memory

memory

a set of storage systems and processes for encoding, storing and retrieving info acquired through our senses and relating this info to previously acquired knowledge.

encoding

attending to and acquiring information from experiences and mental processes

storage

what happens when we encode information. info not encoded is not stored, memory traces are stored in networks of neurons

retrieval

remembering, doing, knowing. retrieval is constructive.

short term memory

temporary storage system (7±2) and brief duration (15-30s)

long term memory

brain's system for storing, managing, and retrieving information over extended periods, ranging from days to a lifetime.

transfer into ltm

information needs to remain active in stm

maintenance recall

recalling things over and over

serial recall

recall in order it was presented

free recall

recall in any order

primary effect

we can easily recall first few items → can be rehearsed many times

recency effect

we can easily recall the last few items → still in stm

middle info tends to be least recalled, why?

• too long ago

• so many items came before and after → little opportunity for rehearsal into ltm

meaningful encoding into ltm

ltm traces. ‘shallow’ traces are less effective

levels for processing

memory retention is directly determined by how deeply you process incoming information, rather than by rote repetition.

• suggests that stm is a multi-component system that supports meaningful encoding + active reasoning and problem solvign

perceptual present

the brief temporal window during which the brain actively integrates and interprets sensory information

cognitive past

concerns how the brain processes, stores, and is influenced by prior experiences and intellectual history

working memory model - central executive

processes used in planning + coordinatng complex behaviour. PRE-FRONTAL CORTEX, DORSA LATERAL CORTEX

working memory model – visuospatial sketchpad

responsible for temporarily storing and manipulating visual and spatial information

working memory model - episodic buffer

a limited-capacity, temporary storage system. It acts as a bridge, integrating information from the model's specialised slave systems and long-term memory into cohesive, chronological "episodes" under conscious awareness.

working memory model – phonological loop

temporarily stores and manipulates auditory and verbal information.

sensory memory

temporary sensory-based representation of input received through sensory channel. only some info retained. iconic and echoic

• brief duration (decays quickly)

• large capacity (relative to short term memory)

iconic memory

visual memory

echoic memory

auditory memory

declarative memory

explicit memory. facts, events, locations, autobiographical knowledge. HIPPOCAMPUS

three types of declarative memory

episodic, semantic, spatial

episodic memory

vivid first-person recall of personally experienced events ‘mental time travel’

semantic memory

general knowledge of facts about the world and yourself

non-declarative memory

implicit. motor skills, habits, cognitive skills, NON-HIPPOCAMPUS-DEPENDENT. Improvement in performance does not require conscious recollection of prior learning experience.

procedural memory

learning and peformance of motor and cognitive skills

priming

exposure to one stimulus influences how you respond to a subsequent stimulus without conscious awareness.

classical conditioning as implicit memory

learning to attend to formerly neutral stimulus because it is associated with a meaningful stimulus

operant conditioning as implicit memory

learning to produce/avoid behaviour because it has become associated with rewarding/punishing concequences

examples of non-associative learning

habituation and sensitisation

amnesia

loss of memory caused by brain damage, disease, drug abuse or psychological trauma

retrograde amnesia

inability to remember events or knowledge from before brain injury

anterograde amnesia

inability to consolidate declarative memory from events or knowledge experienced after time of brain injury

role of hippocampi

severe anterograde amnesia that results from the removal of the hippocampus bilaterally indicates that these structures must be crucial for the consolidation of new declarative information. non-declarative memory remains intact.