Ch. 5: Short-term and Working Memory Flashcards
Long-term memory
Can hold a large amount of information for years or even decades
Memory
Retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli after original information is no longer present
Partial report method
Participants heard a tone that told them which row of letters to report (tone as a cue)
- avg. of 3.3 out of 4 letters (82%)
Delayed partial report method
Presentation of tone delayed for a fraction of a second after the letters were extinguished
- performance decreases rapidly
Iconic memory
Brief sensory memory of the things that we see
- responsible for persistence of vision
Echoic memory
Brief sensory memory of the things that we hear
-responsible for persistence of sound
Short-term memory
Holds 5-7 items for about 15-20secs
Proactive infererence
occurs when info learned previously interferences with learning new info
Retroactive interference
occurs when new learning interferes with remembering old learning
Chunking
grouping to be remembered information into larger meaningful units
- a collection of elements strongly associated with one another but weakly associated with other chunks
- easier to recall
Persistence of vision
retention of perception of light
- Sparkler’s trail of light
- Frames in film
Phonological loop
2 components:
Phonological store
- has limited capacity & holds information for only a few secs
Articulatory rehearsal process
- responsible for rehearsal that can keep items in the phonological store from decaying
word length effect
Memory for lists of words is better for short words than for long words
- Takes longer to rehearse long words and to produce them during recall
rehearsal
repeating a stimulus over and over, as you might repeat a phone number in order to hold it in your mind after looking it up in the phone book or on the Internet
