Course Name: Introduction to Human Behavior

Course Instructor: Dr. Rizwan Akram

MEMORY:
The initial process of recording information in a form usable to memory, a process called
encoding, is the first stage in remembering something. Memory specialists speak of storage, the
maintenance of material saved in memory. If the material is not stored adequately, it cannot be
recalled later. Memory also depends on one last process—retrieval: Material in memory
storage has to be located and brought into awareness to be useful. Your failure to recall may
rest on your inability to retrieve information that you learned earlier.
In sum, psychologists consider memory to be the process by which we encode, store, and
retrieve information. Each of the three parts of this definition— encoding, storage, and retrieval
—represents a different process. You can think of these processes as being analogous to a
computer’s keyboard (encoding), hard drive (storage), and software that accesses the
information for display on the screen (retrieval).
The three-system memory theory proposes the existence of the three separate memory stores.
Sensory memory refers to the initial, momentary storage of information that lasts only an
instant. Here an exact replica of the stimulus recorded by a person’s sensory system is stored
very briefly. In a second stage, short-term memory holds information for 15 to 25 seconds and
stores it according to its meaning rather than as mere sensory stimulation. The third type of
storage system is long-term memory. Information is stored in long-term memory on a relatively
permanent basis, although it may be difficult to retrieve.
A momentary flash of lightning, the sound of a twig snapping, and the sting of a pinprick all
represent stimulation of exceedingly brief duration, but they may nonetheless provide
important information that can require a response. Such stimuli are initially— and fleetingly—
stored in sensory memory, the first repository of the information the world presents to us.
Actually, there are several types of sensory memories, each related to a different source of
sensory information. For instance, iconic memory reflects information from the visual system.
Echoic memory stores auditory information coming from the ears. In addition, there are
corresponding memories for each of the other senses. Sensory memory can store information
for only a very short time. If information does not pass into short-term memory, it is lost for
good. For instance, iconic memory seems to last less than a second, and echoic memory
typically fades within 2 or 3 seconds. However, despite the brief duration of sensory memory,
its precision is high: Sensory memory can store an almost exact replica of each stimulus to
which it is exposed.
In sum, sensory memory operates as a kind of snapshot that stores information— which may be
of a visual, auditory, or other sensory nature—for a brief moment in time. But it is as if each
snapshot, immediately after being taken, is destroyed and replaced with a new one. Unless the
information in the snapshot is transferred to some other type of memory, it is lost.
Because the information that is stored briefly in sensory memory consists of representations of
raw sensory stimuli, it is not meaningful to us. If we are to make sense of it and possibly retain
it, the information must be transferred to the next stage of memory: short-term memory.
Short-term memory is the memory store in which information first has meaning, although the
maximum length of retention there is relatively short. The specific process by which sensory
memories are transformed into short-term memories is not clear. Some theorists suggest that
the information is first translated into graphical representations or images, and others
hypothesize that the transfer occurs when the sensory stimuli are changed to words. What is
clear, however, is that unlike sensory memory, which holds a relatively full and detailed—if
short-lived—representation of the world, short-term memory has incomplete representational
capabilities. In fact, the specific amount of information that can be held in short-term memory
has been identified as seven items, or “chunks,” of information, with variations up to plus or
minus two chunks. A chunk is a group of familiar stimuli stored as a single unit in short-term
memory. For example, a chunk can be a group of seven individual letters or numbers,
permitting us to hold a seven-digit phone number in short-term memory. But a chunk also may
consist of larger categories, such as words or other meaningful units.
The transfer of material from short- to long-term memory proceeds largely on the basis of
rehearsal, the repetition of information that has entered short-term memory. Rehearsal
accomplishes two things. First, as long as the information is repeated, it is maintained in short-
term memory. More important, however, rehearsal allows us to transfer the information into
long-term memory.
In contrast, if the information in short-term memory is rehearsed using a process called
elaborative rehearsal, it is much more likely to be transferred into long-term memory.
Elaborative rehearsal occurs when the information is considered and organized in some
fashion. The organization might include expanding the information to make it fit into a logical
framework, linking it to another memory, turning it into an image, or transforming it in some
other way. For example, a list of vegetables to be purchased at a store could be woven together
in memory as items being used to prepare an elaborate salad, could be linked to the items
bought on an earlier shopping trip, or could be thought of in terms of the image of a farm with
rows of each item. By using organizational strategies such as these—called mnemonics—we can
vastly improve our retention of information. Mnemonics (pronounced “neh MON ix”) are
methods for organizing information in a way that makes it more likely to be remembered. For
instance, when a beginning musician learns that the spaces on the music staff spell the word
FACE, or when we learn the rhyme “Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November.
We are using mnemonics.
Working memory is the memory system that holds information temporarily while actively
manipulating and rehearsing that information. Working memory is assumed to be made up of
several parts. First, working memory contains a central executive processor that is involved in
reasoning and decision making. The central executive coordinates three distinct storage-and-
rehearsal systems: the visual store, the verbal store, and the episodic buffer. The visual store
specializes in visual and spatial information, whereas the verbal store holds and manipulates
material relating to speech, words, and numbers. The episodic buffer contains information that
represents episodes or events.
Material that makes its way from short-term memory to long-term memory enters a
storehouse of almost unlimited capacity. Like a new file we save on a hard drive, the
information in long-term memory is filed and coded so that we can retrieve it when we need it.
Just as short-term memory is often conceptualized in terms of working memory, many
contemporary researchers now regard long-term memory as having several different
components, or memory modules. Each of these modules represents a separate memory
system in the brain. One major distinction within long-term memory is that between
declarative memory and procedural memory. Declarative memory is memory for factual
information: names, faces, dates, and facts, such as “a bike has two wheels.” In contrast,
procedural memory (or nondeclarative memory) refers to memory for skills and habits, such as
how to ride a bike or hit a baseball. Information about things is stored in declarative memory;
information about how to do things is stored in procedural memory. Declarative memory can
be subdivided into semantic memory and episodic memory. Semantic memory is memory for
general knowledge and facts about the world, as well as memory for the rules of logic that are
used to deduce other facts. Because of semantic memory, we remember that the ZIP code for
Beverly Hills is 90210, that Mumbai is on the Arabian Sea, and that Memoree is the incorrect
spelling of memory. Thus, semantic memory is somewhat like a mental almanac of facts urgent.
In contrast, episodic memory is memory for events that occur in a particular time, place, or
context. For example, recall of learning to hit a baseball, our first kiss, or arranging a surprise
21st birthday party for our brother is based on episodic memories. Episodic memories relate to
particular contexts. For example, remembering when and how we learned that 2 × 2 = 4 would
be an episodic memory; the fact itself (that 2 × 2 = 4) is a semantic memory. Episodic memories
can be surprisingly detailed. Episodic memory, then, can provide information about events that
happened long in the past. The discovery that people have memories about which they are
unaware has been an important one. It has led to speculation that two forms of memory,
explicit and implicit, may exist side by side. Explicit memory refers to intentional or conscious
recollection of information. When we try to remember a name or date we have encountered or
learned about previously, we are searching our explicit memory. In contrast, implicit memory
refers to memories of which people are not consciously aware but that can affect subsequent
performance and behavior.
Your memory of experiences in your own past may well be a fiction—or at least a distortion of
what actually occurred. The same constructive processes that make us inaccurately recall the
behavior of others also reduce the accuracy of autobiographical memories. Autobiographical
memory is our recollections of our own life experiences. Autobiographical memories
encompass the episodic memories we hold about ourselves. For example, we tend to forget
information about our past that is incompatible with the way in which we currently see
ourselves. One study found that adults who were well adjusted but who had been treated for
emotional problems during the early years of their lives tended to forget important but
troubling childhood events, such as being in foster care. College students misremember their
bad grades—but remember their good ones.