Atkinson and Shiffrin 1968

Psychology lesson 2

memory

an internal record of some previous experience involving the process of encoding, storage and retrieval of information

Encoding

Processing of information into a for suitable for storage

Storage

Retention of information in the brain over time

Retrieval

The movement of information from long term memory store to memory of conscious awareness

Decay

The fading of memory over time

Sensory register

Memory store where sensory information is briefly held before decaying or being transferred to the short term memory store

Sensory Register Encoding

In the form of sense

Sensory register capacity

Virtually unlimited as it captures all sensory experiences

Sensory register duration

Less than 4 seconds

Short term memories

A temporary memory store for limited amounts of information received from the sensory register of retrieved from the long term memory

STM encoding

mainly echoic

STM capacity

5-9 items

STM duration

15-30 seconds

Long term memory

A relatively permanent memory store for a limitless amount of information that sends and receives information from the short term memory

LTM encoding

mainly semantic

LTM capacity

unlimited

LTM duration

relatively permanent

Explicit memory

a type of long term memory for factual information, requiring conscious effort for retrieval

Episodic memory

A type of declarative memory for personally significant events

Semantic memory

A type of declarative memory for impersonal factual knowledge

Implicit memory

A type of long term memory for skills