Chapter 4 Flashcards
Working memory
The brief, immediate memory for the limited amount of material that you are currently processing
Long term memory
Has a large capacity and contains your memory for experiences and information that have accumulated throughout your lifetime
George Miller’s magical number…
7 plus or minus 2
Chunk
A memory unit that consists of several components that are strongly associated with one another
Brown/Peterson and Peterson technique
Presented some items that students were instructed to remember, distracting task, then asked to recall (no rehearsal)
Material held in memory for less than one minute is frequently forgotten
Semantics
The meaning of words and sentences
Proactive interference
People have trouble learning new material because previously learned material keeps interfering with their new learning
Control processes
Intentional strategies (like rehearsal) that people may use to improve their memory
Working memory approach
Our immediate memory is a multipart system that temporarily holds and manipulates information while we perform tasks
4 parts of Baddeley’s working memory model
Phonological loop
Visuospatial sketchpad
Episodic buffer
Central executive
Phonological loop
Can process a limited number of sounds for a short period of time
Processes language, and the sounds you both hear and make
Subvocalization
When you silently pronounce the words you are reading
Acoustic confusions
People are likely to confuse similar sounding stimuli
Also called phonological confusions
Self instruction
When you silently remind yourself about something you need to do in the future or how to use something, etc
What parts of the brain are activated for the phonological loop?
Part of the frontal and temporal lobe in the left hemisphere
Left frontal = rehearsal
Left parietal = storage
Visuospatial sketchpad
Processes both visual and spatial information
Also visual information from a verbal description
What parts of the brain does the visuospatial sketchpad activate?
Right hemisphere
Visual component = occipital lobe
Visual and spatial component = frontal lobe
Central executive
Integrates information from PL, VS, episodic buffer, and LTM
Major role in focusing attention, selecting strategies, transforming information, and coordinating behaviour
Suppresses irrelevant information
What parts of the brain are activated with the central executive?
Both sides of the frontal region
Dorsal prefrontal cortex
Episodic buffer
Serves as a temporary storehouse that can hold and combine information from your phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and LTM
Lots of multi-modal, cross sensory information
People with ADHD have more difficulty on…
Central executive tasks
2 types of rehearsal
Maintenance (useful in short term memory - repeating it)
Elaborative (making contact with long term memory)
Span
The number of items you can hold in short term memory and repeat back accurately, in order, 50% of the time
Without rehearsal short term memory duration is…
Less than 30 seconds!
How do
1. Auditory
2. Visual
representations get access to the phonological store?
- Can gain immediate access to this store
2. Doesn’t get into the store until you turn it into an auditory representation (read it!)
Phonological similarity effect
If you measure how many words people can successfully recall, they do much worse the more overlap there is in the speech sounds
2 parts of the phonological loop
- Phonological store (the minds ear)
2. Articulatory loop (the mind’s voice)
Phonological store
Limited duration phonological code
Stores speech sounds
Temporal areas of brain
“Mind’s ear”
Articulatory loop
Role in memory is subvocal rehearsal
Recodes visual information and refreshes auditory information
Frontal lobe (Broca’s area)
“Mind’s voice”
Articulatory suppression
As soon as you start speaking, your little voice i gone
Ex: cannot read something difficult and say the word “the” repeatedly
What type of attention do we use when rehearsing information in the visuospatial sketchpad?
Covert attention!
Can use overt attention too though
What side of the brain is most active when using the visuospatial sketchpad?
Right!
Visual cortex
