PSY 654 - sensory and short-term memory

memory

modal model of mmry→sensory memory→ short term mmry→long term mmry

Modal Model of Memory

sensory memory (what just entered your senses) → short-term memory (what you’re thinking of now/ rehersal to keep in there)→ long-term memory( you have to encode info to remember longer)

iconic mmry

visual sensory mmry (1 sec)

echoic mmry

auditory sensory mmry (2-3sec)

sensory mmry - Sperling (1960) whole report

After briefly seeing 12 letters, people recalled ~37%

reflect rapid fading, not low sensory-memory capacity

Immediate Partial Report

A tone told which row to recall, and people remembered about 82%, showing that most visual information is briefly available.

Delayed Partial Report

show letters -> 1 sec delay→ the tone

only 40%

iconic memory holds a lot of visual information, but it fades extremely quickly.

Whole vs Immediate vs Delayed Report

Short-Term Memory

a system that stores small amounts of information for a brief period.

Rehearsal

repeating information to keep it active in short-term memory

once it stops - you may lose access to it

Duration of STM

Brown (1958) People remembered 3 letters while counting backward to stop rehearsal

Then, after different delays, they had to recall the letters. Oct. 1 - Lecture 8 - Sensory an…

Result:

longer delay → worse memory.

Decay

a memory trace simply becomes weaker

more time → more decay → more forgetting

but

Interference

Keppel & Underwood (1959)

other similar information makes it harder to retrieve the information you want

time ≠ cause of forgetting

things happening during that time → interference → forgetting

Digit span

seeing/hearing numbers and trying to recall them in the correct order

used to estimate short-term memory capacity.

the longer → the worse

Chunking

organizing separate pieces of information into meaningful groups

does not literally increase STM capacity

help stm limitation to use more efficiently

Clive Wearing

short-term memory is essential for maintaining a continuous experience of the present.