Human Memory Overview

- Memory enables us to retain, recall, and use information, influencing all aspects of cognitive
life—from perception to problem-solving and decision-making. It shapes self-identity, maintains
relationships, and underpins tasks by preserving knowledge and past experiences.
- Psychologists study how information is committed to memory, retained, and lost, and have
developed techniques to improve memory retention.

The Stage Model of Memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)

Memory is understood through three primary stages that interact to process information:

1. Encoding: Initial registration of information to make it usable by the memory system.

- Involves converting sensory input into a form that can be processed by deriving meaning
from it.
- Encoding triggers neural impulses processed in various brain areas.

2. Storage: The holding of encoded information for future use.

- Retention time varies depending on whether memory is sensory, short-term, or long-term.

3. Retrieval: Accessing stored information to use in cognitive tasks or recall experiences.

- Retrieval failures occur due to problems in encoding, weak storage, or insufficient retrieval
cues.

Memory Systems
1. Sensory Memory
- Function: Registers detailed replicas of sensory information, though only briefly.
- Characteristics:
- High capacity but very short duration (less than a second).
- Includes iconic memory (visual images) and echoic memory (auditory information).
- Sensory memory captures sensory continuity, like the lingering sound of a bell or the trail of
light after a flash.

2. Short-term Memory (STM)

- Function: Holds limited information (about 30 seconds or less) unless continuously
rehearsed.
- Characteristics:
- Primarily encoded acoustically, making it highly reliant on sound-based retention.
- Fragile and prone to fading without maintenance rehearsal (repetition).
- Capacity limited to about 7±2 items, which can be expanded through chunking—grouping
small items into meaningful clusters, like phone numbers.
- Example: Remembering a grocery list for a quick errand without writing it down.

3. Long-term Memory (LTM)

 - Function: Acts as the permanent storage, where capacity is virtually unlimited.
- Characteristics:
- Encodes information semantically, making it based on meaning for durable retention.
- Retrieval difficulties may arise, but forgetting often results from retrieval failure rather than
true memory loss.
- Example: Remembering your high school graduation or a historical fact like “The capital of
France is Paris.”

Memory Transfer and Control Processes

- Selective Attention: Filters out unnecessary sensory information so that only relevant data
reaches STM. This control process helps manage the overwhelming volume of sensory input.
- Maintenance Rehearsal: Simple repetition keeps information active in STM.
- Elaborative Rehearsal: Links new information with existing knowledge in LTM, enhancing
memory by forming deeper associations, aiding retention.

Working Memory (Baddeley, 1986)

- An advanced model of STM that acts as an active workspace, handling and processing varied
memory materials.
- Components:
1. Phonological Loop: Holds auditory information briefly (decays within 2 seconds if not
rehearsed).
2. Visuospatial Sketchpad: Retains visual and spatial data, with limited capacity.
3. Central Executive: Organizes and directs information across other memory components,
helping manage multitasking and cognitive tasks.

Levels of Processing (Craik & Lockhart, 1972)

Retention improves based on how deeply information is processed:
1. Structural Processing: Shallow level, focusing on physical traits like shapes or colors.
2. Phonetic Processing: Intermediate level, concentrating on sound, like how a word rhymes.
3. Semantic Processing: Deepest level, emphasizing meaning, leading to longer-lasting
memory.
- Information encoded at a deeper, semantic level is retained better than through shallow
processing.

Types of Long-term Memory

1. Declarative Memory: Knowledge about facts, names, and dates that can be consciously
recalled.
- Subtypes:
- Episodic Memory: Biographical details of personal experiences, often with an emotional
component.
- Semantic Memory: Holds general knowledge, concepts, and rules about the world, like
facts and language.
- Examples: Episodic memory would cover the feeling of winning a competition; semantic
memory includes knowing the definition of "democracy."
2. Procedural Memory: Memory for performing tasks and actions, often automatic and
challenging to verbalize.
- Examples include riding a bike or tying shoelaces.

Memory Classification Phenomena

- Flashbulb Memories: Highly detailed memories of emotionally charged events that are vividly
recalled, as if frozen in time.
- Example: Clearly recalling where you were during a major event.
- Autobiographical Memory: Memories of one’s personal history, with childhood amnesia
common for early years (first 4-5 years).
- Implicit Memory: Memory that operates without conscious awareness, such as typing or
habitual actions.

Knowledge Representation and Organization

- Concepts: Mental categories that group similar objects, events, or people.
- Categories and Schemas: Organize concepts by common features; schemas are mental
frameworks that help interpret new information based on past knowledge and expectations.
- Example of schema: A “restaurant schema” that includes expected elements like waiters,
menus, and tables.
- Hierarchical Network Model (Collins & Quillian, 1969): Knowledge is organized in a hierarchical
structure, where broader categories include narrower subcategories.
- Example: “Animal” includes “Bird,” which includes “Canary.” This organization allows for
efficient memory retrieval with minimal redundancy.

Constructive Nature of Memory (Bartlett, 1932)

- Memory is not merely reproductive but constructive, shaped by past experiences, goals, and
schemas.
- Schemas: Shape memory by organizing past experiences and influencing how new
information is interpreted and stored.
- Example: A person’s memory of a story may change to align with their personal beliefs or
prior knowledge, especially when recalling it multiple times.

Forgetting and its Causes

1. Trace Decay Theory: Assumes that memories fade over time if unused, causing eventual
forgetting.
2. Interference Theory: New information competes with older memories, affecting recall.
- Proactive Interference: Old information makes it harder to learn new information.
- Retroactive Interference: New learning disrupts recall of previous information.
3. Retrieval Failure: When retrieval cues are absent or insufficient, memory recall becomes
challenging.

Enhancing Memory (Mnemonics)

1. Image-based Mnemonics:
 - Keyword Method: Uses similar-sounding words to link new vocabulary with familiar concepts.
- Method of Loci: Associates items with familiar locations in a sequence to aid recall.

2. Organization-based Mnemonics:
- Chunking: Increases STM capacity by grouping items into meaningful clusters.
- First Letter Technique: Creates acronyms from the first letters of items to be remembered,
like VIBGYOR for the colors of the rainbow.

3. Additional Memory Strategies:

- Deep Level Processing: Focusing on understanding and meaning enhances retention.
- Minimizing Interference: Avoid learning similar subjects in close succession, as this can
cause interference.
- PQRST Method: Preview, Question, Read, Self-recitation, and Test, a study strategy to
reinforce learning and retention.