PY 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Buttered Popcorn
Memory Processes
Short-term memory has a limited capacity: it can store about seven pieces of
information, plus or minus two pieces. These pieces of information can be
small, such as individual numbers or letters, or larger, such as familiar strings
of numbers, words, or sentences. A method called chunking can help to
increase the capacity of short-term memory. Chunking combines small bits of
information into bigger, familiar pieces.
Example: A person confronted with this sequence of twelve letters would
probably have difficulty remembering it ten seconds later, because short-term
memory cannot handle twelve pieces of information: HO TB UT TE RE DP OP
CO RN IN AB OW L However, these letters can be easily remembered if
they’re grouped into six familiar words, because short-term memory can hold
six pieces of information: HOT BUTTERED POPCORN IN A BOWL
Working Memory
Psychologists today consider short-term memory to be a working memory.
Rather than being just a temporary information storage system, working
memory is an active system. Information can be kept in working memory while
people process or examine it. Working memory allows people to temporarily
store and manipulate visual images, store information while trying to make
decisions, and remember a phone number long enough to write it down.
LONG-TERM MEMORY
Information can be transferred from short-term memory to long-term memory
and from long-term memory back to short-term memory. Long-term
memory has an almost infinite capacity, and information in long-term memory
usually stays there for the duration of a person’s life. However, this doesn’t
mean that people will always be able to remember what’s in their long-term
memory—they may not be able to retrieve information that’s there.
ORGANIZATION OF MEMORIES
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Document Summary
Short-term memory has a limited capacity: it can store about seven pieces of information, plus or minus two pieces. These pieces of information can be small, such as individual numbers or letters, or larger, such as familiar strings of numbers, words, or sentences. A method called chunking can help to increase the capacity of short-term memory. Chunking combines small bits of information into bigger, familiar pieces. Example: a person confronted with this sequence of twelve letters would probably have difficulty remembering it ten seconds later, because short-term memory cannot handle twelve pieces of information: ho tb ut te re dp op. Co rn in ab ow l however, these letters can be easily remembered if they"re grouped into six familiar words, because short-term memory can hold six pieces of information: hot buttered popcorn in a bowl. Psychologists today consider short-term memory to be a working memory.
