Chapter 9 Flashcards
Working memory
The active maintenance and manipulation of short term memory.
Cogntive control?
The manipulation and application of working memory for planning, task switching, attention, stimulus selection, and the inhibition of inappropriate reflexive behaviors.
Sensory memory?
Helps us sense what is going on in the world around us. This is temporary. Working memory manipulations go on here. This is where information automatically and rapidly decays.
Brief transient sensations of what has just been perceived when someone sees, hears or tastes something
Short term memory?
Temporary storage Area where information can be maintained based on conscious attention and rehearsal. Some sort of rehearsal has to go on to hold this information in the mind.
Long term memory?
Storage area from memories for a long, potentially permanent, periods, without requiring ongoing maintenance or conscious attention. Has a very large storage capacity.
Transient memories?
Non-permanent memories that last seconds or minutes.
Atkinson Shiffrin model?
Input -> sensory memory -attention> STM -LTM
Visual sensory memory?
The visual system’s temporary storage site for information perceived visually. For example looking around the room but not remembering what everyone is wearing because you have decided that it is not important.
Only once we’ve ____ the information can we take anything from it.
Sensed.
New information stops in ___ before moving to ___.
STM, LTM.
Spearling task?
Bunch of random letters. Look at it quickly then try to recall. How many letters can you recall from the total task? How many letters can you recall from a specific line i.e. Line 2?
Short term memory has a limited capacity of?
7 ± 2
STM is affected by primacy and recency effect, yes or no?
Yes
Information in STM can be encoded and ____ recalled.
Immediately
STM is affected by ____.
Interruption.
After practicing 7 ± 2, what can happen to it?
It gets discarded or goes to LTM
Your attention affects what you will ____ in your STM.
Retain.
We can ____ information that must go into working memory in order to expand the capacity of working memory.
Recode
Chunking?
Process of re-organizing or recoding materials or information in memory to allow for a number of items to be packed into a larger unit.
What does Baddeley’s working memory model include?
2 STM buffers:
- Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad: holds visual and spatial images for manipulation
- Phonological Loop: auditory memory maintained by internal (sub-vocal) speech rehearsal where information is maintained
Central executive: monitors and manipulates the two working memory buffers. The central executive provides executive control of working memory. *where information is manipulated i.e. Chunked, deleted, recoding
Visuo Spatial sketchpad?
Holds visual and spatial images for manipulation.
Phonological loop?
Auditory memory maintained by internal (sub-vocal) speech rehearsal
Manipulation of the CE include?
- The central executive provides executive control of working memory
- Adding and deleting items from the visuo-spatial sketchpad and or phonological loop
- Selecting appropriate items to guide behaviour
- Retrieving information from LTM
- Transferring information from the visuo-spatial sketchpad/ phonological loop to LTM
The central executive brings up information and let us carry out the behavior.
The key distinctions of Baddeley’s model are:
- Distinguishes between two general processes of working memory:
Manipulation (CE)
Maintenance (phonological/visuospatial areas) - Identifies the visual spatial sketchpad and phonological loop as being material specific.
The phonological loop has _ seconds of information retention ability without rehearsal
2
STM is a product of ____ rate
Speech
____ speed is the limiting factor on the amount of information to hold in your short-term memory.
Rehearsal
People with slow speech rate and normal intelligence have a ____ capacity/ability to maintain greater amounts of information in their short term memory then people with a normal/fast speech rate.
Lower (slow speech lowers the rehearsal)
Raine speech rate study?
He found that in a study of children with slower than average rates of speech but normal intelligence, compared to children with normal speech rates, children with slower speech rate had a lower short-term memory capacity.
If the internal unspoken rehearsal in the phonological loop is interrupted or removed, phonological storage does or does not occur?
Does not
It is easier to remember ____ words than ____ words.
Shorter, longer
Word length effect?
Tendency of a person to remember fewer words from a list as the word length increases.
What happens when you are interrupted?
The rehearsal is blocked.
Delayed non-match to simple task?
Visual memory test where a subject must indicate which one of the two novel object does not match the previously seen object. The information has to be recalled in the visual spatial loop.
Example:
A monkey was shown a blue ring as a sample with a reward. Delay for a few seconds with a black screen that blocks its view. Then, it is presented with a red and a blue. It choses red that has a reward. Here red is a novel object. Monkey should remember the previous sample and a nonmatch one.
The central executive is associated with executive control, which facilitates:
Controlled updating of short-term memory buffers, setting goals and planning, task switching, stimulus selection and response inhibition.
To update working memory, the central executive receives and evaluates sensory information by:
Moving items into and retrieving them from long term memory. As well as deciding which stored memories are required for specific tasks.
2 back test? N back test?
Tell you to focus on a number then I read a list of numbers to you, when you get to your target number you must recall the number that was two before it. The N back Version is the same except the N is replaced with a number of choice. The larger the value, the greater the challenge of the task.
Self order task?
Where people keep a memory of their previous responses can also be used to study the central executives manipulation of working memory.
What did Michael Pertides do?
He used self ordered memory tasks to study behavioral and neural basis of working memory. Participant must actively keep in mind the image they have selected, and must also be aware that even though object location may change card to card, the selected images must still be maintained in memory.
One way to test planning and goal setting abilities in the lab is with what game?
Tower of hanoi
Cognitive skills are very useful for ____.
Goal setting and planning
To complete the tower of hanoi task, it is important to establish ____
Sub-goals
Three key manipulations for working towards solving a problem and reasoning towards a solution include:
- Recalling which some goals have been accomplished
- Recalling which some goals are yet to be achieved
- Keeping in mind which subgoal needs to be accomplished next (ie recalling goal sequence)
Task switching?
Looks at one’s cognitive flexibility and the speed with which they can move back and forth between different tasks and rules
Executive control?
The manipulation of working memory through the updating of stored information to facilitate goals, planning, task switching, stimulus selection and response inhibition.
Wisconsin card sort test?
Procedure for testing working memory where subjects must sort cards in the deck according to a rule that changes from time to time. Key demand on working memory and executive function of the task is to keep track of the current rule while sorting, and switching task rules when necessary while simultaneously avoiding confusion of new and old rules.
Stroop task?
Involves looking at a series of color names each printed in an ink color that differs from the color being named. The goal involves naming the ink color in which various color words are printed as opposed to naming the written color word.
Stroop effect?
Significant decrease in the speed of naming the color in which various color names are printed when the colors and names are different.
Prefrontal cortex (PFC)
Front most part of the frontal lobe cortex. Essential for working memory and executive control. Located in front of the motor cortex, supports thinking and planning.
The prefrontal cortex is one of the ____ to reach maturation. What does this mean?
Last. In little kids this area is not fully developed.
Prefrontal cortex is important for being ____ of self and what is going on.
Aware
The prefrontal cortex is important in initiating ____ function. This is part of controlling the working memory model.
Executive
The prefrontal cortex takes up ____ of the cerebral cortex.
1/3
Social and behavioral changes in people with frontal lobe injuries may include:
- Disorderliness, suspiciousness, argumentativeness, disruptiveness, and or anxiousness
- Apathy (lack of concern for self or others)
- Uncharacteristic lewdness (crude, offensive sexual behaviour)
- Inattention to personal appearance or hygiene
- Risk taking, poor impulse control
- Increased alcohol
- Inability to control rage and violent behaviour
- Loss of ability to plan or organize
Intellectual changes are also common such as reduced ability to use language, mathematics and reasoning, decreased believe he to maintain focus, and sometimes poor autobiographical recall
Frontal lobe damage is also something that is thought to contribute to what behavior?
Criminal
Elliot?
Elliott was an accountant who was very organized. He developed frontal lobe tumor and he had surgery. What happened after surgery was tests and his basic memory and speech was in tact. He did well on intelligence tests as well. But his behavior changed and was more pulse of. Divorced wife and got a new one. Divorced her as well. He was no longer well-planned. He became shady and disorganized, less thought out and more compulsive.
He was unable to control desires and impulses, he became to treat women like objects. He would walk around his own house naked
A common syndrome and people with severe damage to the frontal lobe’s is?
Dysexecutive syndrome
Dysexecutive syndrome?
Disruption in the ability to think or plan. Patients often displayed an inability to contemplate current and recalled events or interpret validity and implications of those experiences in order to draw a reasonable conclusions. These people have a hard time understanding what’s going on currently and connecting to past events.
Patients with frontal lobe damage commonly display working memory and ____ deficits
Executive function
The prefrontal cortex is key to working memory as it helps to promote activity despite ____
Distraction
Damage to the prefrontal cortex leads to a high degree of ____
Distractibility
Common ways to sustain damage to the frontal lobe include:
Surgery, strokes, tumors, blunt trauma, or buildup of damage due to repeated minor trauma.
People with frontal lobe damage have trouble maintaining short-term memory for?
Colors, shapes, objects, and spatial locations
Completing the Tower of Hanoi which we have said taps cognitive skills and planning and goalsetting abilities is also difficult for people with ____. Why is that?
Frontal lobe damage, they don’t have an ability to plan.
Task ____ becomes very difficult for patients with prefrontal lobe damage.
Switching
Wisconsin card sorting task
Sorting cards whilst following a rule, then the rule changes and you must switch to the new rule.
Perseveration?
Failure to learn a new response, especially as demonstrated by continued adherence to an old, no longer valid response rule. These people will continue to follow rule number one.
Why do people with pre-frontal lobe damage have problem switching from one rule to another?
You need to be able to block out the first rule in order to take in the second new rule. They have difficulty with that. Thus they cannot learn the second rule.
Perseveration can happen even after someone receives ____
Feedback
Lesions to different parts of the frontal lobe’s produce delays on ____ learning.
Spatial-response
Carlyle Jacobsen spatial response learning study?
Animals with lesions in their pre-frontal cortex had difficulty completing special response learning tasks. Found that animals intact frontal lobe’s are critical for maintaining an internal representation of information in working memory over a delay prior to making their response.
Prefrontal cortex can be divided into three main areas that can be further subdivided into:
Orbital prefrontal cortex
Medial prefrontal cortex
Lateral prefrontal cortex —> can be further subdivided into:
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
Fuster’s working-memory task study?
Had rhesus monkeys either remember a specific target object, or the location of an object. Recorded neural activity with single cell type recordings. Many prefrontal cortex neurons fire only during a delay period when the animal had to maintain spatial location information for a certain object.
Patricia Goldman Rakic study?
- Trained monkeys to focus their attention on the central spot on a display
- Monkeys maintained fixation on central cue spot. At same time square cue was presented in one of eight locations.
- Delay period occurred where only central cue was again present
- All cues were removed and monkey was to shift their gays to the square cue’s former location. Correct gaze shift lead to receiving a reward.
Neurons in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex fire when:
The animal is remembering stimulus location during a delay, while others fire when the cue is shown, and others fire when a response is required.
A dual task experiment
Participants were asked to imagine an asterisk traveling along the periphery of a letter F. Whenever the asterisk was turning a corner, they were to signal whether it was turning out of corner on the extreme top or bottom of the letter or at some point in between.
Asterisk -> *
Maintenance (rehearsal) vs Manipulation (executive control)
- The dorsal and ventral regions of the prefrontal cortex perform qualitatively different processes
- The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex supports information encoding and retrieval
- The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex supports higher-order executive control functions
Are visuo spatial working memory and phonological verbal working memory produced in the same part of the brain?
Evidence suggests no.
Language is lateralized on the ____ side of the brain.
Left
Spatial and perceptual processing is lateralized in the ____ side of the brain
Right
What does memory searching require?
Strategic manipulation and control of memory processes, while simultaneously keeping in mind whatever your ultimate memory retrieval goal may be.
The prefrontal cortex must be used to organize thoughts.
LTM retrieval can only occur following initial information ____ and ____
Encoding, storage
Encoding and storage of novel information can be learned ____ or ____
Incidentally, intentionally
Encoding
When a recent episode, or piece of novel information held in working memory is being processed for storage in long term memory
Prefrontal cortex is highly involved in this process.
What disorders can dysfunctional prefrontal lobe circuits cause?
Schizophrenia and ADHD
Schizophrenia
Disorder consisting of unreal or disorganized thoughts and perceptions, as well as verbal, cognitive, and behavioral deficits.
It is commonly characterized by hallucinations and delusions.
Delusions
Beliefs with a little grounding in reality. This belief is not one ordinarily accepted by other members of that persons subculture.
“Someone is out to get me… did you see them??”
“There is no one here.”
“They are! I know they are!
Hallucination
False or distorted SENSORY experiences. Hearing something, seeing something.
Catatonic
Person is almost statue like
How does the prefrontal cortex is schizo’s look?
It is smaller and shows less functional activity than non schizos. Also, hippocampal function and shape abnormalities.
People with schizophrenia have less ____ to work with when responding to a particular situation
Information
Who has less cognitive deficits, women or men? Why is this?
Women, estrogen
How do schizo’s perform on visuo spatial and phonolgical tasks?
Fine
When schizo’s performed the wisconsin card sorting task, what happened in their dorsolateral prefrontal cortex?
There was no increase in blood flow which should have happened
Many medications for schizo’s act on the ____ transmission system
Dopamine
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD
syndrome marked by deficits in controlling one’s attention, inhibiting impulses, and organizing behavior to accomplish long term goals.
Schizo and ADHD can both be ____
Inherited
ADHD symptoms fall into which 3 categories?
Inattention
Hyperactivity
Impulsivity
People with ADHD have trouble carrying out what kind of equations?
Mathematic
Symptoms of inattention
Not paying attention to details
Making careless mistakes
Not appearing to listen when others speak
Not following through on instructions to finish tasks
Difficulty organizing behaviours
Avoidance of activities that require sustained attention and effort
Frequently losing things
Being easily distracted
Being forgetful
Symptoms of hyperactivity
Fidgeting with hands/feet and or squirming in seat
Getting up to leave one’s seat when it is inappropriate (wrong time to do so)
Running around or climbing excessively
Difficulty engaging in quiet activities
May appear to act as if “driven by a motor”
Often talks excessively
Symptoms of impulsivity
Blurting out comments or responses while others are speaking
Having difficulty waiting for one’s turn
Often interrupting or intruding others
ADHD involved disfunction in the ____
Prefrontal cortex
The ____ side of the prefrontal cortex of children with ADHD smaller than that seen in typically developing children
Right
ADHD appears to be associated with a dysfunctional ____ system
Dopamine
Medication for ADHD does not last long term. This is why it is important to have ____ therapy.
Behavioral. To teach children how to behave appropriately in the long term and potentially without the use of medication to regulate impulsivity and hyperactive behaviors
The frontal lobe is not involved in any discrete…
Sensory, perceptual or motor function. BUT has critical role in how we use the kind of information that other parts of our brain are dedicated to determining.
When setting goals and planning, what do we need to know? 3 points
- What subgoals have been accomplished
- What subgoals remain
- What is the next subgoal to be addressed
Automatic processes are triggered by ____ cues
Situational
Supervisory attentional system
Modifies behaviors when the automatic responses are inappropriate
What are the keys to intelligence?
Cognitive control and working memory
Dysexecutive syndrome
A disrupted ability to think and plan
Goldman Rakic 1989
Trained monkeys to fixate on a Central spot on a display while a square cue was presented at one of eight locations around the edge of the display. After the cue was removed, the monkeys waited during a delay period of several seconds. At a certain signal, responding by moving there a gays to the cues former location. If they did this, they would be rewarded.
