Human Memory
Memory is the encoding, storage and retrieval of information; the exam tests the stage model, types of long-term memory, forgetting and improvement techniques.
The stage model
Atkinson and Shiffrin: sensory memory (iconic about 0.5 s, echoic 2-3 s), short-term memory (about 20-30 s, capacity 7 plus or minus 2 chunks) and long-term memory (unlimited). Baddeley's working memory adds the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, central executive and episodic buffer.
Long-term memory types
Declarative or explicit memory includes episodic (personal events) and semantic (facts) memory; procedural memory (skills) is largely implicit.
Encoding and retrieval
Levels of processing: semantic encoding beats phonemic, which beats structural. Elaboration, organisation, imagery, chunking and spaced rehearsal improve storage. Retrieval measures: recall, recognition, relearning. The serial position effect shows primacy (LTM) and recency (STM) advantages. Context- and state-dependent memory show the value of cues.
Forgetting
Ebbinghaus's curve: rapid early loss then a plateau. Causes: decay, proactive interference (old disrupts new), retroactive interference (new disrupts old), retrieval failure, motivated forgetting and consolidation failure. Amnesia: retrograde (before injury) versus anterograde (after).
Worked example
A new phone number keeps replacing the old one in memory. Reasoning: new learning disrupts retrieval of the old - retroactive interference (new acting on old).
Traps
- Swapping STM duration and capacity.
- Reversing proactive and retroactive interference.
- Saying recognition is harder than recall.
- Assuming forgetting means the memory trace is destroyed.