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memory_models:a_brief_history_of_human_memory_systems [2011/04/08 10:55] jpetrovic [One or two memory systems?] |
memory_models:a_brief_history_of_human_memory_systems [2011/06/30 12:36] jpetrovic [Early models and measures of memory] |
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- | ====== A Brief History of Human Memory Systems ====== | + | ====== A Brief History of Human Memory Systems Research ====== |
===== Early models and measures of memory ===== | ===== Early models and measures of memory ===== | ||
- | Some of the first notable noted research on human memory was conducted in 1890 by **[[http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/exhibits/james/introduction.cfm|William James]]**. Based on his works, James assumed memory consists out of **two systems**: | + | Some of the first notable noted research on human memory was conducted in 1890 by **[[http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/exhibits/james/introduction.cfm|William James]]**. Based on his research, James assumed memory consists out of **two systems**: |
* **primary memory**, which lasts for a **few seconds** and holds **in our consciousness** the perception of events in our environment, and | * **primary memory**, which lasts for a **few seconds** and holds **in our consciousness** the perception of events in our environment, and | ||
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[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory|{{ :images:multistore_model.png|The multi-store model of Atkinson and Shiffrin. Image borrowed from: Wikipedia: Memory. Click on the picture to follow the link.}}]]The first more influential two component memory model was introduced in **1968** by **[[http://www.ucop.edu/pres/atkbio.html|Richard Atkinson]]** and **[[http://www.cogs.indiana.edu/people/homepages/shiffrin.html|Richard Shiffrin]]**((Atkinson, R.C. & Shiffrin, R.M. Chapter: Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In Spence, K.W.; Spence, J.T. The psychology of learning and motivation (Volume 2). New York: Academic Press. pp. 89–195. 1968.)). Their model called //Multi-store model// consisted of long-term and working or short-term memory model and was later improved by an additional component, the **//sensory memory//**. Sensory memory contains one register for each sense and serves as an short lasting buffer-zone before the information can enter short-term memory. Short-term memory is a temporal storage for new information before it enters long-term memory, but is also used for cognitive tasks, understanding and learning. | [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory|{{ :images:multistore_model.png|The multi-store model of Atkinson and Shiffrin. Image borrowed from: Wikipedia: Memory. Click on the picture to follow the link.}}]]The first more influential two component memory model was introduced in **1968** by **[[http://www.ucop.edu/pres/atkbio.html|Richard Atkinson]]** and **[[http://www.cogs.indiana.edu/people/homepages/shiffrin.html|Richard Shiffrin]]**((Atkinson, R.C. & Shiffrin, R.M. Chapter: Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In Spence, K.W.; Spence, J.T. The psychology of learning and motivation (Volume 2). New York: Academic Press. pp. 89–195. 1968.)). Their model called //Multi-store model// consisted of long-term and working or short-term memory model and was later improved by an additional component, the **//sensory memory//**. Sensory memory contains one register for each sense and serves as an short lasting buffer-zone before the information can enter short-term memory. Short-term memory is a temporal storage for new information before it enters long-term memory, but is also used for cognitive tasks, understanding and learning. | ||
- | The thesis of two separate memory systems: the **long-term memory** and the **short-term memory** is today considered to be true. Some of the evidence for this thesis are: | + | The thesis of two separate memory systems: the **long-term memory** and the **short-term memory** is today considered to be true. This thesis is supported by differences in(([[http://web.missouri.edu/~cowann/documents/Cowan2008progressinbrainresearchSTMLTM.pdf|Cowan, N. What are the differences between long-term, short-term, and working memory? Progress in brain research 169: 323-338. 2008.]])): |
- | * **differences in capacity** (small for STM and large or unlimited for LTM), | + | * **capacity** (small for STM and large or unlimited for LTM), |
- | * **difference in duration limits** (items in STM decay as a function of time, which is not a characteristic of LTM(([[http://web.missouri.edu/~cowann/documents/Cowan2008progressinbrainresearchSTMLTM.pdf|Cowan, N. What are the differences between long-term, short-term, and working memory? Progress in brain research 169: 323-338. 2008.]]))), | + | * **duration limits** (items in STM decay as a function of time, which is not a characteristic of LTM), |
- | * **differences in retention speed** (very high for STM and possibly lower for LTM), | + | * **retention speed** (very high for STM and possibly lower for LTM), |
- | * **differences in time to acquire information** (short for STM and longer for LTM), | + | * **time to acquire information** (short for STM and longer for LTM), |
* **information encoding** (semantic for LTM and acoustic or visual for STM), and | * **information encoding** (semantic for LTM and acoustic or visual for STM), and | ||
- | * patients who suffered **physical injuries** demonstrated how LTM or STM can be damaged without influencing the other. | + | * type of memory affected by physical injuries in patients((See: //Milner, B. Amnesia following operation on the temporal lobes. In C.W.M. Whitty & O. L. Zangwill (eds), Amnesia. London: Butterworth, 1966.// (damage of LTM without damaging STM), and //Shallice, T. & Warrington, E.K. Independent functioning of verbal memory stores: a neuropsychological study. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 22, 261–273. 1970.// (damaged STM with fully functioning LTM), cited by [[http://gen.lib.rus.ec/get?md5=00b2fd0fb59c5de5704bb86e70a6871a|Baddeley, Alan D. The Psychology of Memory. In Michael D. Kopelman, and Barbara A. Wilson. The Handbook of Memory Disorders. 2nd ed. Wiley, 2002.]])). |
Another term should be clarified here: the [[memory_models:human_working_memory|working memory]], which is often mistaken for the short-term memory. The main difference between these two is that working memory usually includes the structure and processes performed by a system in control of the short-term memory. | Another term should be clarified here: the [[memory_models:human_working_memory|working memory]], which is often mistaken for the short-term memory. The main difference between these two is that working memory usually includes the structure and processes performed by a system in control of the short-term memory. |