A talk on Memory given by Dr Hamid Sohrabi at the McCusker Alzheimer Research Foundation's public lecture in Perth, Western Australia on 4th May 2011

1. Memory:
A brief introduction
Dr Hamid R Sohrabi
4th May 2011

2. Introduction
Memory research questions:
► How do memories form?
► What are the bio-psychological processes involved?
► How do we forget and what causes forgetfulness?
► Can we improve our memory?

3. Memory
Information processing conceives of memory as
involving three stages:
A: How sensory stimulus is acquired:
► Encoding
B: How information is restored:
► Storage
C: How information is retrieved:
► Retrieval

4. Memory
Three types of memory:
A) Sensory registration
B) Short-term memory or working memory
C) Long-term memory

5. Information-Processing Model
of Memory
Attention Rehearsal
Sensory Short-term Long-term
Stimulus Registery memory memory
Forgetting Forgetting Forgetting

6. George Sperling’s
Sensory Registery
Sperling, G. (1960). Psychological Monographs 74: 1-29.

7. Sensory Registery
► Format: verbatim representation of stimulus;
► Capacity: “Not very Large” (~12 items);
► Duration: 25ms to 5 seconds.

8. Sensory Memory

9. How many letters can you remember?

10. Short- Term versus Long-Term
Memory
Short-term memory:
► Limited number of items = 7+/-2
► Limited time span (~30 seconds)
► Fragility of storage

11. Short term memory
Try to remember these numbers:
814923786327

12. Short term memory
Chunking boosts our short term memory:
814923786327
814 923 786 327

13. Short term Memory
►Short-term memory is too simplistic;
►It is not a passive storage;
►It actively processes the information!
Baddeley & Hitch, 1974

14. Working Memory
Baddeley & Hitch’s model
Central Executive
‘Attentional-executive system’
Articulatory Loop Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad
‘inner voice’ ‘inner eye’
Primary Acoustic Store
‘inner ear’

15. Long-term memory
►Is also called Reference Memory
►Extremely large capacity (you may
recognise 50,000 words!)
►Long time span (years, decades)

17. Memory
Factors influencing our memory:
►Age
►Health (physical injuries or diseases- e.g. Head injury, stroke,
blood pressure etc.)
►Psychological factors (attention, personality, negative
attitudes, anxiety, depression, self- perceptions etc.)
►Lifestyle (cognitive and physical exercise, diet, workload etc.)
►Context : External and internal cues

18. Ageing and Memory
► There is age-related decline in some cognitive functions!
► No significant difference between young and older adults for
immediate & delayed recall.
► Older adults do not forget more quickly, they need more time to
learn. (Albert, 2002, Ann Neurol., 51:p. 282)
► Speed of information processing! (Salthouse, 1996, Psych. Rev.,403--28)
Rev.,403
► In normal ageing working memory declines faster than short or long
term memory!
► Individual differences.

19. American Psychological Association (APA)
Causes of memory failures in normal aging:
• Anxiety
• Dehydration
• Depression
• Infections
• Medication side effects
• Poor nutrition
• Psychological stress
• Substance abuse
http://www.apa.org/pi/aging/memory-and-aging.pdf
• Thyroid imbalance

20. Attention
Emotion

21. APA Memory Aids
• Keep “to do” lists
http://www.apa.org/pi/aging/memory-and-aging.pdf
• Establish a routine
• Everything in its place
• Use associations
• Keep a calendar
• Socialize
• Get moving
• Train your brain
• Don’t buy into ageist stereotypes
• Avoid distractions
• Keep a sense of control and confidence in your memory

22. Thanks for Listening