PS491-6-SP-CO:
Topics in Human Memory
2023/24
Psychology
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Monday 15 January 2024
Friday 22 March 2024
15
28 November 2023
Requisites for this module
PS415
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
This module will provide an historial introduction to the psychology of memory. It will also evaluate the evidence for short-term memory and classic and contemporary accounts of free recall and serial recall.
It will then discuss current evidence for working memory from the complex span and visuo-spatial short-term memory and how participants perform classic short-term memory tasks. Finally, it will consider classic and contemporary accounts of long-term memory.
The aims of this module are:
- To provide students with a good overview of the classic and current theories of human memory.
- To introduce students to the different methods used to study human memory.
- To introduce students to the different data sets that constrain theories of human memory.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Demonstrate a good understanding of classic and current theories of remembering and forgetting.
- Experience first-hand a number of different experimental methods that are used to study human memory.
- Demonstrate a good understanding of classic and recent data sets that constrain theories of human memory.
Indicative Syllabus
- Ebbinghaus and the Verbal Learning Tradition.
- The Cognitive Revolution Lecture.
- Free Recall.
- Immediate serial recall.
- Complex Span and Visuo-spatial memory.
- Alternatives to the Working Memory Model.
- Organisation at Encoding and Retrieval.
- Processing Effects in Memory.
- Retrieval as a Self-Limiting Process.
- Towards Augmented Human Memory
The module is organised into four sub-sections. Lectures 1 and 2 provide an historical introduction to the psychology of memory, concentrating on Ebbinghaus and the verbal learning tradition (Lecture 1) and the Cognitive Psychology revolution (Lecture 2). These lectures culminate with a schematic overview of proactive and retroactive interference by Baddeley (1976) in lecture 1, and the Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968, 1971) model in Lecture 2, which proposed separate sensory stores, short-term memory and long-term memory.
The second subsection evaluates the evidence for short-term memory and reviews evidence for short-term memory for classic and contemporary accounts of free recall (Lecture 3) and serial recall (Lecture 4), in which Baddeley's working memory model is discussed. Current evidence for working memory from the complex span and visuo-spatial short-term memory is discussed in Lecture 5. Finally, Lecture 6 discusses some of my own views on how participants perform classic short-term memory tasks. The final section considers classic and contemporary accounts of long-term memory, including Lecture 7: Organisation at Encoding and Retrieval, Lecture 8: Processing effects in memory, Lecture 9: Retrieval as a Self-Limiting Process, and Lecture 10: Towards Augmented Human Memory.
This module will be delivered via:
- One 2-hour lecture per week.
- One 1-hour computer-based workshop class per week.
This module does not appear to have any essential texts. To see non - essential items, please refer to the module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Coursework Test |
|
100% |
| Exam |
Main exam: Remote, Open Book, 24hr during Summer (Main Period)
|
| Exam |
Reassessment Main exam: Remote, Open Book, 24hr during September (Reassessment Period)
|
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Prof Geoffrey Ward, email: gdward@essex.ac.uk.
Professor Geoff Ward
email: gdward@essex.ac.uk
No
Yes
No
Dr Paula Miles
University of St Andrews
Director of Teaching, Senior Lecturer
Available via Moodle
Of 30 hours, 28 (93.3%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
2 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
Psychology
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