Models for explaining Memory

What is memory?

The cognitive function through which information and past experiences are actively processed, stored and retrieved

What is encoding?

The process where information is converted into a form that is stored within the memory system

What are the types of encoding?

Visual encoding → information is encoded according to sound

Acoustic encoding → where ifnromation is processed based on sound

Semantic encoding → Information is stored based on meaning

Examples of encoding

Use sensory info and encode it to make sense

feeling hot under the sun → taking off our jumper because it is hot

What is storage?

The retention of information within the memory

Retrieval

The process of moving information from long term memory into conscious awareness

Two types of encoding and what they mean

Automatic encoding → easier to retrieve and requires little effort

Effortful encoding → information recall that requires more effort

What is automatic encoding? What are some examples?

No concious effort made to store

• personal experiences

• interesting information

• basic types of learning (what you ate last or where your family car is usually parked)

What is effortful encoding? What are some examples?

Requires special attention and practice

• Interpreting calculus, how to scuba dive, driving

What is the name of the model for memory?

Multi-store Model of Memory (Atkinson + Shiffrin, 1968)

What is the Multi-store Model of Memory (Atkinson + Shiffrin, 1968)?

• visualises memory as a system consisting of multiple memory stores, through which a stream of data flows for processing

• model emphasises the storage structures and suggests that if info is stored for a long time, it must pass through three memory stores

What are the three memory stores?

• Sensory register

• Short term memory store

• Long term memory store

all operate independently but all operate at the same time and their control processes are interrelated

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s multi-store model of memory
flow chart

What are sensory registers?

The memory store where sensory info is briefly held before decaying or being transferring to short term store

What happens when information enters the sensory register?

Individual uses the voluntary control process of selection to determine which information will be attended to

Selected info is transferred to the STM where unattended info rapidly decays and is lost

What is scanning the sensory register?

A search initiated for associated infromation int he long term mmeory store

e.g. individual sees a cat → verbal label cat is retrieved from the LTM and held in the short term store alongside the visual information of the cat selected from the sensory register

What are the types of sensory registers

• iconic memory: visual images

• echoic memory: sounds

• tactile register: touch

• olfactory register: smell

• gustatory registrer: taste

Memory store encoding, capacity and duration

decay: fading of memory over time

capacity: maximum amount of info that can be stored at a given time

duration: amoount of time info can be stored for

What is short term memory?

Temporary memory store that receives limited information from sensory registers and long term store

What happens when info is transferred from sensory register to short term memory

Info is not removed from sensory register and shifted to STM store

copy of info is made for stm while trace remains in sensory register and continues to decay

What is the capacity of short term memory?

Limited capacity, 5-9 pieces of info can be held at one time

info decays and is lost after 15-30 seconds unless control process such as rehearsal and coding procedures can hold it for longer to encode into long term store

What is increasing capacity of STM

Chunking

Maintenence rehearsal

Elaborative rehearsal

What is chunking

grouping information to form a larger simple item

What is Maintenance Rehearsal?

Involves repeating the information remembered over and over again so it can be retained in STM.

does not always lead to long term retention

What is Elaborative Rehearsal ?

process of linking new information in a meaningful way with new information or information already stored in LTYM to aid it’s storage and retrieval in LTM

What are the strengths of maintenance rehearsal

Strength: Effective for storing meaningless information for an extended period of time

What are the limitations of maintenence rehearsal

• restricts amount of new information entering sensory memory and LTM

• easily interrupted

• adds nothing to the understanding of information

• not an effective way of transferring information to LTM

What are the strengths of elaborative rehearsal?

• increase understanding because it requires deep processing

• adds more detail, which increases retrieval

• increases possibility of long term retention because it organises new info according to meaning

• makes information more accessible because it creates more potential retrieval cues

What are the limitations of elaborative rehearsal?

Takes longer than maintenance

difficult to practice in situations where information entering STM is rapidly changing

relies on ability to retrieve information previously stored in LTM

requires more conscious effort than maintenance rehearsal

What is long term memory?

A relatively permanent memory store for a limitless amount of information that sends and receives information from the short term store

How does long term memory work according to the multi store model?

• info processed in STM → transferred to third store for relatively permanent storage of unlimited amount of information: LTM

• when required later → info located in LTM and returned to conscious awareness

• info encoded semantically, meaning unless thigns people remember are meaningful, they will decay over time.

What is searching?

A process controlled by the individual, Where a search for a memory trace ensues when someone is trying to remember something

For instance, the individual decides when to give up on a search

Once memory trace is found, it is recovered and trasnferred to the STM via retrieval and the stronger the memory trace, the easier it will be located and consequently retreiveed

Why wouldn’t all information be able to be retrived from LTM and transferred to STM?

Decay

Interferance

What is decay?

Gradual fading of memory over time

What is interferance?

Hpapens when information in the long term store is distrupted by similar information and therefore cannot be retrieved

What is implicit memory?

Memory that operates without concious awareness

non-declarative

includes procedural memory

What is explicit memory?

Memory for facts and personally significant events that can be conciously recalled

Declarative memory

Includes semantic and episodic

Types of memory and organisation

Procedural memory

The memory of learnt actions and skills

• walking

• talking

• juggling

stored in LTM but often involve complicated sequences of mmovements that we are unware of or that we are unable to articulate

only fully express this memory through actions

little to no concious effort or intentional attempt to retrieve, then are knwon as being implicit memories

Where is procedural memory registered?

low brain such as cerebellum

out of conscious control’

more basic, automatic elements of learning and memory related to actions

most resistant to forgetting

Declarative memory

LTM store for factual information such as face, names, words, dates and ideas

words or symbols

can be explained in words

takes concious effort to retrieve

aka explicit memories

What is declarative memory divided into

Semantic and Episodic

What is semantic memory

• declarative memory of impersonal factual knowledge

• objects, days of the week and months of the year, simple maths

• impersonal facts

• general factual information about the world that does not involve the memory of personally significant events or episodes that are tied to a specific time and place

What is episodic memory

declarative memory of personally experienced events related to a specific time or place, such as birthday celebrations or a first day of highschool

least resistant to forgetting

Strengths of multistore model

• good understanding of the structure and process of memory.

• allowed researchers to expand on this model by performing experiments to validqate and support the theory. generated a lot of research int omemory

• memory studies provide evidence to support distinction between STM and LTM

• case studies such as Henry Molaison, Clive Wearing

• provided focus on teh structural basis of memory stores when ability to recall new memories became severely impaired after surgery

Limitations of Multi-store mmodel

Rehearsal is considered too simple an explanation to account for the transfer of information from STM to LTM → ignores factors such as motivation, self-regulation, cognitive strategies (mnemonics, abstract reasoning), which underpin learning

• models main emphasis was on structure and tends to neglect the process elements of memory

• only focuses on attention and rehearsal but does not explain how LTM is retrieved

• describes memory as a passive process while others such as loftus study on false memories shows that it’s active

Draw the multi-store model of memory wrap up

What are the models of working memory

•Alan Baddeley + Graham Hitch, 1974. 

•Baddeley then updated this in 2000. 

model of STM as a working memory

• a view of short term memory as a dynamic storage system capable of simultaneously holding multiple pieces of information

•Simply holding information in STM is not sufficient for it to be transferred to LTM – i.e. the duration that the information is held there is not the only factor that increases probability of transfer. 

•Information is not passively held in STM; it is actively manipulated (or ‘worked on’).

• termed it as Working Memory; as they believe it is active, not passive. 

What are the components of the Working Memory Model?

Central executive that integrated information from two subsystems

• Phonological loop

• Visuospatial sketchpad

• Baddley then added episodic buffer

Draw the working memory model (version 1974)

Draw the working memory model (version 2000), bADDELEY

what is the Phonological loop

area of working memory that temporarily stores and processes auditory information.

Works with auditory info that has been encoded acoustically

further divided into

phonological store: storage for words that are heard (inner ear)
articulatory process: repeats words heard in a loop allowing maintenance rehearsal to occur

lasts up to two seconds unless the information is rehearsed

prevent rapid decay when we are speaking

e.g. reciting phone number, counting how many doors you have

what is the Visuospatial sketchpad

coponenent of working memory model that stores and manipulates visual and spatial information

used when visualising something in the mind

Deals with what ifno looks like and how it is laid out in space by representing info in the form of visual features such as size, shape and colour, location, speed of objects in space

stores info briefly but not long enough to rehearse and manipulate and process it

What is the central executive

Info Enters VSS and PL under control of CE

Decides which system shoudl deal with incoming infromation

Also retrieves information from LTM and consolidates it with information from VSS and PL within episodic buffer

info retrieved from LTM store is controlled by central executive

controls attention given to tasks, allows for selective attention switching between different tasks

only can proces one inpput at a time.

integrates info from phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad and episodic buffer

What activities does the CE do?

•executive plays a major role in planning and controlling behaviour as it switches attention between tasks and selects strategies to tackle the problem being worked on. 

•coordinates activities needed to carry out more than one task at a time, so it is in control when we multi-task. 

e.g , you mentally weigh up pros and cons before making a decision. 

•executive can not multi-task, so it helps to work out which decisions need to be made first. 

What was added?

Episodic buffer (added in version 2000 – in syllabus)

What is the episodic buffer

A component of working memory model that temporarily stores consolidated information from CE, VSSP, PL and LTM

limited capacity and is accessible by conciousness

semantic memories held in the long term store of memory are intergrated with j info retrieved from vssp and pl within buffer to produce segments termed “episodes”

can make sense of information entering different parts of the working memory.

was added to the working memory model to help explain how working memory actually links with LTM. 

2000 working memory model

Strengths of working memory model

•Explains a lot more than the multistore model. It makes sense of a range of tasks - verbal reasoning, comprehension, reading, problem-solving and visual and spatial processing. And the model is supported by considerable experimental evidence (KM case study).

•Applies to real-life tasks such as reading (phonological loop), problem solving and multi tasking (central executive), navigation (visuo-spatial sketchpad)

•does not over emphasize the importance of rehearsal for STM retention, in contrast to the multi-store model

Limitations of working memory model

•There is little direct evidence for how the central executive works and what it does. The capacity of the central executive has not been measured.

•Working memory only involves STM, so it is not a comprehensive model of memory (as it does not include SM or LTM).

•The working memory model does not explain changes in processing ability that occur as the result of practice or time.

Storage

The retention of information within stores of emmeory

Retrieval

The movement of info from long term store of emmeory to concious awareness

Encoding

the form in which memory is stored