Chapter 6 - human memory

Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)

step 1: sensory memory - quick info intake (lost if ignored)

step 2: short-term memory - holds for 15-30 sec (lost if not practiced)

step 3: long-term memory - stored for years (retrieved when needed)

how are the components of Atkinson & Shiffrin's model related?

information flows from one stage to the next.

sensory memory? how many? functions in memory? how long do they last?

registers information about the environment and holds it for a briefly

ability to retain impressions of sensory information after the original stimuli have ended. lasts msec-sec

iconic memories? 1960 experiment

briefly stores information and stores visual info. we attend and report to it but info that isn't used is lost.

echoic memory? 1972 experiment

people can report an auditory stimulus with considerable accuracy if probed for it soon after onset. briefly stores audio info.hole vs. partial report procedure (How much information?)

Partial report: After stimulus presentation, a visual signal indicated whether the listener was to report the

left, front, or right items.

STM? function in memory? how long does it last?

A proposed intermediate system in which information has to reside on its journey from sensory memory to long-term memory./stm holds a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state./15-30 seconds

What is memory span in stm/relate to the magic number 7 ± 2 (Miller, 1956)

capacity/ number of elements immediately repeated correct after hearing list.

How can chunking help to hold more information in STM?

organizations into meaningful groups/Extends capacity of STM

What is the rate of forgetting in STM (check Peterson & Peterson, 1959)?

STM fades away after approx. 12 seconds without rehearsal.

explain the serial position curve (check Murdoch, 1962) explain primacy effect and what does it support?

not all words are equally remembered, depends on the time of presentation./tendency for the first items presented in a series to be remembered better.

recency effect and what does it support? 1962

most recently presented items/ experiences will most likely be remembered best.

supports the STM mechanism.

levels of processing theory?

the deeper the processing, the more words that were remembered.

main difference between the levels of processing theory and the Atkinson & Shiffrin's (1968) model?

LoP- does not focus on the structures or stages in memory, but on how deeply memory events are processed. The more deeply an event is processed, the stronger will reside in memory, and the faster it will be retrieved.

A&S- is a model of memory based on stages (sensory memory, short term memory, and long-term memory). It focused primarily on how much and for how long information can be held on each stage, and how the stages relate to each other.

What are the main problems of the levels of processing theory?

- Incomplete theory because it tends to ignore retrieval processes (focus on encoding).

- It is hard to decide the level of processing learners use due to the lack of an indept. measure of processing depth.

- Difficult to test and analyze scientifically

Why is the levels of processing theory relevant?

its important becuz we focus on the level that which events are processed.

Baddeley’s theory of working memory?

system that provides temporary storage for information that is currently being used in some conscious capacity.

What are the components of Baddeley's working memory theory.

central executive, visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop, and episodic buffer.

visual sensory store (iconic memory)

the brief memory of an image.(flicker) <1 sec

auditory sensory store (echoic memory)

brief memory of sounds <4 sec

partial report.

Immediately after the stimulus was turned off, pts were cued to attend to just one row of the display and to report only the letters in that row.

The cues were in the form of different tones (high for the top row,medium for middle, and low for

bottom).

Partial report: 3-4 letters => potential to remember for 9-12 letters

whole report

After the display was turned off, participants had to report as many letters as they remember.

3-5 letters => very limited sensory memory

immediate vs delay report

Based on the partial report procedure.

After the display was turned off, participants were cued by a tone, either immediately or after a delay, to recall a particular one of the three rows.

Each sensory memory store represents an immense amount of detail, and it is very brief in duration. Approximated duration of each sensory memory store varies.

STM?

information-storage without manipulation and is a component of working memory.

memory span?

the capacity to how much info the brain can hold.

Miller 1956

7 (+ or -)2 chunks, which puts a limit on our capacity when processing information.

chunk?

a cluster of items that have been previously stored as a unit in long- term memory like a word or a picture.

chunking?

Process by which a person organizes material into meaningful groups.

Extends the capacity of the STM

retention?

the rate of forgetting in short-term memory, how long can info be stored in STM.

serial position curve

not all words are equally remembered, it depends on the time of presentation.

Craik and Lockhart 1972?

The probability of remembering an event (STM->LTM) does not depend on how long it resides

in STM (rehearsal, repetitions), but rather on how deeply (or to what level of processing) the

event is processed.

depth of processing theory

Emphasis is placed on the specific mental operations that happen during encoding, not how long something is maintained in short term memory.

working memory model

A multi-part system that provides temporary storage for information that is currently being used in some conscious capacity.

baddley and hitch 1974

focused on the information that we hold in mind when we are thinking about something or performing a task. It focused on how we process/manipulate information in what is known as short-term memory. With time, it has become a more complex model of memory, trying to explain how working memory relates to sensory memory and long-term memory. It is a more dynamic view of memory.

components of Baddley & Hitch?

central executive, visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop, and episodic buffer.

visuospatial sketchpad

processing visual and spatial info, allows you to store images of objects and their locations/ used in navigation.

episodic buffer

temporally links info across domains to form integrated units of visual, spatial, and verbal info, also transfers info in and out of long-term store.

central executive

attentional control system of limited processing capacity/role of controlling action.

Primacy effect

Tendency for the first items presented in a series to be remembered better or more easily

phonological loop

auditory information silently rehearsing sounds or words in a continuous loop

recency effect

The most recently presented items or experiences will most likely be remembered best.