Ch 8

– Receives information
– Organizes and alters that information
– Retrieves the information

encoding, storage, retrieval

– Converting sensory information into a form that is
usable in the brain’s storage systems

– Holding onto information for some period of time

– Using information in storage

– The very first system in memory, in which raw information
from the senses is held for a very brief period of time

– the memory system in which information is held for brief
periods of time while being used
• Each sense has a sensory memory associated
with it
-Larger Capacity (7±2)
-Maintain Information

– An active system that processes the information in short- term memory
-manipulation of memory
-Smaller Capacity (5±2)

– the system of memory into which all the information is
placed to be kept more or less permanently

iconic, echoic

visual sensory memory
• Capacity: Everything you can see at one time
• Duration: Information is pushed out as soon
as you look at something new

photographic memory

• Memory for what you just heard
• Limited to what can be heard at any one
moment
• Capacity: smaller than Iconic memory
• Duration: longer than Iconic memory
– 2-4 seconds

allow an individual to select and focus on particular input for further processing while simultaneously suppressing irrelevant or distracting information

– Organizing information (Acronyms)

– Repeating information over and over
-repeating information in STM,
extends its duration and enhances
consolidation (transfer to long term memory)

Interruption that impair memory

The order of information can play a role in
how well you remember

explicit memory, implied memory

– Transferring information from STM into LTM by
making that information meaningful in some way

– Implicit
– Habits, practiced skills

-intentional recollection of factual information, previous experiences, and concepts

Declarative Memory

– General Knowledge
-general world knowledge that humans have accumulated throughout their lives

– Personal information
– Daily Activities and Events
-information about recent or past events and experiences
-whats mostly thought of as memory like where you parked your car this morning

Remembering the capital of France and the rules for playing football uses semantic memory. Remembering what happened in the last game of the World Series uses episodic memory.

Hippocampus

the ability to accurately recall an exceptional number of experiences and their associated dates from events occurring throughout much of one's lifetime

a process involving persistent strengthening of synapses that leads to a long-lasting increase in signal transmission between neurons

Long-Term Potentiation

work by helping us retrieve an intention from our prospective memory, which is responsible for remembering things that we need to do

Recognition refers to our ability to “recognize” an event or piece of information as being familiar, while recall designates the retrieval of related details from memory

counters the idea that mere repetition helps us retain information long-term. Instead, it suggests that information that is encoded on a deeper level, through meaningful association, is easier to remember.

their memories are susceptible to a variety of errors and biases

Encoding Failure
– It never made it into LTM
– E.g., maybe it didn’t seem important

Storage Failure
– Information decays over time

Retrieval Failure

• Older info impacts retrieval of newer info

• Newer info impacts retrieval of older info

Retrograde, Anterograde

Inability to form new long-term memories

Loss of memory for the past
• Typically you lose episodic, not semantic information

your memories are not lost forever but in an area of the brain that is harder to access

they improve memory