Exam 3 Flashcards
STM
Old term that focuses on the input and storage of information over short periods of time
WM
New term that emphasizes that processes take place in STM
How long is the required retention for STM?
15 - 20s
What is a “memory bottleneck”?
ST/WM - Site where some memories move to LTM and others leave as response output
WM processes
Retrieval from the LTM, info manipulation, process initiation, planning, decision making, and information integration
Describe a serial recall task
Participant is given a list of items and asked to recall the items in the order they were presented
In Miller (1956), why could people remember 7 (+/- 2) words and letters when words have more letters?
Chunking = Turning several items into a single unit
Recoding
Grouping items together to help memory by increasing the meaning of the groups (LTM is accessed)
Why was it a mistake for the procedure to include counting backwards by 3s in the Brown-Peterson task?
The Brown-Peterson task was trying to make an argument for decay as a function of information loss in STWM, but counting backwards can be see as a form of interference
Why, in Waugh and Norman (1965), could the results of the study not be due to decay?
The participant were delivered the list at a rate of 1 or 4 items per second and asked to respond to the task immediately after the list was completed
How does Waugh and Norman (1965) involve interference?
As the list was delivered (audibly, one number at a time) the participants’ STWM was continuously updated to contain the new information given,, there was also no time for any rehearsal because of the fast pace
What are the types of interference?
Proactive and Retroactive interference
Proactive interference
1st event interferes with the memory of the 2nd event
Retroactive interference
2nd event interferes with the memory of the 1st event
Serial recall task
Recall a list of items in the order they were presented
Free recall task
Recall a list of items in any order
Which is the more accurate recall task, free and serial, and why?
Free recall is usually more accurate since serial recall involves 2 types of information (item and item order) and free recall involves only 1 (item)
Serial position effect
The position of the item in the list affects whether or not it is remembered
Primacy effect
Items at the beginning of a list are remembered well (can be interfered with by increasing the speed of presentation)
Recency effect
Items at the end of a list are remembered well (can be interfered with by requiring a task be done before recall - counting backwards by 3s)
What were the units of the axes in the Sternberg task?
x - # of letters in the list; y - time taken to respond
