L6- Memory
The psychology of human memory aims to understand the structure + the processes that
define memory by constructing theories that are tested empirically
When do you use memory?
Way finding
Talking + listening
Cooking
Reading
Making sense of the world around us
Why study memory?
Critical part of our mental life
Encoding + retrieving information is part of every moment of our life- with or without
awareness
We seem aware of memory only when we lose it
Living without a memory
Clive Wearing was a patient with brain damage
He had no STM + nearly no LTM
Memory span= only a few seconds
He was only aware of the present
Metaphors for memory
How to think about or visualise memory:
- Memory= figure of speech
Spatial metaphor: memory as a space
Pre-scientific metaphors (philosophy)
- Aviary (Plato), cave (St. Augustine), automaton (Descartes) + empty cabinet (Locke)
Plato’s birdcage
Memory contains varieties of knowledge
Memories are based on associations
Memories as impressions
, Writing/impressions on wax- ‘memory foam’
Pictorial metaphors
- Mirror
- Photography
Laid down into a pre-existing medium + can retain their shape/representation therein
Study the medium as well as the process of memory
Memory metaphors (in the scientific era)
Advances in technology led to new metaphors
- Telephone system/information theory
- Memory as information processing system
Computer metaphor
- Random access memory- read only memory
- Memory is modular (linked)
- Spatial BUT emphasise processes too
- CD-R= read only + CD-RW= read + write
The study of human memory is that of its structure + processes:
The cow metaphor
The psychology of human memory aims to understand the structure + the processes that
define memory by constructing theories that are tested empirically
When do you use memory?
Way finding
Talking + listening
Cooking
Reading
Making sense of the world around us
Why study memory?
Critical part of our mental life
Encoding + retrieving information is part of every moment of our life- with or without
awareness
We seem aware of memory only when we lose it
Living without a memory
Clive Wearing was a patient with brain damage
He had no STM + nearly no LTM
Memory span= only a few seconds
He was only aware of the present
Metaphors for memory
How to think about or visualise memory:
- Memory= figure of speech
Spatial metaphor: memory as a space
Pre-scientific metaphors (philosophy)
- Aviary (Plato), cave (St. Augustine), automaton (Descartes) + empty cabinet (Locke)
Plato’s birdcage
Memory contains varieties of knowledge
Memories are based on associations
Memories as impressions
, Writing/impressions on wax- ‘memory foam’
Pictorial metaphors
- Mirror
- Photography
Laid down into a pre-existing medium + can retain their shape/representation therein
Study the medium as well as the process of memory
Memory metaphors (in the scientific era)
Advances in technology led to new metaphors
- Telephone system/information theory
- Memory as information processing system
Computer metaphor
- Random access memory- read only memory
- Memory is modular (linked)
- Spatial BUT emphasise processes too
- CD-R= read only + CD-RW= read + write
The study of human memory is that of its structure + processes:
The cow metaphor
