Memory

• What is input

  Sensory information we receive from the environment
• What is storage of memories

  The retention of information in our memory system
• What is encoding

  Turning sensory information into a form that can be used and stored in the brain
• What are the 3 main ways of encoding information to be used by our memory system

  Acoustic, visual, and semantic encoding
• What is an output

  Information we recall
• What is retrieval

  Recall of stored memories
• What is the duration of the LTM

  A few minutes to a lifetime
• What is the capacity of the LTM

  Potentially limitless
• What is the LTM

  A memory store that can hold potentially limitless amounts of information for up to a lifetime
• How is most info in the LTM encoded

  Mostly semantic but some can be visual or acoustic
• What is the STM

  Our initial memory store that is temporary and limited
• What is the capacity of the STM


  Around 7 items of info (plus or minus 2)
• What is the duration of the STM

  Around 18 seconds
• How does info get transferred from the STM to the LTM

  Through rehearsal where we repeat info until it sticks
• Why do we forget things in the STM

  The STM becomes full and new info pushes out old info. This is called displacement

  Some info also decays
• Why do we forget things in the LTM

  Some info decays because the memory trace has not been used

  There can also be interference where new info overwrites old info

  Also, retrieval failure where the memory is in the LTM but we are unable to recall it because we don't have the necessary cues
• How does sensory info get transferred to the LTM

  We pay attention to it
• What is the process of info transferring from the LTM to the STM

  Retrieval
• What is the process of info transferring from the STM to the LTM

  Encoding
• How is most info in the STM encoded

  Acoustic encoding
• What is amnesia

  Memory loss, often due to an accident or injury
• What is anterograde amnesia

  Memory condition where new long-term memories cannot be made, typically caused by injury
• What is retrograde amnesia

  Memory condition that affects recall of memories prior to the injury
• What is a schema

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

  Our memories aren't exact copies of what we experience, but an interpretation of events that are influenced by our schemas when we recall them
• How are our schemas formed

  Throughout our lives, from experiences

  But, some can be shared among a culture or society
• What are the four types of changes we make to memories because of schemas

  Omissions, transformations, familiarisation, rationalisation
• What are omissions


  Leaving out unfamiliar or unpleasant details when remembering something
• What are transformations


  Details being changed to make them more rational
• What is familiarisation

  Changing unfamiliar details to match our schemas
• What is rationalisation

  Adding details to our recall to give a reason for something that may not have originally fitted our schema
• Strengths and weaknesses of Bartlett's theory of reconstructive memory

  Strengths:

  1. Practical application: Eyewitnesses to crime may remember incorrectly which why cognitive interviews are now used
  2. Ecological validity: Bartlett conducted research using folk stories and images so is an real-world task

  Weaknesses:

  1. Subjective: Developed his theory by reading and interpreting stories and pictures reproduced by participants. Gave his own interpretations so is considered unscientific.
  2. Unscientific: Not very scientific procedures used and was more interested in participants' unique memories
• What are the 3 stores in the MSM


  Sensory register, short term memory, long term memory
• What is the sensory register


  Our immediate memory of sensory information
• What are the 5 sensory registers

  Iconic, echoic, gustatory, olfactory, tactile
• What is modality-free

  Not linked to any specific type of sensory information
• Is the STM modality-free

  Yes
• Strengths and weaknesses of the MSM


  Strengths:

  1. Supporting evidence: Amnesia cases show damage to LTM but STM is intact
  2. Serial position effect: Ben Murdock found that we tend to recall more words at the beginning and end of lists

  Weaknesses:

  1. Overstating role of rehearsal: Some info is remembered simply because it is memorable, we don't have to rehearse it
  2. Unlikely we only have one type of LTM: Some amnesia patients' LT memories are damaged while others are intact. Clive Wearing couldn't remember personal events but could remember how to play the piano
• What is primacy effect

  The tendency to recall info at the beginning of a list because words at the beginning are rehearsed and transferred to the LTM
• What is recency effect

  The tendency to recall words at the end of a list because they are still being held in the STM