Memory

Unit 5

1
Introduction
● Memory refers to the processes that are used to acquire, store, retain, and later retrieve information.
● Human memory involves the ability to both preserve and recover information we have learned or
experienced.

Characteristics of Memory

● Memory is a process - encoding, storage and retrieval

● Three system of different memory - sensory, short term and long term
● Memorization brings about neurochemical changes in our brain
● Memory influences other mental processes like learning and perception
● Problem in memory results in forgetting
2
Process of Memory / Information Processing Model

3
Encoding
● When information comes into our memory system (from sensory input), it needs to
be changed into a form that the system can cope with, so that it can be stored.
● The process of organizing and transforming incoming information so that it can be
stored into memory either to be stored or to be compared with previously stored
information
● Sensory information is converted into neural impulse
● There are three main ways in which information can be encoded (changed):
1. Visual (picture) 2. Acoustic (sound) 3. Semantic (meaning)

● Effortful encoding
● Automatic encoding
4
Storage - Retaining the Information
● This concerns the nature of memory stores, i.e., where the information is stored, how long
the memory lasts for (duration), how much can be stored at any time (capacity) and what
kind of information is held.
● The way we store information affects the way we retrieve it. There has been a significant
amount of research regarding the differences between Short Term Memory (STM ) and
Long Term Memory (LTM).
● Most adults can store between 5 and 9 items in their short-term memory. Miller (1956) put
this idea forward and he called it the magic number 7. He thought that short-term memory
capacity was 7 (plus or minus 2) items because it only had a certain number of “slots” in
which items could be stored.
5
● Repetition, Practice & reshearsal
Retrieval
● This refers to getting information out storage. If we can’t remember
something, it may be because we are unable to retrieve it.

Retrieval happens in the form of: / Retrieval cues

● Recall
● Recognition
● Relearning

6
Atkinson Shiffrin Model / Multi Storage Model of Memory

7
Atkinson-Shiffrin model

● The Atkinson-Shiffrin model is a theory of human memory that was proposed by Richard Atkinson
and Richard Shiffrin in 1968.
● Linear model
● Essentially, both men used this model to show that the human memory could be broken down into
three different memory stores:
1. Sensory Memory
2. Short term Memory
3. Long term Memory

8
Sensory Memory
● When information is brought in and retained by the senses, this is what
is known as sensory memory.
● The effects are extremely short term with this information forgotten
within a few seconds.
● It is also known as the first level of memory.
● Researches have primarily focused on memory of vision ( Iconic ) and
Hearing ( Echoic) although there are sensory memoy for all the senses.

9
Sensory Memory 2

● Duration - upto 2 seconds

● Capacity: all sensory experience (v. larger capacity)

● Encoding: sense specific (e.g. different stores for each sense)

● The major reason for the loss of information from sensory memory is decay due to

the mere passage of time.

10
Short term Memory 1
● Second Stage of memory
● Short-term memory (STM) refers to memories that last no longer than 30
seconds unless they are rehearsed in that timeframe.
● When the information from sensory memory is attended it will pass to short
term memory.
● George Miller - 7 plus or minus 2
● A chunk is anu meaningful piece of information such as a date, or a whole
book

11
Short term Memory 2
● It is through process of chunking that we can make very large amount of
information can be reduced to smaller amount.
● The information transferred to short term memory is represented in visual
code ( images), acoustic code (sounds) or semantic code (meanings).
● Duration: 0-30 seconds
● Capacity: 7 +/- 2 items
● Encoding: mainly auditory

12
Long Term Memory 1
● Long-term memory is defined as memory that can last anywhere from a few
days to a lifetime

13
Long Term Memory 2

● Duration: Unlimited
● Capacity: Unlimited
● Encoding: Mainly Semantic (but can be visual
and auditory)

14
Evaluation of Atkinson Shiffrin Model
● One strength of the multistore model is that is gives us a good understanding of the structure and
process of the memory
● Many memory studies provide evidence to support the distinction between STM and LTM (in terms
of encoding, duration and capacity).
● The model is oversimplified, in particular when it suggests that both short-term and long-term
memory each operate in a single, uniform fashion. We now know is this not the case.
● It has now become apparent that both short-term and long-term memory are more complicated that
previously thought. For example, the Working Model of Memory proposed by Baddeley and Hitch
(1974) showed that short term memory is more than just one simple unitary store and comprises
different components

15
Forgetting
● Forgetting or disremembering is the apparent loss or modification of
information already encoded and stored in an individual's short or long-term
memory.
● It is a spontaneous or gradual process in which old memories are unable to
be recalled from memory storage.
● Forgetting typically involves a failure in memory retrieval. While the
information is somewhere in your long-term memory, you are not
able to actually retrieve and remember it.

16
Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

17
Causes of forgetting 1
1) Trace Decay Theory
● This explanation of forgetting in short term memory assumes that memories leave a
trace in the brain. A trace is some form of physical and/or chemical change in the
nervous system.
● Trace decay theory states that forgetting occurs as a result of the automatic decay or
fading of the memory trace.
● Trace decay theory focuses on time and the limited duration of short term memory and
long term memory
● Disuse of the information & passage of time

18
Causes of forgetting 2
● Decay theory has been discarded by psychologist as being incorrect
and incomplete until recent years, since no direct evidence supports
it.
● Why don't we forget the skills that we disuse for a longer period of
time?
● Cannot explain flashbulb memory

19
Causes of forgetting 3
2) Interference / Inhibition theory

● Interference refers to the tendency of new memories to impair the retrieval of

old memories and vice versa
● Proactive interference (pro=forward) occurs when you cannot learn a new
task because of an old task that had been learnt.
● Retroactive interference is when more recent information gets in the way of
trying to recall older information.
● Cannot explain all types of forgetting
● Doesn’t explain cognitive mechanis of forgetting

20
Causes of forgetting 4
3) Memory Dysfunctions

- Disease of brain or head injury/trauma

a) Alzheimer’s disease
b) Amnesia - Reterograde and Anterograde

21
Improving Memory

● Acronym /Mnemonic Method

● Method of Loci

● Story telling method

● Chunking method

● Imagery

22