Homework Questions for Test Flashcards
According to the article, a major debate within cognitive psychology in the 1960s was
whether memory should be seen as a single system or if it should be seen as composed of different subsystems
The observation that amnesic patients had trouble forming new long-lasting memories but did not seem to have deficits in performance in tasks that tested only their immediate memories suggested that:
there should be at least 2 memory subsystems
Atkinson and Shiffrin (i.e., Stage Model) proposed a model in which short-term memory is a memory subsystem involved in the temporary storage of information.
They also proposed that short-term memory may also be involved in other cognitive tasks. However, in studies where participants were asked to engage in cognitive tasks (e.g., solve mathematical expressions) while trying to memorize words, performance in the memory tests was less disrupted than it would be expected when the number of words to be memorized increased and supposedly competed with the capacity and resources of short-term memory to complete the other cognitive tasks.
Given these conclusions, what did Baddeley and his colleagues propose?
A working memory system composed of 3 subsystems
According to Baddeley, working memory is:
involved in both the temporary storage and manipulation of information
According to the article, what are the components of working memory?
Central executive, visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop
Working memory span tests measure:
the ability to store and manipulate information
Researchers have found a correlation between working memory span and:
scores on reading and comprehension tests
measures of reasoning skills
measures of intelligence
The main role of the central executive is to:
allocate resources to the other subsystems and coordinate information from the subsystems
According to the article, which of the components of working memory has been studied the most?
The phonological loop
Which procedure is commonly used to study the phonological loop?
The memory-span procedure
What are the 2 components of the phonological loop?
Phonological store and articulatory loop
What is the main function of phonological store?
Hold verbal (acoustic or speech-based) information for 1 to 2 seconds
In the article, the irrelevant speech effect is defined as a “reduction in recall of lists of visually presented items brought about by the presence of irrelevant spoken material”. In other words, presentation of any spoken stimulus (including in a language that the person does not understand) can disrupt the ability to process and remember information (e.g., words presented visually) even if the person is told to ignore the irrelevant speech.
Why does this “irrelevant speech” cause a decrease in the ability to recall the words presented visually?
Because the spoken material ends up making to the phonological store and competes with the to-be processed and remembered words
In class, Dr. Friedrich mentioned one more subsystem of working memory that was not included in the original proposal of the model (and also not in the paper you just read). Which subsystem was added later to the model?
episodic buffer
In the clip, Dr. Chew talks about a study done by Hyde and Jenkins (1969) in which 5 groups of participants differed in terms of:
the instructions they were given about what to do with a list of words
What were the 2 independent variables (IV) used in Hyde and Jenkins (1969)?
kind of learning and level of processing
How many conditions, in addition to the control condition, were there in Hyde and Jenkins (1969)
4
What were the levels of the “kind of learning” independent variable used in Hyde and Jenkins (1969)?
intentional and incidental
In Hyde and Jenkins (1969) what was the difference between the incidental and intentional conditions?
Participants in the intentional conditions were told their memory would be tested while participants in the incidental conditions were not
In Hyde and Jenkins (1969) what was the difference between the incidental and intentional conditions?
Participants in the intentional conditions were told their memory would be tested while participants in the incidental conditions were not
What were the levels of the of the “level of processing” independent variable used in Hyde and Jenkins (1969)?
shallow and deep
What did participants in the shallow conditions have to do when presented with the words in Hyde and Jenkins (1969)?
- Indicate whether or not each word had the letter “E” on it
What did participants in the deep conditions have to do when presented with the words in Hyde and Jenkins (1969)?
Indicate whether or not they found each word pleasant
Why in Hyde and Jenkins (1969) indicating whether a word was pleasant or not was considered a deeper form of processing?
Because one has to think about the meaning of the word and their own experiences to be able to do so
