Psychology Memory: Encoding, Retrieval, Modal Model & Working Memory

memory

the mental process of acquiring, encoding, storing, and

retrieving information, experiences, and skills

Acquisition (Encoding)

Process of coding and putting information into memory

storage

Holding or maintaining information in memory

Retrieval

Locating or recovering information from memory

Two kinds of memory (and their relevant functions)

1) Explicit Memory - Concious

- Episodic Memory - Memory from specific events

- Semantic Memory - General knowledge, not tied to any time or place

2) Implicit Memory - Revealed by indirect tests

- Procedural memory - knowing how

- priming

- perceptual memory - recalibrating perceptual systems as a result of experience

- classical conditioning

If you recall all the words you can from the list you saw previously, it's called _________

Free Recall

Recall

Individual generates the memory after being given a broad cue identifying the information sought

Cued Recall

Participants are given a cue to facilitate recall

ex: Recall all the names of animals

Serial Recall

Need to recall order as well as item names

ex: Recall the names of all previous presidents in the order they were elected

Differences of Recall Vs. Recognition

In the case of a lack of source memory, what does recognition depend

Recall - Individual generates the memory after being given a broad cue identifying the information sought

Recognition - Information is presented, and the individual must decide if it is the sought-after information. (ex: 10 names are presented on the board, you must select the five which were presidents)

In the absence of source memory, recognition often depends on familiarity

What does the computer model of human cognition

thinking = information processing

Assumptions of memory (2)

Memory has a limited capacity

- space

- resources

- time

Memory is an integrated system that process info

- acquire, store, and retrieve info

What model of memory is this? Explain it

The Modal Model of Memory

Sensory memory (e.g., iconic memory, echoic memory)

(Sensory memory plays a minimal role in modern theorizing)

Short-term memory (STM)

- Largely replaced by "working memory" in modern theories

- Better understood as a status or activity rather than a place

Long-term memory (LTM

What does this test?

Iconic Memory

Working memory

What is working more like than storage?

What does it contain?

A dynamic form of short-term storage

- Less like a storage place, more like a status

- Contains currently activated ideas or thoughts that are

being worked on by a specific set of operations

Contrasts Between Working Memory and LTM (duration, capacity & size, ease of entry, ease of retrieval)

How is the modal model supported via study?

What two effects arise via this study?

Participants study a long series of words

(e.g., 30 words, 1 word presented per second)

Free-recall procedure

Recall likelihood is influenced by the item's serial

position

Primacy effect (long-term memory)

Better memory for the first few items relative to middle items

- rehearsed more than later words

Recency effect (working memory)

Better memory for the last few

items

Last few items are not displaced

by future items

How can we test the primacy and recency effects?

The manipulation of Working Memory should affect the recall of recent items (which rely on WM) but not items presented earlier in the list (which rely on LTM)

Delaying recall with a different task displaces content in

working memory.

Early items should not be affected because LTM does not

depend on the current activity.

Brain Regions Supporting Memory

Retrieval from long-term memory specifically activates the hippocampus

Retrieval from working memory specifically activates the perilhinal

Virtually all mental activities require what kind of memory?

Working Memory

Digit Span Task

What does this task show us?

What helps us at this task

Participants hear a series of digits read to them and must repeat them back immediately

The list length is increased until memory fails.

The number of digits the person can echo back without

errors is that person's digital span

Average WM capacity is 7 +-2

Chunking helps reduce WM load

Measures the capacity when WM is "working"

Operation Span

What is this testing?

Operation Span

WM capacity correlates strongly with scores on... (3)

- Standardized academic tests (e.g., verbal SAT)

Reasoning tests

Reading comprehension tests

How is WM and STM similar and different?

Both are describing "current awareness"

WM includes processing with visual and acoustic info being processed simultaneously and independently

STM assumes a single entity while Working Memory assumes multiple components or "channels"

Working Memory: Baddeleys' Model

How does it work

Central Executive

Focuses attention on relevant items and inhibits irrelevant

items

Plans and schedules processes in complex tasks

Switches attention between different parts

Updates and checks content to determine next step in sequence of parts

Articulatory Loop

Used to maintain and process acoustic information

(rehearsing)

Phonological Store

Holds acoustic info for 1-2 seconds

Articulatory Loop and Phonological Store

Visuo-spatial Sketch Pad

Used to maintain and process visuo-spatial information

Episodic Buffer

Used for storage of multimodal information

Integrates the acoustic, visual and other information

What is this for?

Brain activity and rehearsal

2 Types of Rehearsal

Maintenance rehearsal - short term; simply rehearsing it

Relational or elaborative rehearsal - taking the info and applying it to current knowledge

Learning in the absence of an intention to learn

Incidental learning

Deliberate, with the expectation that memory will be later tested

Intentional learning

Two kinds of processing depths

How much of an effect does intention have?

Where do the benefits of deep processing appear?

Shallow processing: superficial engagement with the

material

Ex: Is the word DOG in capital or lower-case letters?

Deep processing: requires thinking about the meaning of

the material

Ex: Does the word DOG fit in the sentence "I walked

my _____."

Intention has little to no effect; rather the Depth of Processing effects are strong

Benefits of deep processing may not lie in the learning

process itself

According to Craik & Tulving (1975), what are examples of category Complex vs. Simple and what does this mean?

Complex: "The great bird swooped down and carried off the struggling chicken."

Simple: "She cooked the chicken"

The more complex, the easier it is to remember / recall.

We memorize things well when we...

... find order, or connection in the material

Mnemonics

What are they?

What kinds exist?

Any learning technique or memory device that helps you organize, retain, and recall information by linking new facts to more familiar data

First-Letter Mnemonics

ROY G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet)

Visualization Strategies

Peg-word Systems - use an anchor

One is a bun, two is a shoe

Interactive Imagery

Bransford & Johnson (1972)

What does it state?

Demonstrated that prior contextual knowledge is essential for comprehending and remembering new information

Memory Acquisition

What factors play into how well someone acquires a memory?

1) Contributions from the memorizer

2) Interconnections among acquisition, retrieval, and storage