EOPM

Unit 4 – Memory
Learning – process of acquiring information
Memory – process of maintaining information
Structures and processes involved in storage
and retrieval of information
Retention is a big part of memory, dealing with
whatever happens to stored information or
learned associations
Learning and memory are intertwined
Memory Process:
Encoding – stimuli from sensory
organs
Storage
Retrieval of information
Types of Information / Memory
Sensory memory:
the initial, momentary storage of information
that lasts only an instant
Iconic memory – from visual system
Echoic – auditory - ears
Haptic – tactile – touch
This is memory in passing – retained only for a
few seconds
Tree leaf falling
Phone number from a
hoarding
Sting of an injection
Flash of lightning
Short term memory:
Allowing us to recall specific information
for a brief period of time
We will mostly forget information stored
in this, as it is retained for a period lesser
than 60 seconds
E.g. a phone number
This can be improved by repetition and
practice
The transfer of material from short- to
long-term memory proceeds largely on
the basis of rehearsal - the repetition of
information that has entered short-term
memory.
Repetition will move material from short
term to long term memory
We store information in chunks or
parts – a meaningful group of stimuli
that can be stored as a unit –
hyphenated phone number instead of
one long series of numbers
Rehearsal allows us to transfer the
information into long-term memory
Working memory:
A set of active, temporary memory store
that actively manipulates and rehearses
information
involves the immediate and small amount
of information that a person actively uses
as he / she perform cognitive tasks.
Baddeley’s Model of short term memory:
Phonological Loop – to preserve verbal data
Language, numbers
Phonological store – memory traces with fast fading
Articulatory loop – reviving memory traces
Visuospatial sketchpad – visual and spatial
information
Positions and properties of the object
Central Executive:
Linking the two and relating them to long term memory
https://www.simplypsychology.org/working-memory.
html
Long Term Memory: unlimited
Explicit – we take efforts to create this
Episodic– specific episodes
Flashbulb memory
Semantic –facts, formulas, information
Flashbulb memories: Memories
centered on a specific,
important, or surprising event
that are so vivid it is as if they
represented a snapshot of the
event.
Implicit – procedural - non deliberate, which we
don’t forget
Riding a bike
Washing utensils
Cooking
Dressing
Songs
https://www.verywellmind.com/implicit-and-expl
icit-memory-2795346
Spatial memory –
A cognitive process that enables a
person to remember different
locations as well as spatial relations
between objects.
This allows one to remember where an
object is in relation to another object
Semantic networks:
Knowledge is stored in semantic networks,
clusters of interconnected information

Try and recall things that are red in color

Tell me all things that come to your mind
associated with a school
Measures of Retention:
Recall:
Verbal reproduction or repetition of
learnt material
Serial recall
Free recall
Tip of the tongue phenomenon – inability
to recall information that one knows
Recognition:
Useful where recall is weak.
MCQ is easier than fill in the blanks.
Saving
Revising
Relearning
Separate / Multi Store Model
Proposed by Richard Atkinson and Richard
Shiffrin.
Memory consists of three stores: a sensory
register, short-term memory (STM) and
long-term memory (LTM).
Each store is a unitary structure and has its
own characteristics in terms of encoding,
capacity and duration.
Encoding – modifying information to
store it.
Capacity concerns how much
information can be stored.
Duration refers to the period of time
information can last in the memory
stores.
Information Processing Levels:
Shallow Processing:
Structural – how it looks
Phonemic – how it sounds
Intermediate Processing:
Acoustic – rhyme, harshness etc. of sound
Deep processing:
Semantic – similarity / familiarity, meaningful
analysis
Memory Loss
Human memory involves the ability to both preserve
and recover information we have learned or
experienced.
Sometimes we forget or misremember things.
Sometimes things are not properly encoded in
memory in the first place.
Memory problems can range from minor annoyances
like forgetting where we left the keys, to major
diseases, like Alzheimer's and other kinds of dementia,
that affect the quality of life and the ability to function.
Linked factors:
 Age
 Accidents
 Low oxygen
 Drug usage – enhancers and abuse
 State dependency - people are more likely
to retrieve memories that were created in
similar states of consciousness
Decay Theory of forgetting
Decay is the loss of information through
nonuse.
This explanation for forgetting assumes
that memory traces, the physical changes
that take place in the brain when new
material is learned, simply fade away over
time
Interference:
The phenomenon by which information in
memory disrupts the recall of other
information
Proactive – Information learnt earlier
interferes with recall of newer material
Retroactive – information learnt later or
suddenly interferes with recall
Memory Loss:
Amnesia: Memory loss that occurs without other
mental difficulties.
Retrograde amnesia: Amnesia in which memory
is lost for occurrences prior to a certain event.
Anterograde amnesia: Amnesia in which
memory is lost for events that follow an injury
Korsakoff’s syndrome: A disease that afflicts
long-term alcoholics, leaving some abilities intact
but including hallucinations and a tendency to
repeat the same story.