Storage
How we retain the information we encode
Review the three stage process of
Memory
Storage and Sensory Memory
George Sperling played one of three tones (each tome corresponding with a
row of letters). Then he flashed the letters for less than a second and the
subjects were able to identify the letters for the corresponding row,
Iconic Memory
• a momentary sensory memory of visual
stimuli, a photograph like quality lasting
only about a second.
• We also have an echoic memory for
auditory stimuli. If you are not paying
attention to someone, you can still recall
the last few words said in the past three or
four seconds.
Storage and Short-Term Memory
• Lasts usually
between 3 to 12
seconds.
• Can store 7 (plus
or minus two)
chunks of
information.
• We recall digits
better than letters.
Short-term memory exercise.
Storage and Long-Term Memory
• We have yet to find the
limit of our long-term
memory.
• For example, Rajan was
able to recite 31,811
digits of pi.
• At 5 years old, Rajan
would memorize the
license plates of all of his
parents’ guests (about 75
cars in ten minutes). He
still remembers the plate
numbers to this day.
How does our brain store long-term
memories?
• Memories do NOT reside in single specific
spots of our brain.
•They are not electrical (if the electrical activity
were to shut down in your brain, then restartyou would NOT start with a blank slate).
Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
• The current theory of how our long-term
memory works.
•Memory has a neural basis.
•LTP is an increase in a synapse’s firing
potential after brief, rapid stimulation.
In other words, if you are trying to remember a phone
number, the neurons are firing neurotransmitter through the
synapse. The neuron gets used to firing in that pattern and
essentially learns to fire in that distinct way. It is a form of
rehearsal (but for our neurons).
Stress and Memory
• Stress can lead to
the release of
hormones that
have been shown
to assist in LTM.
• Similar to the idea
of Flashbulb
Memory.
Types of LTM
The Hippocampus
• Damage to the
hippocampus disrupts
our memory.
• Left = Verbal
• Right = Visual and
Locations
• The hippocampus is
the like the librarian
for the library which is
our brain.