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SUSS PSY 305 STUDY UNIT 4 MEMORY - Coggle Diagram
SUSS PSY 305 STUDY UNIT 4 MEMORY
Memory Structure and Function
What is memory
Memory is the
process
involved in
retaining, retrieving, and using information
about stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills
after the original information is no longer present.
The Modal Model of Memory
Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968) introduced the modal model of memory
This model proposed
three types of memory
Structural features
The types of memory listed are called the structural features of the model
the components of memory
do not act in isolation
Sensory memory
Sensory Memory is an
initial stage
that
holds
all
incoming information for seconds
or fractions of a second.
sensory memory can register huge amounts of information (perhaps all of the information that reaches the receptors), but it retains this information for only seconds or fractions of a second
Iconic Memory
Registers Visual information. For 250 to 400 msec. Decays rapidlly
Echoic Memory
register audio information
up to two seconds for word sounds
STM
According to Miller (1956), short-term memory (STM) can only store seven plus or minus two bits of information at a time, and this information lasts very briefly (15-20 seconds) before it decays spontaneously or is forgotten due to interference from new information entering the STM store.
However, based on recent research, It turns out that by
chunking information
into larger bits, we are able to
increase the capacity of STM
to store larger chunks of information
Working memory model
Working memory, which was introduced in a paper by Baddeley and Hitch (1974), is defined as a
limited-capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information
for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning
Short-term memory is concerned mainly with storing information for a brief period
working memory is concerned with the manipulation of information
that occurs during complex cognition (i.e. during multi tasking or performing concurrent memory tasks)
Justification for Working Memory over STM
The fact that
STM
and the modal model
do not consider dynamic processes
that unfold over time is what led Baddeley and Hitch to propose that the name working memory , rather than short-term memory , be used for the short-term memory process.
Characteristics and components of Working
Memory Baddeley concluded that working memory
must be dynamic
and
must also consist of a number of components that
can function separately
.
He proposed three components: the phonological loop , the visuospatial sketch pad , and the central executive
Visual Sketchpad
Associated with encoding visual and spacial images mental representations of objects
i.e. When you form a picture in your mind or do tasks like solving a puzzle or finding your way around campus, you are using your visuospatial sketch pad
This was demonstrated in mental rotation tasks
Central executive
An information 'Exchange house' for working memory.
The central executive:
pulls information from long-term memory,
coordinates the activity of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketch pad by focusing on specific parts of a tasks,
decides how to divide attention between different tasks
Phonological Loop
Associated with encoding acoustics (Verbal/auditory information)
consists of two components
Phonological Store
its is a Speech-based storage system
i.e. 'The inner ear' which has a limited capacity and holds information for only a few seconds
Articulatory Control
It is Verbal rehearsal system
i.e. 'The inner voice' which is responsible for rehearsal that can keep items in the phonological store from decaying
Justification for a Phonological loop
there are three phenomena that support the idea of a system specialized for language
WORD LENGTH EFFECT
The word length effect occurs when
memory
for lists of words
is better for short words than for long words
ARTICULATORY SUPPRESSION
Refers to the repetition of an irrelevant sound which reduces memory because speaking interferes with rehearsal
Baddeley and coworkers (1984) found that repeating “the, the, the …” not only
reduces the ability to remember
a list of words, it also eliminates the word length effect
PHONOLOGICAL SIMILARITY EFFECT
The phonological similarity effect is the
confusion of letters or words that sound similar
For example, “F” was most often misidentified as “S” or “X,” (two letters that sound similar to “F,”) but was not as likely to be confused with letters like “E,” that looked almost alike. (Conrad's experiment)
Thus, even though the letters looked almost alike, mistakes were made based on the letters’ sounds
Episodic buffer
The episodic buffer can store information (thereby providing extra capacity) and is connected to LTM (thereby making interchange between working memory and LTM possible)
The working memory's 'organiser'
LTM
Long-term memory (LTM)
can hold a large amount of information
for years or even decades.
Implicit memory
A memory is
implicit
if it can affect behaviour or mental processes
without becoming conscious
Operating from Non conscious
demonstrating implicit memory
There are three ways to demonstrate implicit memory
PRIMING
Priming occurs when the presentation of
one stimulus
(the priming stimulus)
changes the way a person responds to another stimulus
(the test stimulus).
One type of priming, repetition priming , occurs when the test stimulus is the same as or resembles the priming stimulus.
For example, seeing the word bird may cause you to respond more quickly to a later presentation of the word bird
Conditioning
Classical conditioning occurs when the following two stimuli are paired: (1) a neutral stimulus that initially does not result in a response and (2) a conditioning stimulus that does result in a response
PROCEDURAL MEMORY
Procedural memory is also called skill memory because it is memory for doing things that usually involve learned skills. Consider, for example, tying your shoes
Explicit Memory
Explicit memories
involve
consciousness
during storage and retrieval.
often times categorised as a type of declarative (Factual) memory
Types of Explicit memory
Episodic memory
A subdivision of LTM that stores personal events or “episodes".
i.e. The events that happened during your last lecture ( your friend came late. The teacher showed a video. etc)
Semantic memory
A subdivision of LTM that stores general knowledge, including the meanings of words and concepts.
i.e. The content of your last lecture
Features of episodic and semantic memory
According to Linton (1982), although
semantic memory strengthens with repeated events
, the strength of
episodic memory fades with repeated events
.
Usually, the first episode would generate a lot of episodic information that is specific to that event, but over time and repeat occurrences, they become less distinct.
Control processes
Atkinson and Shiffrin also proposed control processes, which are
dynamic processes associated with the structural features
that can be controlled by the person and may differ from one task to another.
An example of a control process that operates on short-term memory is
rehearsal
—repeating a stimulus over and over, as you might repeat a telephone number in order to hold it in your mind after looking it up in the phone book or on the Internet.
Comparing Short-Term and Long-Term Memory Processes
Basic comparison
duration
(LTM = long; STM/WM = very short)
capacity
(LTM = very large; STM/WM = very limited
Application in the serial position curve
primacy effect
- i.e. subjects are more likely to
remember
words presented at the
beginning of a sequence
the primacy effect is
related to the longer rehearsal time
LTM
- An explanation of the primacy effect is that subjects had time to rehearse the words at the beginning of the sequence and transfer them to LTM
Recency Effect
- Subjects were also able to
better recall
words presented at the
end of a sequence
. This is called the recency effect
STM/WM
-The explanation for the recency effect is that the most
recently presented words are still in STM
and therefore are easy for subjects to remember
CODING IN SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM MEMORY
Coding refers to the
form in which stimuli are represented
We can also distinguish between STM and LTM by comparing the way information is coded by the two systems.
A summary of this comparison can be found on table 6.2 page 159 of textbook
AUDITORY CODING IN SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM MEMORY
STM
- An example of auditory coding in short-term memory can be found in Conrad’s demonstration of the
phonological similarity effect
which showed that people often misidentify target letters as another letter that sounds like the target (confusing “F” and “S,” for example, which don’t look alike, but which sound alike)
LTM
- Auditory coding occurs in long-term memory
when you “play” a song in your head.
Another example of auditory coding sometimes occurs when listening to a CD or playlist that has a short period of silence between tracks. Some people report that for CDs or playlists they have listened to many times, they
“hear” the beginning of the next song during the silence
, just before it comes on. This happens because an
auditory representation from long-term memory is triggered
by the end of the previous song.
SEMANTIC CODING
SEMANTIC CODING IN SHORT-TERM MEMORY: THE WICKENS EXPERIMENT
release from proactive interference
- the release from proactive interference that occurs in the Wickens experiment depends on the words’ categories (fruits and professions).
Because placing words into categories involves the meanings of the words, and because subjects were recalling the words 15 seconds after they heard them, this represents an effect of semantic coding in short-term memory
Word meanings can interfere with WM Retrieval.
SEMANTIC CODING IN LONG-TERM MEMORY: THE SACHS EXPERIMENT
recognition memory
- subjects apparently
remembered the sentence’s meaning but not its exact wording
. The finding that specific wording is forgotten but the general meaning can be remembered for a long time has been confirmed in many experiments. This description in terms of meaning is an example of semantic coding in LTM
VISUAL CODING IN SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM MEMORY
STM/WM
- Visual coding in STM/WM occurs when we are asked to remember visual patterns or
mentally visualise/manipulate objects.
LTM
- Visual coding in LTM occurs when visualizing a person or place from the past. There is a
stronger element of memory retrieval involved
.
For example, if you are remembering your fifth-grade teacher’s face, you are using visual coding
LEVELS OF PROCESSING THEORY
Links the type of encoding to retrieval
According to levels of processing theory, memory
depends on the depth of processing
that an item receive.
Shallow processing
Shallow Processing
involves little attention to meaning
, as when a phone number is repeated over and over or attention is focused on a word’s physical features such as whether it is printed in lowercase or capital letters
Deep processing
Deep processing
involves close attention, focusing
on an item’s meaning and relating it to something else.
According to levels of processing theory, deep processing
results in better memory than shallow processing.
retrieval cue
When it comes to retrieving information from memory, retrieval cues play an important role.
memory
retrieval works best when the conditions under which information was encoded matches the conditions at retrieval
.
Encoding Procedures That Affect Retrieval
Generating information
Memory is better if the second word of a word pair is generated by the person, compared to just being presented with the word
(generation effect).
i.e. its easier to remember self-generated info
Organizing information
Studying information that is organized, as in a mindmap results in better memory.
Presenting information so organization is difficult (“balloon” story information is disorganised and chaotic) results in poor memory.
Linking words to yourself
Words associated with yourself are remembered better
(self-reference effect)
.
Relating words to survival value
Memory is enhanced by relating words to survival value.
This works because it helps
link words to something meaningful.
Forming visual images
Pairs of words are remembered better if images are formed (compared to just reading word pairs).
Practicing retrieval
Testing following learning results in better memory than rereading material after learning (testing effect).
Encoding specificity
The principle of encoding specificity states that
we encode information along with its context.
For example, Angela encoded many experiences within the context of her grandparents’ house. When she reinstated this context by returning to the house many years later, she remembered many of these experiences
State-dependent learning
Another example of how matching the conditions at encoding and retrieval can influence memory is state-dependent learning —
learning that is associated with a particular internal state
, such as mood or state of awareness.
memory retrieval works better when a person’s mood during retrieval matches his or her mood during encoding
Transfer-appropriate processing
Transfer-appropriate processing is like encoding specificity and state-dependent learning because it
demonstrates that matching conditions during encoding and retrieval improves performance
.
But, in addition, the result of this experiment has important
implications for the levels of processing theory
discussed earlier.
Levels of processing theory would predict that subjects who were in the meaning group during encoding would experience “deeper” processing, so they should perform better.
Instead, the rhyming group performed better.
Thus, in addition to showing that matching the tasks at encoding and retrieval is important, Morris’s experiment shows that
deeper processing at encoding does not always result in better retrieval,
as proposed by levels of processing theory
Forgetting
The three main types of forgetting to be covered are
decay,
cue-dependent forgetting, and
interference.
Cue-dependent forgetting
Cue-dependent forgetting
refers to information being available in LTM but are not accessible because the
memory cues that link with the memories are missing
.
Amnesia
Anterograde amnesia
Those suffering from anterograde amnesia
remember everything that happened up to the point of the head injury
but are
unable to form new memories
.
Anterograde amnesia is sometimes referred to as a condition involving
short-term memory loss
or a problem with short-term memory.
Although patients may suffer from a short memory span, it is not entirely accurate to state that there is a short-term memory problem because the problem does not lie strictly with short-term memory itself, but rather, in the ability to form new long term memories
Retrograde amnesia
Retrograde amnesia can be observed in patients who are
unable to remember anything that happened before the head injury
.
It is, therefore, sometimes called a condition involving
long term memory loss
.
However, patients suffering from retrograde amnesia are
able to form new memories
and are also able to retrieve these new formed memories.
Decay
Decay refers to the
fading or weakening of memory traces
.
In sensory memory, spontaneous decay occurs as the stimulus fades away rapidly from sensory memory.
Decay in STM occurs during the first 15 to 20 seconds especially if the information is not rehearsed and maintained in STM store.
In LTM, decay occurs from disuse or infrequent retrieval
Interference
Keppel and Underwood suggested that the drop-off in memory was due to proactive or reactive interference.
proactive interference
interference that occurs when information that was learned previously interferes with learning new information.
i.e. The effect of proactive interference is illustrated by what might happen when learning a large number of French vocabulary words makes it more difficult to learn a list of Spanish vocabulary words a little later, because the French words you have just learned interfere with the Spanish words.
Thus, proactive interference occurs
when old learning interferes with new learning. (Making it difficult to learn new information)
Retroactive interference
This occurs when new learning interferes with remembering old learning.
For example, retroactive interference occurs when learning Spanish makes it more difficult to remember the French words you had learned earlier
Thus, retroactive interference occurs
when new learning interferes with the retrieval of older learnt information.
Autobiographical Memory
autobiographical memory (AM) is defined as
memory for specific experiences
from our life, which can include both episodic and semantic component
reminiscence bump
Refers to the enhanced memory for adolescence and young adulthood found in people over 40
As demonstrated by Conway's research, events are remembered for all years between ages 5 and 55, but
memory is better for recent events and for events occurring between the ages of about 10 and 30
There are three hypotheses which explored Why adolescence and young adulthood special times for encoding memories
cognitive hypothesis
cognitive hypothesis proposes that periods of
rapid change that are followed by stability cause stronger encoding
of memories
This was confirmed in a study by Rubin who examined the autobiographical memories of immigrant across different age categories.
cultural life script hypothesis
the cultural life script hypothesis distinguishes between
a person’s life story, which is all of the events that have occurred in a person’s life, and
a cultural life script , which is the culturally expected events that occur at a particular time in the life span. (i.e graduating from school, getting married, etc)
according to the cultural life script hypothesis,
events
in a person’s life story
become easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script
for that person’s culture
self-image hypothesis
The self-image hypothesis proposes that
memory is enhanced
for
events that occur
as a person’s self-image or
life identity is being formed
Development of the self-image, therefore, brings with it numerous memorable events, most of which happen during adolescence or young adulthood.
MEMORY AND EMOTION
emotions may trigger mechanisms in the amygdala that help us remember events that are associated with the emotions
i.e. events which are emotionally evoking, may have a stronger memory trail.
Flashbulb memory
Flashbulb memory refers to highly vivid and memorable events such as the 911 twin tower terrorist attack.
Brown and Kulik (1977) argued that a special neural mechanism was involved in
permanently imprinting details of dramatic events
in memory.
However, the main criticism against the idea that flashbulb memory is a special mechanism was the suggestion that repeated recall or frequent rehearsals led to seemingly vivid recollections.
Memory researchers have come to the conclusion that
flashbulb memories are forgotten in the same way as ordinary memories
.
Constructive nature of memory
This refers to the notion that what people report as
memories are constructed based on what actually happened plus additional factors
, such as the person’s knowledge, experiences, and expectations
This is supported in BARTLETT’S “WAR OF THE GHOSTS” EXPERIMENT
WAR OF THE GHOSTS
In Barltlett's experiment, subjects were required to read a passage from 'War of the Ghost'
Subjects under went repeated reproduction several times over longer intervals.
Key findings
At longer times after reading the story, most subjects’
reproductions
of the story were
shorter
than the original and contained
many omissions and inaccuracies
.
Subject’s account also
tended to reflect the subject’s own culture
.
Conclusion
Subjects
created their memories from two sources
.
One source was the original story, and
the other was what they knew about similar stories in their own culture
SOURCE MONITORING AND SOURCE MONITORING ERRORS
Source monitoring provides an example of the constructive nature of memory because when we remember something, we
retrieve the memory and then determine
where that memory came from as oppose to confirming the memory source before retrieving the memory
Source monitoring
Source monitoring is the process of determining the origins of our memories, knowledge or beliefs
source monitoring error/ source misattributions
This refers to the misattribution or misidentifying the source of a memory