Download session three – memory part one

PSYC 112
PSYCHOLOGY FOR
EVERYDAY LIVING
Session 3 – Memory Part I
Lecturer: Dr. Paul Narh Doku, Dept of Psychology, UG
Contact Information: [email protected]
College of Education
School of Continuing and Distance Education
2014/2015 – 2016/2017
Session Overview
• While we might take memory for granted, it is actually a complex
process that allows us to learn and recall vast amounts of
information every moment of every day. Memory is the term given
to the structures and processes involved in the storage and
subsequent retrieval of information. Memory is essential to all our
lives. Without a memory of the past we cannot operate in the
present or think about the past or plan for the future. Without
memory we could not learn anything. This session will introduce you
to the fields of cognition and memory, the distinction between the
human memory and computers and also present an overview of
three stages of the human memory theory.
Slide 2
Session Outline
The key topics to be covered in the session
are as follows:
• Topic 1 – Memory and its scope
• Topic 2 – Functions of Memory
• Topic 3 – Human Memory and Computers
• Topic 4 – Stages theory of Memory
• Topic 5 – Modifications to the three stage
model of memory
• Topic 6 – Loss of Memory
Slide 3
Reading List
• Refer to students to relevant text/chapter or reading materials
you will make available on Sakai
Slide 4
Topic 1 –Memory and Its Scope
Slide 5
The Cognitive System
Cognition can be defined as
"the act or process of knowing in the
broadest sense; specifically, an
intellectual process by which
knowledge is gained from perception or
ideas” (Webster's Dictionary).
What then is Memory?
• The persistence of learning over
time through the storage and
retrieval of information.
• Memory is also seen as an active
system that receives, stores,
organizes, alters, and recovers
(retrieves) information
Topic 2 - How Does the Memory
Functions? The Memory Process
Just like a computer, the memory functions involve
three processes. So memory is also seen as an
information processing system. The processes are:
1. Encoding: The processing of information into the
memory system. Converting information into a useable
form that can be stored in memory
2. Storage: The retention of encoded material over
time. The act of holding and maintaining information in
memory for later use
3. Retrieval: The process of getting the information
out of memory storage. The act of bringing to mind
material that has been stored in memory
How Does Memory Work?
An Information-Processing Model?
Here is a simplified description of how memory works:
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
 Encoding: the information gets
into our brains in a way that
allows it to be stored
 Storage: the information is held in
a way that allows it to later be
retrieved
 Retrieval: reactivating and
recalling the information,
producing it in a form similar to
what was encoded
Topic 3 – Comparing Human memory and
Computers
– Both are seen as information-processing systems that
performs the functions of input, storage and retrieval of
data, however;
• The human memory functions like a sophisticated computer.
It is powerful, faster and complex than a computer.
• Unlike computers, human memory has the capacity for
consciousness - awareness of one’s own thoughts and the
external world. Focusing attention brings stimulus into
consciousness
• Computers have limitations as to the volume of data that can
be stored but the capacity of the human memory is
unlimited.
Topic 4: Stages of Memory
1. The human memory is made up of three storages called the
stages or models of memory. These are the sensory memory
(sensory register, short term memory, and long term
memory)
2. Each of these storages or models have unique features and
stores different types of data or information.
3. All Information from the environment are first captured in
the sensory memory, by paying attention some these
information are processed into the short term memory. By
rehearsal the information is moved from the short term
memory into the long term memory where the information
A Simplified Memory Model
Sensory input
Attention to important
or novel information
Information from
Sensory
External
memory
events
Encoding
rehearsal
Short-term
memory
Long-term
memory
Retrieving
Models of Memory Formation
[The Atkinson-Shiffrin Model (1968)]
1. Stimuli are recorded by our senses and held
briefly in sensory memory.
2. Some of this information is processed into
short-term memory and encoded through
selective attention.
3. Information then moves into long-term
memory through elaborative rehearsal where
it can be retrieved later.
Sensory Memory
• Information received from
sense organs lasts for short
period of time
• Sensory memory is affiliated
with the transduction of
energy.
• Acquire information primarily
from sight (iconic memory)
and hearing (echoic memory),
but also through other senses
(haptic memory for touch)
• The memory system that
holds information coming in
through the senses for a
period ranging from a
fraction of a second to
several seconds
• Transfer occurs when we pay
attention to sensory input to
move it from iconic/echoic
memory to short-term
memory
– Visual memory (icon)--less
than ½ second
– Auditory memory (echo)--lasts
2 to 3 seconds
Short-term Memory
• Also called working memory-- • Getting information into STM
the mental workspace a
– Attention
person uses to keep in mind • Keeping information in STM
tasks being thought about at
– Organization (advance
organizer)
any given moment
– Repetition (maintenance
• Limited capacity - 5 + 2 units
rehearsal)
(earlier thought to be 7 + 2)
– An interruption to repetition
can cause information to be lost
• Stores Acoustic or Phonetic
in just a few seconds
data (how it is pronounced)
• Displacement
• Limited/Brief storage (up to
– The event that occurs when
15-30/45 seconds maximum)
short-term memory is holding
its maximum and each new
• Conscious processing of
item entering short-term
information
memory pushes out an existing
item
Long-term Memory
• The relatively permanent memory
system with a virtually unlimited
capacity where data are stored on
basis of meaning and importance
• Elaboration Rehearsal - A
technique used to encode
information into long-term
memory by considering its
meaning and associating it with
other information already stored in
long-term memory
• Stores both Explicit (declarative)
and Implicit (procedural)
memories
Explicit (declarative) memory
(facts): factual knowledge &
personal experiences;
• Semantic Memory:
Impersonal facts and
everyday knowledge
• Episodic Memory:
Personal experiences linked
with specific times and
places
Implicit (procedural) Memory
(skills): Long-term memories of
conditioned responses and
learned skills, e.g., driving
In the model shown here, long-term memory is divided into
procedural memory (learned actions and skills) and declarative
memory (stored facts). Declarative memories can be either
semantic (impersonal knowledge) or episodic (personal
experiences associated with specific times and places).
Storage: Long-Term Memory
Subsystems
Types of
long-term
memories
Explicit
(declarative)
With conscious
recall
Facts-general
knowledge
(“semantic
memory”)
Personally
experienced
events
(“episodic
memory”)
Implicit
(nondeclarative)
Without conscious
recall
Skills-motor
and cognitive
Dispositionsclassical and
operant
conditioning
effects
Summary:
Types of Memory Processing
Topic 5 - Two modifications to the
three model approach to memory
1. The short term Memory is now seen as a working
memory because it performs other functions aside
rehearsal
2. There is evidence that some information from the
environment do not go through the short term
memory to be processed. These memories such as
flashbulbs moved directly from the sensory
memory into the long term memory (automatic
processing). Memory is now seen as a dual
processing system – engaging in both automatic
processing and effortful processing
Flashbulb memories refer to emotionally intense
events that become “burned in” as a vivid-seemingSlide 21
memory.
Modifying the
Model:
More goes on in
short-term
memory besides
rehearsal; this is
now called
working memory.
Some information
seems to go
straight from
sensory
experience into
long-term
memory; this is
automatic
1. Working Memory: Functions
The short-term memory is “working” in many ways.
 It holds information not just to rehearse it , but to process it (such as hearing a
word problem in math and doing it in your head).
Auditory
rehearsal
Executive
functions
Visospatial
“sketchpad”
repeating a
password to
memorize it
choosing what to
attend to,
respond to
rearranging room
furniture in your
mind
Short-term memory integrates information from long-term memory
with new information coming in from sensory memory.
2. Memory as a Dual-Processing
System
Explicit and Implicit Memories
So far, we have been talking
about explicit/ “declarative”
memories. These are facts
and experiences that we can
consciously know and recall.
Our minds acquire this
information through effortful
processing. Explicit memories
are formed through studying,
rehearsing, thinking,
processing, and then storing
information in long-term
memory.
Some memories are formed without
going through all the Atkinson-Shiffrin
stages. These are implicit memories,
the ones we are not fully aware of
and thus don’t “declare”/talk about.
These memories are typically
formed through automatic
processing. Implicit memories are
formed without our awareness
that we are building a memory,
and without rehearsal or other
processing in working memory.
Automatic Processing
Some experiences go directly to long-term implicit
memory
Some experiences are processed automatically into implicit
memory, without any effortful/working memory processing:

procedural memory, such as knowing how to ride a bike, and well-practiced knowledge
such as word meanings

conditioned associations, such as a smell that triggers thoughts of a favorite place

information about space, such as being able to picture where things are after walking
through a room

information about time, such as retracing a sequence of events if you lost something

information about frequency, such as thinking, “I just noticed that this is the third
texting driver I’ve passed today.”
Summary and Comparison of the
Three Stages of Memory
Sensory
1. Unlimited/Large
capacity
2. Contains sensory
information
3. Very brief retention
(1/2 sec for visual; 2
secs for auditory)
Short Term
1. Limited capacity
2. Acoustically
encoded
3. Brief storage (up to
30 seconds w/o
rehearsal)
4. Conscious
processing of
information
Long Term
1.Unlimited
capacity
2.Semantically
encoded
3.Storage
presumed
permanent
4.Information
highly organized
Three Box Model of Memory
Topic 6 - Loss of Memory (Amnesia)
Loss of memory is called amnesia. There are 3 basic types:
• Anterograde amnesia: the inability to form new explicit longterm memories for events following brain trauma or surgery.
Explicit memories formed before are left intact. Cause possibly
is damage to hippocampus
• Retrograde amnesia: the disruption of memory for the past,
especially episodic memory. After brain trauma or surgery,
there often is retrograde amnesia for events occurring just
before (old memories are lost).
• Infantile/child amnesia: the inability as adults to remember
events that occurred in our lives before about 3 years of age.
Due possibly to fact that hippocampus is not fully developed.
References
• Coon, D. and Mitterer, O. J (2013). Introduction to
Psychology (13th ed). Wadsworth Cengage learning. Pp.
241-268
• Feldman, S. R, Collins, J. E. and Green, M. J (2005).
Essentials of understanding psychology (2nd ed). McGrawHill Ryerson. pp. 187-212
• Kosslyn, M. S, and Rosenberg, R. (2006). Psychology in
context. pearson. Pp. 278-315
• Weiten, W. (2009). Psychology: Themes and variations (8th
ed). cengage learning. Pp. 277-305
Dr. Richard Boateng, UGBS
Slide 28