The Aging Memory: A Research on Working Memory and Recall Essay

Memory is divided into three categories. These categories consist of: sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory, out of these short term memory is the main focus in this essay. It has been widely researched due to interest of how much memory can be stored, how long this memory can be stored for and what information is memorised.

In the last half century several theories have emerged with regard to the best model for human memory. In each of these models there was a specific way to help people recall words and

Working memory is a part of our executive functions, the functions that are involved with the planning and regulation of one’s behavior. Despite that during the first year of life working memory is developed, working memory can trained and enhanced throughout you life with experience. Julia Morales Castillo, from the Department of Experimental Psychology of the University of

Researchers such as Logie, Baddeley and Bunge generally agree that the short-term memory is made up of a number of components or subsystems. The working memory model has replaced the idea of a unitary store short-term memory as suggested by the multistore model. The working memory model explains a lot more and in a lot more detail than the multistore model. It makes sense a range of tasks- verbal reasoning, comprehension, reading, problem solving and visual and spatial processing, it also applies to real life tasks such as reading which involves the phonological loop subsystem, problem solving which involves the central executive and navigation which involves the visual and spatial subsystem. The Working Memory Model is supported by

Atkinson’s and Shiffrin’s (1968) multi-store model was extremely successful in terms of the amount of research it generated. However, as a result of this research, it became apparent that there were a number of problems with their ideas concerning the characteristics of short-term memory. Building on this research, Baddeley and Hitch (1974) developed an alternative model of short-term memory which they called working memory. Baddeley and Hitch (1974) argued that the picture of short-term memory (STM) provided by the Multi-Store Model is far too simple. According to the Multi-Store Model, STM holds limited amounts of information for short periods of time with relatively little processing. It is

Issues to be considered include the structure of the Working Memory Model and how every component in the Working Memory system is used in order for the Model to be

There have been a number of studies that have used both cross-sectional and longitudinal methods. In two cross-sectional analyses of 77 (mean age = 50.5, S.D. = 16.7) and then 127 participants (mean age = 45.9, S.D. = 15.5), Salthouse and colleagues (1996) found that the relationship between sensory functioning (near visual acuity) and cognition (working memory, associative learning, and concept identification) increased with age. With a similar cross-sectional approach, Baltes and colleagues (1997) analyzed data from two large age groups: a younger adult sample (25-69 years, n = 171, mean age = 48.2, SD = 14.7) and an older adult sample (70 – 103 years, n = 516, mean age = 84.9, SD = 8.66).

(Abernathy, 2010). Working memory includes several components, for example, short-term storage, rehearsal, and executive processes operating on the contents of storage (Smith, 2000).

This essay addresses the working memory model which was proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974 in Smith & Kosslyn, 2007) as a response to Atkinson and Shiffrins (1968 in Smith, 2007) multi-store model. According to Baddely and Hitch the multi-store model failed to explain most of the complexities of the human memory and viewed it as being too simplistic. They argued that the short term memory store must have more components rather it being a single inflexible store as suggested previously by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). The working memory model is therefore an enhancement of the multi store model. According to Baddeley and Hitch working memory is a limited- capacity system that stores and processes information.

According to Levels of Processing framework, developed by Craik and Lockhart (1972), the duration that a memory is held, is determined by the level at which the information is encoded. Episodic memory recall is a cognitive process involved in consolidating the information presented. The ‘depth’ of processing occurring during the encoding of a memory, relates to, how well information is recalled later. To clarify, information that we process semantically (i.e., by its meaning) comprises a deeper level of processing than information we process structurally (i.e., appearance). Thus predicting, the deeper an individual processes information, correlates with the duration a memory trace will last. Consequently, memory is a by-product

Nature of working memory is the active and a strong retention of information in a few seconds. It is from short-term memory that helps control that makes the information flexible yet resistant to interference (Cowan, 2014). The nature of working memory may differ in the cognitive skills and abilities in each individuals. A example of nature is :A person who believes in the nature side of things will say that they love science because it is in their genes.

A criticism of this study is that it focuses on memory more than

Memory is the ability to store, retain and recall information. There are two theories that support the models of memory. The following essay will describe the model of memory and levels of processing along with research studies and their strengths and restrictions. There are three stages of memory: • Encoding: changing incoming information (new memory) so that it can be stored. • storage: holding information in the memory system • retrieval:

A central part of intellectual processing is the quantity limit in working memory (WM), also called short term memory that is, intensive access to a definite amount of data recently activated through long term memory (LTM) recovery. Different theorists have recommended that there is limit to what number of psychologically coherent units can be recalled at once. Miller (1956) as cited in (Cowan et al., 2012) recommended that what is now termed working memory was express to a particular number of meaningful units. According to the Miller work, researchers studying on verbal memory recommended the capacity of working memory can determined through the number if things practise in limited time. Other studies demonstrated that there was benefits

Additionally, “working memory involves the temporary storage and manipulation of information that is assumed to be necessary for a wide range of complex cognitive activities” (Baddeley, 2003). It should log attention grabbers. For example: like the number of the jersey for a person who just won the marathon or a difficult word hollered out in the classroom by the teacher. However, this data will rapidly dissipate, unless we consciously attempt to maintain it. As you can see, the visual stimulus would be the number on the jersey of the marathon winner and the verbal stimulus would be the difficult word spoken by the teacher. Nonetheless, in order to keep this data and to transfer it to long term memory, through cognitive processes, this new data needs to append to information already in the long--term memory. This can be done through further cognitive processing like personal significance, social cues and other components of the short-term