PSY107 – CHAPTER 5
Cognitive Psychology, Sixth Edition-
Robert J. Sternberg and Karin
Sternberg
Memory is how we retain and draw on our
past experiences to use that information in
the present. It also refers to the dynamic
mechanisms associated with storing,
retaining, and retrieving information about
experience.
3 common operations of memory:
1. Encoding or the transformation of
sensory data into a form of mental
representation.
2. Storage is keeping the encoded
information in memory.
3. Retrieval is pulling out or using the
information stored in memory.
TASKS USED FOR MEASURING MEMORY
1. Recall versus Recognition Tasks
 Recall tasks, you produce a fact, a
word, or other item from memory.
Three types of recall tasks
1. Serial recall – repeat items in a
list in the exact order in which you
read or hear them.
2. Free recall – repeat the items in
a list in any order in which you can
recall them.
3. Cued recall or paired
associates recall – memorize a list
of paired items; then when you are
given one item in the pair, you must
recall the mate for that item.
 Recognition tasks, you select or
otherwise identify an item as being one
that you have been exposed to
previously.
2. Implicit vs Explicit Memory Tasks
 Explicit memory is where participants
engage in conscious recollection.
 Implicit memory is where
participants use information from
memory but are not consciously aware
that they are doing so.
Two tasks that involve implicit
memory.
1. Priming Tasks is the facilitation of
your ability to utilize missing
information.
(e.g., P_ NK = PINK)
2. Procedural Knowledge or
memory for processes is the
ability to remember learned skills
and automatic behaviors, rather
than facts.
process-dissociation model
assumes that implicit and explicit
memory both have a role in virtually
every response. Thus, only one task is
needed to measure both these processes.
Intelligence and the Importance of
Culture in Testing
Culture-relevant tests measure skills
and knowledge that relate to the cultural
experiences of the test-takers.
MODELS OF MEMORY
First model of memory proposed by William
James which distinguish 2 structures:
1. primary memory which holds
temporary information currently in
use.
2. secondary memory which holds
information permanently or at least
for a very long time.
Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin
proposed an alternative model that
conceptualized memory in terms of three
memory stores:
PSY107 – CHAPTER 5
1. sensory store can store relatively
limited amounts of information for
very brief periods. It is the initial
repository of much information that
eventually enters the shorthand and
long-term stores.
• Iconic store or Visual sensory
register – holds visual information
• Econ or Auditory sensory
register – holds auditory
information
2. short-term store, capable of
storing information for somewhat
longer periods but of relatively
limited capacity as well.
• Attention – Attend to information
in the sensory store, it moves to
short term memory
• Rehearsal – Repeat the
information to keep maintained in
short term memory
• Retrieval – Access memory in
long term memory and place in short
term memory
3. long-term store, of very large
capacity, capable of storing
information for very long periods,
perhaps even indefinitely.
• Capacity – Thus far limitless
• Duration – Potentially permanent
• Permastore refers to the very
long-term storage of information.
This Atkinson-Shiffrin model
emphasizes the passive storage areas in
which memories are stored; but it also
alludes to some control processes that
govern the transfer of information from one
store to another.
The Levels of Processing Model
A radical departure from the three-stores
model of memory is the levels-of-processing
framework, which postulates that memory
does not comprise three or even any specific
number of separate stores, but rather varies
along a continuous dimension in terms of
depth of encoding. There are no distinct
boundaries between one level and the next.
The emphasis in this model is on processing
as the key to storage. The level at which
information is stored will depend, in large
part, on how it is encoded. Moreover, the
deeper the level of processing, the higher, in
general, is the probability that an item may
be retrieved.
Levels of processing framework
1. physical is the visually apparent
features of the letters.
2. phonological are the sound
combinations associated with the
letters.
3. semantic are the meaning of the
word.
PSY107 – CHAPTER 5

more powerful inducement to recall has

been termed the self-reference effect
in which, participants show very high
levels of recall when asked to relate
words meaningfully to the participants
by determining whether the words
describe them. Each of us has a very
elaborate self-schema. This self-schema
is an organized system of internal cues
regarding our attributes, our personal
experiences, and ourselves. Thus, we can
richly and elaborately encode
information related to ourselves much more • Articulatory/Phonological Loop used
so than information about other topics. to maintain information for a short time
and for acoustic rehearsal (Auditory)
Working memory holds only the most
recently activated, or conscious, portion of • Visuo-spatial Sketch Pad used for
long-term memory, and it moves these maintaining and processing visuo-spatial
activated elements into and out of brief, information (Sight)
temporary memory storage. • Episodic Buffer used for storage of a
Components of Working Memory multimodal code, holding an integrated
episode between systems using different
Alan Baddeley has suggested an integrative codes
model of memory.
• Central Executive focuses attention on
relevant items and inhibiting irrelevant ones
• Visuo-spatial Sketch Pad is the dual-
task paradigm
PSY107 – CHAPTER 5

Multiple-Memory Systems Model

• Semantic Memory stores
general world knowledge
• Episodic Memory stores
personally experienced events or
episodes
• Procedural Memory are the
memories on how to do something
Exceptional Memory
Mnemonists are someone who
demonstrates extraordinarily keen memory
ability, usually based on using special
techniques for memory enhancement.
Deficient Memory
Amnesia is severe loss of explicit memory
Type of amnesia
1. Retrograde Amnesia is the
loss of memory for events that
occurred before the trauma.
2. Anterograde Amnesia is
when you have no memory for
events that occur after the
trauma.
3. Infantile Amnesia is the
inability to recall events of young
childhood.
Hypermnesia is a process of producing
retrieval of memories that would seem to
have been forgotten.

Alzheimer’s disease is a disease of older

adults that causes dementia as well as
progressive memory loss.
Dementia is a loss of intellectual function
that is severe enough to impair one’s
everyday life.