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Memories as Types and Stages

16 February, 2016 - 09:24

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  1. Compare and contrast explicit and implicit memory, identifying the features that define each.
  2. Explain the function and duration of eidetic and echoic memories.
  3. Summarize the capacities of short-term memory and explain how working memory is used to process information in it.

As you can see in Table 8.1, psychologists conceptualize memory in terms of types, in terms of stages, and in terms of processes. In this section we will consider the two types of memory, explicit memory and implicit memory, and then the three major memory stages: sensory, short-term, and long-term (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968). 1 Then, in the next section, we will consider the nature of long-term memory, with a particular emphasis on the cognitive techniques we can use to improve our memories. Our discussion will focus on the three processes that are central to long-term memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval.

Table 8.1 Memory Conceptualized in Terms of Types, Stages, and Processes

As types

Explicit memory

Implicit memory

As stages

Sensory memory

Short-term memory

Long-term memory

As processes

Encoding

Storage

Retrieval