Psychology Chapter 5: Memory Modal Model

Memory

• Involves processes for retaining, retrieving, and utilizing information from stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills.
• Functions persist even after the original information is absent.

Modal Model of Memory

• Developed by Atkinson and Schiffrin, based on a computer model for human cognition.
• Describes memory as an integrated system that processes and represents information.
• Memory consists of interconnected components, not isolated functions.
• Features limitations in space, resources, and time.
• Stages of memory flow: input ➔ sensory memory ➔ short-term memory (STM) ➔ long-term memory (LTM).

Sensory Memory

• The initial stage of the modal model.
• Holds brief impressions of sensory information, decadently short-lived.
• Registers extensive information almost instantaneously that fills in gaps but decays quickly.

Iconic Memory

• Specific to visual stimuli.
• Characterized by rapid decay of visual information.

Echoic Memory

• Involves auditory stimuli.
• Helps in retaining sounds for a brief period after the stimulus is perceived.

Haptic Memory

• Concerns tactile stimuli.
• Represents the memory of touch sensations.

Short-Term Memory (STM)

• The second stage of the modal model.
• Houses attended information from sensory memory for a limited time, typically 15-20 seconds.
• Stores small amounts of new and retrieved information from long-term memory.

Digit Span

• A measure of how many digits an individual can remember in a sequence.

STM Capacity

• Typically around 7 plus or minus 2 items, indicating a limited storage capacity.

Chunking

• The process of grouping small units of information into larger, meaningful units.
• Can be trained to enhance memory and recall.

Expertise Effects

• Illustrated by chess studies showing masters excel at recalling known positions but lose advantages with random setups.

Coding

• Refers to how information is represented in memory.
• Can involve auditory, visual, or semantic coding forms.

Auditory Coding

• Specific to short-term memory, relying on verbal information processing.

Visual Coding

• Also occurs in short-term memory, dealing with images and visual representations.

Semantic Coding

• Involves processing information based on its meaning in short-term memory.

Physiological Coding

• Representation of stimuli through neural firing patterns.

Mental Coding

• How experiences or stimuli are represented cognitively in the mind.

Proactive Interference

• Occurs when previously learned information disrupts the acquisition of new information, hindering learning.

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

• The third stage of the modal model.
• Information rehearsed in STM may transition to LTM; unrehearsed information faces loss through decay or displacement.

Control Processes

• Active, intentional strategies used to enhance memory retention, such as rehearsal or focused attention.

Persistence of Vision

• The phenomenon of retaining visual perception post-stimulus, evidenced by lingering effects like a sparkler's trail.