Chapter 5 - Memory Flashcards
Memory
- process involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information after the original information is no longer present
- past affecting the present and possibly the future
Sensory memory
- retention, for brief periods of time, of the effects of sensory stimulation
- perception lasts for a fraction of a second
- holds incoming info
Short-term/working memory
- 10 to 15 seconds (without repetition)
- holds 5 to 7 items
Long-term memory
- stores info for long periods of time
- minutes to lifetime
LTM
Episodic memories
- memory of experiences from the past
LTM
Procedural memory
- involves muscle coordination
LTM
Semantic memory
- memories of facts
Modal Model of Memory
- suggests memory is processed through stages
Modal model of memory
Structural features
- types of memory indicated by boxes in models of memory
- sensory, short-term, and long-term
Modal model of memory
Control processes
- dynamic (constant change, progress) processes associated with structural features
- strategies and mechanisms that someone uses to intentionally manage the flow of info between different memory stores (structural features)
- can be controlled by the person and may differ from task to task (can be adapted as needed)
- ex. rehersal, giving meaning to things to remember them better, selective attention
Modal model of memory
Rehearsal
(control process)
- repeating a stimulus
What are 3 examples of control processes?
- selective attention
- rehearsal
- giving meaning to things in order to remember them better
Encoding
- storing something in LTM
Retrieval
- remembering info from LTM
sensory memory
Persistence of vision
- continued perception of a visual stimulus even after it is no longer present
- fraction of a second
sensory memory
Whole report method
- report all letters seen
- by the time ps reported 4 or 5 letters, they couldn’t remember the rest
sensory memory
Partial report method
- report row indicated by tone
- had to remember traces
sensory memory
Delayed partial report method
- cue presented after a short delay
sensory memory
Decay
- incoming visual sensory memory decays after less than a second
sensory memory
Iconic memory/visual icon
- brief sensory memory for visual stimuli that lasts for a fraction of a second after a stimulus is extinguished
sensory memory
Echoic memory
- persistence of sound
- lasts for a few seconds
Recall memory
- reporting what you remember
How long does STM last?
15-20 seconds or less
STM
Digit span
- measure of the capacity of STM
- number of digits a person can remember
STM
What’s the average capacity of digit span?
5-9 numbers
STM
Change detection
- measure of STM capacity
- detecting differences between pictures or displays that are presented one after another
STM
Chunking
- arranging things (like words) into chunks (like sentences) so we can remember them better
- giving it meaning
Chunk
- collection of elements that are strongly associated with one another and weakly associated with elements in other chunks
Working memory
- limited-capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks (ex. comprehension, learning, reasoning)
- temporary storage and processing
What is the difference between short term memory and working memory?
- working memory holds short term items but uses them to process other information
- includes both storage and active processing for problem solving (whereas STM only includes storage)
STM = storage (without much meaning)
WM = storage and active problem solving
What 3 components of working memory did Baddeley determine function separately (because working memory is dynamic)
- phonoological loop
- visuospatial sketchpad
- central executive
WM
What are the two components of the phonological loop?
- phonological store = holds info for a few seconds
- articulatory rehearsal process = rehearsal that keeps items in the phonological store from decaying
WM
Phonological loop
- holds verbal and auditory information
- ex. paying attention when someone’s talking
WM
Visuospatial sketchpad
- holds visual and spatial information
- ex. pictures in your mind, directions in your mind
WM
Central executive
- “traffic cop” of WM
- coordinates verbal and visual information and combines it with LTM
- attention controller
- transferring info to LTM
- reasoning, language comprehension
- control and decisions
Phonological loop
Phonological similarity effect
- confusion of letters or words that sound similar
Phonological loop
Word length effect
- memory for lists of words is better for short words than for long words
Phonological loop
Articulatory suppression
- memory is reduced when speaking interferes with rehearsal
- ex. someone saying random numbers (irrelevant sound) while you’re trying to remember a phone number
- also eliminates the word length effect (no matter how long the words are, if someone is speaking over you while you’re reading the words, you likely won’t be able to remember them)
Visuospatial sketchpad
Visual imagery
- creation of visual images in the mind in the absence of a physical visual stimulus
Visuospatial sketchpad
Mental rotation
- solving visual problems by rotating an image in the mind
WM
Preservation
- patients with brain damage will repeatedly perform the same action or thought even if it isn’t achieving the desired goal
- represents a breakdown in the central executive’s ability to control attention
Episodic buffer
- “backup” storage
- communicates with LTM and the components of WM
- holds info longer and has greater capacity than the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad
Why does damage to the frontal lobe cause problems with working memory?
- can cause problems with controlling attention which is an important function of the central executive
Delayed-response task
- required to hold working memory during a delayed period
How is the prefrontal cortex involved in working memory?
- holds information for short periods of time
Neural dynamics of working memory
how does neural firing explain memory delay?
- things are remembered after a brief delay due to continuous neural firing that transmits information in the nervous system
Memory delay
- memory involves a delay
- something happens, brief delay, recall (if memory was successful)
Neural dynamics of working memory
Activity-silent working memory
- idea that neural firing isn’t continuous
- short-term changes in neural network connectivity (brief change in connections causes memory)
- hypothesized as a mechanism for holding information in WM
Is working memory the same in different people?
- no, there are individual differences in the capacity of people’s working memory
- these differences influence cognitive functioning and behaviour
Reading span
- number of sentences someone can ready and correctly remember all of the last words
reading span test
- used to investigate the differences in working memory between people
- asked to read a series of sentences and report the last word of each sentence
Articulatory rehearsal process
- procedure involved in working memory that keeps items in the phonological store from decaying
Phonology
- the study of the patterns of sounds in a language and across languages
