Summary AQA AS / A level Psychology AO1 content for Memory (A*)

Memory Content

Multi-Store Model of Memory
- Created by Atkinson and Shi rin
- Proposes that memory consists of three stores: sensory register, short-term store and
long-term store
- Information from our environment initially goes in to sensory register and passes in to
short-term memory if attention is paid to the information
- If the information from STM is rehearsed then it can be transferred to long-term
memory

SENSORY REGISTER:
❥ Encodes echoically and iconically
❥ High (unlimited) capacity
❥ Short duration (0.25-4s)

SHORT-TERM STORE:
❥ Acoustic encoding
❥ Capacity of 5-9 items
❥ Duration of 18-30 seconds

LONG-TERM STORE:
❥ Semantic encoding
❥ Unlimited capacity
❥ Life-long duration

TYPES OF LONG-TERM MEMORY:

- EPISODIC:
❥Recall of events you’ve experienced (eg. rst day at school)
❥Requires conscious e ort to recall
❥ Declarative and in right prefrontal cortex

- SEMANTIC:
❥Knowledge of facts you have learnt (eg. meanings of words)
❥Requires conscious e ort to recall
❥Declarative and in left prefrontal cortex

- PROCEDURAL:
❥Skill based - recall of how to do things (eg. riding a bike)
❥Can recall without conscious e ort
❥Non-declarative and in motor cortex & cerebellum





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