Course: PSY 201: Cognitive Psychology
Date: February 16, 2026
Professor: Dr. Aris Thorne
Topic: Memory Architecture & The Encoding Process
I. The "Architecture" of Memory
Dr. Thorne emphasized that memory isn't a video camera; it's a reconstructive process. We focused heavily
on the Atkinson-Shiffrin Multi-Store Model (1968) today.
1. Sensory Memory (The Buffer)
● Input: Raw stimulus from the environment (sights, sounds, smells).
● Capacity: Extremely large (takes in almost everything).
● Duration: Very short.
○ Iconic Memory (Visual): $< 0.5$ seconds.
○ Echoic Memory (Auditory): $3 - 4$ seconds (Allows you to say "What?" and then realize you
actually heard what the person said).
● Key Factor: Attention. If you don't attend to sensory info, it decays immediately.
2. Short-Term Memory (STM)
● Function: Conscious processing of information.
● Capacity: Limited. The "Magic Number" discovered by George Miller (1956).
○ Formula: $7 \pm 2$ items.
● Duration: 15–30 seconds without rehearsal.
● Technique to extend capacity: Chunking.
○ Example: Trying to remember 192020261776. Hard.
○ Chunked: 1920 (Roaring 20s) 2026 (Current year) 1776 (Independence). Easier.
3. Long-Term Memory (LTM)
● Capacity: Theoretically unlimited.
● Duration: Lifetime (potentially).
● Types of LTM:
○ Explicit (Declarative): Conscious recall.
■ Episodic: Personal experiences (Prom, graduation, what I ate for lunch).
■ Semantic: Facts/General knowledge (Capital of France, the Pythagorean theorem).
○ Implicit (Non-Declarative): Unconscious.
■ Procedural: Muscle memory (Riding a bike, typing).
■ Priming: Exposure to a stimulus influences response to a later stimulus.
II. Working Memory (Baddeley & Hitch Model)
Note: This is the "Update" to the STM model. STM is too passive; Working Memory is active.
The Components:
1. Central Executive: The "Boss." Directs attention, inhibits distractions, allocates resources. Doesn't
store data itself.
2. Phonological Loop: Handles auditory info.
○ Phonological Store: Inner ear.
○ Articulatory Control: Inner voice (repeating a phone number in your head).
3. Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad: The "Inner Eye." Handles navigation and visualizing objects in space.
4. Episodic Buffer: The bridge between Working Memory and Long-Term Memory. Integrates info into
a chronological sequence.
Professor's Example: Calculating $43 \times 5$ in your head.
● Visuo-Spatial: Visualizing the numbers stacked.
● Phonological: Saying "Five times three is fifteen..."
● Central Executive: Keeping track of the "carry over" 1 while doing the next calculation.
III. Encoding & Retrieval Failure
Why do we forget? Dr. Thorne listed three main theories today.
A. Encoding Failure
We never actually learned it. We looked at a penny, but didn't encode which way Lincoln is facing.
B. Decay Theory
"Use it or lose it." Memory traces fade over time. (Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve).
● Most forgetting happens immediately after learning (within the first hour).
● Review Strategy: Spaced Repetition prevents this curve from dropping.
C. Interference Theory (IMPORTANT FOR EXAM)
Getting confused between old and new information.
Type Definition Mnemonic
Proactive Old info blocks New P.O.R.N. (Proactive Old Retroactive New)
info.
Retroactive New info blocks Old (Learning Spanish now makes me forget my high
info. school French).
IV. Biology of Memory: The Case of H.M.
We watched a clip about Henry Molaison (H.M.).
● Surgery (1953): Removed bilateral medial temporal lobes (including the Hippocampus) to stop
seizures.
● Result:
○ Seizures stopped.
○ Anterograde Amnesia: Could not form new explicit memories.
○ Retrograde Amnesia: Mild loss of events leading up to surgery.
○ Intact: Procedural memory.
● Significance: Proved that the Hippocampus is the "Save Button" for explicit memories, but not
where memories are stored permanently (since he remembered his childhood).
Experiment: They asked H.M. to draw a star while looking in a mirror. Day 1: He was terrible.
Day 3: He was perfect.
The Twist: On Day 3, he claimed he had never done the task before. His hands remembered
(Procedural/Cerebellum), but his conscious mind (Episodic/Hippocampus) did not.
V. Study Tips Mentioned
1. Context-Dependent Memory: Study in an environment similar to the testing room. (Godden &
Baddeley diver study—divers recalled words better underwater if they learned them underwater).
2. State-Dependent Memory: Mood matters. If you study while caffeinated, take the test caffeinated.
3. Self-Reference Effect: You remember things better if you relate them to yourself.
Homework / Next Steps
● Read: Chapter 7 (The Biology of the Brain).
● Quiz: Next Wednesday on the Baddeley Model.
● Lab: Participate in the "False Memory" experiment on the portal by Friday night.