Psych- Memory

What are examples of chunking? (2)

-Letters into words (abbreviations) -Numbers into dates or phone numbers

What are four types of rehearsal to try to retain information?

-Vocal rehearsal -Sub-vocal rehearsal -Verbal rehearsal -non-verbal rehearsal

How do mnemonic devices work?

-provides ways of improving coding, storage and retrieval of information from LTM -Assist us to associate new information with existing information in LTM and providing retrieval cues to make information easier to recall

What does memory depend on? (3)

-the conversion (encoding) of information into a form in which it can be stored -its storage after encoding -its retrieval at a later time

How long is the iconic memory?

1/3 of a second

What are rhymes

A rhyme is a collection of words that have similar sounding key words

What is an acronym?

An abbreviation made up of the first letters of different words, which together form a pronounceable word

What is declarative memory

Declarative memory is our memory of facts or events that we can consciously recall Psychologist sometimes refer to this type of memory as 'knowing that' rather than the 'knowing how' of procedural memory

does the maintenance rehearsal method result in long-term retention?

Does not necessarily result in long-term retention - it simply 'maintains' it in STM

What are two types of memory in sensory memory?

Echoic and Iconic memory

What is effortful encoding?

Effortful encoding is needed to store and retain other types of information. This often involves considerable concentration and some additional mental effort, especially if the information to be retained is complex or very boring.

What does elaborative rehearsal involve?

Elaborative rehearsal involves reorganising new and existing information in a meaningful way to aid storage and retrieval. Eg, learning mnemonics

How does elaborative rehearsal compare to maintenance rehearsal?

Elaborative rehearsal requires more effort than does maintenance rehearsal, however it ensures information is better encoded and hence more likely to be remembered.

What is episodic memory

Episodic memory is the declarative memory system that stores events ('episodes') involving personal experiences Memories include information about: Context (where and when) State (physical and psychological condition)

How do the short term memory and the long term memory differ? (3)

How information is stored How information is retrieved How information is 'lost' or forgotten

What is an acrostic?

Involves constructing a meaningful phrase formed from the first letters of words to be remembered

What is narrative chaining?

Involves joining otherwise unconnected items to one another by incorporating them into a meaningful story

What information does the short term memory hold?

It holds all information you are currently thinking about, or are consciously aware of.

What are two types of rehearsal that psychologists distinguish?

Maintenance rehearsal and Elaborative rehearsal

What is memory?

Memory is commonly described as a group of related and interacting processes that enable us to acquire, retain and retrieve information

What is procedural memory

Procedural memory is our memory of how to perform different actions, operations and skills. Eg.Your movements are so automatic, you are drawing on skills you had stored in your procedural memory

What is the semantic network theory suggest about the LTM?

Semantic network theory suggests that organisation of information in LTM is both systematic and meaningful.

What are serial position effects?

The effect that items at a beginning (best remembered) and end of lists (next best) are recalled the best

Why are the words at a beginning of a list remembered the best?

The primary effect- beginning words are remembered the best

What does the semantic network theory propose?

This theory proposes that information is stored as groups of concepts (or nodes); these nodes are meaningfully linked and form part of overlapping networks

What is the method of loci?

Uses a sequence of locations, which have been very well learned, as retrieval cues for information to be remembered

What happens when the STM has reached its capacity?

a new piece of info can be stored only if an existing piece of info is discarded.

What is the duration of the echoic memory

approximately 2-4 seconds

What is the function of the echoic memory?

brief temporary storage of verbal sensory information - until we pay attention to it to store it in a more permanent form

What is the function of the iconic memory?

brief temporary storage of visual sensory information - until we pay attention to it to store it in a more permanent form

What is the capacity of the LTM

can be described as limitless

What is the information processing model?

describes memory as an information processing system with three separate, but related, stages involving different types or subsystems of memory - sensory memory, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM).

How can items be lost from the short term memory?

displacement (being pushed out by new incoming information) or by decay (fading over time)

What does non-verbal rehearsal require?

does not use words (an image)

What are the three stages of memory encoding?

encoding, storage, retrieval

What are the two types of declarative memory

episodic memory and semantic memory

What is the duration of the short term memory?

generally information is held in STM for up to about 6 seconds. The ability to recall declines after about 12 seconds and has gone altogether after about 20 seconds.

What is the peg word method?

involves associating items to be recalled with objects that rhyme with numbers 1,2,3 etc The numbers act as retrieval cues

What is required for the recognition of information

involves correctly identifying or selecting previously learned information from a set of alternatives.

What does rhyming involve in remembering things?

involves incorporating information to be remembered in a rhyme for information to be remembered.

What does vocal rehearsal require?

involves repeating information aloud (eg learning multiplication tables

What does maintenance rehearsal involve?

involves repeating information over and over in a rote fashion, without adding new meaning to it.

What does sub-vocal rehearsal require?

involves repeating it in your head

What is semantic memory

is the declarative memory system that stores information about the world It includes general knowledge such as facts, word meanings, rules, concepts, everyday knowledge and specialised knowledge

What is chunking?

it involves the clustering of smaller bits of information into larger, more meaningful single units of information

what happens to the information if not attended to in the sensory memory

it is lost

what happens to the information if not rehearsed or encoded to in the short term memory

it is lost

According to the information processing model, what is required for new information to be retained?

it must be transferred successfully from sensory memory to STM and then to LTM. However, information may also be transferred from LTM to STM when there is a need to use it

According to the semantic network theory, is the LTM retrieval of information a random process?

no

Do people have conscious control over sensory memory?

no

What are the two types of LTM systems?

procedural memory and declarative memory

According to George Miller, how much information can be stored in the short-term memory

psychologists refer to the capacity as 7±2

Where are memories retrieved from?

the long-term memory

What is Echoic memory?

the memory of auditory sensory information

What does the short term memory do?

the memory system that receives and encodes new information from the sensory memory AND receives information from the LTM for temporary use.

What does long term memory mean?

the memory system that stores huge amounts of information for considerable periods of time.

What is encoding?

the process of converting information into a form (or code) that can be represented and retained in memory

What is the retrieval of information

the process of locating and recovering information stored in memory so that we are consciously aware of it.

What is the storage of information?

the process of retaining or keeping information in memory so that it can be used at a later time

What is rehearsal?

the process whereby something is consciously done to retain information in memory

Why are the words at a end of a list remembered well?

the recency effect- words most recently heard are recalled well

What does verbal rehearsal require?

uses words

What is the capacity of the echoic memory?

very large

What is the capacity of the iconic memory?

very large

What type of information does Iconic memory store?

visual

How is information transferred from the sensory memory to the short term memory?

when you pay attention to the information being given

What is required to recall information?

you have to retrieve the information from memory with few, if any, cues.

What is automatic encoding?

you made no conscious effort to encode information. This is effortless encoding

What is a difference between episodic memories and semantic memories

you store semantic memories without necessarily remembering the time and place it was learned