Memory Storage Retaining Information Sensory Memory The initial

Memory Storage: Retaining Information

Sensory Memory • The initial recording of sensory information in the memory system • Iconic Memory • A fleeting photographic memory • Lasts only a few tenths of a second

Sensory Memory • The initial recording of sensory information in the memory system • Iconic Memory • A fleeting photographic memory • Lasts only a few tenths of a second • Echoic Memory • Fleeting memory for auditory sensory images

Short-term Memory • Serves as the “desktop” of our conscious attention • Filtered information from our sensory memory • Retrieved information from long-term memory • Unless rehearsed, information will quickly disappear • Capacity is 7 (+/- 2)

Long-Term Memory • Capacity is limitless § How does storage work? § Karl Lashley (1950) § rats learn maze § lesion cortex § test memory § To know how our brain stores information “defies comprehension” (1998)

Long-term Memory • Synaptic Changes § Long-term Potentiation § increase in synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation § Stress hormones and memory § Strong emotions make for stronger memories § some stress hormones boost learning and retention

Long-term Memory § Explicit Memory § memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare § also called declarative memory § Implicit Memory § retention independent of conscious recollection § also called procedural memory

Long-term Memory Types of long-term memories Explicit (declarative) With conscious recall Facts-general knowledge (“semantic memory”) Personally experienced events (“episodic memory”) Implicit (nondeclarative) Without conscious recall Skills-motor and cognitive Dispositionsclassical and operant conditioning effects

Hippocampus § hippocampus-neural center in limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage