Chapter 5 - Short-Term and Working Memory

Question 1

memory

Answer 1

the process involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills after the original information is no longer present.

Question 2

sensory memory

Answer 2

the retention, for brief periods of time, of the effect of sensory stimulation.

EX: the trail left by a moving sparkler

Question 3

modal model of memory

Answer 3

describes memory as a mechanism that involves processing information through a series of stages, including short-term memory and long-term memory.

Question 4

who proposed the modal model of memory

Answer 4

Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin

Question 5

structural features of memory models

Answer 5

types of memory indicated by boxes in models of memory.

Question 6

structural features of the modal model of memory

Answer 6

sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory

Question 7

control processes

Answer 7

dynamic processes associated with the structural features that can be controlled by the person and may differ from one task to another.

Question 8

rehearsal

Answer 8

the repeating of a stimulus over and over.

EX: repeated of a phone number

Question 9

persistence of vision

Answer 9

the continued perception of a visual stimulus even after it is no longer present.

Question 10

whole report method

Answer 10

when participants are instructed to report all of the stimuli they are presented.

Question 11

partial report method

Answer 11

participants are instructed to report only some of the stimuli presented with a tone immediately after the visual stimulation to instruct which display to report.

Question 12

delayed partial report method

Answer 12

participants are instructed to report only some of the stimuli presented with a delayed tone after the visual stimulation to instruct which display to report.

Question 13

iconic memory/visual icon

Answer 13

brief sensory memory for visual stimuli that lasts for a fraction of a second after a stimulus is extinguished.

corresponds to the sensory memory stage of the modal model of memory.

Question 14

echoic memory

Answer 14

brief sensory memory for auditory stimuli that last for a few seconds after a stimulus is extinguished.

Question 15

short-term memory (STM)

Answer 15

the system involved in storing small amounts of information for a brief period of time.

Question 16

recall

Answer 16

when subjects are presented with a stimuli and then, after a delay, are asked to report back as many of the stimuli as possible.

Question 17

decay

Answer 17

information that is lost from memory due to the passage of time.

Question 18

proactive interference

Answer 18

interference that occurs when information that was learned previously interferes with learning new information.

Question 19

retroactive interference

Answer 19

when new learning interferes with remembering old learning.

Question 20

digit span

Answer 20

the number of digits a person can remember.

Question 21

change detection

Answer 21

the ability to detect differences between pictures or displays that are presented one after another.

Question 22

chunking

Answer 22

combining small units into larger ones, such as when individual words are combined into a meaningful sentence.

chunking can be used to increase the capacity of memory.

Question 23

chunk

Answer 23

a collection of elects that are strongly associated with each other but weakly associated with elements in other chunks.

Question 24

working memory

Answer 24

a limited-capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning.

Question 25

phonological loop

Answer 25

the part of working memory that holds and processes verbal and auditory information.

consists of the phonological store and the articulatory rehearsal process.

Question 26

phonological store

Answer 26

component of the phonological loop.

holds a limited amount of verbal and auditory information for a few seconds.

Question 27

articulatory rehearsal process

Answer 27

component of the phonological loop.

rehearsal process involved in working memory that keeps items in the phonological store from decaying.

Question 28

visuospatial sketch pad

Answer 28

holds visual and spatial information.

Question 29

central executive

Answer 29

The part of working memory that coordinates the activity of the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketch pad.

the “traffic cop” of the working memory system.

Question 30

phonological similarity effect

Answer 30

the confusion of letters or words that sound similar.

Question 31

word length effect

Answer 31

the notion that it is more difficult to remember a list of long words than a list of short words.

Question 32

articulatory suppression

Answer 32

Interference with operation of the phonological loop that occurs when a person repeats an irrelevant word such as “the” while carrying out a task that requires the phonological loop.

Question 33

visual imagery

Answer 33

the creation of visual images in the mind in the absence of a physical visual stimulus.

Question 34

mental rotation

Answer 34

rotating an image of an object in the mind.

Question 35

perseveration

Answer 35

repeatedly performing the same action or thought even if it is not achieving the desired goal.

Question 36

event-related potential (ERP)

Answer 36

an electrical potential, recorded with disc electrodes on a person’s scalp, that reflects the response of many thousands of neurons near the electrode that fire together.

Question 37

episodic buffer

Answer 37

A component added to Baddeley’s original working memory model.

Serves as a “backup” storage that communicates with both LTM and the components of working memory.

Holds information longer and has greater capacity than the phonological loop or visuospatial sketch pad.

Question 38

delayed-response task

Answer 38

a task in which information is provided, a delay is imposed, and then memory is tested.

has been used to study short-term memory by testing monkeys’ ability to hold information about the location of a food reward during a delay.

Question 39

neural mind reading

Answer 39

using a neural response, usually brain activation measured by fMRI, to determine what a person is perceiving or thinking.