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RETRIEVAL

RETRIEVAL FROM SHORT-TERM MEMORY


RETRIEVAL FROM LONG-TERM MEMORY
RETRIEVAL FROM
SHORT-TERM MEMORY
PARALLEL PROCESSING vs. SERIAL PROCESSING
EXHAUSTIVE PROCESSING vs. SELF-TERMINATING
PROCESSING
Saul Sternberg (1966)
o Wondered whether items are retrieved all at
once (parallel processing) or sequentially (serial
processing)
RETRIEVAL FROM SHORT-TERM
MEMORY
?
Memorize the following list of numbers:

Was 8 on the list?
6, 3, 8, 2, 7, 5
RETRIEVAL FROM SHORT-TERM
MEMORY
Parallel Processing
o refers to the simultaneous handling of multiple
operations.
o As applied to short-term memory, the items
stored in short-term memory would be retrieved
all at once, not one at a time.
o Response time should be the same, regardless of
the size of the positive set. This is because all
comparisons would be done at once.
RETRIEVAL FROM SHORT-TERM
MEMORY
7

6

5

4

3

2

1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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T
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I T E MS ON T H E L I S T
PARALLEL PROCESSING
RETRIEVAL FROM SHORT-TERM
MEMORY
Serial Processing
o refers to operations being done one after
another. In other words, on the digit recall task,
the digits would be retrieved in succession, rather
than all at once.
RETRIEVAL FROM SHORT-TERM
MEMORY
SERIAL PROCESSING
7

6

5

4

3

2

1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I T E MS ON T HE L I S T
R
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P
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T
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RETRIEVAL FROM SHORT-TERM
MEMORY
Exhaustive Serial Processing
o All positive responses would take the
same amount of time, regardless of the
serial position of positive test probe.

o In other words, finding any digit would
take same amount of time and the
location of the digit would not matter.
RETRIEVAL FROM SHORT-TERM
MEMORY
7

6

5

4

3

2

1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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P
O
N
S
E

T
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POSITION OF DIGITS ON THE LIST
EXHAUSTIVE SERIAL PROCESSING
RETRIEVAL FROM SHORT-TERM
MEMORY
Self-Terminating Serial Processing
o Implies that the participant would check
the test digit against only those digits
needed to make a response.
RETRIEVAL FROM SHORT-TERM
MEMORY
7

6

5

4

3

2

1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
POSITION OF DIGITS ON THE LIST
R
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P
O
N
S
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T
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SELF-TERMINATING SERIAL PROCESSING
RETRIEVAL FROM
LONG-TERM MEMORY

RETRIEVAL FROM LONG-TERM MEMORY
Free-recall condition recalling as many
words as possible in any order.

Cued-recall condition recalling as
many words as possible from a specific
category.
PROCESSES OF
FORGETTING AND
MEMORY DISTORTION
INTERFERENCE THEORY vs. DECAY THEORY
PROCESSES OF FORGETTING AND
MEMORY DISTORTION
Interference Theory
- Refers to the view that forgetting
occurs because recall of certain
words interferes with recall of other
words.
PROCESSES OF FORGETTING AND
MEMORY DISTORTION
oRetroactive interference (or retroactive
inhibition)
is caused by activity occurring after we
learn something but before we are asked
to recall that thing.
It interferes with our ability to remember
information we learned previously.
PROCESSES OF FORGETTING AND
MEMORY DISTORTION
oProactive interference
occurs when the interfering material
occurs before, rather than after, learning
of the to-be-remembered material.

Proactive as well as retroactive
interference may play a role in short-term
memory. Thus, retroactive interference
appears to be important, but not the only
factor.
PROCESSES OF FORGETTING AND
MEMORY DISTORTION
?
Say the following list of words once to yourself, and
then, immediately thereafter, try to recall all the
words, in any order, without looking back at them:
Table, cloud, book, tree, shirt, cat, light, bench, chalk,
flower, watch, bat, rug, soap, pillow
oSerial-position curve
represents the probability of recall of a
given word, given its serial position (order
of presentation) in a list. Recalling of
words is best for items at and near the end
of the list, second best for items near the
beginning of the list and poorest for items in
the middle of the list.

A typical serial-position curve is shown in
Figure 6.3.
PROCESSES OF FORGETTING AND
MEMORY DISTORTION
PROCESSES OF FORGETTING AND
MEMORY DISTORTION
The primacy effect refers to superior
recall of words at and near the
beginning of a list.

The recency effect refers to superior
recall of words at and near the end
of a list.

PROCESSES OF FORGETTING AND
MEMORY DISTORTION
Decay Theory
o Asserts that information is forgotten because
of the gradual disappearance, rather than
displacement, of the memory trace.

o Thus, decay theory views the original piece of
information as gradually disappearing unless
something is done to keep it intact. This view
contrasts with interference theory, just
discussed, in which one or more pieces of
information block recall of another.

PROCESSES OF FORGETTING AND
MEMORY DISTORTION

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