Chapter 5 Flashcards
3 structural features of the modal model
- sensory memory
- short-term memory
- long-term memory
modal model of memory
- describes memory as a mechanism that involves processing information through a series of stages
- proposed by atkinson and shiffrin
sensory memory
- stimuli enter sensory memory
- info is held there briefly
- limit to how much information can enter
short-term memory
- holds approximately 5-7 items for about 15-20 seconds without rehearsal/repetition
- output refers to a response or action based on the processing of information in short-term memory
long-term memory
can hold an unlimited amount of information for an unlimited duration
control processes
- in the modal model of memory, active processes that can be controlled by the person and that may differ from one task to another
- rehearsal is an example of a control process.
sperlingers study (sensory memory)
- involved the brief presentation of an array of numbers
- participants were instructed to recall as many of the letters as they could
- results showed that on average 4.5 letters could be recalled out of the 12
- some participants reported they saw all the numbers but forgot them before they could report them
partial report method
- consisted of an array of numbers would be presented briefly and then a high, medium or low pitch tone would indicate which row they need to report
- found that people could report 3.3 out of the 4 letters in that row (would have been 9.5 in the original study)
working memory (baddeley and hitch)
- stores and manipulates information for action
- learning, completion of tasks and reasoning
- similar to short-term memory
- temporary storage of information
central executive
directs attention and coordinates between the visuospatial sketchpad and the phonological loop
visuospatial sketchpad
- stores visual and spatial information
- e.g. when you form a picture in your mind or do tasks like solving a puzzle or finding your way around campus
phonological loop
- stores verbal and auditory info
- made of two components; phonological store and articulatory rehearsal process
- e.g. when you are trying to remember a telephone number or a person’s name
persistence of vision
- the continued perception of light for a fraction of a second after the original light stimulus has been extinguished
- e.g. perceiving a trail of light from a moving sparkler is caused by the persistence of vision. See also Iconic memory.
delayed partial report method
determined the speed as which the visual trace decayed
digit span
- the number of digits a person can remember
- digit span is used as a measure of the capacity of short-term memory
- the average capacity of STM is about five to nine items
chunk/chunking
- has been defined as a collection of elements that are strongly associated with one another but are weakly associated with elements in other chunks
- increases our ability to hold information in STM
cavanagh & alvarez on capacity of memory
- suggested that rather than describing memory capacity in terms of “number of items,” it should be described in terms of “amount of information.”
- performed a change detection experiment with more complex objects
- determined that participants’ ability to make the same/different judgment depended on the complexity of the stimuli
luck and vogel experiment
- measured the capacity of STM by using a procedure called change detection
- two displays flashed, in between them was a dark screen
- results from the experiment indicated that performance was almost perfect when there were one to three squares in the arrays and that performance began decreasing when there were four or more squares
2 properties of focus of short-term memory
- how long information is held in STM
- how much information can be held in STM
phonological store
holds a limited amount of verbal and auditory information for a few seconds.
articulatory rehearsal process
involved in working memory that keeps items in the phonological store from decaying
phonological similarity effect
- the confusion of letters or words that sound similar
- e.g. t, p, and b
r. conrads similarity effect experiment
- flashed a series of target letters on a screen and instructed his participants to write down the letters in the order they were presented
- found that when participants made errors, they were most likely to misidentify the target letter as another letter that sounded like the target not as likely to be confused of letters that look like the target
word length effect
occurs when memory for lists of words is better for short words than for long words