Cognitive Psychology (PSYC 110) · Module 3 of 10
Long-Term Memory: Encoding & Storage
How information makes it into lasting memory, and the different forms that memory takes.
Levels of Processing
- The levels of processing framework (Craik & Lockhart) proposes that deeper, more meaningful processing, like thinking about a word's meaning, produces better long-term retention than shallow processing, like noticing a word's physical appearance.
Why does thinking about whether a word fits into a sentence lead to better later recall than just counting the number of letters in the word?
Solution. Judging whether a word fits a sentence requires deeper, semantic processing, which the levels of processing framework predicts leads to stronger, more durable memory traces than shallow, physical-feature processing like counting letters.
Elaborative vs. Maintenance Rehearsal
- Maintenance rehearsal simply repeats information, like repeating a phone number, and produces weak, short-lived retention; elaborative rehearsal connects new information to existing knowledge and meaning, producing much stronger long-term retention.
Why is elaborative rehearsal generally more effective for long-term retention than maintenance rehearsal?
Solution. Elaborative rehearsal connects new information to existing knowledge, meaning, and associations, creating richer, more interconnected memory traces that are easier to retrieve later, while maintenance rehearsal just repeats information without deepening its meaning.
Types of Long-Term Memory: Explicit
- Explicit (declarative) memory involves conscious recollection and splits into episodic memory (personal experiences and events) and semantic memory (general facts and knowledge).
What is the difference between episodic and semantic memory, both types of explicit memory?
Solution. Episodic memory stores personal experiences and events tied to a specific time and place, like your last birthday; semantic memory stores general facts and knowledge without necessarily remembering when or where you learned them, like knowing Paris is the capital of France.
Types of Long-Term Memory: Implicit
- Implicit (nondeclarative) memory doesn't require conscious recollection and includes procedural memory (skills and habits, like riding a bike) and priming (exposure to a stimulus influencing a later response).
Why can someone with severe amnesia (impaired explicit memory) still learn and improve at a new physical skill?
Solution. Procedural memory, a type of implicit memory, operates largely independently of the explicit (declarative) memory system that's often impaired in amnesia, so skill learning can still occur even without conscious memory of having practiced.
Check yourself
2 of this module's 5 quiz questions. Pick your answers, then check them in the app, with an explanation for every question.
1. What does the levels of processing framework predict about deep vs. shallow processing?
2. What is the difference between maintenance and elaborative rehearsal?