Attention, STM, LTM Flashcards
Attention
the ability to focus on specific stimuli
Dichotic Listening Experiments
presenting different stimuli to the left and right ears in order to study how attention works
Broadbent’s Filter Model of Attention
messages come through sensory memory, filter then determines what message is attended to
Treisman Attenuation Model of Attention
early selection attention model where attended message passes through at full strength and unattended messages are weakened.
Similarity between Broadbent and Treisman models
filtering/attenuation of unattended messages happens before meaning is processed
What is the difference between early and late selection models of attention? Which is correct?
early selection models propose that the desired message is selected early and other are filtered out/weakened
late selection models propose that info is processed to the level of meaning before the message to be further processed is selected
both are corrected depending on type of task and type of stimuli
What is processing capacity?
how much information someone can handle, sets a limit on ability to process incoming information
-bandwidth
What is perceptual load?
difficulty of a task
-amount of bandwidth used
Why do distracting stimuli cause a bigger hit to performance on easy tasks than hard tasks?
load theory of attention - low load tasks use fewer cognitive resources, leaving more resources available for processing unattended task-irrelevant stimuli
Schneider & Shiffrin’s divided memory experiment
Participants perform two tasks simultaneously. 1) hold info about target stimuli in memory. 2) pay attention to a series of distraction stimuli to determine if target is present.
Initially participants success was ~55%
After 900 trials: accuracy reach 90%
What did divided memory experiment tell us about the effect of practice on divided attention?
We aren’t good at dividing attention, but practice dramatically improves ability.
At ~600 trials, participants reported feeling more automatic processing
When does practice lead to a large improvement in performance when dividing attention? When are benefits limited?
Simple tasks are capable of large improvements in divided attention performance. Benefits of practice are limited for harder tasks.
Why doesn’t a handsfree system significantly reduce driving impairment?
talking on the phone takes up cognitive resources that would otherwise be used for driving. impairment is due to divided attention
What is the binding problem?
problem of explaining how an object’s individual features become bound together
Feature Integration Theory
an approach to object perception developed by Treisman that proposes a sequence of stages in which features are analyzed and then combine
How does ventral attention stream contribute to attention?
controls attention based on salience of stimuli (bottom-up processing)
-more likely to pay attention to loud sound, bright color
How does dorsal attention stream contribute to attention?
controls attention based on top-down factors, such as what we are expected to be important or directed towards things that seem out of place
-pot v. printer on the stove, look at printer more
How does executive attention network contribute to attention?
responsible for executive functions such as controlling attention, inhibiting certain responses, and selecting between conflicting responses
Inattentional blindness
people are unaware of clearly visible stimuli if they aren’t directing their attention towards them
-gorilla
Change blindness
difficulty in detecting changes in similar but slightly different scenes presented one after another
Define or give an example of each of the 3 systems of memory in the modal model.
sensory memory - brief storage of perceptual information
short term memory - rehearses information, uses info, and stores things in long term memory
long term memory - long duration retention of stored information
Iconic memory
brief sensory memory for visual stimuli that lasts for a fraction of a second after stimulus stops
Echoic memory
brief sensory memory for auditory stimuli that lasts after stimuli stops
What does Sperling’s study suggest about duration of iconic memory?
visual memory lasts for about one second, because average units reported dropped from 3.3/4 to 1/4 after 1 second delay.
What is the capacity of short term memory?
less than 15-20 seconds, about 4 items
Digit span tasks
method for assessing the capacity of short term memory, participants read an increasing number of digits and then recall.
typical span is 7 +/- 2
Change detection tasks
method for assessing the capacity of short term memory, found that performance was perfect for 1-3 objects, but declined with 4 or more
Chunking
combining small units into larger, meaningful units or phrases to increase info stored in memory
Rehearsal
mental repetition of incoming information
Short-term/working memory
limited capacity memory system for temporary storage and manipulation of information
3 core components of Baddeley’s working model and the function of each
phonological loop - hold and process verbal and auditory info
visuospatial sketch pad - hold and process visual and spatial information
central executive - coordinates activity between phonological loop and visuospatial sketch pad, control center
Evidence for phonological loop
phonological similarity effect (more likely to confuse letters that sound the same than look the same)
word length effect (more difficult to remember long words than short words)
articulatory suppression - repeating irrelevant word interferes with operation of phonological loop
Evidence for visuospatial sketchpad
took 2x longer to recognize that the shapes were the same when one was rotated more
What brain area plays an important role in STM?
prefrontal cortex
2 general ideas about how information is held in STM/WM
Information is held via continuous firing of a neuron
Information is held via the short-term changes in functional neural networks
What factor explains differences in working memory abilities?
differences in working memory ability is correlated with greater control of attention
What kind of memory impairment did HM exhibit?
removed hippocampus, resulted in impairment of LTM, couldn’t form new memories
evidence for independent systems of STM and LTM
What kind of memory impairment does patient KF have?
damage to parietal lobe resulted in impaired STM, reduced digit span ~2
evidence for independent systems of STM and LTM
What do the memory impairments of HM and KF tells us about STM and LTM?
double dissociation. STM and LTM may be independent systems because damage to one area does not necessarily impair function in the other
What’s the difference between explicit and implicit LTM?
explicit memories are recalled intentionally and we have conscious awareness of
implicit memories we don’t intentionally remember and are not conscious of
Define the two main types of explicit long-term memories
semantic - memory for facts
episodic - memory for experiences
What evidence supports the idea that episodic and semantic memory are separate memory systems?
KC - impaired episodic, OK semantic
LP - OK episode, impaired semantic
double dissociation
different hemispheres had different levels of activation
What is autobiographical memory?
memory for specific experiences in our life that include semantic and episodic components
What is semanticization of remote memories?
episodic memories changing into semantic memories over time
What role does episodic memory play in future thinking?
we use past experiences to imagine and predict what will happen in the future
individuals with impaired episodic memory were unable to imagine their personal future
How does neural activity for remembering events in the past compare to neural activity for imagining the future?
similar activation in same areas for imagining past and future events
What is the constructive episodic simulation hypothesis?
we mentally simulate future by extracting episodic memory and flexibly recombining elements from them
What is implicit memory?
occurs when we learn from experience without consciously remembering
procedural memory
memory for doing things that involve learned skills
What evidence supports explicit and implicit memory being separate systems?
impairment of explicit does not necessarily produce impairment of implicit
associated with different brain areas
Serial position curve
U-shaped curve that is graphed based on the number of words recalled in a list
primacy effect
participants are more likely to remember words at the beginning of a sequence
also what memory system does it rely on
recency effect
typically have better memory for stimuli presented at the end of a sequence than the middle (still in STM)
