Chapter 9 Memory
Memory Active system that receives, stores, organizes, alters, and recovers information Incoming information is encoded (changed to a usable form) Then stored (held in the system) Later retrieved (taken out of storage)
Sensory Memory Can hold exact copy of what was seen or heard for only a few seconds, long enough to transfer to STM Icon: mental image
Short-Term Memory (STM) Holds small amount of information for brief periods Selective attention: focus on selected portion of sensory input; controls what gets into STM Cam be sorted as images, but mostly phonetic (words) Working memory: briefly holds information while other mental activities take place Sensitive to interference or interruption
STM Storage Capacity: 7 plus or minus 2 Information chunks: bits of information grouped into larger units Records or reorganizes information into categories already in LTM Maintenance rehearsal (silently repeating) prolongs memory Elaborative rehearsal makes information more meaningful
Long-Term Memory (LTM) Stores important or meaningful information Limitless, permanent Stored by meaning Memories affected by emotions, judgment Information may be arranged by rules, images, categories, symbols, personal meaning
LTM Procedural memory: skill memory Declarative memory: fact memory Semantic Memory: personal knowledge about the world (days of the week, names of objects) Episodic memory: personal information linked with specific times and dates; more easily forgotten than semantic memory
Retrieval of information Whether you remember depends on how you’re tested Recognition: correctly identify previously learned information Very accurate for visual stimuli, pictures Superior to recall Recall: direct retrieval of information Serial position effect: make more errors in remembering the middle items in a series
Forgetting Most forgetting occurs right after memorization Semantic and implicit (outside of awareness, such as a keyboard) memories last longer Encoding failure: memory was never formed Decay: memory traces weaken over time
Memory Strategies Feedback Recitation: summarize in own words Rehearsal: review Selection organization: chunks Spaced practice: superior to massed practice