Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

Introduction: What Is Memory?233Sensory Memory• Environmental informationis registered• Large capacity for information• Duration: 1/4 second to3 secondsAttentionShort-Term (Working) Memory• New information is transferredfrom sensory memory• Old information is retrieved fromlong-term memory• Limited capacity for information• Duration: approx. 20 secondsEncodingand StorageRetrievalLong-Term Memory• Information that has beenencoded in short-term memoryis stored• Unlimited capacity forinformation• Duration: potentially permanentThe first stage of memory is called sensory memory. Sensory memory registers agreat deal of information from the environment and holds it for a very brief periodof time. After three seconds or less, the information fades. Think of your sensorymemory as an internal camera that continuously takes “snapshots” of your surroundings.With each snapshot, you momentarily focus your attention on specificdetails. Almost instantly, the snapshot fades, only to be replaced by another.During the very brief time the information is held in sensory memory, you“select,” or pay attention to, just a few aspects of all the environmental informationthat’s being registered. While studying, for example, you focus your attention onone page of your textbook, ignoring other environmental stimuli. The informationyou select from sensory memory is important, because this information is transferredto the second stage of memory, short-term memory.Short-term memory refers to the active, working memory system. Your shorttermmemory temporarily holds all the information you are currently thinkingabout or consciously aware of. That information is stored briefly in short-termmemory—for up to about 20 seconds. Because you use your short-term memory toactively process conscious information in a variety of ways, short-term memory isoften referred to as working memory (Baddeley, 1995, 2007). Imagining, remembering,and problem solving all take place in short-term memory.Over the course of any given day, vast amounts of information flow through yourshort-term memory. Most of this information quickly fades and is forgotten in amatter of seconds. However, some of the information that is actively processed inshort-term memory may be encoded for storage in long-term memory.Long-term memory, the third memory stage, represents what most people typi -cally think of as memory—the long-term storage of information, potentially for alifetime. It’s important to note that the transfer of information between short-termand long-term memory goes two ways. Not only does information flow from shorttermmemory to long-term memory, but much information also flows in the otherdirection, from long-term memory to short-term memory.If you think about it, this makes a great deal of sense. Consider a routine cognitivetask, such as carrying on a conversation. Such tasks involve processing currentsensory data and retrieving relevant stored information, such as the meaning ofindividual words. In the next few sections, we’ll describe each of the stages ofmemory in more detail.Sensory MemoryFleeting Impressions of the WorldHas something like this ever happened to you? You’re engrossed in watching a suspensefulmovie. From another room, a family member calls out, “Where’d you putthe phone book?” You respond with, “What?” Then, a split second later, the questionregisters in your mind. Before the other person can repeat the question, youreply, “Oh. It’s on the kitchen counter.”Figure 6.1 Overview of the StageModel of MemoryThe Interaction of Memory Stages inEveryday Life Imagine driving on a busystreet in pouring rain. How might each ofyour memory stages be involved in successfullynavigating the wet streets? Whatkinds of information would be transferredfrom sensory memory and retrieved fromlong-term memory?sensory memoryThe stage of memory that registers informationfrom the environment and holds it fora very brief period of time.short-term memoryThe active stage of memory in which informationis stored for up to about 20 seconds.long-term memoryThe stage of memory that represents thelong-term storage of information.