SMARTER UK – RESOURCES FOR SCHOOLS
Please feel free to use this PowerPoint presentation in the classroom. It is intended to support the KS3 & KS4 curriculum and the
Scottish S3-S4 curriculum.
KEY LEARNING:
How memory works from sensory input, to sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory, through to forgetting.
Specific curriculum areas include:
KS4 Links to GCSE Biology Syllabuses
•
OCR 21st Century Science
MODULE B6: BRAIN AND MIND – OVERVIEW
B6.1 How do organisms respond to changes in their environment? Coordination of responses to stimuli via the central nervous system.
B6.4 How do humans develop more complex behaviour? Formation of
neuron pathways and learning through repetition.
B6.5 What do we know about the way in which the brain co-ordinates our
senses? Mapping brain function; models for understanding memory.
•
AQA
11.1 How do human bodies respond to changes inside them and their
environment?
• The nervous system enables humans to react to their surroundings and
coordinate their behaviour.
• Receptors detect stimuli which include light, sound, changes in position,
chemicals, touch, pressure, pain and temperature. (The structure and
functions of sense organs such as the eye and the ear are not required.)
• Information from receptors passes along cells (neurones) in nerves to the
brain. The brain coordinates the response.
Reflex actions are automatic and rapid. They often involve sensory,
relay and motor neurones.
The role of receptors, sensory neurones, motor neurones, relay
neurones, synapses and effectors in simple reflex actions.
Scottish Certificate in Education, Standard Grade Biology
Topic 5: The body in action.
Subtopic c: Coordination
19) Obtain and present information on the flow of information in the
nervous system.
• State that the nerves carry information from the senses to the
central nervous system and from the central nervous system to the
muscles. Describe how a reflex action works, using a simple model of
a reflex arc.
• State that the central nervous system sorts out information from the
senses and sends messages to those muscles which make the
appropriate response.
20) Obtain and present information on the three main parts of the brain.
Identify the cerebrum, cerebellum and the medulla and state their
functions in simple terms.
Memory
How does it work?
Memory
"In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers,
ice-skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals... this
number comes up again and again. Ten thousand hours is equivalent to
roughly three hours a day, or 20 hours a week, of practice over 10
years... No one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise
was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long
to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.“
Professor Daniel J. Levitin, neuroscientist and musician
To truly master something
takes 10,000 hours of practice
Smarter UK
scientists have created different
models to try to understand memory
rehearsal
Stimuli are received
from the senses:
sight; hearing; taste;
smell; touch;
attention
attention
rehearsal
recall
Multi store model
of memory
Smarter UK
sensory
memory
sensory input
short term
memory
forgetting
long term
memory
Credit ; N. Seery, Wellcome Images
sensory
input
scientists have created different
models to try to understand memory
rehearsal
By paying attention to these stimuli,
they enter sensory memory
attention
rehearsal
attention
Sensory memory lasts 0.25-2
recall
seconds
Multi store model
of memory
Smarter UK
sensory
memory
sensory
short term
memory
memory
forgetting
long term
memory
Credit ; N. Seery, Wellcome Images
sensory
input
scientists have created different
models to try to understand memory
Short term memory lasts up to 30 seconds
rehearsal
It can store 5-9 items at a time
“chunking” information makes it easier to
remember
• 313546578889 is hard to remember
rehearsal
•attention
313 546 578 889 is much easier
to remember
attention
Information must be rehearsed to recall
be remembered.
Multi store model
of memory
Smarter UK
sensory
memory
short term memory
forgetting
Credit ; N. Seery, Wellcome Images
sensory
input
Ifa distraction stops you from rehearsing, you will
forget in just a few seconds
long term
short term
memory
memory
scientists have created different
models toThere
try to understand memory
is no limit to how much you can
store in long term memory
rehearsal
Memories can be stored there for your
whole lifetime
Rehearsal and recall make things more
likely to be remembered
attention
Multi store model
of memory
Smarter UK
sensory
memory
long term memory
forgetting
Credit ; N. Seery, Wellcome Images
sensory
input
Long term memory canrehearsal
be divided into
different aspects such as:
• how to do tasks
recall
• facts and information
• how things are related to each other
long term
short term
memory
memory
attention
scientists have created different
models to try to understand memory
forgetting
Without recall and rehearsal, memories are likely to be
forgotten
rehearsal
Brain damage and some diseases can also
affect memory.
Alzheimer’s disease sufferers lose their
short term memory at first.
The disease
rehearsal
attention
often progresses to affect long term
memory too.
recall
attention
Multi store model
of memory
Smarter UK
sensory
memory
forgetting
Credit ; N. Seery, Wellcome Images
sensory
input
Sometimes brain damage can cause loss of
long term memory, but short term memory
long term
term
can still beshort
working
well
memory
memory