PSY605: Memory

• Sensory Memory: 100-500ms
• Short-term Memory: Few to several seconds
• Long-term Memory: Minutes to a lifetime

• Flash a grid of letters, then tone indicates which line to report
• People can get all items with tones, even when cued after.
• Using iconic (visual sensory) memory to extract out information
• When cue is delayed, performance drops off (illustrating length of time of iconic memory)

Retain all the sensory input long enough for analysis by unconscious mental processes, and transfer to STM via attention

• Primary memory - short term memory
• Secondary memory - long term memory

• STM
• -Active contents of consciousness
• -Active nodes in LTM
• -Fast access to contents
• -Limited capacity

• LTM
• -Not currently in consciousness
• -Inactive until cued
• -Slower access
• -Unlimited capacity