Turn your notes into a study guide

Study Guide – PSY 101, Lecture 7 (Tue 12 Nov) Main Ideas Memory has three stages. Memory works through encoding, storage, and retrieval, which take information from input to keeping it to using it later. Short term memory is limited. It holds about 7 items and lasts only 15–30 seconds. Chunking expands capacity. Grouping items together increases how much short term memory can hold — for example, phone numbers grouped in 3s. Long term memory has unlimited capacity and comes in two types: explicit (facts and events) and implicit (skills and habits). Forgetting follows a curve. Memory drops off fast over time, as shown by the forgetting curve. Key Terms Encoding – first stage of memory; getting information in Storage – second stage of memory; keeping information Retrieval – third stage of memory; getting information back out Chunking – grouping items to increase short term memory capacity (e.g., phone numbers in 3s) Explicit memory – long term memory for facts and events Implicit memory – long term memory for skills and habits Forgetting curve – pattern showing memory drops fast over time Self Test Questions 1. What are the three stages of memory, in order? 2. How many items can short term memory hold, and for how long? 3. How does chunking help memory? Give the example from the lecture. 4. What is the difference between explicit and implicit long term memory? 5. What does the forgetting curve show about how memory changes over time?