Chapter 9

Three Processes of Memory

Encoding - transforming info into form stored in memory

o Acquisition getting memory
o Consolidation stabilize memory trace
Storage maintaining info in memory
Retrieval bringing stored material to mind

Modal Model (Atkinson Shiffrin)

Sensory: input memory info loss

o Iconic memory (visual, more researched, limited to FOV, 0.5-1sec
decay)
o Echoic memory (auditory, superficial aspects of sound like pitch
and rhythm, 1.5-5 and 20sec decay)
Short-term: transfer from sensory and long-term rehearsal (literally
repeating info to hold it in longer) working memory forgetting
Long-term: transfer from short-term permanent store forgetting

Sensory Memory

Iconic memory
o Visual, more researched, limited to FOV, 0.5-1sec decay
o Activation in photoreceptors in retina, rods and cones (rods
more)
o Temporal integration, change blindness, saccadic eye movement
o Partial Report Paradigm
Observers presented with visual stimulus for brief time (50
ms) consisting of either a 3x3 or 3x4 array of alphanumeric
character
Whole report condition required maximum recall,
participants recalled 3-5/12 items, suggestion whole report
is limited to 4-5 items
Partial report asked for cued recall (cues were different
pitched tones), after stimulus participants recalled 9/12
items
Echoic memory
o Auditory, superficial aspects of sound like pitch and rhythm, 1.55 and 20sec decay
o Hair cells auditory cortex temporal lobe (mainly PFC)
o Mismatch Field (MMF)
ERP elicited 150-200ms after odd stimulus in sequence of
stimuli

Uses EEG to record

Compares deviant stimulus to a memory trace
o Lesion to frontal lobe, parietal lobe, or hippocampus will shorten
echoic and/or have a slower reaction time
Haptic memory
o Sense of touch
o Afferent neurons in spinal cord to postcentral gyrus of parietal
lobe (somatosen. syst.)
o Haptic habituation gets better with age in babies (in reference to
delay time)

Short Term Memory

Millers Rule 7 2 objects average person can hold in their working

short term memory
~18sec duration without rehearsal, rehearsal can extend it into longterm (each rehearsal adds ~10-20sec on average)
Chunking helps organize information to make it easier to remember
(ex. 3digit groups for a phone number)
Working memory relationship
o Theoretical framework that refers to structures and processes
used for temporarily storing and manipulating information (aka
working attention)
o Working memory (attention) in conjunction with memory
(storage) helps to manipulate information and assist in thinking
Baddeley and Hitch Model
o Central executive supervisory system which coordinates its
slave systems, regulates cognitive processes, shifts between
tasks
o Phonological loop audio info, store for memory traces with rapid
decay, rehearsal component for reviving memory traces,
important for vocab and learning second lang. (info loop in
phonol memory between BA44 and supramarginal gyrus BA40)
o Visuospatial sketchpad visual information and planning spatial
mvts (like moving through complex building), right brain
hemisphere,
o Episodic buffer link info across domains to form integrated units
of visual, spatial, and verbal information with time sequencing
(ex. story or movie scene)

Fusters Delayed Response Task

Primates showed a central visual cue with outerlying cues in different

time intervals

Shows importance of PFC, hippoc, and med temporal lobe

Word-Priming Study

Exposure to one stimulus (i.e., perceptual pattern) influences the

response to another stimulus
Person reads list of words including the word table, and is later asked
to complete a word starting with tab, the probability that theyll
answer table is higher than if not primed

H.M.

Patient who had bilateral medial temporal lobectomy and 2/3 of his
hippocampi, parahippocampal cortices, entorhinal cortices, piriform
cortices, and amygdalae surgically resect in an attempt to cure his
epilepsy
Links between brain function and memory
Studies on amnesia

Morris Water Maze

Rat placed in large circular pool has to navigate to the escape platform
Placing it randomly in the pool tests memory strategies for
remembering how to escape

Korsakoff Syndrome

Chronic memory disorder caused by thiamine (vitamin B-1) deficiency

Caused by alcohol misuse, but also things like AIDS, infections, etc
Typically preceded by Wernickes encephalopathy