5- Working Memory Flashcards
What kind of process is working memory?
Cognitive
How is working memory defined?
Retaining, refreshing and manipulating visual and verbal information
What kind of responses would we have without working memory?
Automatic responses that we don’t have to consciously think about
What is the way we would respond to stimuli without working memory?
Simple behaviour
What responses to stimuli are allowed with working memory?
Stimuli cause internal representations that cause concepts and plans that cause complex behaviour
What is caused by an impairment in working memory?
Behavioural disorders
How is visual working memory studied in monkeys?
Delayed-saccade task
What is shown by the delayed-saccade task?
There is a delay before carrying out the action
When are neurons in the lateral intraparietal cortex active in the delayed-saccade task?
During the delay period ALSO
When are neurons in the prefrontal cortex active in the delayed-saccade task?
In the delay period ONLY
What implication for working memory was found by the delayed-saccade task?
PFC neurons being only active in the delay period shows involvement of PFC in all stages of working memory
How is visual working memory investigated in humans?
Match-to-sample task
When is the intraparietal sulcus active in the match-to-sample task?
During the delay period ALSO
What does neural activity in the IPS correlate with in the match-to-sample task?
With the number of encoded dots
What does the match-to-sample task show about the storage capacity of the IPS?
Limited to only encode info presented to us
Which 3 brain areas are important for short-term visual memory?
- Intraparietal sulcus
- Inferior occipital areas
- Medial frontal brain areas
How is the intraparietal sulcus important in short-term visual memory?
Responsible for transient and limited storage of visuo-spatial info
How are the inferior occipital areas important for short-term visual memory?
Involved in visual processing
How are the medial frontal brain areas important for short-term visual memory?
Important for monitoring tasks
How is verbal working memory investigated in humans?
A PET study investigating the articulatory loop
What design was used to investigate the articulatory loop?
Cognitive subtraction design
What does the phonological/articulatory loop include?
Storage and rehearsal
What does rhyming judgement include?
Rehearsal
What is common in both the articulatory loop and rhyming judgement?
Rehearsal
What was found about Broca’s area in studying human verbal working memory?
It is involved in rehearsal
What was found about the supramarginal gyrus from studying human verbal working memory?
Involved in storage
How was the central executive studied?
Wisconsin card-sorting task
What did the Wisconsin card-sorting task reveal about the central executive store?
It is involved in chunking
Where was neural activity observed in the Wisconsin card-sorting task?
Occipital cortex, superior parietal lobule, prefrontal cortex
How did the Wisconsin card-sorting task suggest executive working memory operations?
PFC neural activity correlates with task difficulty
How was chunking demonstrated with a cognitive subtraction design?
Memorisation of structured patterns
What demonstrated that the PFC was involved in chunking?
PFC is more active in memorised structured patterns
What does working memory involve?
Retaining, refreshing, and manipulating info
What does working memory allow?
Complex and adaptive behaviour
How are working memory functions supported?
By a distributed frontoparietal network
How are parietal regions demonstrated to be involved in STM?
Have a limited storage capacity
How are frontal regions demonstrated to be involved in the central executive?
Involved in manipulations
How are working memory and attention demonstrated to be strongly linked?
Dual-task interference makes working memory operations harder
