Memory

Three Types Of Memory

Episodic memory

Specific details of events/episodes, I remember when…

Semantic memory

Our ability to store facts and categories, I know that a canary is a bird…

Procedural memory

Memory regarding skills, learning to swim, riding a bicycle (also one form of non-declarative memory)

Basic memory processes

• Encoding
  • Code information and put into memory (acoustic codes and visual codes).
• Storage
  • Maintenance of information in memory.
• Retrieval
  • Recovering information from memory and bringing it into consciousness.

Short-term store

• Limited Capacity

  • Recency effect in free recall : we remember the last things better than the first things.

  • Primacy effect in free recall : we remember the first things better than the last things.

• Fragility of storage

  • Information decays rapidly from the short term store.

Interference effects

Proactive interference

People have trouble learning new material because of previously learned material interferes.

Release from proactive interference

But if the new material is not similar(such as meaning) to the previous material, it will not ‘internfere’.

Retroactive interference

New learned materials cause people forgetting older materials.

Acoustic-articulatory

• The actual sound (acoustic code).

• The pronunciation (articulatory code).

Working Memory

Baddeley and Hitch (1974) proposed that short term memory is just a part of a larger system, Working Memory.

• Executive control system / Central executive

  • Supervises and regulates information in working memory. Allocates mental resources to tasks.

• Articulatory rehearsal loop / Phonological loop

  • Retention of verbal phonetic information (like the loop of an audio tape).

• Visuospatial sketchpad

  • Deals with the retention of visual information.

When two tasks make use of the same component(for example, phonological loop), they cannot be successfully performed together as they would interfere with each other

Phonological Loop

• Phonological store

  • Holds acoustic or speech-based information for about 2 seconds.

• Articulatory control process

  • Process which produces ‘inner speech’ we all hear (also sub vocal articulation).

Phonological similarity effect: Similarity reducs the discriminability in phonological store, meaning it is harder to remember similar items.

Visuospatial sketchpad

Responsible for the setting up and manipulating of visuospatial images and is separate from phonological loop.

The task will not be interfered by another task if one of them requires phonological loop while other uses visuospatial sketchpad.

Central Executive

It is something like a chief executive who is in charge of planning, initiating activities and making decisions

• Switching of retrieval plans
• Timesharing of dual-task studies
• Selective attention to certain stimuli while ignoring others
• Temporary activation of long term memory

Cue-Dependent Forgetting: Encoding Specificity Principle (Tulving, 1976)

Retrieval success is directly related to the degree of information presented at retrieval and the information stored in memory, including its context.

In other words, it will be easier for us to remember if there are cues presented.