COG Psych: Ch 6 - Memory Acquisition

primacy effect: we are more likely to learn/remember bits of information in the beginning

recency effect: we are more likely to learn/remember bits of information in the end

Atkinson-Shiffrin Model:

sensory memory immediate events (seconds) \n short-term/working memory “chunks” of information held in rehearsal (minutes)- recency effect \n long-term memory semi-permanent or permanent storage (years?) \n - primacy effect

Clyde: worst memory - form of amneisa - forgotten question once answer - memory capacity for seconds

short term - memory lasts for minute

incoming information → sensor memory → short term memory → long term memory

Working Memory:

digit span task participants hear a series of digits and repeat them back \n - increased until memory fails (limit of the digit span) \n “7 Plus Or Minus 2” :people remember around seven items, or chunks \n in working memory - why phone numbers are 7 numbers \n chunkingour ability to group items into digits, numbers, words for maximum \n memorization (area codes, organizations, mnemonics)

operation span procedure designed to measure working memory capacity when it is actually “working” (under demand) \n correlate strongly with measures of : standardized test performance, reasoning, reading ability, logical-verbal intelligence

Chunking of visuospatial material:

visual working memory stores objects rather than indv features: - we chunk things verbally, numerically

Baddely-Hitch Model:

Working memory system mechanisms:

phonological loop: auditory information

episodic buffer: auditory and visual information in chronological order

visual-spatial sketchpad: visual-spatial sketchpad: visual and spatial information

Central Executive: flexible system responsible for the control and regulation of cognitive processes - directs focus and targets information, making wm and ltm work together - sequences of thought and action - selects and launches responses - plans and sets goals - breaks routines (inhibition)

  • every part of prefrontal cortex plays a role in the central executive

Long-Term Memory (Melton model)

encoding/acquisition - gaining information

storage - holding/reorganizing information in LTM until it is needed

retrieval - locating information and brining it into active use

Long-Term Memory (Turlving/Schaccter) \n Explicit / declarative memory = memories of facts and events we can consciously \n remember and recall / declare

  • episodic - experienced events (ex. remembering what you did on 16th bday)
  • semantic: knowledge and concepts
  • Implicit / non-declarative = not part of consciousness and formed through behaviors (learning how to ride a bike, fear of spiders)

Implicit / non-declarative = not part of consciousness and formed through behaviors (learning how to ride a bike, fear of spiders)

  • motor memory, conditioning - ex. fears

Entering LTM storage through Rehersal

maintenance rehearsal: a rote, mechanical process involving repetition

  • ex. given 20 words to memorize, repeat bit by bit \n elaborative rehearsal thinking about what the to-be remembered items mean and how they’re related to each other and what one already knows
  • forming links between items - organizing and chunking information

elaborative more encoding than maintenance rehearsal

Entering long-term storage through reherhsal - used by retrieval paths - activates related retrieval words of memory

Ways to enhance memory

  • peg word system: hang something to be memorized on top of the words ex. mnemonic device - PEMDAS

interactive imagery: visual mnemonics - memory strategies that employ interactive visual imagery to assist recall of a series of items on a list

STM: mechanically transfers input to and from LTM

WM: librarian - categorizes, catalogs new material

reconsolidation: when you retrieve a memory you have to consolidate it again (encoding - storage - retrieval)

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