New Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Psychology - Paper 1 Notes

Topic 2: Memory – How does your memory work?

Memory and information processing

 Stages of memory and info processing:

 Information input –compared to a _____________ but for humans, info input is

from the environment around us through our 5 senses:
______________________________________________

 ___________________ – brain processes info we receive from senses and pays

attention to important info (and makes decisions based on it).

 Both unconsciously and deliberately _______ some _________ info but this
process requires _____________ (turning sensory info into a form that can
be used/stored by the brain; electrochemical memory trace).

 Once encoded, memory can stay for brief or for lifetime depending on the
type.

 3 ways of encoding:

 Acoustic encoding – holding __________ info

 Visual encoding – holding __________

 Semantic encoding – holding __________ of info

 Output – refers to information we ________ or __________________ (stored

information we retrieve)

Short-term and long-term memory

 Duration = __________________________________________

 Capacity = ___________________________________________

 Short-term memory – initial memory store that is _____________ and _____________.

 Lasts about ____ seconds

 Holds about ______ items of info.

 Encodes info acoustically through _____________ = repetition of info helps to

maintain the info in STM and transfer to LTM

 Long-term memory – last for minutes and up to __________ and holds ___________
amounts of info.

 Encoding is largely __________ but can be visual or acoustic

 Why do we forget things?

 From STM, info may be forgotten through _________________ (= when STM

becomes “full” and new info pushes out older info) when we exceed capacity
  In LTM, could be many reasons to forgetting e.g. decay of memory trace when not
used, or _________________ (=when new info overwrites older info). We also may
have issues retrieving the memory.

Understanding amnesia

 Amnesia = _____________________________________________________

 ____________________________ = inability to store any new long-term memories

following a brain injury

 Intact _______ and can process sensory info in the moment but they cannot
transfer it into ______.

 But usually patients can still retain ________ from before the incident.

 _________________________ = inability to remember information from before the

injury.

 It can be specific to one _____________ e.g. traumatic incident that caused

the injury, or it can be limited to a specific time frame.

 In severe cases, patients can forget who they are and where they came
from.

 Possible for these patients to regain _______

Bartlett’s Theory of Reconstructive Memory (1932)

 Memory and schemas

 Human memories are not stored in exact form like a computer but instead, our
memories are like ________ of what we experience.

 When we come to __________ these memories, we simply retrieve notes and

______________ on them using general knowledge about similar events.

 Therefore memories are not exact copies but are ____________________.

 Utilization of schemas =
_______________________________________________________________

 Schemas are formed through ____________ throughout our lives.

 Though they may be shared in a particular culture, schemas are still

_________ and _________ to us.

 How schemas influence memory

 Bartlett used pictures and schemas to demonstrate how memory is influenced by

schemas, where it causes us to ignore or change details when we recall them:

 Omissions –

 Transformations –

 Familiarization –
  Rationalization –

 Evaluation of theory:

 (+)

 (+)

 (-)

 (-)

Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) – Multi-store Model of Memory

 Identified 3 distinct stores in our memory system:

 Sensory register and role of attention

 What is it?

 Once we pay ___________ to it, the info is transferred to STM where we can
process it further.

 If no attention is given, the info ________.

 It is believed that we have a separate sensory register for each of our

principle senses, but the one for vision have been researched the most.

 Iconic memory =

 Echoic memory =

 Short-term memory: capacity and duration

 Duration is ______ seconds and if ________, we can maintain it for much

longer.

 STM is modality free =

 Capacity of STM is ________ chunks of info (Miller’s Magic Seven). A chunk

can be a grouping like how we group phone numbers.

 Role of rehearsal =

 Long-term memory: capacity and duration

 Duration is ________ and capacity is potentially __________.

 Mainly thought to be organized semantically = based on their ___________.

 Strengths & Weaknesses of MSM:

 (+)

 (+)

 (-)
 (-)