1. Unit 4: Memory & Learning
4.3 Stages of Memory

2. Sensory Memory – the first stage
Immediate, initial recording of sensory information
Lasts ½ - 2 seconds
Unlimited capacity
Memory Trace – impression made on our senses that lasts only for a second
If we want to remember, we have to do something w/ the info S T I M U L A O N
sensory storage

3. Sensory Memory – the first stage
Iconic Memory
Part of sensory memory that holds visual memory
Something is seen and then disappears – lasts no more than 1/10 of a sec
Echoic Memory
- Momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli (sounds)
If I show you this….
your iconic memory does this…
…but faster!

4. Short Term Memory – the second stage
Memory that holds info briefly before its stored or forgotten
Also known as working memory
Lasts about 18 seconds w/o rehearsal
When actively thinking about something, you are using STM S T I M U L A O N
sensory storage
Attention/ focus
STM

5. Short Term Memory – the second stage
Candle
Store
Chair
Phone
Bike
Ball
Outrageous
Cat
Book
Milk
Clock
Shoe
Gym
Plant
Basket
Dog TV
Closet
Psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus found:
Primacy Effect – tendency to recall the first items in a series
Recency Effect – tendency to recall the last items in a series

6. Short Term Memory – the second stage
Most people can hold 7 items (+ or – 2) in STM at a time
C. Chunking – organizing information into familiar or manageable chunks

7. Short Term Memory – the second stage
D. Interference – process that occurs when new info is in STM and replaces what was already there ** Think of STM like a bookshelf – once the shelves are full, you can’t put a new book on w/o taking a book away. That is interference.

8. Long Term Memory – the third stage
Stage of memory capable of large & relatively permanent storage
No limit to how much can be stored in LTM
Things like – names, dates, places, words, pictures, sounds, smells, etc
* Estimated that a person stores more than 5x the amount of info found in the entire Encyclopedia Britannica