Memory

liudexiang

contents

The sensory registers Short term memoryLong term memoryforgetting

The sensory registers

*Memory : the ability to remember the things that we have experienced, imagined, and learned.

Information-processing model: a computerlike model used to describe the way humans encode, store, and retrieve information.

Information-processing model

The sensory registers

Sensory registers: entry points for raw information from the senses.

Attention: the selection of some incoming information for further processing.

Short-term memory (STM)

*Short-term memory (STM) : Working memory; briefly stores and processes selected information from the sensory registers.

Primary tasks

Store new information Work on the new information

Capacity of STM

C X WM N K T YR P J H B Z SG B M P V Q F J DE G Q W J P B R H K A

Capacity of STM

*Chunking: the grouping of information into meaningful units for easier handling by short-term memory.

Encoding in STM

We encode verbal information for storage in STM phonological—that is, according to how it sounds.

Some material is stored in visual form, and other information is retained on the basis of its meaning.

Maintaining STM

Rote rehearsal : retaining information in memory simply by repeating it over and over.

Long-term memory

Long-term memory (LTM): The portion of memory that is more or less permanent, corresponding to everything we “ know .”

Capacity of LTM

Long-term memory can store a vast amount of information for many years.

Encoding in LTM

Some LTM memories are codes in terms of nonverbal images: shapes, sounds, smells, tastes, and so on.

Most of the information in LTM seems to be encoded in terms of meaning.

*Serial position effect

Serial position effect : The finding that when asked to recall a list of unrelated items, performance is better for the items at the beginning and end of the list.

*The recency effect

The recency effect occurs because the last items that are presented are still contained in STM and thus are available to recall.

*The primacy effect

The primacy effect reflects the opportunity to rehearse the first few items in the list--- increasing their likelihood of being transferred to LTM.

Maintaining LTM

Rote rehearsal Elaborative rehearsal: The linking of new

information in STM to familiar material stored in LTM.

Mnemonics: Techniques that make material easier to remember.

Schema: A set of beliefs or expectations about something that is based on past experience.

Improving your memory

Develop motivationPractice memory skillsBe confident in your ability to rememberMinimize distractionsStay focusedUse mental imagery

Improving your memory

Make connections between new material and other information already stored in your LTM

Use retrieval cuesRely on more than memory aloneBe aware that your own personal

schemata may distort your recall of events

*Types of LTM

Episodic memory: the portion of LTM that stores personally experienced events.

Semantic memory: the portion of LTM that stores general facts and information.

Procedural memory: the portion of LTM that stores information relating to skills, habits, and other perceptual-motor tasks.

Emotional memory: learned emotional responses to various stimuli.

Explicit and implicit memory

Explicit memory : memory for information that we can readily express in words and are aware of having; these memories can be intentionally retrieved from memory.

Implicit memory : memory for information that we cannot readily express in words and may not be aware of having; these memories cannot be intentionally retrieved from memory.

Forgetting

*Decay theory : A theory that argues that the passage of time causes forgetting.

Retrograde amnesia: The ability to recall events preceding an accident or injury, but without loss of earlier memory.

Interference

*Retroactive interference : the process by which new information interfere with information already in memory

*Proactive interference: the process by which information already in memory interfere with new information

End