Encoding Variability

- thinking about the same stimulus differenty will create distinctive representations in memory

List 1 = A-B (eg. JEP-WOP) - To perfection

List 2 = A-D (eg. JEP-SOV) - To perfection

think of JEP as meaning something different when it is paired with WOP than with SOV

1. failure of recall (or forgetting) does not mean that learned info. has been lost

- interference has minimal effect on being able to "recognize" responses that people have difficulty recalling

2. forgetting is caused by the failure to access learned information

3. accessing info. in memory depends on its distinctiveness

- similarity to toher info. in memory blocks access to "target" info.

The Birth of the Multi-Store Model

The cognitive revolution and the demise of associationism

The Demise of Associationism

The Killer

The principle of encoding variability

Flashback to the Ebbinghause Approach

How?

by investigating how people learn assoc. bet. nonsense syllables 

like

JEP and WOP

the JEP in JEP-WOP can mean something diff. than the JEP in JEP-WOP at Time 2

the assoc. bet, JEP-WOP

Implications of Encoding Variability

Stimulus meaning

through the use of prior experience is always a factor

Implications of Encoding V.

The methodology of Assoc. is fundamentally flawed

One Memory or Two?

Forgetting in the short-term may be the result of DECAY

One Memory or Two?

Maybe memory is made up of TWO stores:

1. a short-term store

2. a long-term store

The Cognitive Revolution

The Information-processing approach

the mind is like a computer

it performs tasks in STAGES

The demise of associatinism

+

evidence for 2 types of memory

+

emergence of cognitive psychology and the information-processing approach

=

THE multi-store MODEL

1. Iconic Memory - visual sensory store

2. Echoic memory - auditory sensory store

processes allowing info. to be transferred fr. one store to another:

Perception/pattern recog.

- transforming sensory input to a meaningful code

- using info. in LTS to interpret info. in STS

Control processes

processes allowing info. to be transferred fr. one store to another:

Encoding: transferring info. in ST-store into the LT-store

Retrieval: transferring info. fr. LT-store to ST-store

A large capacity

visual sensory store?

Sperling 

- presented people a set of 12 letters for 50 ms

- asked them to report as many as they could

- the whole-report technique

- 12 letters flash

- tone presented immediately after

- high tone = report the top row

- med. tone = report the middle row

- low tone = report the bottom row

- now people report 3.2/4 letters on average

- 3.2 letter per row x 3 rows = 9.6 letters

- estimate of # of letters available

- 9.6 letters > 4.5 letters

- called partial-report average

1. output interference

- info. lock

2. decay

- time lock

____________________________

theoretical output info at 10 in 1000ms

theoretical decay goes down to 4.5 in 1000ms

wrp tends to disappear in 250-500 ms

- according to sperling

- all available viual info. is stored briefly in iconic memory

- reporting letters takes time

- requires attention and pattern recognition

- sperling again:

- used the partial-report technique

- varied the delay bet flashing letters and presentation of the tone

- no more partial-report advantage w/a delay of >500ms

sperling again:

- whole-report compared to partial-report when items differed in physical properties

- size, colour, location etc.

partial-report advantage