Models of Memory

Human memory is a complex cognitive structure, which can be defined in many ways. One would argue that memory is 1.) The mental function of retaining information about stimuli, event, images, ideas, etc. after the original stimuli is no longer present. 2.) The hypothesized storage system in the mind that holds this information is so retained. A clear distinction is made between different types of memory systems and can be divided into subclasses.

From short term memory, there will be an encoding and retrieval process where long term memory will be developed. There, some of the information is retained and some of it is lost over a passage of time. The long term memory stage has the longest potential duration and can be recalled for years after initial understanding. Evidence to support this model comes from an experiment published in the Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior in 1966 by Murray Glanzer and Anita Cunitz. There experiment showed the serial position effects known as primacy, words at the beginning of a list are more easily recalled, and recency, words at the end of a list are more easily recalled. These result supported Atkinson and Shiffrin 's model by showing that long term memory and short term memory were separate stages. The recency effect showed that words in short term memory were more easily remembered. While the primacy effect showed that words in long term memory were more easily remembered because they had been rehearsed (Glanzer and Cunitz, 1966).

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s (1968) multi-store model suggests that memory is a flow of information processed through three stores (Myers, 2010). The first system called sensory memory (SM) processes mainly visual and auditory information from our environment (Myers, 2010). It is made up of several components associated with each sense and

Memory comes in three forms: Sensory, short term and long term. Sensory memory is remembering information for a few seconds, or less. Sensory memory is important in order to be aware of the surroundings. If information is paid attention to, or classified as important, it will make its way to the short term memory. The short term memory holds on to a few bits of information (usually 7 give or take) for a couple of seconds (Miller, 1956) at a time (Rawlings & Co. 2004). If the information is rehearsed enough, it will make its way to the long term memory and will be retained in there until needed (Kouyoumdjian & Plotnik, 2011)

Memory in the human brain is a complex process which is easier understood by the use of theoretical constructs. Memories begin as sensory stimuli which become sensory memory which only last about one second, from there it moves into working memory which lasts for about twenty to thirty seconds and is used to process information. Within working memory there are a few separate processes, the central executive which directs attention, the episodic buffer which is a secondary storage lasting ten to twenty seconds, this area communicates with long term memory as well as the central executive. The visuospatial sketchpad which is used to visualise visual and spacial

There are three different basic processes of memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval. Memory is the process by which we recollect prior experiences, information, and skills learned in the past. This lab focuses on altering the retrieval stage. The retrieval stage consists of returning and locating memory that is stored and bringing it to conscious thought. To be able to retrieve this information, one must know knowledge of proper procedures. There is certain information in our memory that is so familiar to us that it can be very difficult to forget. The method of retrieval depends on how a person encodes it from the start. (Rathus, 2010).

The two different types of information stored in long term memory are declarative and procedural. Declarative is the memory of facts and events. Procedural is the memory of skills and how to do things.

The aim of this investigation was to look to see if there is a difference in the recollection if the format in which information is presented is different. Lists of words and images were compared to find the most effective source of recollection. This topic of research has many real life applications for instance how students study in preparation for exams. If there is a format that is more successful at recollecting memory then that would help with studying and can be expanded to how general education is taught. This field of psychology could help to revolutionise memory and its capabilities if enough study is concentrated on it.

The concept of the Dual-Store Model of Memory was proposed by psychologists Richkard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin with three components: Sensory Register, Working (Short-Term) Memory, and Long-Term Memory (Ormrod, 2016, p. 164). These components combined make up the entirety of the memory, but each have unique and vital roles that they play in the memory. The sensory register is a massive bank of storage that holds memories of senses - sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and how something feels (touch), but it does not store memories for any considerable length of time. The senses that are held here are processed and then they move on to the next component (Ormrod, 2016, pp. 165-167). An example of the sensory register could be the birds I just saw flying past my window. These birds flew through the air one moment, and then they were gone the next

Short term memory (STM) is the second process in the ever so popular Information Processing Model and it is the area where information is the most readily available, but also most susceptible to being forgotten (Baddeley, 1986). STM has a very limited capacity, and can usually only hold so much information, the magic formula for this being “7 +/- 2” (Insert source). The formula of plus or minus two, simply stated is that humans STM’s can only store five to nine items of information at a time. Research has also shown that there is trace decay theory for items being STM, where items are easily forgotten within seconds if they are not put through the articulatory loop (Baddeley, 1986). As described by Baddeley, the articulatory loop is rehearsal of items that are currently stored in the STM. If items are not mentally rehearsed, then they are lost. Baddeley was the first to coin the term articulatory loop, but most researchers use it interchangeably with the term phonological loop. The phonological loop is specific to rehearsing verbal information in order to

The sensory memory gathers data via our senses, ears, eyes, mouth and due to this information only remains in store for a very small amount time, thus the model suggests that if consideration is given to the senses then the memory exchanges to the short term capacity. An evidence of the sensory store was provided by Sperling (1960); as

Memory is defined as "the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information." Our memory can be compared to a computer's information processing system. To remember an event we need to get information into our brain which is encoding, store the information and then be able to retrieve it. The three-stage processing model of Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin suggests that we record information that we want to remember first as a fleeting sensory memory and then it is processed into a short term memory bin where we encode it ( pay attention to encode important or novel stimuli) for long-term memory and later retrieval. The premise for the three step process is that we are unable to focus on too much

The three stores are the sensory memory, short term memory(STM), and long-term memory (LTM). The sensory system involves your six senses and tend to be easily forgotten. It also has a very large capacity and has a very brief retention of images. The stuff we encode from the sensory system can be transferred to the STM and the short-term memory acts like a temporary

Information-Processing Model - The principal model of memory is the three-box model, also called the information-processing model. This model proposes the three stages that information passes through before it is stored.

Restorff conducted multiple set of memory experiments using isolated items in her first experiment and distinctive items in the second experiment. She concluded that an isolated item, which is apart from other similar items, would be better remembered amongst a list where all items were identical. Restorff also concluded in her following experiment (Restorff, 1933) that an individual remembered the unique item that grabbed their attention from the rest of the items in the list. In the second experiment, however, the memory recall of the items overall was less because the individual was focused on the item that stood out the most, which casted away the other items in the same