3.3- memory

Question 1

how do impulses reach the brain?

Answer 1

receptors in human sense organs pick up stimuli and transmit the impulses

Question 2

what happens to the majority of sensory images formed?

Answer 2

they aren’t committed to memory due to the process being highly selective

Question 3

3 steps needed for a sensory image to became part of the memory

Answer 3

encoding

storage

retrieval

Question 4

what does encoded mean?

Answer 4

converted to a form the brain can process and store

Question 5

what does storage entail?

Answer 5

the retention of information for 30 seconds to a lifetime

Question 6

what is retrieval and what does it involve?

Answer 6

recovery of stored material

recall of information that is committed to either the short or long term memory

Question 7

3 separate interacting levels of memory

Answer 7

sensory memory

short term memory

long term memory

Question 8

2 things sensory memory retains

Answer 8

all visual and auditory input

Question 9

what then happens to selected images?

Answer 9

encoded into the short term memory

Question 10

what is the STMs approximate capacity and holding time?

Answer 10

about 7 items at a time

30 seconds

Question 11

3 possible outcomes of memory from the STM

Answer 11

long term memory

displacement

decay

Question 12

what is displacement?

Answer 12

pushing out of old information by new incoming information

Question 13

what is decay?

Answer 13

breakdown of fragile memory trace formed when a group of neurons briefly become activated

Question 14

3 ways the capacity of the short term memory can be improved

Answer 14

chunking

rehearsal

serial position effect

Question 15

what is a chunk?

Answer 15

meaningful unit of information made up of several smaller units

Question 16

what is chunking effective in doing?

Answer 16

improves the capacity of the STM

Question 17

what does rehearsal entail?

Answer 17

repeating to yourself over and over, silently or out loud, a piece of information that you are trying to memorise

Question 18

what is rehearsal effective in doing?

Answer 18

helps to extend the time the information is maintained in the STM

Question 19

what is the serial position effect?

Answer 19

recall for objects is best for those shown at the end of a list (recency effect) closely followed by those shown at the start (primary effect)

Question 20

how does the primary effect work?

Answer 20

there is enough time for them to have been well rehearsed

Question 21

how does the recency effect work?

Answer 21

still present in the STM so can be quickly expelled

Question 22

2 functions of the short term memory

Answer 22

briefly stores information

processes data to limited extent

Question 23

what does the working memory model propose?

Answer 23

STM is made up of several components that can work independently of one another

Question 24

what is a cognitive task?

Answer 24

requires processes such as perception, intuition and reasoning

Question 25

what is the capacity and holding time of the long term memory?

Answer 25

unlimited capacity and holding time

Question 26

3 ways to move memories from the STM into the LTM

Answer 26

rehearsal

organisation

elaboration

Question 27

what is rehearsal?

Answer 27

regarded as a shallow form of encoding information into LTM

Question 28

what is organisation?

Answer 28

information organised into logical categories is more easily transferred from STM to the LTM

Question 29

what is elaboration?

Answer 29

deeper form of encoding which leads to improved information retention

Question 30

what aids retrieval of items from the long term memory and how?

Answer 30

contextual cues relating to the time and place when the information was initially encoded into the LTM

being accompanied by unusual, dramatic or emotional events