What is memory?
Memory is a vitally important function without it we would have serious problem doing the
most simple task. We need our memory in almost every situation. To remember what we like,
to recognise people’s faces and maintain relationships, to hold down a job. Without memory
everything we experience in life would be forgotten and we would experience everything as
it for the first time.
In this section you will need to learn about:
 Theories of Memory ( Atkinson & Shiffrin, Baddley & Hitch)
 Theories of forgetting
 Ways to improve memory and its organisation.
Cognitive psychologists explain how the brain works by using models.
E.g. the
………………………works like a
Or maybe: memory works like a
……………………….
…………………….and records whatever it sees?
It was once thought that the memory worked like a blackboard. Whatever was written on it
would stay there for as long as it was needed. Once it was no longer needed wiping it clear
could simply erase the memory.
This idea of memory is not really used any more as Psychologists no longer think of memory
in such terms. Not everything in human memory can simply be wiped away; indeed some
memories will last even though we would sooner not have them (for example, visiting the
dentist to have a tooth taken out).
What is your earliest memory?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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How do we use our memory?
It seems like common sense to suggest that we remember important information.
In the box below there are a series of questions that show that when a piece of information
is important to us then we will remember it:
•
When is your birthday?
•
When is your mother’s birthday?
•
When is Valentine’s Day?
•
What star sign are you?
•
What is your mobile number?
Some information is relatively easy to remember and recall when asked. However, it is not
always the case that when information is presented to us we will remember it.
Do you think we
remember everything
we encounter on a day
to day basis?
……………………………
If you think of the information that passes through the five senses we have
(touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing) can we trust that the information will
inevitably reach our memory?
Hopefully you will agree that it is impossible for all the information we are
exposed to will work its way into our memories.
The exercise below is aimed at showing how much information we are exposed to in one
morning.
•
What colour was the TV presenters eyes on the tv? ……………………………………
•
What was the number one story on the news this morning? ……………………..
•
What was the colour of the front doors of college?........................................
•
What did you dream about last night?....................................................................
•
Who was number one last Christmas?.....................................................................
Sometimes we ‘filter’ out information that we do not need. If we did not, our senses would
be overloaded with new pieces of knowledge that continually require our attention.
So how does information pass into our memory?
When you are watching a film your brain has to process the information you receive from it.
The images you see enters your eyes as light waves, what you hear enters your ears as sound
waves. In order that you can make use of it, This information goes through the following
three stages.
1) Encoding,
2) Storage,
3) Retrieval
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Psychologists believe that memory has three processes to it:
1.
Encoding – sensory information changed (encoded) so that we can make sense of it.
2.
Storage – we store information, perhaps to make some calculations on it
later on. This is similar to storing old toys in the attic to revisit at some
later day when you want to play with them again. We are not removing a
piece of information altogether, but putting the information in a safe
place until it is need in the future.
3.
Retrieval - refers to our ability to recover information from storage.
Memory storage
Once we have stored a piece of information away, we sometimes need to go and find it again.
For example, if someone is playing a pub quiz they can appear quizzical while the rummage
through their knowledge to find an answer.
If you are storing a load of stuff in your attic, what would make it easier to retrieve what
you want later?
Is it the case that we sometimes remember useless pieces of information?

Try answering the following questions
•
Where were you when on 9/11?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
•
Where were you when Princess Diana’s death was announced?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
•
Where were you when Robbie left Take That?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Why do you remember these pieces of information?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
It is sometimes the case than an event is so devastating or unique or important in our
experience or life that is unlikely that we will forget where we were when we found out it
had happened.
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Question
What are the three key stages that information goes through?
1.
2.
3.
Key study
Atkinsons and sheiffrin devised a theory of how memory works. Their theory is
based around how we store information that we have processed.
Atkinson & Shiffrin proposed that we pay attention to some of the information that
is registered by our senses.
………………………
What are the five senses that human’s process?
1)………………………2) ………………………3) ………………………4) ……………………… 5) ………………………
Atkinson and Shiffrins theory say that some information is lost through decay, as we are
not paying attention to the information coming through our senses. This incoming sensory
information passes into short-term memory. Below is a diagram that shows Atkinson and
Shiffrins theory.
REHESRSAL
Incoming
information
Sensory
buffer
Short-term
memory
Long term
memory
REHERSAL
FIFO
DISPLACEMENT
DECAY
BRAIN DAMAGE
How does it work?
Information is received from our senses and hits our sensory buffer, but only some of the
information received can be processes as there is so much and our brain has limited
processing capacity.
The sensory buffer picks up the information and if we decide to pay attention to it then it
can enter our short term memory (STM). This however has limited capacity ( can only hold
a certain amount of information at a time). This capacity is believed to be 7 +/- 2 items at
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a time. It is thought that it can stay in the short term memory for only a short amount of
time before it is forgotten (15-30 seconds).
If too many pieces of information are stored in the short term memory something called
displacement happens, this is based around the idea of first in first out, so the first piece
of information stores in your STM will also be the first pieces of information thrown out
when the maximum capacity occurs.
If we do not fill up out STM and rehearse the information it can pass into out long term
memory where it can be stored indefinitely until you need the information again.
Activity- Fill in the gaps with the words provided below.
Only a…………………… amount of information can be held in ……………..Term Memory: up to…. (+/2) items, so new information coming in pushes out (or…………………………) information already
held in the short-tem memory.
Information can only be held in Short Term Memory for up to about …………… secs, but if it is
…………………….. then it can transfer to our ……………………………memory. Once in the long term
memory the information can remain………………………and can be retrieved for future use.
However, just because we make an effort to ………………………
Information into our long-term memory it does not always mean that we are successful in
our efforts.
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rehearsed
long-term
small
indefinitely
short
transfer
7
displaces
What does rehearse mean?
....................................................................................................................................................
How might someone rehearse information?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.
A comparison of short and long term memory
Stages
Short term memory
Long term memory
Mainly Acoustic ( heard) or
Acoustic or visual, by
visual ( seen)
understanding the information
Storage capacity
Limited to 7 (+ or -2) items
Unlimited
Duration
Up to 30 seconds
From minutes to years
Retrieval
Only possible immediately
Possible any time, can use links
with other material to
retrieve, information may be
different each time retrieved.
Encoding
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What do the following
key terms mean?
Long-term memory
Decay
Sensory buffer
Short-term memory
Rehearsal
The Multistore Model of Memory
Atkinson and Shiffrin
INFORMATION
DECAYS AFTER
½ SECOND
ATTENTION
INFORMATION
DECAYS AFTER
SECONDS
RETRIEVAL
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REHEARSAL, SENSORY STORE,
SHORT-TERM, MEMORY, LONG-TERM MEMORY
Questions
1. Name the three different memory stores in the Multistore Model of Memory:
Memory store one
Memory store two
Memory store three
2. How long can information in short term memory last for?
3. How long does information in long term memory last for?
4. How is information from short-term memory transferred into long-term
memory?
5. How is information in long-term memory recalled into short-term memory?
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 One advantage of the model outlined by Atkinson and Shiffrin is that it does provide a
simple description of memory processes.
Questions-Why is this a good thing?
Other psychologists have found evidence for the existence of the short term memory. They
found that when people were asked to recall t a list of words they had just heard, they
performed much worse in recalling the end words from the list if they had a 30 second
counting exercise in between.
How does this back up Atkinson and
Shiffrins theory?
 One disadvantage of the model outlined by Atkinson and Shiffrin is it has been criticised
for its focus on memory of new facts, such as word lists, numbers or nonsense syllables.
For example:
Look at each of the series of numbers below for 5 seconds and try and recall the numbers in order:
•
1, 0, 5,
•
5, 7, 2, 5, 9,
•
3, 8, 4, 2, 1, 0, 9, 2,
•
1, 9, 5, 8, 3, 6, 7, 9, 2, 5, 6,
•
4, 6, 8, 1, 5, 5, 2, 9, 8, 5, 2, 6, 0, 9
It should be that the more digits you are asked to recall the harder the exercise becomes.

This is why the model can successfully explain why we can
remember a telephone number until we dial it, as we are
able to keep the new digits we need in our short-term
memory buffer.

If you think of a time when you are ordering a pizza and
you need to find the phone number then it is likely that you
are able to remember the number until you dial it but then
forget once you have finished the call. This is one of the
strengths of the multistore model of memory as it explains
how this process works
Multistore model
explains how we can
remember phone
numbers
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Evidence for the multistore-model of memory
from brain damaged patients
Brain injury can cause amnesia for many reasons but there is so much we do not know about
the brain that it is difficult to explain what causes amnesia in
each case.
One of the problems with using the multistore model of memory
is that it does not explain how are we able to recall information
which we did not rehearse yet be unable to recall information
which we have spent time rehearsing? The obvious example of
information we cannot recall which we have rehearsed is when
we revise.
Forgetting rehearsed
information.
Memory loss (or amnesia) can be caused by brain damage, due perhaps to a blow
to the head, an infection, or excessive alcohol. Two types of memory loss are
anterograde amnesia and retrograde amnesia.
Anterograde amnesia – the inability to learn and store new memories after a
brain injury. The memory may be retained for a short time but it does not
appear to ‘sink in’, to be stored in long-term memory. However, the amnesia may
be due to the patient’s inability to retrieve new information, which is stored in
long-term memory. Memories stored before the injury can be recalled.
This is a case study of one person and as such the data offered may not be true of all
people. This happened to one person with severe epilepsy and so psychologists have to be
careful in saying that the same results would be found in another person.
Retrograde amnesia – this is when patients are unable to remember events before the
brain damage.
What is a case study?
What is Anterograde amnesia?
What is Retrograde amnesia?
The case of H.M. (based on Blakemore, 1988)
H.M. had been suffering epileptic fits of devastating frequency since the age of 16. At 27
he underwent surgery using a technique never used before, which cured his epilepsy – but at
a terrible cost. He was left with severe anterograde amnesia - he had near normal memory
for anything which he learned prior to the surgery but he had sever memory loss for events
for events which happened after the surgery. For example, within the 1st few hours after
the operation he was unable to recognise the medical staff and could not find his bedroom.
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His STM was generally normal; for instance, he could retain verbal information for about 15
seconds without rehearsal and for much longer with rehearsal. However, he could not
transfer information into LTM or, if he could, he could not retrieve it. He seemed entirely
incapable of remembering any new fact or event. He has almost no knowledge of current
affairs because he forgot all the news almost as soon as he had read about it; he had no idea
what time of day it was unless he had just looked at a clock; and he would re-read the same
magazine without realising he had already read it.
Although he could recognise friends, state their names and relate stories about them, he
could only do so if he knew them before the surgery. People he met after the operation
remains, in effect, total strangers to him and he had to ‘get to know them’ afresh each time
they came into his house.
Questions
Looking back over the notes on the Multistore Model of Memory, answer the following questions:
1.
How long does information last in long-term memory?
2. What is the capacity of short-term memory?
3. If you were ordering a pizza and needed to keep the phone number of the takeaway in your
memory, which memory store would you be using?
4. Describe one piece of evidence from brain-damaged patients that supports the multistore model
of memory.
5. What is the problem with using case studies?
6. Describe one of the problems of the Multistore Model of Memory
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The case of Clive Wearing (based on Blakemore, 1988)
Clive Wearing used to be the choirmaster of the London
Sinfonietta and a world-class expert on Renaissance Music, as
well as a BBC radio producer. In March 1985 he suffered a rare
brain infection caused by the cold sore virus (herpes simplex). The virus attacked an area of
the brain associated with memory (the hippocampus) and destroyed it. He then lived his life
like a snapshot of time, constantly believing that he has just awoken from years of
unconsciousness. For example, when his wife Deborah, enters his hospital room for the third
time in a single morning, he embraces her as if he they had been parted for years.
Deborah describes her husband like this:
“Clive’s world now consists of a moment, with no past to anchor it and no future to look
ahead to.”
At first his confusion was total and very frightening to him. Once he held a chocolate in the
palm of his hand, covered it with the other for a few seconds till its image disappeared from
his memory. When he uncovered it, he thought he had performed a magic trick, conjuring it
up from nowhere. He repeated it again and again, with total astonishment and growing fear
each time.
Clive Wearing’s capacity for remembering his earlier life is very patchy. He could still
remember general features, including where he had been to school, what Cambridge College
he had attended, & highlights such as singing for the Pope on his visit to London. But in all
other cases his capacity to recall detail was extremely poor.
Such amnesic patients’ lives are effectively ruined because of a lack of conscious
recollection; according to Deborah, ‘without consciousness he’s in many senses dead’. Of he
goes out alone he gets lost and cannot find his way back – he cannot tell anyone who finds
him where he’s come from or where he’s going. In his own words, his life is, “Hell on earth –
it’s like being dead – all the bloody time”.
Summarise the case study on Clive Wearing
What appears to the wrong with Clive Wearing according to the Multi-store model?
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Motivated forgetting
Sigmund Freud (1901) proposed that when we find an experience very
distressing we push into our unconscious so that we cannot access it. Freud
called this repression; it helps us cope with the strong emotional feelings
that the memory creates.
Psychoanalytic techniques (such as dream interpretation) can be used to
access repressed memories but they may produce quite distressing feelings
in the individual, which raises ethical concerns.
Sigmund Freud
Evidence for motivated forgetting comes from the case
of Sirhan Sirhan, the assassin who shot the United States
Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy. Though he claimed
he could not recall committing the crime, under
hypnosis he could recall the shooting (Bower, 1991)
Trace Decay Theory
According to this theory, information is forgotten as time goes by. The memory trace
involves tiny changes in the brain, and if the memory is to be retained this trace must be
strengthened, which is what happens in rehearsal. Unless it is strengthened, it breaks down
and fades. This is an explanation for memory loss in short term memory but is also has been
used to explain some long term loss, in so far as lack of use of information in LTM may also
lead to memory loss.
1. Name the technique Freud suggests is used in pushing painful memories into the unconscious?
2. State one way in which memories that have been repressed could be retrieved using
psychoanalysis.
3. An alternative to the Freudian idea suggests that if information in memory is not used for a
period of time then it is forgotten. By what name is this process known?
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From the vast amount of research on memory, psychologists have been able to suggest
techniques to help people improve their memory. These techniques, known as mnemonics (or
memory aids), usually require working with the material to be remembered or linking it with
material already in LTM.
Below are several different techniques used to help improve memory.
Organisation in Memory
Material is remembered better if it is organised in a logical or structured way.
What strategies do you use that follow this idea?
•
Hierarchical Organisation – starting with a general category, which is then divided into
sub-categories, which are then in turn subdivided into more specific information. For an
example of this memory aid using the area of memory see the diagram below.
•
Mapping – this is were we would create a map of an area that would serve to guide us
around a particular area of study that allows us to divide areas up into neat little
subdivisions. This is similar to the idea of hierarchical organisation, but allows us to link
some information from one area to another in a way that hierarchical organisation does
not. An example of mapping using the area of Environment and Behaviour can be seen
below
A mind map (mapping) of the area of environment and behaviour
designed to improve memory.
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•
In a sequence – such as alphabetically, or by size or by time. Imagine a patient
discharged from hospital whose treatment involved taking various pills at different
times, changing a dressing and doing exercise. If the doctor gives these instructions in
the order they are to be carried out through the day, this will help the patient to
remember.

Imagery
Research shows that we remember
information better if we can also form an
image of it. This may be because it enables
us to make a link with information we
already know, but also because it ties
together two types of information, that which is verbal (spoken or written) and that which is
visual. Some examples of the use of imagery to help recall are:
•
Method of loci – this uses a familiar place or route as a link with a list of things to be
recalled. In order to remember a shopping list you could imagine your route to the shops
and create an image of each item, such as bread going into a bank, tomatoes at the
traffic lights, sugar in the school playground. You might notice in this example that the
item and the place begin with the same letter. Using sounds and rhythm is an additional
aid to memory. Method of loci also organises material in a sequence, which is another
memory aid.
Method of loci experiment:
Below are a series of words that you need to remember using the method of loci. To put into practise the
method of loci you need to imagine you are at the door of your house (front door in front of you). The
door should be paired with the first word on the list (for example, if the first word on the list is tomato,
your door is shaped like a tomato). You then go in through the front door into the next room in your house
and pair the next word on the list with an item in the room (for example, if the next item on the list is
toothpaste there could be a television advert for toothpaste). You can pair more than one object on your
list in one room.
The list you are to remember is:
Chocolate
Coffee CD
Apple
Soap
Milk
Cereal Coffee
Flowers
Cola
Cheese
Wine
Fork
Book
Shampoo
Deodorant Banana
Pasta
BBQ
Sugar
Razor
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1. Name the three different ways of organising information into memory:
•
•
•
2. Name the two different forms of imagery used in helping improve memory:
•
•
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