Intro to Memory

• Types of things that automatically get stored in memory

  • Faces
  • Evolutionarily beneficial things
• Types of things we have to "force" into memory

  • Terms with no previous existing frameworks
  • No patterns
• Recall cues


  Hints that help us remember an answer
• Types of things we forget entirely

  • Irrelevant information
  • Our brain doesn't tell us we've forgotten it
• Confidence in memories is not the same as accuracy of memories
• Atkinson-Shiffrin Model


  1. Outside world

  2. Sensory memory

  3. Short term memory

  4. Long term memory
• Sensory Memory


  Very brief memory associated with sense organs
• Types of Sensory Memory

  • Iconic (Vision)
  • Echoic (Hearing)
  • Gustatory (Taste)
  • Olfactory (Smell)
  • Haptic (Touch)
• Short Term/Working Memory


  Your conscious awareness, hold information for a short time to process it
• Short Term/Working Memory


  • Duration = 18-30 seconds
  • Capacity = magical number 7 plus or minus 2
• Components of Working Memory

  • Visuospatial sketchpad (spatial processing)
  • Phonological loop (verbal processing)
  • Central executive (attention controller)
  • Episodic buffer (primes information from LTM)
• Long Term Memory


  Semi permanent information store about oneself, general knowledge, and physical skills
• Types of Long Term Memory

  • Explicit (can be verbalized)
  • Implicit (cannot be easily verbalized)
• The primary way we encode memory is based on their meaning
• When we recall a memory, we construct it based on previous experiences, knowledge, and typicality
• Flashbulb Memories


  Memories for events that shaped our worldview, can be for worldwide or personal events
• Research shows flashbulb memories are likely to be just as inaccurate as other memories, despite high confidence in their accuracy