Expository essay example
The Memory System
- Subject
- Psychology
- Type
- Expository essay
- Citation style
- APA 6
- Length
- 4 pages
About this sample
The paper explains the Atkinson and Shiffrin model of human memory, outlining the sensory, short-term and long-term memory stores. It then examines factors that improve or obstruct information flow, including proactive and retroactive interference and how they can be counteracted. It closes by discussing other forms of forgetting and strategies that support memory retrieval and consolidation.
- Atkinson and Shiffrin model
- Sensory memory
- Short-term and working memory
- Long-term memory
- Proactive and retroactive interference
- Strategies for memory retention
How it opens
Sensory Memory
Information approaches the human information processing system through a range of channels linked to different senses. Information that cannot be instantly handled is stored temporarily in the buffer or sensory memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1967). An example is when one views an object before it goes away. Once the object disappears, it is still maintained in the memory for a short period of time.
Short-term Memory (STM) (Working Memory)
Information that is managed enters another momentary store called short-term memory. Information that approaches this stores decays the moment it is no longer handled. Information that is not more consistently saved is lost soon after the management is directed elsewhere (Cherry, 2016). An illustration that could explain this is, for instance, when trying to recall a phone number. When given the number, lack of repetition to commit the information to memory leads to its fading from short-term memory.
Long-term Memory (LTM)
This is the moderately permanent memory store where information is held when it is no longer being attended to (Cherry, 2017). Information storage in long-term memory is similar to a computer recording information onto the hard drive.
Factors that Improve or Obstruct Information Flow
STM can be improved by rehearsal and conscious awareness. Rehearsing information holds it in the STM and assists in shifting it to LTM. The utilization of imagery can help to develop mental pictures to connect to the information being stored. Stress, multi-tasking, and pain will divert focus from incoming information and could thereby hinder information flow and LTM (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1967). LTM is enhanced when there are rigorous retention methods in STM. Generally, this relies on the how the information was absorbed and impediments include amnesia and brain damage.
The opening section, transcribed from the PDF. The full paper continues below.
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Using an example well
Read it for how the paper is built, not for wording to reuse: how the introduction frames the question, how each paragraph moves from a claim to evidence, and how sources are cited in APA 6. Submitting any part of it as your own work would be plagiarism, and it is written for a different brief than yours.
Writing one yourself? Read the guide How to write an expository essay and the APA format guide.