3. Memory Process Systems Flashcards
(29 cards)
What is memory?
- faculty by which information is encoded stored and retrieved when needed
What are the three processes of memory?
- encoding: encode stimuli
- memory: store representations
- retrieve memories: events, facts skills etc
What are two ways we categorise memories?
- by time
- by content
What is the modal model of memory?
- input
- sesnory memory (milliseconds)
- STM (a few seconds)
- LTM (no limit)
What is iconic memory?
visual impressions
- very brief (250-500ms)
What is echoic memory?
auditory impressions
- a few seconds
What is STM?
- attention to information moves from sensory memory to here
- short duration (30-60s)
- capacity of 5-9 information elements
- boosted by active rehearsal and chunking
What is LTM?
- info transferred here from STM
- info can be retrieved from LTM to STM
- unlimited duration (still forget things)
- unlimited capacity
What are the two types of LTM?
- declarative (explicit): aware of and can express
- non-declarative (implicit): hard to bring into awareness and express
What are the types of declarative memory?
- episodic: things that have happened in your lifetime
- semantic: facts
What are the types of non-declarative memory?
- procedural: learned skills, muscle memory
- others e.g conditioning
What is working memory?
- used to manipulate info in STM
- active rehearsal and chunking
- current thoughts
- retrieving info from LTM
- transferring info to LTM
How is the reading span task used to assess the capacity of WM?
- PPs are presented with statements
- have to decide whether true or false and remember last word of each sentence
- assesses storage and processing
What is the capacity and duration of WM?
- duration is shorter than STM (about 3s)
- capacity is on average 3-5 elements
What is Baddeley and Hitch’s WM model?
Central Exec
VS EB PL
LTM
VS = visuospatial sketchpad
EB = episodic buffer
PL = phonological loop
all interact
What is the central executives function in the WMM?
- co-ordinates storage systems and control of attention to stimuli
- decides where our info goes
What is the function of the visuospatial sketchpad and phonological loop in the WMM?
- separate the storage of visuospatial and auditory info
How does the visuospatial sketchpad separate info?
visual = what
spatial = where
How is the mental rotation task used to highlight the visuospatial sketchpad?
- is the object the same object, different are or they mirrored
- involves visual memory and spatial memory
What holds info in the phonological short term store?
subvocal rehearsal
What is the word length effect?
- recall in WM as a function of time
- we can remember the number of words that we can articulate in approx 2 seconds
- if we cannot ‘refresh’ the items in the phonological store within 2 secs they decay
THEREFORE we recall more short words than long words, as long words take longer to articulate
What is the episodic buffer?
- binding of multimodal information to form episodic memories
What is an engram?
- neural representation of a memory (memory trace)
What was Lashley’s research into the engram?
- trained rats to navigate a maze
- created lesions in different parts of the brain and tested the effect on the maze performance
- not the location, but the size of the lesion predicted performance
- therefore it can be deduced that many parts of the brain support memory
