Psycholohy Year 11 Exam

Memory Processes

Encoding: converting info. into usable form

Storage: retaining info. over time

Retreival: recovering info. from memory

Modal Model

Sensory memory → short-term memory → long-term memory

Sensory memory

First place info. enters through a sense. Brief but holds a lot of info.

Sensory memory types

Iconic memory: visual lasts 0.2-0.4 seconds

Echoic memory: auditory, lasts 3-4 seconds

Short-term memory

Moves here if you pay attention. Capacity of 7 plus/minus 2 items. Duration about 18-20 seconds unless you keep rehearsing.

Short-term memory types

Maintainance: repeating info. to keep it in STM longer.
Chunking: breaking info. into meaningful groups make it easier to hold in short-term memory.

Long-term memory

To transfer short-term to long-term memory you need elaborative rehearsal. Elaborative rehearsal adds meaning to create stong memory traces. Long-term memory has around unlimited capacity and permenanent duration.

Long-term memory types

Episodic: personal events
Semantic: facts
Procedural: skills

Recall

remembering without cues

Recognition

selecting the correct answer when you see it

Serial-position effect

Primacy effect: remember the first items
Recency effect: remember the last items

Interference

Proactive interference: old memories block new memories
Retroactive interference: new memories block old memories

Context-dependent cues

You forget because the right cues aren’t present at retrieval making the stored memory inaccessible without appropriate triggers. 
Context dependent cues = environmental
State dependent cues = internal cues

Godden & Baddeley

Tested that divers remembered best when learning matched their environment. Land → land & water → water

Decay Theory

Memory traces gradually fade if not used, especially sensory & short-term memory, long-term memory is more stable.

Consolidation Theory

After an event, the brain needs time to set the memory. If you have a head injury, the consolidation process is interrupted which causes memory loss for events just before/after injury. 

Anterograde Amnesia

Can’t form new long-term memories, usually from damage to the hippocampus, old memories stay intacts but new ones can’t be stored. 

Alzheimer’s Disease

Progressive neurodegenerative disease, amyloid plaques & neurofibrillary tangles disrupt neural communication, early damage occurs in the hippocampus (severe anterograde amnesia). Symptoms: memory loss, confusion, language problems & disorientation
Breaks down long-term memory consolidation. 

Levels of Processing Theory (Craik & Lockhart)

Memory recall is a function of how deeply info. is processed with deeper processing leading to stronger memories.

Levels of Processing

Structural processing: shallow depth → focuses on apperance

Phonetic processing: medium depth → focuses on sound

Semantic processing: deepest → focuses on meaning

Distributed practice

space out studying

Mnemonics

acronyms

Method of Loci

visual journey through a place

Clustering

grouping info. meaningfully into category-based groups

Peg-word

items are remembered through association to a pre-memorised list of ordered ‘peg’ words which create mental images which link to the item you need to remember

Explicit (declerative memory)

Conscious recall, episodic & sematic memory. E.g. a fact

Implicit (non-declerative memory)

Unconscious & automatic, procedural & priming memory. E.g. riding a bike

Priming memory

Subconscious links between 2 things

Displacement in short-term memory

Short-term memory has limited capacity so when new info. enters, older info. gets pushed out.

Biological

genetics, brain structures, neurotransmitters, hormones

Psychological

thoughts, emotions, perception, memory processes

Social

family, culture, peers, socioeconomic status