MEMORY

MISS PALWASHA
 MEMORY
 Memory refers to the processes by which people
and other organisms encode, store, and
retrieve information.

 Practically all of our daily activities—talking,

understanding, reading, and socializing—depend
on our having learnt and stored information
about our environments.
 It enables us to learn new skills and to form habits.
Without the ability to access past experiences or
information, we would be unable to comprehend
language, recognize our friends and family members,
find our way home, or even tie a shoelace
 Key Processes in Memory

•Encoding
•Storage
•Retrieval
 Encoding Storage Retrieval

Refers to the The maintenance Material in

process by of material saved memory storage
which in the memory is located,
information is system brought into
initially recorded awareness, and
in a form usable used
to memory
 Encoding and Recoding
 The process of initial recording of information.

 Encoding is the process of perceiving information

and bringing it into the memory system.
 Encoding is not simply copying information directly from
the outside world into the brain.
 Rather, the process is properly conceived as recoding, or
converting information from one form to another.
 The human visual system provides an example of how
information can change forms. Light from the outside
world enters the eye in the form of waves of
electromagnetic radiation. The retina of the eye
converts this radiation into bioelectrical signals that the
brain interprets as visual images.
 Storage
 The process of maintaining and
keeping information in memory.
 Information is saved in the memory

 The storage may be for a few seconds

(short-term) or for many years (long term)
 Retrieval
 The information recorded and stored is
approached, located, brought into
awareness, and used.

 Encoding and storage are necessary to

acquire and retain information. But the
crucial process in remembering is
retrieval, without which we cannot access
our memories. Unless we retrieve an
experience, we do not really remember it.
 The Memory Storage Systems:
Memory Stages

 Sensory Memory
 Short - term Memory

 Long - term Memory

The Memory Storage Systems:
Memory Stages
 Sensory Memory/Sensory Register

 Storage of memory lasting for a very brief

while

 Sensory memory refers to the initial, momentary

recording of information in our sensory systems.
 When sensations strike our eyes, they linger briefly in the
visual system.
 Here an exact replica of the stimulus recorded by
a person’s sensory system is stored very briefly
 Sensory memory systems typically function outside of
awareness and store information for only a very short
time. Usually the incoming sensory information replaces
the old information.
 Sensory memory can store information for only a very
 Types of Sensory
Memories
 Iconic Memory
 The information gathered by our visual
sense is reflected by the iconic memory;
memory in the visual domain

 Echoic Memory
 The information coming from our auditory
sense is dealt with by the echoic memory;
i.e., Memory for sounds
 Short-term Memory/ Working
Memory

 Short-term memory system is the storage

system that temporarily holds current or recently
attended-to information for immediate or short
term use.

 The term working memory or short term memory

is commonly used to refer to a broader system
that both stores information briefly and allows
manipulation and use of the stored information.
 Short-term Memory
 This system is higher in functioning than
sensory memory, as it stores information in
terms of meaning and not just simple
sensory stimulation.
 Sensory information is meaningless and
therefore discarded.
 Since now it is meaningful it will be
retained, though for not very long.
 Short-term memory retains information for
15 to 30 seconds, unless it is moved into
the long- term memory.
Chunking and the capacity of Short-
term memory

 A meaningful grouping of stimuli that can be

stored as a unit in short-term memory.

 A chunk is an understandable or meaningful

set or grouping of stimuli e.g., “001023” can
be learnt as “001 023” or “00 10 23”.

 Short-term memory can carry seven chunks

at a time on average; the capacity may be two
more or two less than seven (George Miller)
 Chunking
 For example, consider the following list of 21
letters:
PBSFOXCNNABCCBSMTVNBC
 Because the list exceeds seven chunks, it is
difficult to recall the letters after one exposure.
But suppose they were presented as follows:

PBS FOX CNN ABC CBS MTV NBC

 In this case, even though there are still 21 letters,
you’d be able to store them in short-term
memory since they represent only seven chunks
 Long-Term Memory
 This system stores information on a
permanent or relatively permanent basis;
the information thus stored may or may
not be retrieved easily.

 The term long-term memory is somewhat

broad meaning phrase because it can
refer to facts learned a few minutes ago,
personal memories many decades old, or
skills learned with practice.
 Long-Term Memory
 The information that is typically encoded
and stored in long-term memory is either
important (a parent’s or spouse’s
birthday, for example) or is used
frequently (your telephone number)

 Maintaining information in long-term

memory often involves rehearsal or
repetition but sometimes an important
event is immediately etched into long-
term memory.
 Types of Long-term Memory

 Declarative Memory
 The storage system responsible for factual
data, dates, faces, names etc

 Semantic Memory
 Storehouse for facts and general knowledge
about the world as well as memory for the rules
of logic that are used to deduce other facts.
 e.g., historical facts, or scientific formulae. It
refers to our general knowledge of the world and
all of the facts we know
 Types of Long-term
Memory
 Episodic Memory
 Memory for information pertaining to life
events, episodes, biographical details. It
refers to memories of specific episodes in
one’s life and is what most people think of
as memory.

 Chronologically dated memory for specific

events, objects and situations
 Episodic memories relate to particular
contexts. For example, remembering
when and how we learned that 2 x 2 = 4
would be an episodic memory; the fact
itself (that 2 x 2 = 4) is a semantic
memory.
 Types of Long-term
Memory

 Procedural Memory/Non-declarative
memory
 The memory center for skills and habits
e.g., playing cricket, driving a car etc. Tying
shoelaces, riding a bicycle, swimming, and
hitting a football are examples of procedural
memory.
 Non-declarative, or procedural, memory is
expressed through performance and
typically does not require conscious effort to
recall
 Recall
 Memory task in which specific information
must be retrieved.

 Recognition
 Memory task in which individuals are
presented with a stimulus and asked
whether they have been exposed to it in
the past or to identify it from a list of
alternatives.
 Primacy and Recency
Effects

 Primacy Effect: The more accurate

recall of items that were presented first
in a series.

 Recency Effect: The more accurate

recall of items presented in a series.
 Flashbulb Memories
 Memories centered on a specific,
important, or surprising event that are so
vivid it is as if they represented a
snapshot of the event

 Several types of flashbulb memories are

common among college students. For
example, involvement in a car accident,
meeting one’s roommate for the first time,
and the night of high school graduation are
all typical flashbulb memories
 Tip-of-the-tongue
Phenomenon

 Inability to recall events, details, or

information that we thought we knew
very well.

 The inability to recall information that

one realizes one knows—a result of
the difficulty of retrieving information
from long-term memory.
 Memory
Disorders/Dysfunctions
 Amnesia
 Greek word which means
“forgetfulness”.
 Loss of memory with other mental

difficulties
 In old age, people are unable to

retrieve memories.
 Includes two types of amnesia.

 Retrograde amnesia

 Anterograde amnesia
 Anterograde amnesia is a type of memory loss that
occurs when you can't form new memories.
 In the most extreme cases, this means you permanently
lose the ability to learn or retain any new information.
On its own, this type of memory loss is rare.

 Retrograde amnesia
 Amnesia for events prior to brain damage.
 Retrograde amnesia is a form of memory loss that causes an
inability to remember events from the past. It can be caused by
injury, illness, stress, infection, or other medical conditions that
affect the brain
 Memory
Disorders/Dysfunctions
 Alzheimer’s disease
 An illness characterized in part by severe
memory problems.
 Alzheimer’s disease is the most common
cause of dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease is a physical illness
which damages a person’s brain. It
starts many years before symptoms
start to show.