4: Working memory Flashcards
What are some ways of increasing memory capacity (phonological loop)?
Chunking
Adding meaning to items
What is the visuospatial sketchpad?
Accessing image in mind. Momentarily stores visual information such as the location and nature of objects in the environment.
What did Shepard & Metzler (1971) study involve?
Shepard & Metzler studied memory rotation. Time taken to decide whether an image was reflected or non-reflected is proportional to angle of rotation.
What are the 3 functions of the central executive?
1) Maintain attention to goal-relevant stimuli
2) Decide on how best to achieve present goal based on this information
3) Inhibit inappropriate automatic responses (habits); e.g. stroop task
What does failure of central executive functioning look like?
Automatic processes takeover controlled processes, undermining goals.
Where is central executive thought to reside in?
Central executive thought to ‘reside’ in frontal lobe. Last part to develop in terms of grey matter and thus may explain behaviour (riskiness) of teenagers. It also develops later in men.
What is damage to the frontal lobe known as?
Dysexecutive syndrome
What happens when you damage the frontal lobe?
Damage to area changes behaviour; inappropriate automatic behaviours very common. E.g. Phineas Gage
What is the structure of long term memory?
LTM consists of declarative memory - episodic and semantic - and procedural memory.
What did Ebbinghaus’ (1885) study of rehearsal find?
Memorisation of nonsense words
Rehearsals on day 1 not enough to recall on day 2
However more time spent on day 1 means less time required to learn again on day 2
- Savings/retention effect
Which region of brain plays key role in consolidation of explicit, declarative information?
The medial temporal region, particularly the hippocampus
Which region of the brain plays key role in working memory, procedural memory and aspects of episodic memory?
The frontal lobes
