Recent memory vs Working memory, Sense Memory, and Long Term Memory.

[m***@aol.com]

When people talk about short term memory, they often address working
memory tasks like digit span, 7+-2, or sense memory (describe to me
what you just saw.)

There is a type of memory, i will call "recent memory" until I learn
the proper name for it. This memory consists of the vast amount of
information that we store for a period of about a day or two that we
generally do not try actively to store.

Things like, what was the weather yesterday. What day of the week is it
today? Did I vacuum today? Did I mail my electric bill this month. What
was my wife wearing this morning? When did I get to work today? Has
somebody spoken to me today about changing my phone service? What time
is my appointment today? Who did I talk to today? What did I have for
breakfast? What rooms have I already cleaned, Etc... There are
certainly times when this memory fails, but I think we constantly use
it to manage our day to day affairs. It seems to hold information that
is too big and long needed for working memory and information that is
too specific to be useful to store in long term memory.

Though I think it forms the pool out of which which we form much of our
long term memory, I think it is distinct in that most of it gets swept
away after a few hours to a few days. Infact one night of sleep seems
seems to get rid of most of this information. It contains both
incidental information (gestalt rememberances of events or sensory
experience) and knowlege type information (what is the address of the
party I am going to). It is enhanced by deliberately trying to remember
it, but most of it seems to be passively acquired. It seems
deliberately oriented towards managing our affairs on the time scale of
about a day.

What I want to ask is:

What is the name(s) of this type(s) of memory.
What are its subtypes?
Are their proposed or tested cognitive or neurological mechanisms for
its encoding?
What are the factors that determine its strength and decay?
Can you reccomend any sources on the web that discuss it.



'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`''`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`
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[Kym]

Post by m***@aol.com
When people talk about short term memory, they often address working
memory tasks like digit span, 7+-2, or sense memory (describe to me
what you just saw.)
There is a type of memory, i will call "recent memory" until I learn
the proper name for it. This memory consists of the vast amount of
information that we store for a period of about a day or two that we
generally do not try actively to store.
Things like, what was the weather yesterday. What day of the week is it
today? Did I vacuum today? Did I mail my electric bill this month. What
was my wife wearing this morning? When did I get to work today? Has
somebody spoken to me today about changing my phone service? What time
is my appointment today? Who did I talk to today? What did I have for
breakfast? What rooms have I already cleaned, Etc... There are
certainly times when this memory fails, but I think we constantly use
it to manage our day to day affairs. It seems to hold information that
is too big and long needed for working memory and information that is
too specific to be useful to store in long term memory.

Generally, familiar every-day events reside in LTM as schemas
and scripts, e.g. "dining out in a restaurant".

Post by m***@aol.com
Though I think it forms the pool out of which which we form much of our
long term memory, I think it is distinct in that most of it gets swept
away after a few hours to a few days. Infact one night of sleep seems
seems to get rid of most of this information. It contains both
incidental information (gestalt rememberances of events or sensory
experience) and knowlege type information (what is the address of the
party I am going to). It is enhanced by deliberately trying to remember
it, but most of it seems to be passively acquired. It seems
deliberately oriented towards managing our affairs on the time scale of
about a day.

Recent events are more "activated" and accessible in long term
memory.

Post by m***@aol.com
What is the name(s) of this type(s) of memory.

Long term memory; episodic (events), semantic (things and what
they mean), and procedural (how to ride a bike).

Post by m***@aol.com
What are its subtypes?
Are their proposed or tested cognitive or neurological mechanisms for
its encoding?

The current understanding is that semantic and episodic
memories are encoded via the thalamus and hippocampus, and then
sent to the cortex for storage. Some memories are stored
locally and some are distributed to different parts of the
brain. Procedural memories are stored mainly in the cerebellum.

Post by m***@aol.com
What are the factors that determine its strength and decay?

Is this for a homework assignment? Look up 'rehearsal', levels
of processing, recency, latency, and reconstruction.
(Ebbinghaus, Tulving, Craik, Lockhart, Schacter, Loftus, etc.)

Post by m***@aol.com
Can you reccomend any sources on the web that discuss it.

http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~dsweb/pubs.html

Has links to some pdf files of Dan Schacter's papers. Follow up
on the author's citations. That will keep you busy all summer
:-)

Kali
--
"But I don't want to go among mad people,"
Alice remarked. "Oh, you can't help that,"
said the Cat, "we're all mad here. I'm mad.
You're mad." -Lewis Carroll



'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`''`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`
sci.psychology.research is a moderated newsgroup.
Before submitting an article, please read the guidelines which are posted
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Submissions are acknowledged automatically.

[Niklaus Kuehnis]

Post by m***@aol.com
There is a type of memory, i will call "recent memory" until I learn
the proper name for it. This memory consists of the vast amount of
information that we store for a period of about a day or two that we
generally do not try actively to store.

This type of memory doesn't exist in today's general psychology but
is thought to be part of long-term memory. According to Atkinson &
Shiffrin the memory system consists of three subsystems: Sensory
register, short-term memory, long-term memory. In Baddeley's theory
the short-term memory was renamed "working memory".

In psychopathology recent vs. remote memory are distinguished to
describe different kinds of amnestic phenomena. A disorder of
recent memory denotes difficulties in encoding new information or
consolidating new memories (anterograde amnesia). A disorder of
remote memory denotes loss of old, already consolidated memories
(retrograde amnesia).

Niklaus



'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`''`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`
sci.psychology.research is a moderated newsgroup.
Before submitting an article, please read the guidelines which are posted
here bimonthly or the charter on the web at http://psychcentral.com/spr/
Submissions are acknowledged automatically.