MEMORY MODEL PARVATHY S M.ED DEPT OF EDUCATION

INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROCH TO LEARNING – ATKINSON & SHIFFRIN

MULTI STORE MODEL OF HUMAN MEMORY

• In 1968 Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed a model of human memory which posited two distinct memory stores: short-term memory, and long-term memory.

• Later a third memory store (actually the first in sequence) was added: sensory memory.

• Information enters the human information processing system via a variety of channels associated with the different senses.

SENSORY MEMORY• Information not immediately

attended to is held briefly in a very temporary "buffer" memory, making it possible to attend to some of it a bit later. This buffer memory is called SENSORY MEMORY.

TYPE OF SENSORY MEMORY• ICONIC MEMORY

• ECONIC MEMORY

SHORT TERM MEMORY• Information is held in here for immediate retrieval.

It has a limited duration as the information will decay quickly if it is not rehearsed (maintenance rehearsal). Also, information will disappear from STM if new information enters it, pushing the ‘older’ information out – displacing it. This happens because STM has limited capacity.• Repetition keeps information in the STM but eventually

this maintenance rehearsal will cause the information to enter the long-term memory.

SHORT TERM MEMORY• Information that is attended to arrives in another

temporary store called SHORT-TERM OR WORKING MEMORY.

SOME PROPERTIES OF STM• Capacity: About 7 plus or minus of information.• Duration: About 18-20 seconds (average).• Processing: To hold information in STM, it is often

encoded verbally, although other strategies may also be used such as visualisation. These strategies make it possible to "rehearse" the information.

• The low capacity of STM was first noted by George Miller.

SHORT TERM MEMORY• Information is STM can be held for a duration of being

18 and 20 seconds provided there isn’t interference- that is new, information interfering with the currently attended to information.

• Information in STM can be held in STM via a method called maintenance rehearsal- that is, repeating the information silently or aloud so that it is recalled immediately when needed

• Maintenance rehearsal does NOT add meaning to the information and is unlikely to be remembered when it is no longer being repeated.

LONG TERM MEMORY• Rehearsed information enters the LTM which has

unlimited duration and capacity.• This may be many things that you once knew that you

no longer do now. Evidence suggests that the memory was never made permanent or that you just cannot find it.

• To get information from the LTM, it has to travel back to the STM for immediate use.

LONG TERM MEMORY• Long-term memory is the relatively permanent

memory, store in which you hold knowledge.

SOME PROPERTIES OF LTM:

• Capacity: Virtually unlimited • Duration: Up to a lifetime • Processing: Information is organized according to

meaning and is associatively linked.• In contrast to maintenance rehearsal in STM,

elaborative rehearsal involves the process of expanding upon new info by adding to it or linking it to what one knows, thereby making it more meaningful (for encoding and retrieval).

LONG-TERM MEMORY (LTM).

• Imaging -- creating a mental picture.• Method of loci (locations)--ideas or things to be remembered are

connected to objects located in a familiar location.• Pegword method (number, rhyming schemes)--ideas or things to be

remembered are connected to specific words (e.g., one-bun, two-shoe, three-tree, etc.)

• Rhyming (songs, phrases)--information to be remembered is arranged in a rhyme (e.g., 30 days hath September, April, June, and November, etc.)

• Initial letter--the first letter of each word in a list is used to make a sentence (the sillier, the better).

There are several examples of elaboration that are commonly used in the teaching/learning process:

 USING THE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH IN THE CLASSROOM

Principle Example

1. Gain the students' attention. Use cues to signal when you are ready to begin. Move around the room and use voice inflections.

2. Bring to mind relevant prior learning.

Review previous day's lesson. Have a discussion about previously covered content.

3. Point out important information. Provide handouts. Write on the board or use transparencies.

4. Present information in an organized manner.

Show a logical sequence to concepts and skills. Go from simple to complex when presenting new material.

5. Show students how to categorize (chunk) related information.

Present information in categories. Teach inductive reasoning.

6. Provide opportunities for students to elaborate on new information.

Connect new information to something already known. Look for similarities and differences among concepts.

7. Show students how to use coding when memorizing lists.

Make up silly sentence with first letter of each word in the list. Use mental imagery techniques such as the keyword method.

8. Provide for repetition of learning. State important principles several times in different ways during

presentation of information (STM). Have items on each day's lesson from previous lesson (LTM). Schedule periodic reviews of previously learned concepts and skills (LTM).