Memory
Stages of memory and information processing
The brain processes the information we receive from our senses; it pays attention to the important information and makes decisions based on it.
Three ways of encoding information:
- Acoustic encoding – holding sound information
- Visual encoding – holding images
- Semantic encoding – holding the meaning of information
STM and LTM
| Short term memory | Long term memory |
| Duration: 18 seconds | Duration: minutes or a lifetime |
| Capacity: 5-9 items | Capacity: limitless |
| Sensory encoding | Largely semantic encoding, but also visual or acoustic. |
| Forgetting: displacement and decay | Forgetting: decay, interference and retrieval failure |
Why do we forget things?
Information in STM can be forgotten through displacement. This is when new incoming information pushes out the old as we exceed the capacity of STM.
Forgetting in LTM could be because of memory decay over time, while others may be overwritten by new information (interference).
Amnesia
| Anterograde amnesia | Retrograde amnesia |
| The inability to store any new long-term memories following a brain injury.They have intact short-term memory, so can process sensory information in that moment. But they cannot keep memories that last beyond a few minutes.Ability to transfer from STM to LTM is damaged.They can retain LTM memories from before the accident | Cannot recall information from before the injury. This can be specific to one memory or to a specific time frame.It is possible to regain some or all of their lost memory. |
Bartlett’s theory of reconstructive memory
- Our memories are notes of what we experienced.
- When we recall these memories, we elaborate on them using our general knowledge about similar events.
- Memories aren’t an exact copy of an event but an interpretation – active reconstruction.
- This general knowledge (schemas) are unique to us.
How schemas influence memory
- Omissions – we leave out unfamiliar, irrelevant or unpleasant details when remembering something. Our schema simplifies this information.
- Transformations – details are changed to make them more familiar and rational.
- Familiarisation – we change unfamiliar details to align with our own schema
- Rationalisation – we add details into our recall to give a reason for something that may not have originally fitted with a schema.
Strengths and weaknesses of this theory
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Real world application and helps us understand why memory can become distorted. Mundane realism. | Did not use standardised procedures and controls which may weaken the research that was used. |
| He conducted his research with folk stories and images, asking them to recall hours, days or years later. Recalling stories is an everyday activity therefore it is ecologically valid. | He read and interpreted pictures and stories reproduced by participants. Some would argue his findings could be subjective, which is considered unscientific. |
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) Multi Store Model of Memory
- The sensory register is the store that receives sensory information and holds it very briefly.
- If we pay attention to this, it can be transferred to the STM.
- If we don’t pay attention, it can decay quickly.
Sensory registers:
Iconic memory – register for visual information that lasts for around 1 second before visual information decays
Echoic memory – register for auditory information that lasts for a few seconds before sound info decays
Other sensory registers
- Gustatory (taste)
- Olfactory (smell)
- Tactile (touch)
The role of rehearsal
- Repeating information helps us hold it in STM for longer.
- It could get transferred to the LTM.
- We can chunk information to make it easier for recall.
Strengths and weaknesses of the MSM
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| There is lots of evidence to support the fact that there are separate stores of memory. Brain injury can damage LTM while STM remains intact. | Overstates the role of rehearsal as a means of transferring info from STM to LTM.We can remember things because they are meaningful to us. |
| Ben Murdock (1962) : discovered serial position effect, the tendency to recall things at the start or end of a list. This is because info at the start has been rehearsed and transferred to LTM while last words remain in STM. | It is unlikely that we have one type of LTM because amnesia patients demonstrate that while some LTM memories are damaged, other types remain intact. E.g. Clive Wearing could not recall personal events but could remember how to play the piano |
MSM diagram
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