2.3 - Introduction to Memory

2.3 Introduction to Memory

  • Memory: The persistence of learning over time.

Notable Memory Achievements

  • Rajveer Meena of India broke the world record by reciting 70,000 digits of pi in 2019.

  • Study by Haber (1970): Participants viewed 2500 images of faces and identified previously seen faces with an average accuracy of 90%.

  • Research by Jenkins et al. (2018): Average human recognizes and stores approximately 5000 human faces.

Stages of Memory

  • Memory Process:

    • Getting information out of memory storage (Retrieval)

    • Retaining encoded information over time (Storage)

    • Getting information into the memory system (Encoding)

  • Three Key Stages of Memory:

    1. Sensory Intake

    2. Encoding

    3. Storage

    4. Retrieval

Multi-Store Model of Memory

  • Types of Memory:

    • Sensory Memory: Immediate, very brief recording of sensory information; lasts a few seconds or less.

    • Short-Term Memory: Limited capacity to hold information (30 seconds or less), can be extended with rehearsal (repetition).

    • Long-Term Memory: Relatively permanent, limitless archive that includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Structure of Memory Types

  • Multi-Store Model:

    • External Stimuli → Sensory Memory (encoding) → Short-term Memory (storage) → Long-term Memory (retrieval)

Sensory Memory Types

  • Visual Sensory Memory (Iconic Memory): Brief photographic memory lasting only a few tenths of a second.

  • Auditory Sensory Memory (Echoic Memory): Can recall sounds and words for 3-4 seconds even when attention is elsewhere.

Long-Term Memory Types

  • Episodic Memory: Recollection of specific personal experiences, including when and where events occurred; a type of explicit memory.

  • Semantic Memory: General knowledge and facts about the world, including meanings of words and historical events; part of explicit memory.

  • Procedural Memory: Information on how to perform learned skills; memory about motor activities without conscious awareness.

Complications of the Simple Model

  • Questions arise regarding memories retained for longer than 30 seconds but which fade after being used; indicating the need for a more complex model.

Working Memory Model

  • Working Memory: Involves conscious, active processing of incoming sensory information or retrieved long-term information.

    • Exceeds the 30-second limit if actively used.

  • Components of the Working Memory Model:

    • Central Executive: Coordinates activities and decides which sensory experiences are focused on and rehearsed.

    • Phonological Loop: Briefly holds auditory information.

    • Visuospatial Sketchpad: Briefly holds information about the appearance and location of objects.

  • Miller’s Law: The average person can hold about 7 ± 2 items in their working memory at one time.

    • Various factors including age, hormones, caffeine, and emotions affect working memory performance (Chai et al., 2018).

Attention and Memory Formation

  • The role of attention/focus in memory formation raises questions about its impact.

Levels of Processing Model

  • Levels of Processing Model: Proposes that memories are encoded at different depths and complexities, influencing retention.

Types of Processing

  • Effortful (Deep) Processing: Requires attention and conscious effort; relates to semantic processing (understanding the meaning).

  • Automatic (Shallow) Processing: Unconscious encoding of incidental information; occurs without trying.

    • Information is processed based on:

    • Space: Physical arrangement

    • Time: Sequence of events

    • Frequency: Repetition

Structural and Phonemic Processing

  • Structural Processing: Using physical and visual characteristics to encode.

  • Phonemic Processing: Using auditory characteristics to encode.

Transition from Effortful to Automatic Processing

  • It's noted that some information that initially requires effortful processing can become automatically processed over time.

Memory Types

  • Explicit Memories: Retention of facts and experiences that can be consciously recalled.

  • Implicit Memories: Retention of skills and conditioning without conscious recollection; memory that occurs without realization.

  • Diagram of Levels of Processing Model:

    • Automatic Processing → Implicit Memories

    • Effortful Processing → Explicit Memories

Miscellaneous

  • Query about content: "What celebrities were in the last mashup picture?"