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Class 11 Human Memory: cheat sheet
CBSE Psychology. Encoding, storage and retrieval, the stage model, working memory, levels of processing, kinds of long-term memory, why we forget and how to remember better.
Key ideas
- Memory works in three stages: encoding (registering), storage (keeping) and retrieval (bringing back).
- In the stage model, attention moves information from sensory memory to short-term memory, and elaborative rehearsal moves it to long-term memory.
- Chunking groups small units into meaningful chunks, so short-term memory holds more.
- Working memory (Baddeley) has a phonological loop, a visuospatial sketchpad and a central executive.
- Processing for meaning (semantic) gives better retention than processing shape or sound (Craik and Lockhart).
- We forget through trace decay, interference and retrieval failure; Ebbinghaus found forgetting is fast at first and then levels off.
- Mnemonics using images (keyword, method of loci) and organisation (chunking, first letters) help, but deep processing and good cues matter most.
Remember
| Sensory memory | large capacity, less than a second (iconic = visual, echoic = sound) |
| Short-term memory | about 7 ± 2 items, under 30 seconds without rehearsal |
| Long-term memory | unlimited capacity, up to a lifetime |
| Chunks | number of items ÷ chunk size, e.g. 36 digits in 4s = 9 chunks |
| Long-term memory types | declarative (episodic: life events; semantic: facts) and procedural (skills) |
| PQRST | Preview, Question, Read, Self-recitation, Test |
Watch out
- Confusing the interferences: proactive is old learning blocking new, retroactive is new learning blocking old.
- Calling riding a bicycle semantic memory; skills are procedural.
- Thinking repetition alone (maintenance rehearsal) moves information to long-term memory; linking it to what you know does.
Worked example
Suppose a 36-digit number is grouped into chunks of 4. How many chunks are there, and can short-term memory (7 ± 2, so at most about 9 items) hold them all?
Working: 36 ÷ 4 = 9
Answer: 9 chunks; yes, that is within the span
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