THE MEMORY GAME

PSYCHOLOGY
MR. SCHEEL

You are to select a partner and develop a game that examines and analyzes memory. It
must adhere to the following:

-Test sensory memory

-Test Long-Term Memory
-Short Term Memory

Must have a start and a finish point (Ability for someone to win)

You are to observe and record the ability of the people playing your game.
When finish you will summarize and analyze your results

There are several ways of classifying memories, based on duration, nature and retrieval
of information. From an information processing perspective there are three main stages in
the formation and retrieval of memory:

• Encoding (processing and combining of received information)

• Storage (creation of a permanent record of the encoded information)
• Retrieval/Recall (calling back the stored information in response to some cue for
use in some process or activity)

A basic and generally accepted classification of memory is based on the duration of

memory retention, and identifies three distinct types of memory: sensory memory, short-
term memory, and long-term memory.

The sensory memory corresponds approximately to the initial moment that an item is
perceived. Some of this information in the sensory area proceeds to the sensory store,
which is referred to as short-term memory. Sensory memory is characterized by the
duration of memory retention from milliseconds to seconds and short-term memory from
seconds to minutes. Sensory memory also retains things that you interact with. This
basically means the senses. When you touch or hear or see or smell something you are
more likely to remember it.

These stores are generally characterised as of strictly limited capacity and duration,
whereas in general stored information can be retrieved in a period of time which ranges
from days to years; this type of memory is called long-term memory.

It may be that short-term memory is supported by transient changes in neuronal

communication, whereas long-term memories are maintained by more stable and
permanent changes in neural structure that are dependent on protein synthesis. Some
psychologists, however, argue that the distinction between long- and short-term
memories is arbitrary, and is merely a reflection of differing levels of activation within a
single store.

If we are given a random seven-digit number, we may remember it only for a few
seconds and then forget (short-term memory). On the other hand, we can remember
telephone numbers for many years (assuming we use them often enough). Those long-
lasting memories are said to be stored in long-term memory.

Additionally, the term working memory is used to refer to the short-term store needed for
certain mental tasks - it is not a synonym for short-term memory, since it is defined not in
terms of duration, but rather in terms of purpose. Some theories consider working
memory to be the combination of short-term memory and some attentional control. For
instance, when we are asked to mentally multiply 45 by 4, we have to perform a series of
simple calculations (additions and multiplications) to arrive at the final answer. The
ability to store the information regarding the instructions and intermediate results is what
is referred to as working memory.

EXAMPLES: Retention/Matching (Like the old Memory Game)

Recall Games (Like Simon Says, Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes)
Muscle Memory Game (Cha Cha Slide, Sports, Video Games

Be ready to play these games next Monday. Work on them through Thursday.