Memory
Overview
Short-term (working) memory
Long-term memory
Retrieving memories
Forgetting
The Cognitive Perspective
Focus on knowledge, not just behavior
Learners initiate learning experiences, they
don’t just respond to environmental stimuli
Knowledge is constructed, not simply
acquired
Is memory an observable behavior?
What observable behaviors would tell us
about memory?
We can only observe memory through
other behaviors:
– recalling information
– recognizing information
– finding something familiar
– being influenced by past experiences
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Basic Model of Memory
Perception
see
hear
touch
taste
smell
Working Memory or
Short Term Memory
(STM)
Sensory
Store
Long Term Memory
Human Memory
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
Sensory Memory
The five senses
Sensory register
Large capacity
Short duration
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Sensations we pay attention to often are encoded
into short-term (or working) memory.
see
hear
touch
taste
smell
Sensory
Working Memory or
Short-Term Memory
(STM)
Attention
Store
Since you can only pay attention to a certain number
of things at a time the capacity of STM is necessarily
limited.
Working Memory
• aka: Short-term memory
Capacity: 5 - 9 separate, meaningful items
Duration: 5 to 20 seconds
Components:
• Articulatory loop rehearsal system
• Visuo-spatial sketch pad
• Executive control system
How can we extend the length of time we can hold info in STM?
see
hear
touch
taste
smell
Sensory
Store
How can we
increase the
capacity of
STM?
Attention
Working Memory or
Short Term Memory
(STM)
Maintenance
rehearsal
Working Memory or
Short Term Memory
(STM)
Chunking!
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Retaining Information in WM
Rehearsal
can increase duration
– Chunking
– Maintenance rehearsal
– Elaborative rehearsal
Serial Position Effects
Retaining Information in WM
Rehearsal can increase
– Chunking
– Maintenance rehearsal
– Elaborative rehearsal
duration
Forgetting
– Interference
– Decay
Information that is elaborated often makes it into
Long Term Memory (LTM)
Information in LTM is not in immediate consciousness…
...until it is accessed or retrieved.
Who did you take to your high
school prom?
What is the capital
of Illinois?
Working Memory or
Short Term Memory
(STM)
Elaborative
rehearsal
The capacity of LTM is potentially unlimited !
Long Term Memory
Episodic
Procedural
Semantic
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Long-Term Memory
Storage takes more time & effort
Unlimited capacity;
Unlimited duration
Contains visual or verbal or a combination
of codes
Retrieval may be troublesome
Types of Long-term Memory
Episodic
(Autobiographical)
Semantic
Procedural
Types of Memory
Episodic
Semantic
Procedural
Yesterday’s
golf
outing
The concept
airplane
How to
give a
presentation
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Semantic Memory
Memory for Meaning - language,
concepts
Contents: verbal & visual
Organization: Schemas
Propositions/Propositional Networks
Images
Story Grammar
Scripts
Propositional Network
aka: Semantic Network
LTM Storage Strategies
Elaboration
Organization
Context
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Retrieval & Forgetting
Spread of activation
Reconstruction
Decay
Interference
• retroactive, proacative
Basic Model of Memory
Forgetting
Working Memory or
Short Term Memory
(STM)
Sensory
Store
Long Term Memory
What happens when a piece doesn’t work?
hippocampus
HM had seizures. At age 27, he had
surgery to remove a portion of the
hippocampus.
After the surgery, the seizures were
less severe. However, HM lost the
ability to form new memories.
HM’s lesion
brain stem
HM died in 2008, but his memories stopped in 1953.
He could only remember things for a few minutes.
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HM had
ANTEROGRADE
AMNESIA
HM could not form new
memories
(post 1953)
Brain injury (or in the case of HM, surgery)
???????????
can recall old memories
1953
past
future
There is also
RETROGRADE
AMNESIA
aka “Soap Opera
Amnesia”
(cannot access
past memories)
???????????
can build new memories
future
past
brain injury
Retrograde amnesia typically results from accidents or a
blow to the head.
It tends to be less common, less severe, and more shortlived than anterograde amnesia.
Summary
(1) Memory includes: encoding, storage, and retrieval
(2) Sensations come into sensory memory
(3) Information attended to goes to STM
(4) Elaborated information goes to LTM
(5) LTM stores episodic, semantic, and procedural
memories
(6) Retrieval from LTM depends on context (location,
processing, mood, test type)
(7) Amnesics have trouble mostly with episodic memories
(still remember the meaning of words and concepts,
how to tie shoes, etc.)
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