PY 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Richard Shiffrin, Sensory Memory, Flashlight
Memory is essentially the capacity for storing and retrieving information.
Three processes are involved in memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval. All
three of these processes determine whether something is remembered or
forgotten.
Encoding
Processing information into memory is called encoding. People automatically
encode some types of information without being aware of it. For example,
most people probably can recall where they ate lunch yesterday, even though
they didn’t try to remember this information. However, other types of
information become encoded only if people pay attention to it. College
students will probably not remember all the material in their textbooks unless
they pay close attention while they’re reading.
There are several different ways of encoding verbal information:
• Structural encoding focuses on what words look like. For instance, one
might note whether words are long or short, in uppercase or lowercase, or
handwritten or typed.
• Phonemic encoding focuses on how words sound.
• Semantic encoding focuses on the meaning of words. Semantic encoding
requires a deeper level of processing than structural or phonemic encoding
and usually results in better memory.
Storage
After information enters the brain, it has to be stored or maintained. To
describe the process of storage, many psychologists use the three-stage
model proposed by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin. According to
this model, information is stored sequentially in three memory systems:
sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.
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Document Summary
Memory is essentially the capacity for storing and retrieving information. Three processes are involved in memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval. All three of these processes determine whether something is remembered or forgotten. People automatically encode some types of information without being aware of it. For example, most people probably can recall where they ate lunch yesterday, even though they didn"t try to remember this information. However, other types of information become encoded only if people pay attention to it. College students will probably not remember all the material in their textbooks unless they pay close attention while they"re reading. There are several different ways of encoding verbal information: structural encoding focuses on what words look like. For instance, one might note whether words are long or short, in uppercase or lowercase, or handwritten or typed: phonemic encoding focuses on how words sound, semantic encoding focuses on the meaning of words.
