Memory

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Memory

  • Cognitive (mental) function of retaining and retrieving information about images, events and ideas
  • Storage system that holds the informatin in the brain
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Multi-Store Model

  • First cognitive explanation of memory
  • An explanation of memory that sees information flowing through a series of storage systems 

3 permanent structures:

  • The Sensory Register
  • Short term memory 
  • Long term memory

Coding- the form in which information is stored

Capacity- How much information can be stored

Duration- How long information can be stored for 

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Explanation of the multi-store model

1. Information gathered by the sense organs enters the SR

2. Only a small amount of information is paid attention to which enters the STM for further processing. The rest is lost

3. Info in the STM that's actively procesed (thought about) mainly through rehearsal, transfers to LTM for more permanent storage

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The Sensory Register

  • A short duration store holding impressions of information received by senses
  • Automatic respons to the reception of sensory info by the sense organs
  • Info stored in a raw, unprocessed form
  • Info paid attentio to is passed onto the STM

Coding- Crowder

  • Only retains info in the iconic store for a few miliseconds
  • 2/3 second within echoic store
  • supports the idea of info being coded into different sensory stores

Capacity

  • very large- info unprocessed, highly detailed and every changing format

Sperling= Recall of letters in his experiment (flashing a 3x4 letter grid on a screen quickly and recalling letters on indicated row) was high, suggesting all the information was already there, indicating the capacity of SR= quite high

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The Sensory Register

Javitt et al= the capacity of iconic/echoic sores= related to efficiency of nervous system. Suggests there are inviducal differences in SR capacity

Evaluation

  • Calculating capacity of SR involved experiments where participants have to evaluate cues that suggest change in random wave patterns
    • Only provides estimates of capacity
    • highly artificial- lack on mundane realism
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The Sensory Register

Duration

  • All sensory memory stores= limited duration
  • Different sensory stores= different capacities

Walsh and Thompson=iconic sensory store has an average duration of 500 miliseconds which decreases with age.

  • Suggests duration of sensory memories is limited and dependent on age
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Short term memory

  • A temporary store holding small amounts of info for brief periods
  • Active memory system= contains info currently being thought about

Coding

  • Info arrives from SR in original, raw form e.g. in sound/vision
  • Then encoded (entered into STM) in  form STM can more easily deal with
  • e.g. visually, acoustically, semantically
  • Main form of coding= acoustically

Capacity

  • Limited capacity
  • 5-9 items can be held
  • capacity can be increased by chunking- where the size of the units of info is increased by giving them collective meaning

Jacobs research-  tested STM capacity with the serial digit span method (participants presented with inc long lists of numbers which they had to recall)

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Short term memory

  • found capacity for numbers was nine items and letters seven items- showing capacity is limited
  • Criticisms- little relevance to everyday lives- lack mundane realism

Miller= found capacity is between 5-9 items, but the 'chunks' = basic unit of STM. 

  • this means 5-9 chunks can be held at one time- increasing capacity

Evaluation

  • other factors, like age and practice, influence STM capacity and now limitations are associated with attention

Daneman and Carpenter= found capacity varied between five and twenty items between those with advanced and poor reading comprehension 

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Short term memory

Duration

  • max of 30 seconds
  • can be extended by rehearsal- if done long enough will transfer to LTM

Peterson and Peterson= read nonsnese triagrams and then count back from 900 in threes

  • found that STM has a capacity of about 20-30 seconds
  • results may be due to flawed methodology 
  • little relevance to real life- lack of mundane realism

Marsh= found if participants weren't expecting to have to recall info, STM duration was only between 2-4 seconds, suggesting the duration of STM is affected by the amount of time taken to process info

Evaluation

  • Reitman= brief duration of STM is due to displacement- as new info enters it pushes out existing info due to limited capacity
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Long term memory

  • A permanent store holding limitless amounts of information for brief periods
  • storing info for lengthly periods

Coding 

  • the way info is shaped into representation of memory
  • coding of info= stronger and therefore more retreivable
  • with verbal- coding is mainly semantic 

Nelson and Rothbart- showed acoutsic coding occurs in LTM, as participants made recall errors involving homophones- suggesting LTM has several varieties

Evaluation

  • difficult to see how smells and tastes could be coded semantically and reason suggests songs are encoded acoustically- supporting the idea of several types of coding
  • different types of LTM involve different brain areas, with research suggesting they are encoded in different ways, implying there are varying forms of coding within LTM
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Long Term Memory

Capacity

  • unlimited 
  • info only may be lost due to decay- not because of capacity

Anokhin- concluded 'no human yet exists who can use all the potential of their brains'- suggests LTM is limitless

Waggenar- created a diary of 2,400 events over 6 years and tested himself on recall of events. Had excellant recall- large capacity. However, only based on an individual, cannot be generalised

Evaluation

  • capacity=limitless
  • may be an evolutionary basis- an enlarged memo capacity has a survival value which has been acted upon by natural selection
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Long Term Memory

Duration

  • depends on an individuals lifetime
  • longer duration if originally well coded 
  • info in LTM doesn't have to be continually rehearsed to be retained

Bahrick- showed 400 participants aged 17-74 a set of photos and list of names, some of which were ex school friends, and asked them to identify ex school friends. those who left school in the last 15 years identified 90% of faces and names, whereas in the 48 years identified 80% of names and 70% of faces, suggesting memory for faces is long lasting

Goldman and Seamon- duration of olfactory (smell-based) info in LTM=long lasting

Evaluation 

  • sometimes info in LTM appears to be lost, may just be problems accessing it
  • type of testing techniques used may affect findings from studies of duration of LTM. Recall is often better when asking for participancts to recognise stimuli, rather than recall
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MSM strengths

  • Evidence for the existence of the separate memory stores of the SR, STM and LTM
  •  Model is supported by amnesia cases. Either LTM or STM is lost-not both. Suggesting they are kept in different places, e.g. Clive Wearing 
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MSM weaknesses

Clive Wearing

  • Exensive brain damage
  • has STM but LTM is damaged
  • still has some LTM-suggests LTM is complex, not a unity store

Henry M

  • Labotomoy to cure epilepsy
  • No ability to use STM but some LTM
  • Memo for skills intact but memo for life events wasn't- suggests different types of LTM

KF

  • probs with STM recall
  • can only remember 1/20 numbers- no stm
  • visually presented word=remembered better than spoken- STM more complex
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MSM weaknesses

  • tasks aren't realistic- lack mundane reasilsm due to use of artificial tasks
  • experiments not controlled- can be rehearsed
  • Incidental memory- do not need to be elaboratively rehearsed
  • Flashbulb memory- clear memory of emotionally charged events
  • elaborative rehearsal not always successful way of transferring info to LTM
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