Introduction
Human memory is a complicated system. Many different theories about it have been suggested and disproven until now. Now, most will agree to a theory called
Multi-store model of memory
that was originally proposed in 1968 by Atkinson and Shiffrin.
This page the first part of a study of these two articles.
What are the differences between long-term, short-term, and working memory? By Nelson Cowan
50 years of research sparked by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) By Kenneth J. Malmberg & Jeroen G. W. Raaijmakers & Richard M. Shiffrin
Context
Memory is said to be made of 3 stores :
1. Information received from our senses first go to the sensory register.
Sensory register
= storing of information from senses, lasts less than a few seconds
It is then sent to the short term memory when some kind of attention is paid towards it.
Short term memory
= storage of information of up to 30 seconds
It keeps a limited amount of information in an accessible state, for instant use
Originally, working memory was a part of it though many see them as distinct systems now.
Finally it is transferred to Long term memory to be kept eternally and recalled whenever needed.
Long term memory
= information stored permanently in the brain
Rehearsal is said to be the mechanism for the transfer of information from short to long term memory.
Working memory or Short term memory ?
Unclear because of different definitions used by different scientists.
Working memory is
- Information used for planning behaviour and carrying out.
- A combination of various processing mechanisms ( which are included is the cause of all the different definitions)
- Before or the beginning of short term memory. After the sensory register.
It has been found that high working memory abilities could be associated to many aspects of intelligence and cognitive skills.
- The relation is probably stronger than most other psychological processing systems
- It has an especially strong relation with fluid intelligene
Fluid intelligence
= abilities related to processing of new information and problem solving
The relation between working memory and intelligence may be because of working memory :
- And fluid intelligence, both having deep ties with attention control
- Having both storing and processing properties
People with a good working memory will often have a stronger control over their attention. This means :
- They are less distracted when doing something
- They have a higher anti-saccade ability
Anti-saccade ability
= ability to block the natural tendency of of looking towards something that suddenly appears
For example, when a big sound is made, people with a
- High anti-saccade ability would be able to stay focused
- Average or lower anti-saccade ability would turn their heads towards the origin of the sound to see what happened
However, this also means they will be less aware of their surroundings.
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