Memory Memory is the process of taking in, storing and retrieving information

1. MemoryMemory is the process of taking in, storing and retrieving information

2. Stages of memory Psychologists believe that the process of memory involves three stages: encoding, storage and retrieval. Encoding: Put in memory Storage: Maintain in memory Retrieval: Recover from memory For anything to be remembered it must go through all of these stages. If failure occurs at any of these stages, the information will not be retrieved- will be forgotten.

3. How good is your memory? • The experimenter will read out a list of numbers from 1 number to 17 numbers. • Starting from the top, the experimenter will read out one line of numbers to the participants, who will then have to write them down correctly. • How many numbers do you think the participants will be able to remember?

4. A psychological experiment... • What did we find? • In an experiment in 1956, George Miller, a psychologist discovered that the capacity of short term memory was limited. He came up up with the magical number 7 +/- 2 (basically between 5-9) units of information. Do our results fit with his? • How would this information be useful in everyday life? • Phone numbers?

5. How about this? • What about the letters below? How many can you remember. You have 10 seconds to learn them. DCS LOL OMG FBI CIAUSABBCIBMABC • Could you remember more? Why? • Miller stressed the importance of “chunking” information. • Could you use this information in everyday life?

6. Short-term memory and long-term memory • Psychologists distinguish between short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM) • STM cannot hold as much information and has a limited capacity. • LTM memory can hold an apparently an unlimited amount of information and has a vast capacity.

7. The Generation Game

8. Contestants…Ready?

9. Generation Game

10. Now write down your answers!

11. Swap and Mark… Hairdryer Tomato Lamp Gnome Cup Cheese Beans BBQ Telephone Jeans Television Kitten/Cat Sunglasses Cupcake Wheelie Bin

12. Primacy and Recency Effect Glanzer & Cunitz (1966) They carried out a similar experiment using lists of words. They found the following: Early and later words, in the sequence, are more likely to be recalled (primacy and recency effect) due to the long term and short term memory effects. Primacy effect occurs because the first words are likely to have been transferred into the long term memory store. Recency effect occurs because the last words in the sequence are likely to be still in the short term memory store. Glanzer & Cunitz additionally found that if there was a 10 second delay while a distraction task was performed, preventing rehearsal before recall, there was only primacy effect – the first few words were transferred into LTM only STM was effected. This supports the idea that the STM and LTM are separate memory stores.

13. How does your memory work?

14. Cognitive Psychology - memory Cognitive Psychologists try to use MODELS in order to try and illustrate human cognitive functioning e.g. memory. Models of memory: • The multi-store model • The working memory model • Levels of processing model

15. What is a “Model”? (Not this type) The Cognitive Psychologists tried to develop computer programs to mimic human cognitive functioning – however this didn’t work as the programs ended up being very time consuming & complex to operate…so… They use flow charts (models) to illustrate the process…e.g. Multi Store Model Sensory Memory Short Term Memory Long Term Memory

16. Basically think of “models” like the tube map… • Not an EXACT copy, but a representation of something • Helps us understand how something works

17. The First Memory Model Multi-store Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin 1968)

18. Multi-store Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin 1968) Attention Rehearsal Capacity Rehearsal Loop Interference Decay Terms Duration Sensory Memory (SM) Encoding Short Term Memory (STM) Long Term Memory (LTM) Model Displacement

19. The Multi-store Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin1968) Rehearsal Loop Selective Sensory Input Encoding Sensory Memory (SM) Short Term Memory (STM) Long Term Memory (LTM) Retrieval Attention Lost (not available) Not attended to I.e. lost by DECAY Lost by DECAY or DISPLACEMENT The model is a structural model because it focuses on the storage components of the memory system Tip: Remember this structural model…as it could be very useful for the future.

20. Key Features of the MSM • There are THREEdifferent types of memory • The Multi Store model describes the different types of memory as “memory stores”; Sensory Memory(SM), Short Term Memory (STM) and Long Term Memory (LTM) • The model illustrates memory as a flow of information through an information processing system. • The flow of information is fixedi.e. information can not by-pass the Sensory memory and go straight into the Short Term Memory store – has to go in sequence!!! • At each stage of the process, there are constraints in terms of capacity, duration and encoding.

21. What is meant by capacity, duration and encoding? Amount of information which can be stored within the Individual stores CAPACITY The length of time the information can be stored with the Individual stores DURATION ENCODING How the information is stored i.e. acoustic or semantic Each memory store differs in terms of the concepts above.. so we are going to BREAK THE MODEL DOWN

22. SENSORY MEMORY

23. The Multi-store Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin 1968) Rehearsal Loop Sensory Input Sensory Memory (SM) Short Term Memory (STM) Encoding Long Term Memory (LTM) Selective Retrieval Attention Lost (not available) Not attended to I.e. lost by DECAY Lost by DECAY or DISPLACEMENT

24. Sensory Memory Information coming from the external environment firstly goes into the SENSORY STORE. The store holds information for a fraction of a second after the physical stimulus is no longer available. There are threeseparate sensory stores to hold different kinds of input: ICONIC STORE: ECHOIC STORE: HAPTIC STORE: e.g. colours, shapes, faces Stored as images e.g. music, voices, alarms Stored as sounds e.g. texture Stored as feelings

25. Sensory Memory Store The Sensory Store sifts through a huge amounts of incoming sensory information in order to avoid overloading the system. The sensory memory holds on to an image/sound of the environment for a few milliseconds whilst they are scanned to decide which ones should be given attention and passed through the system for further processing. Attentionis an important term in the model. The sensory information, given attention, pass through to the Short Term Memory.

27. Sensory Memory Look out for what colour the EXIT sign is?

29. Questions • How many glasses were on the table? • Were there any men in the picture? If so how many? • What colour flowers were on the table? • Was the lady in the black dress, in the centre of the picture, wearing a necklace?

30. Two men Necklace 3 glasses White flowers

31. You remember this because…. Your ATTENTION was focused on the question “what colour was the EXIT sign? ” Therefore, according to the Multi Store Model, the information went from your SENSORY MEMORY STORE (ICONIC STORE) and filtered into your SHORT TERM MEMORY because you paid ATTENTION to the stimulus. Attention Long Term Memory Sensory Store Short Term Memory Input Stimulus (Party Scene) Encoding Exit Sign Exit Sign Filtering Party Scene

32. SHORT TERM MEMORY

33. The Multi-store Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin 1968) Rehearsal Loop Sensory Input Sensory Memory (SM) Short Term Memory (STM) Encoding Long Term Memory (LTM) Selective Attention Retrieval Lost (not available) Not attended to I.e. lost by DECAY Lost by DECAY or DISPLACEMENT

34. Material given ATTENTION in the Sensory Memory (SM) will pass through to the Short Term Memory. The Short Term Memory holds the information an individual is consciouslythinking about at any one time.

35. Encoding Changing information to be remembered into a form which makes it suitable for the memory to deal with. Short Term Memory prefers to encode information according to it’s sound – echoic. Example Your friend asks you to get them Subway sandwich – they ask for …. No Pickles You have to wait in a very long queue. How are you going to remember them???

36. Encoding - STM I would repeat them in my head – SUBVOCALLY – slightly to ourselves You may choose to repeat them out loud – EXPLICITY VOCALISE

37. Encoding - STM • It therefore suggests that the Short Term Memory (STM) prefers to code things • acoustically(in sounds). • This preference for sound was demonstrated by Conrad (1964) • Conrad (1964) • Used a string of letters to investigate short term memory • A typical string maybe “AKJBSL” • Letters presented very quickly on screen • Results were very interesting…. • The letters B and V were muddled with P – sound the same • But P was very rarely muddled with S • Conrad said that it was the sound of the letters that mattered in encoding • in the STM. • Even though the visual information was presented on screen it must have • been changed into sound for the errors to have occurred

38. Capacity - STM Capacity is the amount of information which can be held. “THE MAGIC number 7+/-2” Miller (1956) Miller suggested that we could hold between five and nine items of information. Example: try to remember one of these telephone numbers- Mila Kunis’s telephone number: 0 7 7 8 9 9 5 6 7 6 5 1 Or, Ashton Kutcher’s telephone number: 0 7 7 9 5 1 6 8 6 9 0 1

39. It’s difficult isn’t it… Now try “CHUNKING” Mila Kunis’s telephone number: 0 7 7 8 9 9 5 6 7 6 5 1 Or, Ashton Kutcher’s telephone number: 0 7 7 9 5 1 6 8 6 9 0 1 Before the telephone numbers were too long – but – by CHUNKING the information into meaningful chunks should make it easier to remember!!!

40. Duration – STM The length of time or duration that information can be held on to the STM is also limited If a memory is not in use, it will quickly disappear By repeating the information we are effectively making it re-enter the STM Rehearsal prevents the information from disappearing and we can hold onto it for longer.

41. Duration – STM • STUDY – Peterson & Peterson (1959) • Presented participants in their study with a TRIGRAM • (three letters in alphabet – GLC) • Then asked them to count backwards in threes • It was found after 18 seconds of counting backwards they could not • remember the trigrams • The study by Peterson & Peterson suggested that STM has a limited duration. • If we do not use information in our STM quickly it decays and is lost. • The study also shows that STM is sensitive to INTERFERENCE

42. Some researchers have distinguished between the types of rehearsal: Maintenance Rehearsal – just keeps information in the Short Term Memory – Example repeating something over and over Elaborative Rehearsal – the information is used and changed in someway. The way the information is rehearsed is important in whether it becomes more permanent. It is through elaborative rehearsal that information is passed into the LONG TERM MEMORY

44. LONG TERM MEMORY

45. The Multi-store Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin 1968) Rehearsal Loop Sensory Input Sensory Memory (SM) Short Term Memory (STM) Encoding Long Term Memory (LTM) Selective Retrieval Attention Lost (not available) Not attended to I.e. lost by DECAY Lost by DECAY or DISPLACEMENT

46. Long Term Memory is where information is held for some period of time. It could be held for a few seconds to a life time. Where all our knowledge/skills are held – swimming/cycling /cooking/names. Without the Long Term Memory we would not be able to do even the simplest task.

47. Encoding - LTM Information in the Long Term Memory is encoded in terms of meaning. Another term for “meaning” is “semantic” An example – If people from the UK are trying to remember the word “barn” we are more likely to say “shed” or “hut” rather than “barn” – therefore we are looking at meaning rather than sound.

48. Capacity – LTM UNLIMITED – estimating a upper limited is IMPOSSIBLE!!! The amount of information that the LTM can hold is certainly very large indeed. Example: Luria (1968) studied a Russian journalist called Solomon Shereshevesky who appeared to have a limitless memory capacity. It is claimed that his memory was so perfect, he could remember nearly every detail of his life.

49. Duration - LTM • STUDY – Bahrick et al (1975) • Bahrick et al (1975) 392 people were asked to name ex class mates. • They were then given photos and asked to recall the names of the people shown (photo recognition test) or given the names and asked to match them to a photo (name recognition test). • Within 15 years of leaving school, participants could still recognise 90% of names and faces. After 48 years recognition was still good at about 75%