Cognition - Learning and Memory Flashcards
What are the features and functions of a sensory store in a multistore model for memory? (Atkinson + Shriffin)
Different stores, holding information of a specific modality
Iconic memory - visual ie size, colour, brightness etc but not category information (semantic) ie numbers or vowels only; tested with Spirling task (flash of grid of letters - recall all = fail; recall row = succeed)
Echoic memory - auditory
Information held very briefly
Requires attention for transfer to STM before it becomes conscious
What are the features and functions of short term memory (STM) in a multistore model for memory?
Uses SS info that has been attended to
Can be maintained here with rehearsal/repetition - verbally or covertly (inner speech)
Limited capacity - X pieces of information
Limited temporality - can only be held for X seconds before it is forgotten
With enough repetition may transfer to LTM
What is the physical nature of STM and LTM?
Does not mean that these two stores have separate biological substrates or are located in different regions of the brain - STM could be a temporary activation of LTM or part of LTM
What do serial position curves show about recall of information?
Depending on what place in a list of information an item is, it is more or less likely to be remembered
Primacy effect - items at the start of a list are more likely to be remembered
Recency effect - items at the end of a list are more likely to be remembered
This is because initial items have longer to be rehearsed in STM and so are more likely to transfer to LTM + latter items are still present in the STM’s limited capacity
What are the components of the working memory model and what are their functions and features? (Baddeley + Hitch)
Possible subset of STM
Responsible for the holding, processing and manipulation of information
Phonological store - auditory information; phonological loop = articulatory control process, an inner voice that aids rehearsal of phonological info; limited duration
Visuospatial scratchpad - visuospatial information, movement planning; limited duration
Central executive - responsible for allocation of attention, what is processed and in what order, modality free, limited capacity
Episodic buffer - integrative tool, mediating all three of the above processes + LTM info
Why was the theory developed?
To account for dual task performance:
If 2 tasks cannot be performed simultaneously without performance failures = use of same system w/limited capacity
If 2 tasks can be performed simultaneously without performance failures = use of two separate and parallel processes using different resources
What are some types of long term memory and their features?
Implicit - revealed in performance but inaccessible to consciousness ie skill learning, conditioning
Explicit/declarative - consciously retrievable
What are types of explicit LTM?
Semantic = facts, knowledge
Episodic = events
Retrospective = of the past
Prospective = of future plans: event-based ie I’ll remember to tell someone something when I see them OR time-based ie if I need to do X today, I need to Y by Z time (both known as implementation intentions)
Autobiographical - memory for self related information (can be episodic and/or semantic)
Who directed the 1927 film Metropolis?
Fritz Lang
What are the stages of memory processing?
Encoding - learning new and refreshing old information
Storage - keeping information in one’s memory
Retrieval - accessing stored information when needed
The three are interrelated: linearly (E-S-R) but information is also re-encoded upon retrieval and re-stored
How does encoding work?
Often conscious/active
Can be shallow (processing superficial features of items) and deep (processing items semantically)
What is the capacity of LTM?
Theoretically - unbounded space, but often there are problems with recall
ie tip of the tongue state = failure to access memory trace
What is interference?
One mechanism for forgetting from LTM
Related memory traces interfere with the memory we are searching for; retroactive = newly learned info interferes with previously learned info; proactive = previously learned info interferes with more recently learned info
Also in WM
What is inhibition?
A second form of forgetting in LTM
When we retrieve some memories, other related memories may become harder to be retrieved (temporarily or perhaps permanently) - aka retrieval induced forgetting - a kind of refractory period for specifically related memories
Possibly adaptive - too much recall = a bad thing…
Retrieval is not a necessary condition for inhibition, other factors might be at play ie deliberate suppression…
What are some types of retrieval and their features?
Recall:
Free recall = recall everything
Cued recall = recall a specific item through using a related item as a trigger
Recognition:
Old/new = ie in word tasks, identifying whether a presented word was previously presented
Forced choice = choose one answer out of X that was presented before (SBA exams!)
