Human

MEMORY
 Memory
 Memory
 persistence of learning over time via
the encoding, storage and retrieval of
information
 Definition…

•is an organism's ability to store, retain,

and recall information and experiences.

•is our ability to encode, store, retain

and subsequently recall information
and past experiences in the
human brain.
 Memory
 Memory as Information Processing
 Sometimes viewed as similar to a computer
 write to file- encode
 save to disk- store
 read from disk- retrieve
 *Sensory Memory
-is the shortest-term element of memory.
-The ability to look at an item for a second and then
remember what it looked like.
-It is processed approximately 200-500 milliseconds
after an item is perceived.
*Short-term Memory (Working Memory)

-Is where memory is recalled without practicing,

something that happened recently.
-Short-Term Memory is dependent on the regions
of the Frontal & Parietal Lobes
 *Long-Term Memory
-Is the ability to store more information for long periods of time (life times)

like phone numbers, names and address’ from when we were kids.

-long-term memory can store much larger quantities of information for

potentially unlimited duration (sometimes a whole life span). Its capacity is

immeasurably large.

- Long-term memory is often divided into two further main types: explicit (or

declarative) memory and implicit (or procedural) memory.

1. Declarative memory (“knowing what”)

>(“knowing what”) is memory of facts and events, and

refers to those memories that can be consciously
recalled.

>It is sometimes called explicit memory, since it

consists of information that is explicitly stored and
retrieved, although it is more properly a subset of
explicit memory.

>Declarative memory can be further sub-divided into

episodic memory and semantic memory.
1.1 Episodic Memory
> represents our memory of experiences and specific
events in time in a serial form, from which we can
reconstruct the actual events that took place at any given
point in our lives.
It is the memory of autobiographical events (times,
places, associated emotions and other contextual
knowledge) that can be explicitly stated. Individuals
tend to see themselves as actors in these events, and the
emotional charge and the entire context surrounding an
event is usually part of the memory, not just the bare
facts of the event itself.
 1.2 Semantic Memory
• on the other hand, is a more structured record of facts,
meanings, concepts and knowledge about the external
world that we have acquired. It refers to general factual
knowledge, shared with others and independent of
personal experience.
• Semantic memories may once have had a personal
context, but now stand alone as simple knowledge.
• It therefore includes such things as types of food, capital
cities, social customs, functions of objects, vocabulary,
understanding of mathematics, etc. Much of semantic
memory is abstract and relational and is associated with
the meaning of verbal symbols.
2. Procedural memory (“knowing how”)

• is the unconscious memory of skills and how to do

things, particularly the use of objects or movements of the
body, such as playing a guitar or riding a bike. It is
composed of automatic sensory motor behaviors that are
so deeply embedded that we are no longer aware of them,
and,
•once learned, these "body memories" allow us to carry out
ordinary motor actions automatically.
• Procedural memory is sometimes referred to as implicit
memory, because previous experiences aid in the
performance of a task without explicit and conscious
awareness of these previous experiences, although it is
more properly a subset of implicit memory
 Memory Processes
o Memory Encoding
*is the crucial first step to creating a new memory. It
allows the perceived item of interest to be converted into
a construct that can be stored within the brain, and then
recalled later from short-term or long-term memory.

*is a biological event beginning with perception through

the senses

*Encoding or registration (receiving, processing and

combining of received information)
 Memory Storage
*is the more or less passive process of retaining
information in the brain, whether in the
sensory memory, the short-term memory or the more
permanent long-term memory.

*Each of these different stages of human memory

function as a sort of filter that helps to protect us from
the flood of information that confront us on a daily
basis, avoiding an overload of information and
helping to keep us sane.
*The more the information is repeated or used, the more
likely it is to be retained in long-term memory (which is
why, for example, studying helps people to perform
better on tests).
 Memory Recall/Retrieval
*Retrieval, recall or recollection (calling back the
stored information in response to some cue for use in a
process or activity)

*refers to the subsequent re-accessing of events or

information from the past, which have been previously
encoded and stored in the brain.

*During recall, the brain "replays" a pattern of neural

activity that was originally generated in response to a
particular event, echoing the brain's perception of the
real event.
*it is known as Remembering.

*Memories are not stored in our brains like books on

library shelves, or even as a collection of self-contained
recordings or pictures or video clips, but may be better
thought of as a kind of collage or a jigsaw puzzle,
involving different elements stored in disparate parts of
the brain linked together by associations and neural
networks.
BRAIN AND MEMORY
 3 Parts of
Human Memory
 Encoding
 Forming a memory code
 Storage
 Maintaining encoded information into
memory over time
 Retrieval
 Recovering information from memory stores
 What Do We Encode?
 Semantic Encoding
 encoding of meaning
 including meaning of words
 Acoustic Encoding
 encoding of sound
 especially sound of words
 Visual Encoding
 encoding of picture images
Encoding
 STORAGE
• MAINTAINGING INFORMATION IN MEMORY
– Information processing theories
– Atkinson and Shiffin Model
• Most influential of theories
• Info passes through 2 temporary storage buffers
• Then moves on to long term memory

Sensory Short Term Long Term

 SENSORY
 Sensory Memory
 the immediate, initial recording of sensory
information in the memory system
 Preserves stimulus in original sensory form
 Working Memory
 focuses more on the processing of briefly
stored information
 Sensory Memory
• Function—holds information
long enough to be processed
for basic physical
characteristics
Sensory • Capacity—large
Sensory – can hold many items at once
Input • Duration—very brief retention
Memory
of images
– .3 sec for visual info
– 2 sec for auditory info
 Sensory Memory
• Sensory memory forms
automatically, without
attention or
Sensory
interpretation
Sensory
Input
Memory • Attention is needed to
transfer information to
working memory
SENSORY MEMORY: Visual, Sound and Tactile
Imagery
• Visual
– Sparkler
– After Image
• Sound
– Ringing
• Tactile
– Hard grasp
• pressure
 SHORT TERM MEMORY (STM)
 Short-Term Memory
 A limited capacity store that can maintain
unrehearsed information for up to about 20
seconds
 activated memory that holds a few items
briefly
 look up a phone number, then quickly dial
before the information is forgotten
Sensory Attention

Input
Working or
Sensory
Short-term
Memory
Memory
 Mental or verbal repetition of information allows
information to remain in working memory longer than
the usual 30 seconds
Maintenance Rehearsal

Sensory Attention

Sensory Working or
Input
Memory Short-term
Memory
 LONG TERM MEMORY
LTM
 The relatively permanent and limitless
storehouse of the memory system
 Why do we sometimes forget things stored in
LTM?
 retrieval problem
 2 Lines of Research on this topic
» Wilder Penfield Studies
» Flashbulb memories
 Long-Term Memory

• Once information passes from sensory to

working memory, it can be encoded into
long-term memory
Maintenance Rehearsal

Encoding
Sensory Attention
Sensory Working or Long-term
Memory Short-term memory
Input
Memory Retrieval
 Long-Term Memory
• Unlimited capacity
• Duration—thought by some to be
permanent
Maintenance Rehearsal

Encoding
Sensory Attention
Sensory Working or Long-term
Memory Short-term memory
Input
Memory Retrieval
 A Simplified Memory Model

Attention to important
Sensory input or novel information

Encoding
External Sensory Short-term Long-term
events memory memory memory
Encoding Retrieving
 RETRIEVAL
• Getting information out of memory
– Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon
• Retrieval cues
– Temporary inability to remember something you
know, accompanied by a feeling that it’s just out of
reach (failure in retrieval)
• Brown and McNeil study
• 57% of words remembered (first letter remembered)
THE END
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