C5. P4 Flashcards
What is selective retention?
What you have selected from the sensory environment/internal environment to focus on
How much can explicit attention hold?
Limited amounts
What does explicit attention process?
A subset of information from the environment
Why might there be limited explicit attention?
There could be different neurological structures in the brain compared to implicit
Does explicit attention always form explicit memory?
No, it is a necessary but not always sufficient ingredient for forming explicit, declarative memories
Define implicit attending.
Processing information from the environment outside of our conscious awareness
What are the three functions of implicit attending?
Filters information from the environment, directs our attention to things in the environment and contributes to the formation of implicit memories
What did Banaji and colleagues discover about implicit attending and race?
People have an implicit bias in favor of their own race, despite lacking explicit awareness. They are more “predictive” of other races. This may be due to the fact that implicit learning is not as critically processed and reflected on. It can sometimes form attitudes that differ from explicit attitudes
What is automatic encoding?
The process by which we automatically form explicit memories for some aspects of our lives without need of conscious intent
When we automatically encode information, can we recall it later?
Often times we can explicitly recall it at a later time
What are the three key focuses of automatic encoding?
Space, frequency, and sequencing
What is spatial automatic encoding?
People can better visualize the location of information implicitly
What is frequency automatic encoding?
People can better encode data that pops up multiple times implicitly
What is sequence automatic encoding?
People can better retain information pertaining to the order of events in our days implicitly
Are we more accurate for things that happen with less frequency or more frequency?
Less
What are two things that make automatic encoding different from explicit attention?
It requires far less attention and the encoding is done without intention
What are two things that make automatic encoding different from procedural memory and implicit learning and retrieval?
It makes use of explicit memory structures and is available for explicit retrieval
What was short term memory originally conceptualized as?
A brief holding place between the sensory memory store and the long-term memory store
What does the original short term memory model fail to explain?
Why we are more likely to: remember information that we have processed more notably, recall information when we link it to our lives in a personal way, encode some forms of information into long term memory. Always, if we use memory to organize our immediate experiance, then where would it happen in the three stage model?
Define working memory.
A limited-capacity, limited-duration mental space in which current input with past input is integrated with past learning to perform complex tasks
What are five processes that work together in working memory?
1) Mental space to briefly hold incoming information.
2) Mental space to link new information with information from memory.
3) A mental space where we can mentally manipulate information in our minds.
4) A portion of working memory is devoted to explicit attention. In other words, what one is consciously focusing on at a given moment is held within working memory.
5) Several implicit processes help to regulate working memory.
While focusing on something our explicit attention is active in the working memory. What happens to the implicit processes?
Numerous implicit processes are also doing work behind the scenes allowing you to focus on a small number of things and actively manipulate them in the mind
What is a good metaphor for working memory? What are the tools?
Working memory is like a workbench. The tools are the things we know
Who introduced the central executive model of working memory?
Alan Baddeley
What three things does Baddeley’s model do?
-Differentiates between working memory processes that hold information
-Work with and mentally manipulate information
-Select information
What is central executive?
The portion of working memory that
-Selects incoming information from the sensory store
-Selects previously encoded information from long-term memory
-Organizes the information
-Monitors the information to determine what knowledge is necessary to work with
What are 3 processes that are contrasted with the central executive?
Episodic buffer, phonological loop, and visuospatial sketchpad
On the “workbench”, what is the workbench and what is the worker?
The phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad is the workbench, and the central executive is the worker
What do the episodic buffer, phonological loop, and visuospatial sketchpad do?
Store and hold information within working memory and allow you to focus your explicit attention on it
What two things is working memory limited in?
Capacity and duration
What did George Miller’s experiments suggest?
Humans generally have a working memory capacity of seven plus or minus two things
What is Miller’s Law?
7+/- , Miller’s capacity for working memory
Summarize Miler’s studies focused on paired things.
Presented people with ten tones, each paired with stimulus. Participants had to state the stimulus when its tone played. They could recall six to seven pairs accurately
Summarize Miller’s memory span study.
People are read list of things. Asked participants to recall as many as possible. Recalled around seven things
What does Miller mean by “things” in Miller’s Law?
Meaningful chunks
Is Miller’s rule precise or wavering?
It is a general rule of thumb
When does Miller’s law work best?
In a distraction free environment
What did Cowan add to Miller’s law?
Day-to-day our working memory is 4+/-1
Which psychological process most strongly linked to?
IQ
When is working memory capacity at its largest?
Adolescence and early adulthood
When is working memory capacity at its smallest?
Children and older adults
Why is multitasking burdensome on the memory?
We split our working memory resources, resulting in performances declines and our ability to filter important information
What is cognitive load?
The total amount of mental effort being exerted within working memory
What happens to overwhelm working memory?
When we are forced to try and process more information than what can be managed by working memory or we trying to do too much at one time
Describe Barrouillet’s studies
Kids are presented words. Time between presentation and recall varied. Some had easy distractions in between, some had harder. Ultimately varied the time that has passed and the difficulty of the distraction
What did Barrouillet’s studies suggest?
When we have high amounts of cognitive load, we can’t hold onto information as long
If we are not distracted, how long does working memory stay?
10-15 seconds
