LECTUR 2- WORKING MEMORY

Question 1

stages of memory- encoding, storage, retrieval

Answer 1

encoding- placing new info in memory, changing it into a form that can be stored

storage- nature of memory stores, known as memory trace, info is stored in some way for later use

retrieval- recovering info
can be recall or recognition-

Question 2

short term memory-

Answer 2

Located in prefrontal cortex

very limited capacity, retention for seconds, conscious access, forgetting is immediate, easy to assess, less susceptible to brain injury

Question 3

Long term memory

Answer 3

located in the hippocampus

extensive capacity, retention for minutes to years, limited conscious access, forgetting is gradual, difficult to assess,
susceptible to brain injury

Question 4

Atkinson and Shriffin 1968- mode of memory

Answer 4

• we must pay attention to sensory stores for it to go into short term store, for it to go into long term store we must rehearse this information

sensory stores- modality specific. iconic memory= visual store. echoic memory= auditory store. Holds info for 1-2 seconds.
info is lost via decay. attention occurs after info is held in sensory store by attending to the information.

short term store- if attented to. limited capacity of -7+-2 items. Lots of smaller items join into chunks. Info is lost via displacement (when the store is full new info pushes out old info)

long term store- info is transferred from stm via rehearsal . long term has unlimited capacity and stores info over a long period of time. info is lost via interference (some memories hinder the retrieval of other memories)

Question 5

serial recall tasks and Atkisnons memory model

Answer 5

a serial recall task is when you recall a list of items in serial order.

Interference is attributed to primacy-this is when earlier items in list gets full attention- involves LTM

displacement attributed to recency- new items displace old items as there is no new info after last item to displace it. A redundant suffix item at the end of the list will disrupt recency e.g. saying go at the end of the list- the ‘go’ therefore displaces any info that happens before it thus affecting memory

Question 6

strengths and weaknesses of Atkinsons and Shriffins model of memory

Answer 6

strengths- widely accepted/ evidence to support STM AND LTM.

Weaknesses- oversimplified/ stores do not always operate in a single, uniform way. it cannot explain implicit learning (info you learn but do not remember learning)/ it suggests info is only transferred to LTM via rehearsal but this is not always the case

Question 7

Craik and Lockhart 1972- levels of processing model

Answer 7

processes during learning determines what info is stored in the LTM

2 main assumptions- depth effects memory. Deeper levels of analysis produce more elaborate longer lasting and stronger memory traces

structural levels e.g. what does it look like= shallow processing. phonetic e.g. what does it sound like= between shallow and deep. Semantic e.g. what does it mean= deep processing

Question 8

Craik and Tulving 1975- evidence for levels of processing model

Answer 8

participants were not told they would be doing a memory test
They had 3 tasks to compete
one used shallow learning, one was an intermediate task, then one was dee semantic task

They assessed recognition memory and found performance was 3 times better with deep than shallow processing

Question 9

Working memory model- Baddeley et al 2012

Answer 9

assumptions- all components have limited capacity and can work independently. If 2 tasks at the same time use the same component you will not perform as well as if 2 tasks use different components

The central executive- attentional system, versatile component. Uses executive processes= focusing attention, divides attention between tasks, switching attention between tasks, interfacing with ling term memory

Phonological store- consists of 2 components- the phonological store (speech perception ) and articulatory loop ( speech production).
Phonological similarity effect= poor recall for similar sounding items
articulatory suppression= trying to supress rehearsal so we occupy the articulatory loop

Visuo spatial sketchpad- controls storage and manipulation of visual patterns and spatial movement- remembering what and where something is.
consists of;
visual cache= stores info about form, colour
inner scribe= processes spatial and movement info

episodic buffer-holds integrated info (chunks) about episodes and events in a multidimensional code . This code combines visual, auditory, spatial info. It is a buffer between the other slave systems. It stores verbal info from phonological loop and visual, spatial info from visuo spatial sketchpad