Memory

Information Processing:

• the idea that information is processed through a number of stages

input  ----->  encoding  ----->  storage  ----->  retrieval  ----->  output

• input- process of data entry
• encoding- the process where data is changed into another format
• storage- the process where information is held and ready to be used later
• retrieval- the process where information is located and take out of storage
• output- the process of using data after it has been retrieved

Accessibility Problems:

• when we cant get to a piece of information in the memory 
• we know its there but we cant retrieve it 
• e.g. when you see someone and cant remember their name but remember it later

Availability Problems:

• this suggest that the information is no longer in the memory at all
• some believe we lose the information if we don't use it enough or if there's not enough room for it
• e.g. knowing all your teachers names then eventually forgetting them all years later

input: comes from the environment 

encode: changing the format of the data so that it can be stored

sensory memory: all immediate information is held unless it is paid attention to

attention: process that makes people aware of the information in the memory

short term memory: capacity- 7+/-2 chunks duration- 10-20 seconds

maintenance rehearsal: a process which involves repeating the information so it stays in storage

transfer: information moves to the long term memory

long term memory: capacity- unlimited duration- unlimited

retrieval: getting the information back to the short term memory    

output: information is used

Forgetting

Decay:

• Information fading over time until it's forgotten
• happens in a matter of seconds in STM
• when we don't use or we stop using the information
• for example- if you learn information for an exam but forget it after the exam

Displacement:

• Information is pushed out of storage by new information and so it becomes forgotten
• the memory runs out of space because it's overloaded
• for example- if we meet a lot of people at the party and can't remember the names of the first few

Criticisms

The model is too rigid and ignores individual differences

• assumes each person's memory system has the same structure
• doesn't easily explain why some people have a much better memory than others
• some people have good memory for certain types of information  and others have a better memory for other types

The model over-simplifies the STM and the LTM

• the STM is much more active than the diagram describes
• it can actually deal with different types of inputs at the same time
• there are different types of long-term stores: general knowledge, autibiographical events, procedures

The model over-emphasises the role of rehearsal

• not all information has to be rehearsed
• for example we dont need to rehearse smells/sounds for them to be in the LTM

Levels of Processing

• does not believe there are stores of memory
• states we can remember vast amounts of information in a short time if we can give it a meaning

Shallow Processing:

• only remembering information based on its physical characteristics
• not thinking about its meaning
• harder to recall the information
• for example- only registering the colour of a slogan

Deep Processing:

• remembering the information and its meaning
• easier to recall the information
• for example- thinking about what a piece of writing means or trying to understand what a person is saying

Aim: to show that a person's memory is affected by factors such as time and space

Procedure:

• 15 commercials- 10 months old, no longer than 30 seconds
• varied the order in which they were presented
• 39 participants- students
• repeated measures design- ppts took part in both conditions
• IV- whether the ppts recalled the adverts immediately after they were presented or whether they recalled them after a delay
• during the delay they were doing a written task for 3 minutes
• DV- how many brand names the ppts could recall

Results:

• showed a serial position effect
• means that whether a commercial was recalled depended on where it was in the list, not what the product was
• in the condition where the ppts recalled immediately- there was a primacy effect and a recency effect
• this means there was a good recall of the first few adverts and of the last few adverts
• the middle adverts had been displaced or decayed because there was no space or there was no opportunity to rehearse them
• in the condition where the ppts recalled after the delay- there was a primacy effect but no recency effect
• the first few adverts remembered because they had been rehearsed
• the task allowed the adverts to displace/decay

Conclusion:

• memory of the adverts was affected by their serial position in the list and not by the meaning

Critcisms:

Laboratory experiments lack ecological validity

• they are carried out in artificial settings that do not reflect real life
• in real life people would watch adverts with distractions 
• would not act the same as they are under controlled conditions

Experiments often lack construct validity

• experiments often take a narrow measure of what is being investigated
• there is much more to memory than remembering adverts 
• it is artificial to make them all a certain length and for them all to be 10 months old

Experiments have the problem of demand characteristics

• this is when it's clear from the cues in the study what the researcher is trying to investigate
• the ppts knew they were being experimented on and may have tried to help him achieve the results he wanted
• they may have recalled certain adverts on purpose to help achieve the results

Types of Memory Aids

Cues:

• they work on the assumption that lost information is just inaccesible and can be retrieved
• they help trigger and therefore access lost information
• e.g. the smell on plasticine may remind someone of an event from their childhood
• For example- in teaching, when teachers may give a cue (e.g. the first letter of the word) to help the student remember
• there is evidence that people recall information better if they are in the same context or situation in which they've learnt it
• For example- the student could wear the same perfume when revising for the exam and when taking the exam, this smell will trigger the memory of them revising

Mind Mapping:

• help us to remember materials because they are supposed to reflect the way that memory is organised

Use of Imagery:

• relating pictures to written material will help 
• it gives more meaning and 'doubles the chances' of remembering it