1. Memory Storage: Retaining Information

2. Sensory Memory The initial recording of sensory information in the memory system Iconic Memory A fleeting photographic memory Lasts only a few tenths of a second

5. Sensory Memory The initial recording of sensory information in the memory system Iconic Memory A fleeting photographic memory Lasts only a few tenths of a second Echoic Memory Fleeting memory for auditory sensory images

6. Short-term Memory Serves as the “desktop” of our conscious attention Filtered information from our sensory memory Retrieved information from long-term memory Unless rehearsed, information will quickly disappear Capacity is 7 (+/- 2)

7. Long-Term Memory Capacity is limitless  How does storage work?  Karl Lashley (1950)  rats learn maze  lesion cortex  test memory  To know how our brain stores information “defies comprehension” (1998)

8. Long-term Memory Synaptic Changes  Long-term Potentiation  increase in synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation  Stress hormones and memory  Strong emotions make for stronger memories  some stress hormones boost learning and retention

9. Long-term Memory  Explicit Memory  memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare  also called declarative memory  Implicit Memory  retention independent of conscious recollection  also called procedural memory

10. Long-term Memory Types of long-term memories Explicit (declarative) With conscious recall Implicit (nondeclarative) Without conscious recall Facts-general knowledge (“semantic memory”) Personally experienced events (“episodic memory”) Skills-motor and cognitive Dispositions- classical and operant conditioning effects

11. Hippocampus  hippocampus-- neural center in limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage