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23 views2 pages

Document 3

Uploaded by

varunravichandran8
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Document 3: Psychology 101: Memory Systems

Page 1: Types of Memory

Memory systems are categorized by duration and content. Sensory memory holds
impressions for <1 second (e.g., iconic memory for visuals, echoic for sounds). Short-term
memory (STM) retains ~7 items for 20–30 seconds, while long-term memory (LTM) stores
information indefinitely.

Explicit (declarative) memory includes facts/events (e.g., recalling a birthday), subdivided


into:

Semantic: General knowledge (e.g., capital cities).

Episodic: Personal experiences (e.g., your first day of school).

Implicit (procedural) memory involves skills (e.g., riding a bike). The case of HM, who lost
his hippocampus, showed that STM could function without LTM formation, highlighting
brain regions’ roles.

Page 2: Memory Processes

Encoding converts sensory input into storable formats. Strategies include:

Chunking: Grouping digits like 177618121945 into historical dates.

Mnemonics: Using acronyms (ROYGBIV for rainbow colors).

Storage consolidates memories via synaptic strengthening (long-term potentiation). Retrieval


cues (e.g., smells, contexts) trigger recall. Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve shows memory loss
is steepest within 24 hours. Interference (new/old memories competing) and decay (fading
due to disuse) cause forgetting.
Page 3: Improving Recall

Effective techniques include:

Spaced repetition: Reviewing material at increasing intervals.

Context-dependent memory: Studying in environments similar to test settings.

Sleep: Critical for consolidating daily learning into LTM.

For exams, interleaving topics (mixing subjects) enhances retention versus cramming.
Practice tests also improve retrieval strength. Example: A student using spaced repetition
apps (e.g., Anki) retains 80% of material versus 20% with passive rereading.

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