Facts about Memory
• Learning a musical instrument can improve your memory
• Sleep improves memory
• A good diet and exercise can help your memory
• Dieting can affect your memory
• Stress can make you forgetful
• Caffeine can improve your memory
• We tend to keep good memories and filter out bad ones
What is Memory?
• It is an active information – processing system that
- receives
- stores
- organises
- alters
- recovers information
• It is a cognitive process which refers to
- thinking, knowing or manipulating information
It involves 3 processes:
• Encoding
• Storage
• Retrieval
encoding
- converting information into a usable form
(i.e. meaningfully) for storage in memory
storage
- retention of information over time
retrieval
- locating & recovering stored information
Remember E,S,R
ENCODING
- Our senses take in information from the external environment
-Encoding refers to the active process of converting incoming
sensory information into a form that can be stored and
represented in the memory system
-there are 3 different types of encoding:
Acoustic
Visual
Semantic
Types of encoding………….
Acoustic
Representing a stimulus according to the sound of its name
Eg see a dog – encode this information by verbally or silently
saying dog
Visual
Representing a stimulus as an image
Eg see a dog – encode the broad features of the image it casts on your retinas
Semantic
Representing a stimulus according to its meaning
Eg see a dog – associate it with information such as animal, bulldog, friendly
(previously stored in your long – term memory
STORAGE
- in human working memory – storage is limited
can be compared to RAM (random access memory) of a
computer.
-humans can store large amounts of information in long –
term memory.
RETRIEVAL
- locating and recovering information from memory
- humans retrieve information via prompts or cues
- computers perform retrieval in a similar way
MEASURES OF RETENTION
Are methods of testing or assessing the amount of information retained
(stored) in memory
There are 3 main types :
RECALL
RECOGNITION
RELEARNING
RECALL
Is a measure of retention that requires the person to recover stored
Information using a minimal amount of cues to assist retrieval.
-Recall is the least sensitive measure of retention. Recall may be of various
types:
FREE
SERIAL
CUED
Wheelbarrow
Horse
Window
Golf
Keys
Notebook
Diamond
Spoon
Candle
Pillow
Lightning
Pocket
Shoes
Shelf
Monkey
• FREE
Recall the list of words in any order
Wheelbarrow
Horse
Window
Golf
Keys
Notebook
Diamond
Spoon
Candle
Pillow
Lightning
Pocket
Shoes
Shelf
Monkey
Truck
Cup
Tooth
Photo
Moth
Glue
Folder
Father
Cake
Tablet
Bus
River
Flag
Mountain
• SERIAL
•Recall the information in the order it was presented
Truck
Cup
Tooth
Photo
Moth
Glue
Folder
Father
Cake
Tablet
Bus
River
Flag
Mountain
Path
Raisin
Yellow
Raspberry
Encyclopeadia
Smile
Rosemary
Boil
Container
Ring
Power
Corner
Roast
Real
Burnt
Radish
• CUED
• recall the names of the items that begin with R
Raisin
Raspberry
Rosemary
Ring
Roast
Real
Radish
MEASURES OF RETENTION…………..
RECALL
FREE RECALL:
-Participants are required to retrieve as much information as
they can in any order e.g. a list of grocery items.
SERIAL RECALL:
-Participants recall information in the order in which it was
presented e.g. the names of cities on an itinerary for an
overseas journey.
CUED RECALL:
-Participants recall information in any order – but with the cues
(prompts) to assist the retrieval process.
e.g. the surname is short and begins with “D”.
RECOGNITION
-Is the identification of the correct information among a list
of incorrect pieces of information
e.g. Which Australian Prime Minister drowned at Portsea?
1. Chifley 2. Deakin 3. Holt 4. Menzies
Answer: Holt
-we can generally remember more accurately when using a
recognition then when using recall because recognition provides
more cues to assist retrieval.
Eg. If you were asked to name students in your English class
last year, what % of the class do you think you could recall?
If you were given a list of 50 names & asked to identify (recognise)
those who were in your English class last year–the no.of those
who you recognised from your English class would be much higher
RECOGNITION
RETRIEVAL CUES:
Is any stimulus or word that is associated with a specific
Memory that helps or enhances the retrieval of information.
•It is easier to retrieve the correct information because it is
shown among the incorrect information.
• Recognition is superior and is a more sensitive measure
than recall.
RELEARNING
-refers to learning something over again which has been previously
committed to memory.
If the time taken to learn the material originally can be measured & compared
With the time taken to relearn the same material, then a savings score
can be calculated.
Savings score = time for original learning - time for relearning
time for original learning
X 100
e.g. If 10 trials are required originally to fully learn material but
only 6 trials are needed to fully relearn the material later on,
the savings scores (amount of information retained) is 40%
Savings score = 10 – 6
x 100
10
= 4 X 100 = 0.4 x 100 = 40%
10
RELEARNING
-relearning is the most sensitive measure of retention of the
3 types described
Because: it demonstrates that there is some information in
memory, even if we think there is none or very little
Complete – Activity 1 p 122 (worksheet)
CYU – 7.1 page 199
CYU - 7.2 page 202
3 TYPES OF MEMORY
SENSORY ( SM )
SHORT TERM ( STM) or Working Memory
LONG – TERM MEMORY (LTM)
-These 3 levels of memory:
function simultaneously
interact with each other
are separate yet related systems
3 TYPES OF MEMORY
If we pay attention to
It & rehearse it, it passes to….
Information
SENSORY
MEMORY
( SM )
Encoding & Storage
LONG – TERM
MEMORY
(LTM)
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
(STM)
Retrieval
Lost if not
attended to
Forgotten if not
encoded or
rehearsed
Forgotten if:
• interference
•Retrieval failure
•Motivated forgetting
•Decay
• New information passes from SM to STM if we pay attention to it
• information may pass from STM to LTM if we rehearse it in a way that gives meaning
& allows it to hook into existing information in LTM.
•Information passes back from LTM to STM when we need it to think, plan or
solve problems.
SENSORY MEMORY ( SM )
• is very brief storage of raw or unencoded information at receptor sites
• relates directly to our sensory system
• we have a sensory register for each sense, which holds information
from a fraction of a second and several seconds.
• the duration varies from one sense to another
• this information in SM has not yet entered our awareness &
may never do so
TYPES OF SENSORY MEMORY registers:
• ICONIC MEMORY ( visual)
• ECHOIC MEMORY (auditory)
TYPES OF SENSORY MEMORY
ICONIC MEMORY ( visual)
- “ICON” greek work meaning image
- lasts for 0.2 – 0.4 sec
- stores visual images in their original sensory form
- storage capacity: potentially unlimited, retains the last visual
image
ECHOIC MEMORY (auditory)
- stores sounds in their original sensory form
- lasts for 3 – 4 sec
-storage capacity: potentially unlimited, retains the last few
sounds
-this longer time(3 – 4 sec) helps to explain why people who appear not to
hear a question sometimes answer it just as the person is abandoning hope
of ever getting a reply! This happens when the “listener” is doing another
task e.g. reading a book or watching a TV show
- the sensory registers hold information long enough to decide
whether or not to attend to it (ie process it further).
- if we choose to attend to it then it is transferred to
SHORT TERM ( STM) or Working Memory
Learning tip:
There are as many sensory registers for sensory
memory as there are senses (5) though you will only need to
know about the iconic & echoic sensory registers.
Read : top of page 206 & do TIY 7.1
Focus on research page 207
CYU 7.3 p208
SHORT TERM (STM) or Working Memory
-is also called working memory (like the RAM in a computer)
-may be using information coming in from sensory memory (SM)
or
information being retrieved from the long – term memory (LTM)
- quite often combines the two
Information coming into STM may experience any of the 3
outcomes
Retained
Encoded
& transferred
Into LTM
discarded
SHORT TERM ( STM) or Working Memory
(1) Storage Capacity: is extremely limited compared to that of
long – term memory.
normally adults are able to store & process
approximately 7 single bits (chunks/ pieces)
of information in STM at one time.
information in excess of this is disregarded
or transferred to LTM.
Storage Duration: retains information for up to about 20 sec
if unattended; information is held
indefinitely if continually attended to
( i.e. rehearsed).
Read – p 210 Nelson
(2) Rehearsal : there are two types of rehearsal used by
short term memory.
Maintenance
Elaborative
Maintenance rehearsal: p 212
Repetition of a sound or image over & over, in a rote,
mechanical way without adding new meaning to it.
Keeps ( maintains) the information in STM for a longer period
of time than it would otherwise remain.
As long as we are not interrupted whilst rehearsing, we can keep
Information in STM almost indefinitely.
This rarely occurs because we are almost always distracted
OR interrupted to turn our attention to something else.
Maintenance rehearsal does little to encode or add meaning
to the information.
SHORT TERM ( STM) or Working Memory
Elaborative rehearsal: p212
The way we manipulate new information to make it more
meaningful & integrate it with existing information in LTM.
In other words we reorganise new & existing information in a
meaningful way to aid storage & retrieval.
(e.g. associating verbal information with visual images)
Self referencing is a way we can elaborate information. This
Involves mentally involving yourself in an example or
Situation connected with the material being learned.
Elaborative rehearsal:
Advantage of elaboration
- provides so much additional meaning, that the learner’s
understanding is enhanced.
CYU 7.4 & 7.5
TIY 7.2
Learning Tip
Remember that elaborative rehearsal relates to LTM (we add
meaning or significance to memories to be stored permanently)
&
maintenance rehearsal relates to STM (it helps us to maintain
the material here for longer than the normal 18 – 20 sec).
SHORT TERM ( STM) or Working Memory
(3) Chunking
Is the process of grouping or combining smaller bits of
information that can be remembered as larger more
meaningful units, i.e. “chunks”.
This increases the amount of information (i.e. capacity) that
can be held in STM at one time.
Example:
We have very little difficulty memorising numbers with more
than 7 digits if we chunk some of the digits together.
We tend to do this with area codes. We may know a number
of people in the 02 area code. We think of 02 as a chunk & we
may then group the rest of the number into 2 or three
chunks of numbers.
Chunking cont’
•E.g: combining the digits 3,7,8 into a single number 378
• reorganising and combining the letters H C E V I E L
into the single word VEHICLE
• reorganising & combining the words CAT, MAT, SAT, FAT,
THE, BROWN, ON into a sentence
THE FAT CAT SAT ON THE BROWN MAT
Complete TIY 7.3
Read a closer look p 217
TIY 7.4 & CYU 7.6
SHORT TERM (STM) or Working Memory
•Psychologists suggest that STM is a very active memory
area composed of a variety of specialised multiple
memory systems that have evolved for different tasks.
• The term “working memory” is used because it indicates
that we are actively doing something with the information.
Working Memory
-The subsystem of STM that is involved in processing
information we need for dealing with the immediate
moment.
-It holds & processes current information with past
-Information held in LTM.
-It is a limited capacity workspace
-Working memory is seen as an area that holds all the
information needed for cognitive activities like
Thinking
Planning
Analysis
•When we perform mental arithmetic e.g. (56 + 48)
we are using working memory
• When we dial a telephone number
we are using working memory
• When we engage in verbal reasoning or read
we are using working memory
Alan Baddeley (1986) developed the most complete
description of working memory.
He suggests that the working memory is a three - part
system that temporarily holds & manipulates information
as we perform cognitive tasks.
Baddeley’s 3 component (“sub – systems”) structure of WM
 PHONOLOGICAL LOOP
 VISUOSPATIAL SKETCHPAD
 CENTRAL EXECUTIVE
PHONOLOGICAL LOOP
Otherwise known as (verbal Working Memory) OR Articulatory Loop is an
area
of working memory that stores a limited number of sounds received from
The echoic memory register and / or the LTM for up to 2 seconds
Unless the material is further rehearsed.
•See diagram page 219 – Nelson
The PHONOLOGICAL LOOP is composed of 2 subsystems:
1. Articulatory Control System
This is a sub vocal rehearsal mechanism (the inner voice)
with a time based capacity of up to 2 sec.
It holds sounds that originate from the external
environment by subvocalising (silently repeating) material
we want to maintain or are preparing to say.
2. Phonological Store
(the inner ear) with a time based capacity of approximately
1.5 – 2 sec.
It holds representations of sounds which fade unless
they are rehearsed through silent repetition.
 VISUO – SPATIAL SKETCHPAD
- Otherwise known as (visual Working Memory) that stores visual (images)
and spatial information (objects location in space) for a limited period of time.
-this allows us to rehearse incoming & outgoing information & to manipulate
and process visual images.
-EXAMPLE:
Close your eyes and try to remember what objects are presently in the
Room.
You are using your visuo – sketchpad which uses a visual code
That inputs & represents information in the form of visual features such as
SIZE, SHAPE & COLOUR.
• VISUO – SPATIAL SKETCHPAD CON’T ……
-it has a limited capacity but can use information from any of the senses
-It can store information for approx 18 – 20 sec without rehearsal.
-If too much information is supplied to the visuo – spatial sketchpad
and it becomes overloaded, we cannot represent items accurately
enough for them to be recovered later.
•CENTRAL EXECUTIVE
-most important aspect of working memory
-It monitors, coordinates, integrates information from the
phonological loop & visual spatial sketchpad and long – term
memory.
-it decides which information needs attention & what needs to
be ignored.
Read evidence in support of WM……………..page 220
•LONG – TERM MEMORY (LTM)
Meaningful information that has been attended to & that has
undergone further processing in STM is transferred to a third
memory system - LTM.
Capacity: Virtually unlimited
Duration: Up to a lifetime – relatively permanent
Processing: Information is organised according to meaning
& is associatively linked
Forming a LTM is called consolidation
Consolidation theory
•Appears to be a period of time in the transfer of information
from short – term memory into long – term memory when
some consolidation of the information is necessary
for a permanent memory to be retained.
•Suggests that information can be altered or completely lost
during this consolidation phase.
• the theory suggests that there is a physical change to brain
cells during the period of consolidation, and that the
information is not completely consolidated until the change to
the brain cells is complete.
• it takes approx 30 minutes for a new memory to be transferred
from STM to permanent storage in LTM.
Consolidation theory…..
-Explains why people may lose a recent part of their
memory following a head injury, or after ECT
(electroconvulsive therapy). That is the lost information
had not yet been consolidated.
-Read top of page 222 (rat & electric shock experiment).
-FOR page 223 – 224.
-TIY 7.5 p225
• LONG – TERM MEMORY (LTM)
- stores all the information which we do not need right now.
This information is not immediately active, and needs to be
retrieved back into our short – term memory when we need
to use it.
- as new LTMs are formed, older memories are often changed,
lost or revised.
-LTM can be categorised into 4 types of memories
Procedural memory
Declarative memory
Episodic Memory
Semantic Memory
Remember …PEDS
Procedural memory
-is learned actions & skills about how to perform a
task.
e.g. walk, talk or juggle.
-includes conditioned responses & actions like those involved
in typing or solving a puzzle.
- they tend to occur after practice.
-procedural memories are quite resistant to forgetting Ie:
we don’t forget how to swim or ride a bike.
-they are also quite resistant to brain damage that might wipe
out other forms of memory.
-REMEMBER: procedures involve the way to do things- actions
Declarative memory
-refers to the memories of events & facts
which can be brought consciously to mind & usually
be communicated to others.
e.g. that the Eiffel Tower is in Paris etc…
-it can be divided into TWO TYPES
Episodic Memory
Semantic Memory
•Episodic Memory
(time & place)
•are memories or events or episodes. Examples of these
may include:
-your first day at school
-Most embarrassing moment
- they are of a personal nature (i.e. they are part of your life
experience).
- very vivid episodic memories are called flashbulb memories
read FOR p 228
•Semantic Memory ( meaning)
-are memories of facts (or knowledge). Examples of
semantic memories might include knowing that
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand
Or
12 X 9 = 108
FOR p 229
Complete all learning activities for Memory chapter
Complete chapter notes for forgetting