Chapter 5: Short-Term and Working Memory Flashcards
Memory
ability to store, retrieve, and process information; processes involved in retaining, retrieving, and using
information about stimuli and skills after the original information is no longer present
Modal Model of Memory (Atkinson-Shiffrin)
a theory that describes memory as a system with three stages: sensory memory, short-term memory (STM), and long-term memory (LTM), where information flows sequentially from one stage to the next
Control Processes
mental operations that are intentionally require conscious effort, allowing an individual to flexibly adapt their thoughts and actions based on current goals and situations eg. Rehearsal
Sensory Memory
brief storage of information received through the senses, like sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste, which lasts only a fraction of a second and allows the brain to capture a detailed snapshot of the environment
Persistence of vision
an optical illusion that occurs when the brain perceives motion from a series of still images
Sperling (1960)
Measured the capacity & duration of sensory memory; iconic memory - people store a perfect image of the visual world for a brief moment, before it is discarded from memory
Whole vs Partial vs Delayed Partial Report
- Participants reporting as many letters as possible
- Participants reporting the subset of the letters indicated by a cue (arrow)
- Participants reporting letters after the cue is delayed fraction of a second from the letters
Iconic Memory
sensory memory that allows individuals to retain visual images for a fraction of a second after the original stimulus has disappeared; large capacity but small duration
Short-term Memory
temporary storage that holds information for a few seconds to a few minutes; limited capacity and small duration if not practiced
Brown-Peterson Task
a laboratory experiment designed to measure the duration of STM by presenting participants with a sequence of meaningless trigrams eg, BFT; 82
Decay
15-20 secs of limited duration of STM was due
to decay: the memory traces weaken and fade overtime
Proactive interference
the phenomenon where previously learned information negatively impacts the ability to learn or recall new information; old memories interfere with the formation of new ones
Span Task
cognitive assessment that measures STM capacity; presenting a list of items to recall, and then increasing the number of items until the participant can no longer recall them accurately
7 +/- 2
George Miller concluded that STM memory capacity for most people varied between 5 and 9 chunks
Chunking
process of breaking down large amounts of information into smaller meaningful units (chunks) to improve short-term memory
Working Memory
brain system that temporarily stores and manipulates information for complex tasks like reasoning, learning and comprehension
Baddeley’s Multi-Component Model
a framework that describes how working memory is made up of several interacting components including perception and LTM; phonological loop, visuospatial sketch pad, and the central executive
Phonological Loop
a part of working memory that helps us process and retain speech-based information; remembering list of words
Phonological similarity effect
phenomenon that occurs when people have trouble recalling lists of similar-sounding words because similar sounding words interfere with each other
Word-length effect
phenomenon where people remember and recall shorter words more easily than longer words, especially when presented in a list and required to be recalled immediately
Articulatory suppression
technique that involves speaking while trying to remember something; used to study how the ability to rehearse speech interferes with memory
Visuo-Spatial sketchpad
Stores and processes visual and spatial information; helps people remember the location of a parked car
Brooks (1968)
provided strong evidence for separate verbal and visual memory systems within short-term memory showing how performing a visual task (like pointing) can interfere with recalling visual information more than a verbal task (like saying “yes” or “no”) would
Central Executive
Controls the flow of information between the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad to direct attention; helps people plan and selects strategies
Perseveration
Repeatedly performing the same behaviour even though it is not accomplishing the goal caused by damage to the frontal lobe
Episodic Buffer
temporary storage system which integrates information from different sensors (visual and auditory) to create a memory representation of an event; “binding” information together to form a coherent episode
Working Memory and the Brain
Converging evidence from many sources indicate that WM arises from the operation of many brain areas, including, the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, and cerebellum
Delayed response task
a test used to study working memory by checking how well an individual can remember and use information after a short delay; requires to to withhold and remember a specific response for a short time
Activity-silent working memory
Proposes that working memories can be maintained for short periods without continuous firing of action potentials; active/synaptic state
Individual differences (Vogel et al)
individual differences in visual working memory (VWM) capacity are due to differences in filtering efficiency; high/low capacity
Aschraft & Kirk (stress and WM)
found that stressors such as math anxiety can negatively impact working memory and math performance
