C5. P4

Question 1

What is selective retention?

Answer 1

What you have selected from the sensory environment/internal environment to focus on

Question 2

How much can explicit attention hold?

Answer 2

Limited amounts

Question 3

What does explicit attention process?

Answer 3

A subset of information from the environment

Question 4

Why might there be limited explicit attention?

Answer 4

There could be different neurological structures in the brain compared to implicit

Question 5

Does explicit attention always form explicit memory?

Answer 5

No, it is a necessary but not always sufficient ingredient for forming explicit, declarative memories

Question 6

Define implicit attending.

Answer 6

Processing information from the environment outside of our conscious awareness

Question 7

What are the three functions of implicit attending?

Answer 7

Filters information from the environment, directs our attention to things in the environment and contributes to the formation of implicit memories

Question 8

What did Banaji and colleagues discover about implicit attending and race?

Answer 8

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

Question 9

What is automatic encoding?

Answer 9

The process by which we automatically form explicit memories for some aspects of our lives without need of conscious intent

Question 10

When we automatically encode information, can we recall it later?

Answer 10

Often times we can explicitly recall it at a later time

Question 11

What are the three key focuses of automatic encoding?

Answer 11

Space, frequency, and sequencing

Question 12

What is spatial automatic encoding?

Answer 12

People can better visualize the location of information implicitly

Question 13

What is frequency automatic encoding?

Answer 13

People can better encode data that pops up multiple times implicitly

Question 14

What is sequence automatic encoding?

Answer 14

People can better retain information pertaining to the order of events in our days implicitly

Question 15

Are we more accurate for things that happen with less frequency or more frequency?

Answer 15

Less

Question 16

What are two things that make automatic encoding different from explicit attention?

Answer 16

It requires far less attention and the encoding is done without intention

Question 17

What are two things that make automatic encoding different from procedural memory and implicit learning and retrieval?

Answer 17

It makes use of explicit memory structures and is available for explicit retrieval

Question 18

What was short term memory originally conceptualized as?

Answer 18

A brief holding place between the sensory memory store and the long-term memory store

Question 19

What does the original short term memory model fail to explain?

Answer 19

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?

Question 20

Define working memory.

Answer 20

A limited-capacity, limited-duration mental space in which current input with past input is integrated with past learning to perform complex tasks

Question 21

What are five processes that work together in working memory?

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

While focusing on something our explicit attention is active in the working memory. What happens to the implicit processes?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

What is a good metaphor for working memory? What are the tools?

Answer 23

Working memory is like a workbench. The tools are the things we know

Question 24

Who introduced the central executive model of working memory?

Answer 24

Alan Baddeley

Question 25

What three things does Baddeley’s model do?

Answer 25

-Differentiates between working memory processes that hold information
-Work with and mentally manipulate information
-Select information

Question 26

What is central executive?

Answer 26

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

Question 27

What are 3 processes that are contrasted with the central executive?

Answer 27

Episodic buffer, phonological loop, and visuospatial sketchpad

Question 28

On the “workbench”, what is the workbench and what is the worker?

Answer 28

The phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad is the workbench, and the central executive is the worker

Question 29

What do the episodic buffer, phonological loop, and visuospatial sketchpad do?

Answer 29

Store and hold information within working memory and allow you to focus your explicit attention on it

Question 30

What two things is working memory limited in?

Answer 30

Capacity and duration

Question 31

What did George Miller’s experiments suggest?

Answer 31

Humans generally have a working memory capacity of seven plus or minus two things

Question 32

What is Miller’s Law?

Answer 32

7+/- , Miller’s capacity for working memory

Question 33

Summarize Miler’s studies focused on paired things.

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Summarize Miller’s memory span study.

Answer 34

People are read list of things. Asked participants to recall as many as possible. Recalled around seven things

Question 35

What does Miller mean by “things” in Miller’s Law?

Answer 35

Meaningful chunks

Question 36

Is Miller’s rule precise or wavering?

Answer 36

It is a general rule of thumb

Question 37

When does Miller’s law work best?

Answer 37

In a distraction free environment

Question 38

What did Cowan add to Miller’s law?

Answer 38

Day-to-day our working memory is 4+/-1

Question 39

Which psychological process most strongly linked to?

Answer 39

IQ

Question 40

When is working memory capacity at its largest?

Answer 40

Adolescence and early adulthood

Question 41

When is working memory capacity at its smallest?

Answer 41

Children and older adults

Question 42

Why is multitasking burdensome on the memory?

Answer 42

We split our working memory resources, resulting in performances declines and our ability to filter important information

Question 43

What is cognitive load?

Answer 43

The total amount of mental effort being exerted within working memory

Question 44

What happens to overwhelm working memory?

Answer 44

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

Question 45

Describe Barrouillet’s studies

Answer 45

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

Question 46

What did Barrouillet’s studies suggest?

Answer 46

When we have high amounts of cognitive load, we can’t hold onto information as long

Question 47

If we are not distracted, how long does working memory stay?

Answer 47

10-15 seconds