Sensory Memory

213
in review
Storing New Memories
MODELS OF MEMORY
Model
Assumptions
Levels of processing
The more deeply material is processed, the better our
memory of it.
Transfer-appropriate
processing
Retrieval is improved when we try to recall material in
a way that matches how the material was encoded.
Parallel distributed
processing (PDP)
New experiences add to and alter our overall
knowledge base; they are not separate, unconnected
facts. Networks of associations allow us to draw
inferences and make generalizations about the world.
Informationprocessing
Information is processed in three stages: sensory
memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.
?
1. The value of elaborative rehearsal over maintenance rehearsal has been cited as
evidence for the
model of memory.
2. Deliberately trying to remember something means using your
memory.
3. Playing the piano requires access to
memory.
and forget others, but which model offers the best explanation? The answer is that more
than one model may be required to understand memory. Just as it is helpful for physicists to characterize light in terms of both waves and particles, psychologists find it useful to think of memory as both a sequential process, as suggested by the informationprocessing model, and as a parallel process, as suggested by parallel distributed
processing models.
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Storing New Memories
䉴 What am I most likely to remember?
The storage of information is critical to memory, because we can retrieve only information that has been stored. According to the information-processing model, sensory
memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory each provide a different type of
storage. Let’s take a closer look at these three memory systems in order to better understand how they work—and sometimes fail.
parallel distributed processing (PDP)
models Memory models in which new
experiences are seen as changing one’s
overall knowledge base.
information-processing model A
model suggesting that information
must pass through sensory memory,
short-term memory, and long-term
memory in order to become firmly
embedded in memory.
sensory memory A type of memory
that is very brief, but lasts long enough
to connect one impression to the next.
sensory registers Memory systems
that briefly hold incoming information.
Sensory Memory
To recognize incoming information, the brain must analyze and compare it with what
is already stored in long-term memory. This process is very quick, but it still takes time.
The major function of sensory memory is to hold information long enough for it to
be processed further. This “holding” function is the job of the sensory registers, which
act as temporary storage bins. There is a separate register for each of the five senses.
Each register can store a nearly complete representation of a sensory stimulus, but only
briefly, often for less than one second (Eysenck & Keane, 2005).
Sensory memory helps us experience a constant flow of information, even
learn if that flow is interrupted. To see this for yourself, move your head and eyes
by
doing slowly from left to right. It may seem as though your eyes are moving
smoothly, like a movie camera scanning a scene, but that’s not what is happening. Your
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