Ch. 6: Short Term & Working Memory Flashcards
Schemas and memory distortion
Schemas organize and categorize information. If someone is told a story that doesn’t make sense (pitchfork found in kitchen) schematic reasoning might change it to remember it more easily and logically (fork found in kitchen)
War of ghosts experiments
Frederick Bartlett (1932) Gave participants unfamiliar native american folk story. The structure was unexpected in terms of western folk stories (a schema) so they told the story differently
Schemas and false memories
People may add or remove structures from a memory to help them fit the picture (add a chalkboard to a chalkboardless classroom)
Schemas and autobiographical memories
Anxiety/depression makes people feel unlovable/untrustowrthy. This may change their perception of how an event went. Since positive details don’t fit their “unlovable” schema, they won’t remember these. Since they remember events poorly, they will be discouraged from attending others, only reinforcing this schema.
Misattribution
Similar memories/feelings can create incorrect associations, affecting a memory’s accuracy (deja vu?)
Misattribution effect
Misattribute where you remember someone/something from in order to make a situation make sense (this person was in my class, right now she looks young, she must have been a classmate - the person was the teacher)
Misinformation
A suggested detail can be added to a memory, changing your perception of it.
Misinformation effect
Depending on wording used by others, the memory YOU recall could be changed (the cars bumped together/the cars smashed together)
Articulatory suppression
A technique used in verbal memory experiments designed to block rehearsal. Participant repeats a task-irrelevant utterance out loud while trying to maintain other verbal items in memory.
Capacity
A measure of how much information a memory system can hold.
Central executive
A component of the working memory model that determines what information makes it into long-term and working memory and toggles between the visual and auditory memory stores. Makes sure irrelevant and unwanted information does not enter into memory because it could interfere with the information the system actually wants to retain.
Chunk
Any combination of letters, numbers, symbols, objects created to make retention easier. Experts of a craft are able to remember details of their craft better because they can make more meaningful chunks with the information.
Delayed-match-to-sample task
Tests visual short-term memory. Participants are shown an image, a delay, a second image. Tasked with determining whether the two images are the same or different. fMRI suggests an important role of the frontal cortex in short-term/working memory.
Duration
A measure of how long information can be held in memory.
Echoic memory
An auditory form of sensory memory in which much of the auditory input can be stored.
Encoding
Initial processing of information by the nervous system.
Episodic buffer
Revision to the original working memory model. Combines information from across different sources including the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad
Iconic memory
The visual form of sensory memory in which much of the visual input can be stored for a short period.
Long-term memory
The final stage in the modal model of memory which serves as cold storage of information for retrieval into short-term memory.
There is no agreed-upon method for measuring its capacity
Flashbulb memory
Memories forming from events that are emotionally arousing, important to someone (consequence involved). Typically less detailed than regular memories, but we are more certain we remember them right (we’re wrong) (come back to this!!!, missed it in the lecture)
Public flashbulb event: COVID or 9/11. We remember where we were when we heard these happened.
Maintenance rehearsal
The mental repetition of information in short-term memory that allows information to be regenerated in order to prolong its duration.
Retention interval time
Amount of time that elapsed between initial learning and subsequent retrieval.
Mnemonist
People who are capable of memorizing long strings of numbers or letters.
Method of loci (memory palace)
Mnemonic technique, placing things to remember among places you know well
Modal (multi-store) model
First model of human memory. Atkinson and Shiffrin. Three distinct memory stores: sensory, short-term, long-term. Also called information processing model
William James
First person to propose two kinds of memory stores: one for information related to the current task or environment and one for longer-term storage. Based on causal observation. Theory was obsoleted by modal model theory
Persistence of vision
The retention of an image of an object or event for a brief period after it is no longer present. After the initial transduction of sensory information, it is retained within our nervous system for around 250 milliseconds.
Phonological loop
The auditory component of the working memory model in which information can be repeated/rehearsed.
Articulatory control loop: inner voice when reading
Phonological store: retaining heard info
Evidenced connection to LTM.
Retrieval
Access and use of stored information by the nervous system.
Proactive interference
A phenomenon in which information encoded at an earlier point in time interferes with the ability to recall information encoded at a later time. (pro- working forward from old to new info. can’t remember new info)
Retroactive interference
A phenomenon in which information encoded at a later point in time interferes with the ability to recall information encoded at an earlier time. (RETRO working backward from new to old info. can’t remember old stuff)
Similarity effects
People trying to learn similar items will have more trouble remembering both because they interfere with one another (Cupcakes and cheesecake harder to remember than cupcakes and broccoli soup)
Selective attention
Though we pick up info from all senses, only the meaningful parts (meaning of a conversation) will be processed and stored.
Sensory memory
The first stage in the modal model of memory.
Only a fraction of the information stored in sensory memory ends up being selected by attention
Short-term memory
The second stage of the modal model of memory which serves to hold processed information for rehearsal or to produce a behavior. Significant involvement of frontal cortex
Decay theory
Memories are lost over time due to misuse (like muscles, deteriorating over time without use)
Interference theory
Any interfering sensory information makes recent memories sensitive to disruption before being encoded to LTM
STM Capacity
In the auditory domain, the STM holds 7 items (+/-2).
In the visual domain, the STM holds 4 items (+/-1) no matter the number of features (shape, color, orientation).
Duration of STM without rehearsal is 15 seconds. Both decay and interference cause loss of info in STM
Sperling (1960)
Test of iconic memory. Presented 3 rows of 4 letters to participants for 15-500 milliseconds. They recounted letters from whichever row they were paying attention to. 25% of the overall grid could be retained in STM. If they were told which row to recount afterward, the longer the wait, the more trouble they had to provide the correct row of letters.
Storage
The retention of information in the nervous system beyond initial processing.
Visuo-spatial sketchpad
The visual component of the working memory model that serves to hold and manipulate visual information
Working memory
Significant involvement of frontal cortex
Working memory model
Consists of visuo-spatial sketchpad, phonological loop, central executive. Visual and auditory buffers are separate from each other and therefore do not interfere with one another. Working memory happens all over the brain
