Unit 6: Memory

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Unit 6 Memory

• Sensory Registers and Short-Term Memory

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Objectives

• Define sensory register, attention, and
  short-term memory
• Participate in short-term memory activities
• Experience ways to improve short-term memory

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Sensory Registers

• Sensory Registers entry points for raw sensory
  information (think of a waiting room where
  information sits for a very short amount of time)
• They have unlimited capacity for information
• Not able to retain all that information

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Sperling Experiment

• Three rows of letters (12 per row) flashed to
  participants
• Tone signaled which row to recall
• Results
• Sounding tone immediately led to recall of 3-4
  letters
• Sounding tone after 1 second led to recall of
  only 1-2 letters
• Visual registers retain information for less than
  a second

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Masking

• Masking new information replaces old immediately
  in the sensory register
• Visual information is erased in a quarter of a
  second
• Auditory information is erased after several
  seconds due to the fact that sound echos

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Attention

• Attention is the process of selectively looking,
  listening, smelling, tasting, and feeling
• We remember information that we pay attention to,
  otherwise all information would be lost once
  sensory receptors were erased

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Attending to the World

• Cocktail-Party Phenomenon is when you filter out
  all other conversations around you
• Although not attending to other conversations,
  you are processing it at a lower level
• If someone says your name in a different
  conversation, your attention switches over to
  that conversation over the one you were in

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Attending to the World

• Automatic processing can sometimes fail if you
  are focused on one thing, you might miss
  something important
• Basketball game with gorilla
• Watching TV and dont hear your mom yelling at you

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Short-Term Memory

• Short-Term Memory holds information we are
  thinking about or are aware of at any given
  moment. It is known as working memory and only
  briefly stores and processes information from
  sensory registers.
• When studying, you need an isolated, quiet
  environment because your STM can only handle a
  limited amount of information
• STM can hold as much information that can be
  repeated in 1.5 to 2 seconds

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STM Example 1

• C X W
• M N K T Y
• R P J H B Z S
• G B M P V Q F J D
• E G Q W J P B R H K A

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STM Example 2

• TJYFAVMCFKIB
• How many can you remember?

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STM Example 3

• TV FBI JFK YMCA
• How many can you remember?

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Example 4

• Half the class close eyes and count backwards
  from 100 silently
• Other section reads following list, then closes
  eyes and counts backwards from 100 silently
• Switch roles

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STM Example 4

• snake
• violin
• target
• terrace
• skin
• arrow
• book
• football
• worm
• nude
• goal
• bow

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STM Example 4

• book
• worm
• snake
• skin
• nude
• violin
• bow
• arrow
• target
• goal
• football
• terrace

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Chunking

• Chunking is a way of grouping and organizing
  information so that it fits into meaningful units
• Remember these numbers in order
• 106619451812
• Now remember them
• 1066 1945 1812

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Limitations of STM

• When pairing two types of tasks using the same
  sensory register it is difficult
• Counting backwards from 100 while memorizing list
  of letters
• Easier when pairing two different sensory
  registers
• Listening to music while studying

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Storing Information in STM

• Phonologically according to how it sounds
• Visual form
• Maps, diagrams, paintings
• Based on meaning
• Rote rehearsal repeating information over and
  over to commit to memory