Memory: Sensory, Short-Term, and Long-Term

Sensory Memory

• Sensory memory is the initial memory stage, storing sensory info briefly.
• An image or sound lingers briefly when you see a flash or hear something.
• It has a large capacity but a very brief duration.

Short-Term Memory (STM)

• STM is a limited-capacity system for temporary information analysis and retrieval.
• Remembering a phone number long enough to dial exemplifies STM.
• STM holds approximately 7±2 pieces of information for a limited time.

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

• LTM is a storage system for long-term information, from hours to a lifetime, with unlimited capacity.
• Remembering a childhood home address is an example of using LTM.
• LTM can store vast amounts of information and is more permanent than STM.

Baddeley's Model of Working Memory

• Baddeley's Model consists of three components for working memory.
• The Central Executive controls attention and coordinates activities.
• The Phonological Loop deals with verbal and auditory information, like repeating a phone number.
• The Visuospatial Sketchpad handles visual and spatial information, like imagining a bedroom layout.
• Visualizing a map route via Visuospatial Sketchpad exemplifies this model.

Principles of Long-Term Memory

• Principles exist for how information is encoded, stored, and retrieved from LTM.
• It is similar to the computer model of cognition.

Types of Long-Term Memory

• Explicit memory involves conscious, intentional recollection of factual information, experiences, and concepts.
• Remembering the capital of France is an act of explicit memory.
• Implicit memory involves unconscious memory of skills or procedures that influence behavior without conscious awareness.
• Riding a bike without consciously thinking about it is an example of implicit memory.

Intentional Retrieval

• Intentional retrieval is deliberately attempting to recall information.
• Trying to remember a teacher's name when prompted is intentional retrieval.

Unintentional Retrieval

• Unintentional retrieval is when memory retrieval occurs without conscious effort triggered by external stimuli.
• Hearing a song and recalling a childhood event is unintentional retrieval.

Recall Task

• Recall Task involves retrieving information from memory without any cues.
• An example is writing down everything you remember from a lecture without options.

Recognition Task

• Recognition Task is identifying correct information when presented with options.
• Picking the correct answer on a multiple-choice test is a recognition task.

Prospective Memory

• Prospective memory is remembering to perform a planned action in the future.
• Remembering to take medication at 7 PM uses prospective memory.

Intentional Learning

• Intentional learning is learning with the goal of retaining information.
• Studying for an exam to remember the material is intentional learning.

Incidental Learning

• Incidental learning is learning that happens without any intent to learn.
• Learning song lyrics by hearing it often on the radio is incidental learning.

Implicit Memory

• Implicit memory involves unconscious memory that influences behavior.
• A person being unknowingly influenced by a familiar brand logo when shopping is implicit memory.

Interference

• Interference happens when some memories interfere with the retrieval of others.
• Learning a new phone number interfering with the ability to recall an old one is interference.

Consolidation

• Consolidation is the process by which short-term memories are converted into long-term memories.
• Repeatedly studying material to strengthen its encoding in LTM is consolidation.

Level of Processing Effect

• The level of processing effect suggests deeper processing leads to better retention than shallow processing.
• Remembering a story's meaning is easier than just the individual words due to deeper processing.

Spacing Effect

• The spacing effect says information is better retained when learning sessions are spaced out over time.
• Studying for 30 minutes each day over a week is more effective than cramming all in one night.

Serial Position Curve

• Serial Position Curve: there is a tendency to remember items at the beginning (primacy effect) and end (recency effect) of a list better than those in the middle.
• When given a list of words, you're more likely to remember the first and last few words.

Mnemonics

• Mnemonics are memory aids or techniques to help with encoding and retrieval.
• Using PEMDAS to remember the order of operations in math is a mnemonic.

Testing Effect

• The testing effect is the phenomenon where testing oneself on material improves long-term retention.
• Taking practice quizzes to improve your recall of material demonstrates the testing effect.

Encoding Specificity

• Encoding Specificity: Memory retrieval is easier if the context at encoding and retrieval match.
• Studying for an exam in the same room where the exam occurs improves recall.

Environmental Context Effect

• Environmental Context Effect: Being in the same environment as when the memory was formed aids in retrieval.
• It is easier to recall something when back in the place where it was first learned.

Transience

• Transience is the decreasing accessibility of memory over time.

Absentmindedness

• Absentmindedness is inattention during encoding or retrieval.

Blocking

• Blocking: A temporary inability to access stored information

Source Misattribution

• Source Misattribution is attributing a memory to the wrong source.

Suggestibility

• Suggestibility is the tendency to incorporate misleading information into memory.

Bias

• Bias: The distorting of memories based on current beliefs or feelings.

Persistence

• Persistence is the unwanted recurrence of memories, often of traumatic events.

Schema

• Schema: A cognitive framework that helps organize and interpret information.
• A schema for a "restaurant" includes menu, waiters, and food.

Script

• Script: A type of schema involving a sequence of events expected in a specific context.
• A script for dinner might include arriving, ordering, eating, and paying.

Source Monitoring

• Source monitoring is the process of determining the origin of a memory.
• Trying to remember whether you read a fact or heard it from a friend is source monitoring.

Misinformation Effect

• Misinformation Effect: Misleading information presented after an event can alter the memory of that event.
• An example of this is memories changing based on the word used when describing a car accident.

Anterograde Amnesia

• Anterograde Amnesia: Inability to form new memories after an event.

Retrograde Amnesia

• Retrograde Amnesia: Loss of memories before an event.

Plaques and Tangles

• Plaques and Tangles: Abnormal structures in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer's disease.
• Plaques are clumps of beta-amyloid protein, and tangles are twisted tau protein filaments.
• These disrupt normal brain function and contribute to memory loss.