LAB Content for MT1 Flashcards
What is Constant Error?
What is Absolute Error?
What is Variable Error?
Which error score would you use to answer the question;
“Overall, were you generally more accurate on the set of trials with the external or self-generated cue?”
Absolute Error
Which error score would you use to answer the question;
“Overall, were you more consistent on the set of trials with the external or self-generated cue?”
VE (variable error) is the best measure of consistency/variability
Lee scored -13, -12, 0, +12 and +13 in terms of error scores when she was playing a bean-bag throwing task. Which of the following conclusions are true?
- Lee is consistent
- Lee has a large constant error
- Lee has low absolute error
- Lee shows no bias
Lee Shows no Bias
What might it mean for VE if my CE and AE scores were the same?
Please answer true or false to the statement below.
If I had completed this motor lab and my CE mean values were the same as my AE mean values (both relatively low, less than 300ms), this means I am also likely to have a lower mean VE than someone who completed this motor lab and had different AE and CE values (even if they were still relatively low). Is this true or false?
True
If the values were the same then I would always overshoot or always undershoot, likely showing more consistency (less variability) than someone who had different values corresponding to undershoots and overshoots (assuming in both instances, AE was low).
What most affects the Response Selection Stage?
What is Hick’s Law?
Hick found that reaction time (RT) increases proportionally as the number of stimulus- response (S-R) alternatives
- Doubling the number of S-R alternatives (N), increases the number of bits by 1 [bits = log2(N)]
Hick’s Law outlines a linear relationship between RT and bits of information [log2(N)],
- whereby “a” represents the y-intercept and
- “b” represents the slope of the line:
- RT = a + b[log2(N)]
The model of human memory involves what three distinct systems?
- Short term sensory store (STSS) – very short duration, like a temporary “snapshot”
- Short term memory (STM) – temporary storage and retrieval (also known as/includes working memory)
- Long term memory (LTM) – almost limitless storage and duration, like “archives”
Outline the Memory Component Model
What is the capacity of
Short Tem Memory (STM)?
STM is thought to have limited duration (~30 seconds)
and capacity (7±2 items or “chunks”)
What factors are duration and capacity affected by?
- Rehearsal – increases duration by repetition of information
- Interference – decreases duration due to limited capacity and inability to rehearse
- “Chunking” – increases capacity by functionally linking information together
Which stage of the information-processing model is affected the most by increasing the number of S-R alternatives?
response selection
How many bits of information correspond to 32 choices?
5
What does the y-intercept represent?
simple RT
In a graph showing Hick’s Law, the slope of the line (b) ….also called the gradient, represents what? (read the selections carefully and check back on the notes for the lab if helpful).
rate of processing of each bit of information
In order to determine whether the data supports the supposition that short term memory duration is approximately 30 seconds (in class we talked about it being max. of 1 min without rehearsal), we should compare the delayed recall condition (grey bars on the graph) to the filled delayed condition (open bars on the graph)? True or False?
False
Good, you want to be comparing to the immediate recall condition, as you want to know whether there is a loss of information just due to time, not due to what you do in that time (which is another question).
What term is used (one word) to describe how memory can be enhanced through relating items to experience/past memories (in LTM) to help recall and create meaningful groups or patterns.
Chunking
Filling the delay between studying and taking a test aids STM in comparison to just leaving an unfilled period. True or False?
False
Good, filling the delay prevents rehearsal of the information in the interval, such that the letters are more likely to be forgotten.
In your data, this should have been evidenced in the 11 item letter string. The 5 item and 11 item chunked might have been too easy (showing what we call “ceiling effects”, such that everyone does well so that these fail to be sensitive to the activity in the delay interval). Later in the course we discuss these ceiling effects in relation to motor learning.
What is the Filter/Bottleneck Theory of Attention?
- The bottleneck theory of attention suggests that at some point during information processing, parallel processing becomes serial
- This can be shown by trying to perform two tasks in quick succession, whereby typically the second task is delayed until processing of the first task is completed
- This delay is known as the psychological refractory period (PRP)
Double Stimulation Paradigm
On the “sample graph” at what time point was a PRP first observed? Give the time (SOA) as a number, do not include the units (e.g., 200)
75 ms
What was the PRP (magnitude) for the 150ms SOA in the sample graph? Remember that PRP is the delay (compared to baseline) so you will have to do some calculations here.
325 - 275 = 50 ms
True or False
PRP is due to processing bottleneck caused by serial processing of some part of S1-R1 task.
True
True or False
We would expect a psychological refractory period if the time between the two stimuli was very long (i.e., >375 ms).
False
if the SOA is long then the processing operations associated with the first response are over.
Which of the stages of information processing is thought to be most affected by this double stimulation, PRP?
response programming
