3.3 Flashcards
What is memory?
the ability of the brain to encode, store and retrieve information
What are the types of memory?
sensory memory
short-term memory (STM)
long-term memory (LTM)
Describe the process by which information is retained or discarded
information enters the brain and passes through sensory memory into short-term memory. The information is either discarded, by displacement or decay, or transferred to long-term memory.
What is sensory memory?
sensory memory retains sensory information received for a few seconds
How can chunking be used to increase short-term memory?
Short-term memory has limited capacity and cannot store information for a long period of time.
Chunking involves breaking larger pieces of information into smaller pieces and improves the capacity of short-term memory.
How can rehearsal be used to improve short-term memory?
Rehearsal allows information to be repeated over and over, thus keeping information more fresh in the short-term memory, making it more likely to transfer to long-term memory.
What is working memory?
The short-term memory can process and store information to a limited capacity. This allows the short-term memory to perform simple cognitive tasks and is called the ‘working memory’.
What is the serial position effect?
If we are to attempt to memorise a list of information, we are likely to more-so recall the items at the start and the end of the list.
Give 3 methods that can be used to transfer information from short-term memory to long-term memory.
- rehearsal - repeating information over and over
- organisation - placing information into a logical, ordered manner
- elaboration - elaborating and adding more context to information can make it more interesting and more likely to transfer to long-term memory
How can retrieval of information from long-term memory be aided?
contextual cues
What can the brain capture?
the brain can capture images of sights, sounds, smells, sensations and emotions all experienced at one time and retain them as memories.
it includes past experiences, knowledge and thoughts.
What is selective memory?
the receptors in human sense organs are continuously picking up stimuli and transmitting the impulses to the brain. However, only a fraction of sensory images formed become committed to memory, because the process is highly selective.
What does encoded mean?
the sensory image is converted to a form that the brain can process and store
What is storage?
the retention of information over a period of time. This may last for only a brief spell such as 30 seconds of for a very long period
What is retrieval?
the recovery of stored material. This involves the recall of information that has been committed to either short-term memory or long-term memory.
Describe sensory memory
- stimuli from the outside world are continuously being perceived as sensory images by the brain
- sensory memory retains all the visual and auditory input received for a few seconds
- only selected images and sounds are encoded into short-term memory
Describe short-term memory
- the STM has a limited capacity (about 7 items at one time) and holds information for a short time (30 seconds)
- during this time, retrieval of item is vey accurate. After this they are either transferred to level 3 (long-term memory) or lost by displacement or decay
What is displacement?
the pushing out of ‘old’ by new incoming information
What is decay?
the breakdown of fragile ‘memory trace’ formed when a group of neurons briefly become activated
How can someone’s memory span be measured?
by finding out the number of individual ‘meaningless’ items that the person can reproduce correctly, and in order, immediately after seeing or hearing them once
What is a cognitive task?
a task that requires processes such as perception, intuition and reasoning
Describe long-term memory
- LTM has a unlimited capacity and holds information for a long time.
- the transfer of information from STM to LTM occurs by rehearsal, organisation and elaboration
What is rehearsal (LTM)?
is regarded as a shallow form of encoding information into the LTM
What is organisation?
when information is organised into logical catergories and is more easily transferred from the STM to the LTM
