MEMORY

Unit: IV
CONTENTS

 Memory process- theories of memory- factors

influencing memory, types of memory.
 Application: Memory in everyday life, improving
memory/memory training/method of memorization.
 Forgetting- causes of forgetting.
DEFINITION OF MEMORY
 According to Woodworth, ‘Memory involves
learning, retention, recall & recognition.’
 Ross said, Memory is a new experience determined
by the disposition laid down by previous
experiences, the relation between the two being
clearly understood.
 Ryburn defined, ‘Memory is the power that we
have to store our experiences and bring them into
the field of our consciousness sometimes after the
experiences have occurred.’
MEMORY PROCESSES/STAGES

 Memory refers to the psychological processes of acquiring,

storing, and later retrieving information.
 There are three major processes involved in memory:
 Encoding: First process of memory is ENCODING. So whatever
information/ sensation we sense will be convert in the form,
that brain can understand and use. For example, if you here a
song, your ears will turn the vibrations in the air into neural
massage from the auditory nerve and brain will interpret the
song.
 Storage: Second process of memory is STORAGE. Here,
the brain parts hold the information for some time. The
information holding time can vary form few seconds
(sensory memory ) to life time.
 Retrieval: Third process of memory is RETRIVAL. When
we Recall the name/ facts, Recite the poem, Remember
the emotional event, Recognize the familiar face or any
information that is the retrieval process/step of memory.
Types of Memory
Sensory memory
 Sensory memory is the earliest stage of memory.
During this stage, sensory information from the
environment is stored for a very brief period,
generally for no longer than a half-second for visual
information and three or four seconds for auditory
information.
 Sensory memories are stored for a fraction of second at
most (0.5–3 seconds).
Types of Sensory Memory

 There are two types of sensory memory: echoic memory

and iconic memory.
 Echoic memory retains information gathered through
auditory stimuli (3 Secs).
 Iconic memory retains information that is gathered
through sight.
 Iconic memory is a visual sensory memory that lasts
for about 1/4 of a second, or 250 milliseconds, in young
adults. It's a brief memory system that allows people to
recall aspects of visual information, even if it's
presented for a very short time.
Short term memory
 Short-term memory, also known as active memory, is
the information we are currently aware of or thinking
about.
 Most of the information stored in active memory will be
kept for approximately 20 to 30 seconds or even less.
 Short-term memory refers to small amounts of
information that people can remember for a short
period of time.
 Examples:-
• Recalling a phone number to write it down after the
number is given verbally.
Long-Term Memory
 Long-term memory refers to the continuing storage
of information.
 Long-term memory refers to unlimited storage
information to be maintained for long periods,
even for life.
 A few common examples include the memory of
how to ride a bike, important life events, and
the factual knowledge that the sun rises in
the East.
Types of Long term Memory

 Implicit and explicit memory are both types of long-

term memory. The information we store or
remember unconsciously is called implicit memory,
while the information we memorize consciously is
known as explicit memory.
 Brushing teeth, Riding a bicycle, Dressing
every day are examples of implicit memory.
 Recalling your memories of events from your
life, remembering information you have
learned when taking a test, and recollecting
upcoming appointments.
Types of explicit memory:
Episodic & Semantic memory
 Episodic memory consists of personal facts and experience,
while semantic memory consists of general facts and
knowledge.
 Episodic memories are memories from our life events and
experiences. They are concerned with when and where an
event occurred, and how it relates to us. Semantic memories
are the factual and conceptual knowledge we have about the
world.
 Examples of semantic memory include factual information
such as grammar and algebra.
 Examples of episodic memory involves first day of school, a
friend's birthday party, and your brother's graduation etc.
Type of Implicit memory:
Procedural memory
• Procedural memory is the memory of how to do
things, such as swimming, cooking an omelet
without a recipe , playing basketball, playing piano.
 THEORIES OF
MEMORY
Multi-Store Model, Levels of Processing, Working Memory
Model, Miller’s Magic Number
Multi-Store Model
(Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)

 An influential theory of memory known as the multi-store model

was proposed by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968.
 This model suggested that memory consisted of three stores: a
sensory register, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory
(LTM).
 Information passes from one stage to the next the more
we rehearse it in our minds, but can fade away if we do not pay
enough attention to it.
 One strength of the multistore model is that is gives us a good
understanding of the structure and process of the STM.
 Information passes from store to store in a linear way, and has been
described as an information processing model (like a computer) with
an input, process and output.
Multi-Store Model
(Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)
Sensory Memory

 In the sensory memory store, information arrives from the 5

senses such as sight (visual information), sounds and touch.
The sensory memory store has a large capacity but a very
brief duration, it can encode information from any of the
senses and most of the information is lost through decay.
 Attention is the first step in remembering something, if a
person’s attention is focused on one of the sensory stores then
the data is transferred to STM.
Short Term Memory
 The short-term memory store has a duration of up to 30
seconds, has a capacity of 7+/-2 chunks and mainly encodes
information acoustically. Information is lost through
displacement or decay.
 Maintenance rehearsal is the process of verbally or mentally
repeating information, which allows the duration of short-term
memory to be extended beyond 30 seconds. An example of
maintenance rehearsal would be remembering a phone
number only long enough to make the phone call.
 This type of rehearsal usually involves repeating information
without thinking about its meaning or connecting it to other
information.
 If maintenance rehearsal (repetition) does not occur, then
information is forgotten, and lost from short term memory
through the processes of displacement or decay.
Long Term Memory

 Long-term memory store has unlimited capacity and duration

and encodes information semantically. Information can be
recalled from LTM back into the STM when it is needed.
 If the information is given meaning (elaborative rehearsal) it is
passed on to the LTM.
 Elaborative rehearsal involves the process of linking new
information in a meaningful way with information already
stored in long-term memory. For example.
 Elaborative rehearsal is more effective than maintenance
rehearsal for remembering new information as it helps to
ensure that information is encoded well. It is a deeper level of
information-processing.
Levels of Processing
(Craik & Lockhart, 1972)

 Fergus Craik and Robert Lockhart were critical of explanation

for memory provided by the multi-store model, so in 1972 they
proposed an alternative explanation known as the levels of
processing effect.
 According to this model, memories do not reside in 3 stores;
instead, the strength of a memory trace depends upon the
quality of processing, or rehearsal, of a stimulus. In other
words, the more we think about something, the more long-
lasting the memory we have of it (Craik & Lockhart, 1972).
Levels of Processing
(Craik & Lockhart, 1972)
Levels of Processing
(Craik & Lockhart, 1972)
 Craik and Lockhart distinguished between two types of
processing that take place when we make an observation:
shallow and deep processing.
 Shallow processing - considering the overall appearance or
sound of something - generally leads to a stimuli being
forgotten. This explains why we may walk past many people in
the street on a morning commute, but not remember a single
face by lunch time.
 Deep (or semantic) processing, on the other hand, involves
elaborative rehearsal - focusing on a stimulus in a more
considered way, such as thinking about the meaning of a word
or the consequences of an event. For example, merely reading
a news story involves shallow processing, but thinking about
the repercussions of the story - how it will affect people -
requires deep processing, which increases the likelihood of
Levels of Processing
(Craik & Lockhart, 1972)

 Conclusion: Level of processing theory proposes that deeper levels of

processing result in long-lasting memory decades.
Working Memory Model
(Baddeley & Hitch, 1974)

 Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch viewed the short-term

memory (STM) store as being over-simplistic and proposed
a working memory model (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974), which
replaced the STM.

 Working memory is a multi-component system that includes

the central executive, visuospatial sketchpad, phonological
loop, and episodic buffer.
Working Memory Model
(Baddeley & Hitch, 1974)
Working Memory Model
(Baddeley & Hitch, 1974)

 According to Baddeley and Hitch, the visuo-spatial sketchpad

handles visual data - our observations of our surroundings -
and spatial information - our understanding of objects’ size
and location in our environment and their position in relation
to ourselves. This enables us to interact with objects: to pick
up a drink or avoid walking into a door, for example.
 The articulatory-phonological loop handles the sounds and
voices that we hear. Auditory memory traces are normally
forgotten but may be rehearsed using the ‘inner voice’; a
process which can strengthen our memory of a particular
sound.
Working Memory Model
(Baddeley & Hitch, 1974)

 The central executive directs attention and gives priority to particular

activities.
 Drives the whole system (e.g., the boss of working memory) and
allocates data to the subsystems: the phonological loop and the
visuospatial sketchpad.
 The central executive decides which information is attended to and
which parts of the working memory to send that information to be
dealt with. For example, two activities sometimes come into conflict,
such as driving a car and talking.
 Rather than hitting a cyclist who is wobbling all over the road, it is
preferable to stop talking and concentrate on driving. The central
executive directs attention and gives priority to particular activities.
Working Memory Model
(Baddeley & Hitch, 1974)

The episodic buffer was not a part of Baddley’s original model. It was
added to the model 25 years later. It is seen as a place to temporarily
integrate information gathered from the phonological loop, visuo-spatial
sketchpad, and long-term memory. The episodic buffer is controlled by
the central executive, yet it transfers information into and out of the
long term store. The addition of the episodic buffer allowed a clearer
connection to be made between working memory and long-term
memory.
TULVING'S MODEL OF MEMORY

 Endel Tulving's model of memory describes three types of long-term

memory (LTM) and the relationship between them:
 Episodic memory
 Memories of events, people, and locations, which are recalled
consciously and with effort. For example, your memory of your first
day of school.
 Semantic memory
 Memories of facts and knowledge of the world, which are recalled
consciously and deliberately. For example, remembering that the
emergency contact number is 999.
 Procedural memory
 Memories of how to do things, such as tying shoelaces, which are
recalled without conscious or deliberate effort.
TULVING'S MODEL OF MEMORY
FORGETTING
 According to the American Psychological Society,
forgetting in psychology refers to the inability to
remember something previously learned.
 Forgetting is the loss or change in information that
was previously stored in short-term or long-term
memory.
 According to Drever James, ‘ Forgetting means
failure at any time to recall an experience
When attempting to do so, or to perform an
action previously learned.’
TYPES OF FORGETTING

 Natural forgetting
 In natural forgetting, forgetting occurs with the
lapse of time in a quite normal way without any
intention of forgetting on the part of the individual .
 Morbid forgetting
 In morbid or abnormal forgetting, one deliberately
tries to forget something.
Theories of Forgetting

I. Interference Theory
II. Trace Decay Theory
III. Displacement from STM
IV. Retrieval Failure Theory
Interference Theory

 Interference theory states that forgetting occurs because memories

interfere with and disrupt one another, in other words forgetting
occurs because of interference from other memories (Baddeley, 1999).
There are two ways in which interference can cause forgetting:
I. Proactive interference (pro=forward) occurs when you cannot learn
a new task because of an old task that had been learned. When what
we already know interferes with what we are currently learning –
where old memories disrupt new memories. (When an old memory
interferes with remembering new information).
II. Retroactive interference (retro=backward) occurs when you forget
a previously learned task due to the learning of a new task. In other
words, later learning interferes with earlier learning – where new
memories disrupt old memories (When new phone no interferes with
remembering old information).
Trace decay theory

 Memories fade away or decay gradually if unused, time plays a

crucial role in this.
 This explanation of forgetting in short-term memory assumes
that memories leave a trace in the brain. A trace is some form of
physical and/or chemical change in the nervous system.
 Trace decay theory states that forgetting occurs as a result of the
automatic decay or fading of the memory trace. Trace decay theory
focuses on time and the limited duration of short-term memory.
 This theory suggests short-term memory can only hold information
for between 15 and 30 seconds unless it is rehearsed. After this
time the information / trace decays and fades away.
Displacement from STM

 Displacement theory provides a very simple explanation of

forgetting.
 When STM is “full”, new information displaces or “pushes out’
old information and takes its place. The old information which is
displaced is forgotten in STM.
Retrieval Failure Theory

 Retrieval failure is where the information is in long-term memory,

but cannot be accessed. Such information is said to be available (i.e.
it is still stored) but not accessible (i.e. it cannot be retrieved). It
cannot be accessed because the retrieval cues are not present.
 When we store a new memory we also store information about the
situation and these are known as retrieval cues. When we come into
the same situation again, these retrieval cues can trigger the
memory of the situation. Retrieval cues can be:
• External / Context – in the environment, e.g. smell, place etc.
• Internal / State Dependent– inside of us, e.g. physical, emotional,
mood, drunk etc
Retrieval Failure Theory

 State retrieval clues may be based on the physical or

psychological state of the person when information is
encoded and retrieved.
 For example, a person may be alert, tired, happy, sad, drunk
or sober when the information was encoded. They will be
more likely to retrieve the information when they are in a
similar state.