Download Sensory Memory - Windsor C

How Do We
Form Memories?
Each of the three memory
stages encodes and stores
memories in a different way,
but they work together to
transform sensory experience
into a lasting record that has a
pattern of meaning
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
I CAN
• Explain the 3 stages of memory
• Describe ways in which we can extend
our STM or transfer STM to LTM
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The Three Stages of Memory
Sensory
Memory
Working
Memory
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Long-term
Memory
The Three Stages of Memory
Sensory
Memory
Working
Memory
Preserves brief
sensory
impressions of
stimuli
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Long-term
Memory
The First Stage: Sensory Memory
•On the next slide, you will see a
series of letters for one second
•Try to remember as many letters
as you can
•DO NOT WRITE THEM DOWN
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DJB
XHG
C LY
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
The First Stage: Sensory Memory
• How many can you recall?
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DJB
XHG
C LY
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
The First Stage: Sensory Memory
• A. Capacity/Duration
• Holds the barrage of incoming
sensations just long enough
for brain to scan it and decide
which information needs
attention….1/4 of a sec
• Lasts just long enough to
dissolve into another and give
us a sense of flow and
continuity in our experience
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
The First Stage: Sensory Memory
• Actual storage capacity can be 12 or
more items, but all but 3 or 4 disappear
before they enter our consciousness
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
The First Stage: Sensory Memory
• B. Structure/Function
• There is as separate sensory register for
each sense…each holds a different kind
of sensory information
Visual Stimulation = Iconic Memory
Auditory Stimulation = Echoic Memory
Tactile (touch) Stimulation = Tactile Sensory Memory
Olfactory Stimulation = Olfactory Sensory Memory
Gustatory Stimuli = Gustatory Sensory Memory
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
The First Stage: Sensory Memory
• The job of sensory memory is to store
these images briefly
If they were held too long, they would
interfere with new information
• Psychologists believe that, in this stage,
memory images take the form of nerve
impulses
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
The Three Stages of Memory
Sensory
Memory
Working
Memory
Preserves recently
perceived events or
experiences for less
than a minute without
rehearsal, also called
short-term memory or
STM
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Long-term
Memory
The Second Stage: Working
Memory
• Working memory
consists of…
• A central
executive
• A phonological
loop
• The sketchpad
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Three Parts of Working Memory
• Central Executive:
Directs attention to material retrieved
from LTM or to important input from the
sensory memory
• Phonological Loop:
Temporarily stores sounds….like
someone’s name
• Sketchpad:
Stores and manipulates mental
images…like when you can imagine
yourself driving a car to school from home
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
• Like the central
processing chip of a
computer
• The center of mental
action AND the gobetween for the other
parts of memory
• It is where the brain
sorts out and encodes
information before
adding it to long term
memory
• We are conscious of
everything in the
working memoryCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Working
Memory
Working Memory
• Also the area where
‘thinking’ occurs…
which is the brain
mulling over images
and ideas taken from
the LTM
• AKA = Short Term
Memory
Example: A phone number
you just looked up
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Capacity/Duration
• Has limited capacity and
a short duration
• Typically hold information
for about 20 seconds
• “Magic Number Seven”
…seven items of any
sort..(letters, numbers,
words, shapes, sounds)
“Put on your thinking cap” will fill the working
memory of most people
• Has the smallest capacity
of the three stages
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Biological Basis: Working memory probably
holds information in actively firing nerve
circuits…most likely in the frontal cortex
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Encoding and Storage
in Working Memory
• I. Chunking
• II. Rehearsal
• Maintenance/ROTE Rehearsal
• Elaborative Rehearsal
• III. Acoustic Encoding: The
Phonological Loop
• IV. Visual and Spatial Encoding.. the
sketchpad
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Working Memory Aides To Overcome
Limited Capacity and Short Duration
Chunking
Organizing pieces of information into a
smaller number of meaningful units
• Example: A social security number
F-B-I-T-W-A-C-I-A-I-B-M
FBI TWA CIA IBM
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Acronyms/Mnemonic Device
Acronyms are another way of chunking information to remember it.
HOMES
Huron, Ontario, Michigan,
Erie, Superior
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization
PEMDAS
Parentheses, Exponent,
Multiply, Divide,
Add, Subtract
SNAFU
Situation Normal, All F’ed
Up
ROY G. BIV
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green,
Blue, Indigo,
Violet
WTF
Williamstown Theater
Festival
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Rehearsal
Process in which
information is
repeated or reviewed
to keep it from fading
while in working
memory
Spacing Effect
We retain information
better when we
rehearse over time
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Rehearsal
Maintenance ROTE
Elaborative Rehearsal
Repeating information
Rehearsal
AND connecting it to
Repeating information to
knowledge already
remember it
stored in LTM
Ex: Cramming for a test,
• A more efficient
a shopping list in your
method of transferring
head
information into the
• Not an efficient method
LTM
of transferring
• Ex: 1-800-EYE-EXAM
information into the
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
LTM
Working Memory Aides To Overcome
Limited Capacity and Short Duration
Acoustic Encoding uses phonological loop
Encoded memory of a stimulus on the basis of
any sound associated with it
Whrr -- pop -- splash -- cuckoo:
You can hear in your mind the sounds they
describe
Examples:
Hearing words and phrases
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Repeating notes to yourself while studying.
Working Memory Aides To Overcome
Limited Capacity and Short Duration
• Visual and Spatial Encoding...
The Sketchpad
• Encodes visual images and mental
representations of objects in space
• Example: Holds those images you think
of when trying to remember where you
left your lost coat
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Levels-of-Processing Theory
Explanation for the fact that the more
connections you make with new information
while it is in the working memory to prior
knowledge in the LTM, the more likely you are
to remember it.
Also known as…
Elaboration or Elaborative Rehearsal
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
CAN I?
• Explain the 3 stages of memory
• Describe ways in which we can extend
our STM or transfer STM to LTM
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007