Memory

Memory

1. Definition: A faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.

2. Models of Memory: A model is an explanation, and a model of memory is what can be defined as a system of retaining information from our daily experiences. All memory models include short term memory and long term memory. These of which differ in terms of encoding, capacity, and duration.

   • Encoding- How information is processed.
   • Capacity- How much information it holds.
   • Duration- How long the information stays there for.

3. Multi-store Model of Memory: ATKINSON AND SHIFFRIN. 3 fixed stores that allow us to process information, in the order of sensory memory, short term memory, then long term memory.

   • STM: Encoding- acoustically, stored as a sound whether seen visually or heard acoustically.
     • STM: Capacity- Limited capacity, can only hold 5-9 items.
       • STM: Duration- Duration is also limited 18 seconds.
         • PETERSON AND PETERSON- Brown Peterson technique. Prevents rehearsal with distracter task.Meaningless trigrams, one group recalled immediately, the others given the Brown Peterson technique. When 18 second delay less than 10% of the trigrams were recalled. Therefore if no rehearsal it can only stay in STM for 18 seconds. Evaluation= Artificial stimulus, therefore lacks ecological validity, can't generalise. Only looked at one type of stimuli, ignored pictures and faces for example, can't generalise. Could lose information due to capacity not duration.
       • JACOBS- Serial digit span. Presented with digits or letters, adding one extra one each time up until they couldn't remember them anymore. Average number that participants remembered was 5-9 letters/digits. (Miller- Magic Number 7+/- 2) Evaluation= lab experiment so high control, however lack ecological validity. Also the findings were useful when looking at real life situations such as telephone numbers.
     • CONRAD- Sequences that sounded acoustically similar/dissimilar. Participants confused letters more if they sounded the same, suggesting they encode the data based on how it sounds. Evaluate= Other coding for short term memory. e.g. visual. Also artificial stimulus, low ecological validity.
   • LTM: Encoding- Semantic, concerned with meaning.
     • LTM: Capacity- Unlimited capacity.
       • LTM: Duration- A lifetime however some information needs cues to access it.
         • BAHRICK- USA high school yearbooks containing photos of every student. 400 ex students. 3 measures of recall. 1) Free recall- list all names they could remember. 2) Name recognition- asked to name photos in the year book. 3) Picture recognition- pick out photos of class mates. Very little decline in name and picture recognition over the whole time span., only free recall declined after 7 years or so. Evaluation= High ecological validity so can apply to real life situations. Faces and names have a lot of rehearsal and this may not be the case for other information, may not be able to generalise to other types of memories.
       • LINTON- 6 years of creating a diary of 5500 personal events. Tested recognition of events each month and found excellent recall. Evaluation= can't generalise only her being tested. May be biased, testing herself so may not be valid results.
     • BADDELEY- 75 participants in 4 groups.Presented with different types of words 1) Acoustically similar 2) Acoustically dissimilar 3) Semantically similar 4) Semantically dissimilar. Asked to recall in same order after 20 minutes. Acoustically similar/ dissimilar were the same however clear difference in semantic recall, confused words that meant the same. Evaluation= Lacks ecological validity, artificial stimuli, can't generalise. Also other studies show we can encode things in the LTM both acoustically and visually.
   • Evidence that supports a distinction between STM and LTM. Serial position effect- Murdock. 1) The recency effect- remembering the end words of a list that are still in the STM. 2) The primacy effect- remembering the first words of a list that are in the LTM due to rehearsal.
   • Problems- MSM. Over simplified account of memory, other models suggest there are more components of the STM. Research has shown that rehearsal which is critical in this model is one of the least effective ways of remembering information- Craik and Lockhart say it is the way we process information which determines whether we remember it or not. The flashbulb memory also criticises the MSM as we are able to remember things just based on its importance without rehearsing it.

4. The Working Memory Model: BADDELEY AND HITCH. STM is not just a passive storehouse of information it is more complex. It is made up of interconnecting components.

   • Central Executive- Most important component and is responsible for monitoring and coordinating the operation of the slaves system (phonological loop and visual-spatial scratchpad) Can input information from any sensory system.
   • The Phonological Loop- Deals with sound based information. Phonological store (inner ear) recieves auditory input directly. Articulatory system (inner voice) rehearses spoken/acoustic information from the phonological store and converts written material into acoustic material.
   • The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad- (inner eye) holds visual memories. Also takes into consideration spatial arrangement
   • Episodic Buffer- linking information across domains to form integrated units of visual, spatial and verbal information.

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