Cognitive Psychology – Models of Memory
The beginning…
Hermann Ebbinghaus
o First real experimentalist who did experiments on himself.
o He studied nonsense syllables that went in a consonant, vowel, consonant
order (PAB, SER, NID) in order to exclude prior knowledge & understanding
o He set out to learn 2300 syllables in lists of 20
He tested himself by giving himself the first item of a list and then recalling the other
ones
Insight in learning(Law of Repetition) & forgetting (Savings method)
Learning curve
More (maintenance) rehearsal
better retention
Not only rehearsal determines
learning
Law of forgetting (savings method) in
E&K
Phases of memory/processes
Acquisition/encoding
o How new information is placed in memory
Storage
o How and where it is held in memory (“memory trace”)
o Probably 2 steps: temporary memory trace in hippocampus, then integration
in cortical information networks
Retrieval
o “Remembering”, memory brought back into active use
Storage: Maintaining information in memory
Memory can be subdivided into 3 stores: sensory, short term and long term memory
multi-store model
, Sensory memory
Sensory store
o Fills in the blank when there is intermittent stimulation (e.g. sparkler, ‘What
did you say?’)
o Function: to keep sensory information in mind so we can attend to it if we
want to
Iconic memory – vision
Echoic memory – hearing
Haptic memory – touch
Olfactory memory – smell
Gustatory memory – taste
o Evidence on capacity and duration
George Sperling (1960) – classic experiment on visual sensory store
Sperling (1960)
o Brief presentation (50 ms) of
letters in 3x4 matrix
o Full report
Name as many letters as
possible
Result: about 4 letters
named
Is that the capacity limit?
No
People have feeling they
saw more than 4
o Partial report
One of three tones sounded to indicate which row people have to
start with
The beginning…
Hermann Ebbinghaus
o First real experimentalist who did experiments on himself.
o He studied nonsense syllables that went in a consonant, vowel, consonant
order (PAB, SER, NID) in order to exclude prior knowledge & understanding
o He set out to learn 2300 syllables in lists of 20
He tested himself by giving himself the first item of a list and then recalling the other
ones
Insight in learning(Law of Repetition) & forgetting (Savings method)
Learning curve
More (maintenance) rehearsal
better retention
Not only rehearsal determines
learning
Law of forgetting (savings method) in
E&K
Phases of memory/processes
Acquisition/encoding
o How new information is placed in memory
Storage
o How and where it is held in memory (“memory trace”)
o Probably 2 steps: temporary memory trace in hippocampus, then integration
in cortical information networks
Retrieval
o “Remembering”, memory brought back into active use
Storage: Maintaining information in memory
Memory can be subdivided into 3 stores: sensory, short term and long term memory
multi-store model
, Sensory memory
Sensory store
o Fills in the blank when there is intermittent stimulation (e.g. sparkler, ‘What
did you say?’)
o Function: to keep sensory information in mind so we can attend to it if we
want to
Iconic memory – vision
Echoic memory – hearing
Haptic memory – touch
Olfactory memory – smell
Gustatory memory – taste
o Evidence on capacity and duration
George Sperling (1960) – classic experiment on visual sensory store
Sperling (1960)
o Brief presentation (50 ms) of
letters in 3x4 matrix
o Full report
Name as many letters as
possible
Result: about 4 letters
named
Is that the capacity limit?
No
People have feeling they
saw more than 4
o Partial report
One of three tones sounded to indicate which row people have to
start with
