PSYC 1020H Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Computer Keyboard, Sensory Memory, Suggestibility
14 Jun 2018
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PSYCH 1020
Chapter 7- Human Memory
October 23, 2017
Encoding: Involves forming a memory code. Eg. when you form a memory code for a word, you
might emphasize how it looks, how it sounds or what it means, like entering data on a
computer keyboard
Storage: Involves maintaining encoded information in memory over time. Eg. Storage is
analogous to saving data in a file on a computer
Retrieval: Involves recovering information from memory stores. Eg. Retrieval is analogous to
calling up a file and then displaying it on the monitor
● Memory is much more dynamic and changes over time and are rough constructions
rather than exact copies of past events
The Role of Attention
● Attention involves focusing awareness on narrowed range of stimuli or events.
Selective attention is critical to everyday functioning
● Early-selection models propose that input is filtered before meaning is processed
● Late-selection models hold that filtering occurs after the processing of meaning. There
is evidence that early, late and intermediate selection, suggesting that the location of
attentional filter may not be fixed
● stimulus→ sensory detection → recognition of meaning → response selection → response
● Research suggests that the human brain can effectively handle only one attention-
consuming task at a time
● When people multi-task, they are switching their attention back and forth among tasks,
rather than processing them all at once
Level of Processing
● Craik and Lochard propose incoming information is processed at different levels
Level of Processing
Type of Encoding
Example
Shallow Processing
Structural Encoding:
Is the word written in capital
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emphasizes the physical
structure of the stimulus
letters? (font)
Intermediate Processing
Phonemic Encoding:
emphasizes what a word
sounds like
Does the word rhyme with
weight?
Deep Processing
Semantic Encoding:
emphasizes the meaning of
verbal input
Would the word fit in the
sentence?
He met a ____ on the
street’
● Levels-of-processing theory: proposes that deeper levels of processing result in
longer-lasting memory codes- different rates of forgetting occur also because some
methods of encoding create more durable memory codes
Elaboration
● Elaboration is linking a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding. Eg. you
read that phobias are caused by classical conditioning, you apply this idea to your own
fear of spiders. You are engaging in elaboration.
Visual Imagery
● Imagery- the creation of visual images to represent the words to be remembered eg.
visualizing the word juggler and truth→ juggler is easier to picture
● Allan Paivio points out that it is easier to form images of concrete objects than of
abstract concepts
● Dual coding theory: memory is enhanced by forming semantic and visual codes, since
either can lead to recall
Self-Referent Encoding
● Self-referent encoding involves deciding how or whether the information is personally
relevant
● Appears to enhance recall by promoting additional elaboration and better organization
of information
Sensory Memory
● Sensory memory: preserves information in its original sensory form for a brief time,
usually a fraction of a second
● Allows the sensation of a visual pattern, sound or touch to linger for a brief moment
after sensory stimulation is over
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● Gives you additional time to try to recognize stimuli
Short-Term Memory
● Short term memory: is a limited-capacity store that can maintain unrehearsed
information for up to 20 seconds
● Rehearsal: is the process of repeatedly verbalizing or thinking about the information
○ Maintenance rehearsal: maintaining the information in consciousness
○ Elaborative processing: you are increasing the probability that you will retain the
information in the future
○ Theorists believe that loss of info from STM was from decay of memory traces
and interference from other materials
● It is known that you can increase the capacity of your short-term memory by combining
stimuli into larger, possibly higher-order units, called chunks. A chunk is a group of
familiar stimuli stored as a single unit
● Baddeley- working memory is a limited capacity storage system that temporarily
maintains and stores information by providing an interface between perception,
memory, and action
Four components of working memory:
1) phonological loop- represented all STM in earlier models eg. when you recite to temporarily
remember a phone number
2) visuospatial sketchpad- permits people to temporarily hold and manipulate visual images eg.
trying to mentally rearrange the furniture in your bedroom
3) central executive system- controls the deployment of attention, switching the focus of
attention and dividing attention as needed eg. dividing your attention between a message you
are trying to text your friend and listening to your professor explain the outline of the exam
4) episodic buffer- temporary, limited capacity store that allows the various components of
working memory to integrate information that serves as an interface between working memory
and long term-memory
Working memory capacity (WMC) refers to one’s ability to hold and manipulate
information in conscious attention
Long Term Memory
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Document Summary
Eg. when you form a memory code for a word, you might emphasize how it looks, how it sounds or what it means, like entering data on a computer keyboard. Storage: involves maintaining encoded information in memory over time. Storage is analogous to saving data in a file on a computer. Retrieval is analogous to calling up a file and then displaying it on the monitor. Memory is much more dynamic and changes over time and are rough constructions rather than exact copies of past events. Attention involves focusing awareness on narrowed range of stimuli or events. Early-selection models propose that input is filtered before meaning is processed. Late-selection models hold that filtering occurs after the processing of meaning. There is evidence that early, late and intermediate selection, suggesting that the location of attentional filter may not be fixed stimulus sensory detection recognition of meaning response selection response.
