# data[].attributes.body
-Akaria

# data[].attributes.body
-Akaria

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is Atkinson–Shiffrin Memory Model | Explained in 2 min

# data[].attributes.body
Terance L.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"We are living in one of history's most productive eras of intellectual discovery. From agriculture to medicine, from aerospace to computing, science is experiencing a series of revolutions that are remaking our idea of what is possible. These revolutions are occurring on the campuses and laboratories of research universities every day."
-Richard C. Atkinson, October 1999
Dr. Richard C. Atkinson served as the fifth director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), from May 1977 to June 1980. Atkinson assumed the position of director already well versed in the challenges of leading the only federal agency dedicated to the support of basic research and education in all fields of science and engineering. He was the first director to have served as deputy director (from 1975 to 1976), and he also served as acting director from August 1976 to May 1977 upon the departure of Dr. Guyford Stever. As an internationally recognized experimental psychologist and applied mathematician, Atkinson was the first NSF director with a background in social science. In the face of vocal critics in Congress and the media, Atkinson defended NSF's commitment to basic research. During his tenure as director, he negotiated a historic scientific exchange between the United States and the People's Republic of China and strengthened NSF's peer review process.
Prior to NSF
Atkinson earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago in 1948 and his Ph.D. in Psychology from Indiana University in 1955. After serving in the U.S. Army, Atkinson joined the faculty at Stanford University in 1956.

In 1957, after a year of lecturing in the Applied Mathematics and Statistics Laboratories at Stanford, Atkinson joined the University of California, Los Angeles Psychology Department. From 1961 to 1980, he served on the faculty at Stanford in the Department of Psychology. Atkinson's research on mathematical models of human memory and cognition gained him international recognition and led to the development of computer-controlled instructional systems aimed at addressing problems of learning in the classroom. Atkinson's innovative research also led to joint faculty appointments in Stanford's School of Engineering, School of Education, and Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences.

While at Stanford, Atkinson held various academic and professional leadership positions. From 1961 to 1975, Atkinson served as associate director of the Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences and from 1968 to 1973 as chairman of Stanford's Department of Psychology. Among other positions, Atkinson served as editor of the Journal of Mathematical Psychology (1963 to 1970), on the editorial board of Psychological Review (1966 to 1968), on the board of directors of the American Psychological Association (1973 to 1976), and as president of the American Psychological Association's Division of Experimental Psychology (1974 to 1975).
Director of NSF
In 1975, President Gerald Ford appointed Atkinson as deputy director of the National Science Foundation. A year later, in 1976, President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the position of NSF director. Atkinson served as acting director until in May 1977 he was confirmed as director by the Senate.

As Director, Atkinson presided over NSF's first $1 billion annual budget. His tenure at NSF began in the midst of controversy and public criticism of various foundation-funded research projects and education curricula (such as "Man: A Course of Study"). At a time when the foundation was under heightened scrutiny, Atkinson did much to improve NSF relations with Congress and strengthen the process of peer review at NSF. His predecessor as director, H. Guyford Stever, later commended Atkinson for his leadership during this period, praising his "wide grasp of issues" and "breadth of knowledge."

Atkinson made history by negotiating the first memorandum of understanding between the United States and the People's Republic of China, which opened the door for major exchanges of scientists and scholars between the two nations. His efforts contributed to a comprehensive agreement between China and the United States on science and technology that was signed in January 1979 by Chairman Deng Xiaoping and President Carter.

Atkinson recognized that the clustering of research grants among the top universities negatively impacted the NSF's ability to gain broad support in Congress. Under Atkinson's leadership, NSF initiated a program aimed at broadening the geographical distribution of research grants. Established during his tenure and still in existence today, the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR, known as "Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research" as of January 2017) provided a framework for helping universities in states that received few research grants by providing them with advice about developing more competitive grant applications.
Post-NSF
When Atkinson left NSF in 1980, he became chancellor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), leading the university through its biggest growth period. During his 15-year tenure as chancellor, UCSD rose to "top five" status in acquiring federal research funding and was ranked among the top ten graduate programs in the United States by the National Research Council. In 1995, Atkinson became the University of California system's 17th president, a position he held until 2003. During this period, Atkinson initiated national reforms in college admissions testing and spearheaded new approaches to admissions and outreach in the post-affirmative action era at the university. Atkinson now holds the title of president emeritus of the University of California and professor emeritus of cognitive science and psychology at the University of California, San Diego.

Atkinson has received many awards and honors throughout his distinguished career. In 1974, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Education. In 1989, he served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2003, he won the National Science Board's prestigious Vannevar Bush Award, an award he established in 1980 during his tenure as director, for his lifetime contributions to the nation in science and technology. Atkinson also has the distinction of having a mountain in Antarctica named in his honor.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"We are living in one of history's most productive eras of intellectual discovery. From agriculture to medicine, from aerospace to computing, science is experiencing a series of revolutions that are remaking our idea of what is possible. These revolutions are occurring on the campuses and laboratories of research universities every day."

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Richard C. Atkinson while being a Professor of Psychology at the University of California San Diego.

# data[].attributes.body
Terance L.

# data[].attributes.headline
Richard Atkinson interview and explanation

# data[].attributes.subject
Richard Atkinson interview and explanation

# data[].attributes.body
-Akaria

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
University of California Television (UCTV)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Machinery of Human Memory with Richard Atkinson

# data[].attributes.body
-Akaria

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Richard Atkinson, with his partner helped determine information about short/long-term memory

# data[].attributes.body
Terance L.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Richard C. Atkinson's achievements as scientist, educator, and passionate advocate for American science have earned him international recognition and countless honors, as well as election to the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Education, and the American Philosophical Society. His career reflects an extraordinary ability to combine interests and insights that span conventional disciplines and redefine traditional boundaries. At Stanford University, where he held appointments in the Department of Psychology, the School of Engineering, the School of Education, the Applied Mathematics and Statistics Laboratories, and the Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences, he quickly attained international stature as a rising star in cognitive psychology, specializing in memory and cognition. Atkinson is one of three to five key researchers who developed the field of mathematical modeling in psychology. His work established the validity of mathematical modeling as a powerful tool for illuminating complex cognitive phenomena.

Atkinson's most fundamental and far-reaching contribution to cognitive psychology is the Atkinson-Shiffrin model (with Richard M. Shiffrin), one of the most significant advances in the study of human memory since William James' brilliant intuitive speculations on the subject. The Atkinson-Shiffrin model, presented in a 1968 chapter titled "Human Memory: A Proposed System and its Control Processes," published in The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory (Vol. 2), edited by K. W. Spence and J. T. Spence, put a theory of memory on a mathematical basis for the first time. It is known as the modal model of memory, combining structural divisions of memory into short-term and long-term memory components and explicitly modeling the attention and control processes that allow the entire cognitive system to function. The control processes they described, such as rehearsal, coding, retrieval strategies, and decision rules, are now standard in theories of memory. The Atkinson-Shiffrin article is one of the most highly cited in the history of the behavioral sciences, and their theory continues to shape research today, for example in integrating and interpreting the neuroimagery research of recent years. In addition:

Atkinson produced seminal research contributions in Word Recognition and Search Processes in Recognition Memory, each of which has since blossomed into an important subfield.

In a groundbreaking collaboration with Patrick Suppes, Atkinson created one of the first computer-controlled systems for teaching reading to elementary-grade children.

His scientific works have been translated into nine languages, including a Russian translation of his collected papers on human memory and cognition.

Atkinson's contributions to national science policy began in 1975, when he accepted a temporary appointment as deputy director of the National Science Foundation. It became an eventful five-year tenure, three as director under President Jimmy Carter. Atkinson guided the agency through what one commentator called "a rebuilding from the ravages of the Nixon anti-science era," skillfully defending peer review and basic research against Congressional and media attacks. At the same time, he revealed a gift for translating principles and convictions into enormously productive programs and policies. The first memorandum of understanding between the People's Republic of China and the United States, an agreement for the exchange of scientists and scholars, was negotiated and signed during his directorship.

Convinced that rebuilding the close pre-war relationship between industry and research universities was crucial to the future of American science, Atkinson took four steps that have had far-reaching consequences: establishing the Industry-University Cooperative Research Program to encourage collaborative research between private companies and universities; encouraging analyses of scientific R&D's influence on economic growth; elevating engineering to a full directorate at NSF; conducting an analysis of the technology-transfer process that helped lay the foundations for the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, which transferred intellectual property rights in federally sponsored research from the U.S. government to universities. The same innovative intelligence marked his service as chancellor of the University of California's San Diego campus (1980-1995) and president of the University of California System (1995-2003).

The single best example of Atkinson's presidential leadership was his challenge to the aptitude-based SAT I, for seventy-five years the dominant college-entrance examination in the United States. In 2001, Atkinson announced he was recommending that the University of California eliminate the SAT I as an admissions requirement. His brief against the SAT, the product of his experience as a cognitive scientist, psychometrician, and founding chair of the National Academy of Science's Board on Testing and Assessment, was precise, scientifically based, and supported by four years of data involving test scores of 78,000 entering UC students. The SAT I, he argued, was unfair to students because it is grounded in "ill-defined notions of aptitude." Atkinson's public challenge was an act of intellectual and political courage that kindled a long overdue national debate on the use and misuse of standardized testing and a nationwide movement toward achievement tests.

He continues to serve the nation as chair of the National Academy of Science's Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Richard Atkinson is a pioneering scientist and visionary leader of American science in the tradition of Benjamin Franklin and his devotion to "useful knowledge"; Vannevar Bush and his vision of universities as the heart of the American research enterprise; and Frederick Terman and his conviction that putting knowledge to work in society constitutes a vital public service. Few scientists of Atkinson's stature have gone on to make contributions of the highest order in science policy, education, and public understanding of science and technology. Even fewer have served the cause of science so variously and so well.

Individuals Honoring Richard Atkinson

Norman Anderson, University of California, San Diego
Robert Calfee, University of California, Riverside
Michael Cole, University of California, San Diego
Bruce Darling, University of California
Jeff Elman, University of California, San Diego
Edmund Fantino, University of California, San Diego
Michael Feuer, National Academies of Science
Susan Fiske, Princeton University
Albert Hastorf, Stanford University
Roberta Klatzky, Carnegie Mellon University
Elizabeth Loftus, University of California, Irvine
R. Duncan Luce, University of California, Irvine
Jean Mandler, University of California, San Diego
George Mandler, University of California, San Diego
Anna S. McColl, University of California, San Diego
Laura Schreibman, University of California, San Diego
Richard Shiffrin, Indiana University
Nicholas Spitzer, University of California, San Diego
Larry Squire, University of California, San Diego
Patrick Suppes, Stanford University
Joseph L. Young
Philip Zimbardo, Stanford University

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Richard C. Atkinson's achievements as scientist, educator, and passionate advocate for American science have earned him international recognition and countless

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Cognitive Psychology is about what the brain intakes and how it processes everything that leads to the memory. 

# data[].attributes.body
Terance L.