AP Psychology – Memory Models (Sensory, Short-Term, Long-Term, Working Memory)

AP Psychology – Memory Models (Sensory, Short?Term, Long?Term, Working Memory)

AP Psychology: Memory Models Study Guide

(Sensory, Short-Term, Long-Term, Working Memory)

What This Is

Memory models explain how we encode, store, and retrieve information. The AP exam tests your ability to compare these models, apply them to real-life scenarios, and analyze classic experiments (e.g., Miller’s "magic number" 7±2, Baddeley’s working memory model). Example: Imagine trying to remember a phone number—you might repeat it in your head (short-term memory) or associate it with a song (long-term memory). If you’re distracted, the number fades (decay), showing how fragile memory can be.

Key Terms & Concepts

• Memory: The persistence of learning over time through encoding, storage, and retrieval.
• Encoding: The process of converting sensory input into a form the brain can store (e.g., visual, acoustic, semantic).
• Storage: Retaining encoded information over time (sensory-short-term-long-term).
• Retrieval: Accessing stored information (e.g., recall vs. recognition).
• Sensory Memory: Brief, fleeting memory of sensory input (iconic = visual, ~0.5 sec; echoic = auditory, ~3–4 sec).
• Example: Glancing at a license plate and remembering it for a split second.
• Short-Term Memory (STM): Temporary storage (~20–30 sec) with limited capacity (7±2 items, per George Miller).
• Example: Holding a phone number in mind while dialing.
• Long-Term Memory (LTM): Permanent, limitless storage (explicit = facts/events; implicit = skills/conditioning).
• Example: Remembering your first day of school (episodic) or how to ride a bike (procedural).
• Working Memory (Baddeley’s Model): Active "mental workspace" that manipulates STM info (central executive + phonological loop + visuospatial sketchpad + episodic buffer).
• Example: Solving a math problem in your head (phonological loop = repeating numbers; visuospatial sketchpad = visualizing shapes).
• Chunking: Grouping info into meaningful units to expand STM capacity (e.g., remembering "FBI" as one chunk instead of F-B-I).
• Maintenance Rehearsal: Repeating info to keep it in STM (e.g., repeating a grocery list).
• Elaborative Rehearsal: Linking new info to LTM (e.g., associating a name with a vivid image).
• Serial Position Effect: Tendency to recall the first (primacy effect) and last (recency effect) items in a list best.
• Flashbulb Memory: Vivid, detailed LTM of emotionally significant events (e.g., 9/11, a car accident).

Step-by-Step: Applying Memory Models to a Scenario

Scenario: You’re studying for a history test. How do memory models explain your process?

1. Sensory Input: You read a textbook paragraph (iconic memory briefly holds the words).
2. Attention: You focus on key terms (e.g., "Magna Carta"), moving them to STM.
3. Working Memory: You repeat the term aloud (phonological loop) and visualize a medieval document (visuospatial sketchpad).
4. Encoding: You link "Magna Carta" to "limited monarchy" (elaborative rehearsal-LTM).
5. Retrieval: On the test, you recall the term (explicit memory) and explain its significance.

Common Mistakes

• Mistake: Confusing STM and working memory as the same thing.
• Correction: STM is passive storage; working memory is active manipulation (e.g., mental math).

• Why? Baddeley’s model expanded STM into a dynamic system.

• Mistake: Assuming chunking increases STM duration (it increases capacity, not duration).

• Correction: Chunking helps fit more info into STM, but rehearsal is needed to extend duration.

• Mistake: Forgetting that sensory memory is modality-specific (iconic vs. echoic).

• Correction: Iconic memory is visual (~0.5 sec); echoic is auditory (~3–4 sec).

• Mistake: Overlooking implicit memory in LTM (e.g., skills like riding a bike).

• Correction: LTM includes both explicit (facts) and implicit (procedural) memories.

• Mistake: Ignoring the serial position effect when studying lists.

• Correction: Spend extra time on middle items (they’re most likely to be forgotten).

AP Exam Insights

1. FRQs often ask you to:
2. Compare STM vs. working memory (e.g., "Explain how Baddeley’s model differs from Atkinson-Shiffrin’s").
3. Apply models to real-life scenarios (e.g., "Use chunking to explain how a student remembers a phone number").

4. Analyze experiments (e.g., Sperling’s iconic memory study or Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve).

5. Multiple-choice traps:

6. Confusing maintenance rehearsal (repetition) with elaborative rehearsal (meaningful links).
7. Mixing up explicit memory (conscious recall) and implicit memory (unconscious skills).

8. Overlooking echoic memory’s longer duration compared to iconic memory.

9. Key distinction: Working memory is not just a "better STM"—it’s a separate system for active processing.

Quick Check Questions

1. Which of the following best describes the capacity of short-term memory? a) Unlimited b) 7±2 items c) 3–4 seconds d) Permanent storage Answer: b) 7±2 items (George Miller’s research on STM capacity).

2. A student remembers the first and last items on a grocery list but forgets the middle. This demonstrates: a) Chunking b) Serial position effect c) Flashbulb memory d) Maintenance rehearsal Answer: b) Serial position effect (primacy + recency effects).

3. FRQ Practice: Explain how Baddeley’s working memory model accounts for multitasking (e.g., driving while talking on the phone). Sample Answer:

4. The central executive allocates attention between tasks.
5. The phonological loop processes verbal info (phone conversation).
6. The visuospatial sketchpad handles visual/spatial info (driving).
7. Multitasking fails when both tasks compete for the same subsystem (e.g., two verbal tasks overload the phonological loop).

Last-Minute Cram Sheet

1. Sensory memory: Iconic (~0.5 sec), echoic (~3–4 sec).
2. STM: 7±2 items, ~20–30 sec duration.
3. LTM: Unlimited, explicit (facts) + implicit (skills).
4. Working memory: Central executive + phonological loop + visuospatial sketchpad + episodic buffer.
5. Chunking: Groups info to expand STM capacity.
6. Elaborative rehearsal > maintenance rehearsal for LTM.
7. Serial position effect: Primacy (LTM) + recency (STM).
8. Flashbulb memory: Emotionally charged LTM (e.g., 9/11).
9. STM-working memory (STM is passive; working memory is active).
10. Implicit memory = skills (e.g., riding a bike); explicit memory = facts/events.