Memory

• Memory

  How the brain receives and processes information
• Encoding

  Turning sensory information into a form that can be used and stored by the brain
• Storage

  The retention of information in our memory system
• Main senses

  • Sight
  • Hearing
  • Touch
  • Taste
  • Smell
• Information processing

  1. Information input

  2. Encoding

  3. Storage

  4. Output
• Acoustic encoding


  Holding sound information
• Visual encoding

  Holding images
• Semantic encoding

  Holding the meaning of information
• Output

  The stored information we retrieve (known as retrieval)
• Short-term memory

  Our initial memory store that is temporary and limited
• Long-term memory

  A memory store that holds potentially limitless amounts of information for up to a lifetime
• Duration

  The length of time information can be stored in short-term and long-term memory
• Capacity

  The amount of information that can be stored in short-term and long-term memory
• Rehearse

  When we repeat information over and over again to make it stick
• Displacement

  When the short-term memory becomes 'full' and new information pushes out older information
• Interference

  When new information overwrites older information
• Anterograde amnesia

  The inability to store any new long-term memories following a brain injury
• Retrograde amnesia

  Where a patient who has suffered a brain injury cannot remember information from before the injury
• Henry Molaison (often referred to as HM) is a famous case of anterograde and retrograde amnesia in psychology
• Schema (memory)

  A packet of knowledge about an event, person or place that influences how we perceive and remember them
• Active reconstruction

  Memory is not an exact copy of what we experienced, but an interpretation or reconstruction of events that are influenced by our schema (expectation) when we remember them again
• Omission

  When we leave out unfamiliar, irrelevant or unpleasant details when remembering something
• Transformation

  When details are changed to make them more familiar and rational
• Familiarisation

  When unfamiliar details are changed to align with our own schema
• Rationalisation

  When we add details into our recall to give a reason for something that may not have originally fitted with a schema
• Cognitive interview

  A police interview designed to ensure a witness to a crime does not actively reconstruct their memory
• Bartlett's (1932) Theory of Reconstructive Memory has real-world practical application and helps us understand why memory can become distorted
• Bartlett's own interpretation of the material the participants recalled may differ from another researcher's interpretation
• Ecological validity


  The extent to which the findings still explain the behaviour in different situations
• Subjective

  Based on personal opinion or feelings
• Bartlett conducted his research using folk stories and images, often asking participants to remember them hours, days or even years later
• Bartlett's methods can be viewed as a test of memory in the real world because remembering stories is a realistic use of memory
• The findings of Bartlett's research, and therefore his Theory of Reconstructive Memory, can be seen to be ecologically valid
• Bartlett developed his theory by reading through and interpreting the pictures and stories reproduced by participants
• Bartlett gave his own interpretation of the material the participants recalled
• Some would argue that Bartlett's own interpretation may differ from another person's
• This would mean that Bartlett's findings could be subjective, which is considered unscientific
• Bartlett was not particularly scientific in his procedures
• Bartlett was more interested in each participant's unique memories rather than the use of standardised procedures and controls
• This may weaken the research that was used to form the theory