Stage Theory of Memory and Personality

Stage Theory of Memory

  • Types of Memory: Short Term Memory (STM), Long Term Memory (LTM)

    • STM: Limited capacity (5-9 pieces of info). Tested via digit/letter span.

    • LTM: Involves hippocampus for new memories.

    • Types of LTM:

    • Implicit Memory: Procedural Memory (automatic skills)

    • Explicit Memory: Requires effort; Semantic and Episodic Memory.

Memory Processes

  • Maintaining STM: Use rehearsal and chunking to enhance recall.

  • Forgetting:

    1. Interference (Retroactive and Proactive)

    2. Blocking: Inability to retrieve info.

    3. Decay: Deterioration of synaptic connections.

Memory Disorders

  • Amnesia Types:

    • Retrograde Amnesia: Inability to remember past events.

    • Anterograde Amnesia: Inability to form new memories (e.g., H.M.).

Personality Theories

  • Psychoanalytic (Freud):

    • Components: Id (pleasure principle), Ego (reality principle), Superego (moral conscience).

    • Psychosexual Stages: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital.

Defense Mechanisms

  • Strategies to reduce anxiety by distorting reality:

    1. Denial

    2. Repression

    3. Regression

    4. Displacement

    5. Rationalization

    6. Projection

    7. Sublimation

    8. Reaction Formation

Neo-Freudians

  • Carl Jung: Collective unconscious, archetypes.

  • Alfred Adler: Inferiority complex; striving for superiority as a personality driver.

  • Humanistic Perspective: Emphasizes goodness in humans, self-actualization.

Measuring Personality

  • Projective Tests:

    • Inkblot test

    • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)