memory

• Multi-store model of memory

  Proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin, memory consists of three stores: sensory register, short-term memory (STM), and long-term memory (LTM). Information passes from store to store in a linear way.
• Sensory memory

  • Information from the senses, converted to short-term memory when attention is paid
• Short-term memory


  • Information is transferred to long-term memory if rehearsed (repeated)
• Maintenance rehearsal

  • Repetition that keeps information in STM, but eventually creates an LTM
• Forgetting from STM


  • Occurs through displacement or decay if maintenance rehearsal (repetition) does not occur
• Encoding

  • The way information is changed so it can be stored in memory (visual, acoustic, semantic)
• Capacity


  • How much information can be stored
• Duration

  • The period of time information can last in memory stores
• Characteristics of memory stores

  • Sensory register: Duration 1/4 to 1/2 second, Capacity all sensory experience, Encoding sense specific
  • Short-term memory: Duration 0-18 seconds, Capacity 7 +/- 2 items, Encoding mainly acoustic
  • Long-term memory: Duration unlimited, Capacity unlimited, Encoding mainly semantic
• Rehearsal of information

  Helps transfer information into long-term memory
• The multi-store model can be criticized for failing to account for how different types of material can result in different depth memory traces even though they've both been rehearsed for a similar amount of time
• Material we may pay more attention to or is more meaningful/interesting to us may cause a deeper memory trace which is recalled more easily
• Strengths of the multi-store model

  • Gives a good understanding of the structure and process of the short-term memory, allowing further research and expansion of the model
• Evidence for the multi-store model

  • Studies of amnesiacs like patient H.M. showing intact short-term memory but impaired long-term memory
• Short-term and long-term memory are more complicated than the multi-store model suggests
• The role of rehearsal in transferring information from short-term to long-term memory is less important than claimed in the multi-store model
• Research studies supporting the multi-store model

  • Glanzer and Cunitz showing the serial position effect, Shallice and Warrington's case study of patient KF
• Procedural memory


  Part of implicit long-term memory responsible for knowing how to do things, e.g. riding a bicycle
• Semantic memory


  Part of long-term memory responsible for storing information about the world, e.g. meanings of words, general knowledge
• Episodic memory


  Part of long-term memory responsible for storing information about personal experiences and events
• Declarative knowledge


  Knowing that something is the case, e.g. London is the capital of England
• Procedural knowledge


  Knowing how to do something, e.g. how to play the piano, ride a bike
• Evidence for declarative vs procedural memory


  • Amnesic patients can retain procedural skills but have difficulty with declarative information
• Working memory model


  • Proposed by Baddeley and Hitch, replaces the idea of a unitary short-term memory with a system involving active processing and short-term storage of information, including the central executive, phonological loop, and visuospatial sketchpad
• Bryan's driving experience


  Able to divide attention between driving and other tasks like conversation or music, suggesting efficient use of working memory components
• Bob's driving experience


  Driving requires so much concentration that he misses instructions from the driving instructor, suggesting inefficient use of working memory components
• Visuospatial sketchpad


  Slave system that records the arrangement of objects in the visual field and rehearses and transfers information in the visual cache to the central executive
• Episodic buffer


  Slave system that acts as a "backup" (temporary) store for information that communicates with both long-term memory and the slave system components of working memory
• One function of the episodic buffer

  Recalls material from LTM and integrates it into STM when working memory requires it
• Working memory is supported by dual-task studies
• It is easier to do two tasks at the same time if they use different processing systems (verbal and visual) than if they use the same slave system
• Participants would find it hard to do two visual tasks at the same time because they would be competing for the same limited resources of the visuospatial sketchpad
• A visual task and a verbal task would use different components and so could be performed with minimum errors
• KF Case Study


  Supports the Working Memory Model. KF suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident that damaged his short-term memory. KF's impairment was mainly for verbal information – his memory for visual information was largely unaffected. This shows that there are separate STM components for visual information (VSS) and verbal information (phonological loop).
• Interference


  An explanation for forgetting from long-term memory – two sets of information become confused.
• Proactive interference


  Old learning prevents the recall of more recent information. When what we already know interferes with what we are currently learning – where old memories disrupt new memories.
• Retroactive interference


  New learning prevents the recall of previously learned information. In other words, later learning interferes with earlier learning – where new memories disrupt old memories.
• Proactive and retroactive interference is thought to be more likely to occur where the memories are similar
• Semantic memory is more resistant to interference than other types of memory
• Retrieval failure


  Information is available in long-term memory but cannot be recalled because of the absence of appropriate cues.