit memory formation
  • Register and temporarily hold elements of explicit memories before moving them to other brain regions for long-term storage

  
• Iconic memory

  Fast-decaying store of visual information

  
• Hippocampal region

  • Plays a key role in memory consolidation
  • The entire region is key for long-term memory
• Echoic memory

  Fast-decaying store of auditory information
• Much of the memory consolidation process may unfold while people sleep
• Short-term memory

  Activated memory that holds a few items briefly before the information is stored or forgotten
• Infantile amnesia

  • Conscious memory of the first three years of life is blank
  • Command of language and a well-developed hippocampus are needed to form memories
• Rehearsal

  The process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking about information to keep it in short-term memory

  
• Flashbulb memories

  • Unusually vivid and detailed recollection of momentous events
  • Can be positive or negative
• Capacity of short-term memory

  Most people can store seven bits of information (give or take two)