Lecture 15 - Working and Long Term Memory

Question 1

short term memory and working memory are ____ of the same kinds of things

Answer 1

different models

they are trying to explain the same kind of phenomena but they are different approaches

Question 2

Short-term memory is the…

Answer 2

temporary storing and maintenance of
immediately useful information.

It is sometimes called primary memory

Question 3

The Atkinson-Shiffrin Memory model (1968)

Answer 3

took material from sensory memory, brought it to a short term storage module so you could start using control process from attention and start doing some things (rehearsing, coding, trying to encode memories so they’re easier to retrieve later on from long term memory)

as you were working on things (remembering things in the short term) - this was the contents of your consciousness: all the things you’ve got in mind right now: where the responses come out of

Question 4

In our last lecture, we began talking about how information is coded in short-term memory. One experiment found that consonants (e.g. MSTLJX) could be erroneously recalled (e.g. as MSVLKX) if participants spoke during rehearsal. This kind of interference was said to suggest:

Answer 4

STM may use phonological (verbal) encoding of these different consonants

sounds of the consonants were important

used later when you try to recall

some phonological encoding of the material initially (first presentation, that’s how you encoded it.)

Question 5

Coding (also called encoding) establishes

Answer 5

the form of the representations with STM.

Question 6

phonological similarity effect.

Answer 6

these characteristic errors you would make when repeating individual consonants or whole words (since you encoded them with that verbal internal voice you make errors with things that sound alike)

The errors made suggested acoustic confusions:
MSVLKX, where V sounds like T and K sounds like K.

Question 7

Do we remember information in terms of how it looks, how it sounds, or some underlying meaning? This can be tested using….

Answer 7

interference effects.

Question 8

Conrad (1964)

interference effects

Answer 8

presented subjects with a series of consonants (e.g. MSTLJX).

• Subjects read aloud some random digits for a time
and were then told to recall the consonants

• The errors made suggested acoustic confusions: MSVLKX, where V sounds like T and K sounds like K. This is the phonological similarity effect.

• Sounds of letters interfered with each other,
suggesting phonological (verbal) encoding.

Question 9

It was later found that STM could use visual and semantic codes.

• Wickens (1972)

Answer 9

• used a paradigm called release from proactive interference to show SEMANTIC CODING.
• Subjects are given three words from a category (e.g. fruits: apple, banana, pear). They also had a distractor task (e.g. count backwards by threes - so they can’t rehearse). Next, they are asked to recall the words.
• They are next given a second list of three words from the same category, with the same procedure.
• A third list from the same category is presented with the same procedure.
• Finally, they are given a fourth list that can either come from the same category or a new category. The countdown and recall procedure is the same.

Question 10

proactive interference

Answer 10

something you’ve already learned in the past (recent past) will interfere proactively with something you’re trying to learn now

past info interfering proactively with new info

Question 11

Results Wickens (1972)

Answer 11

The results suggests that STM could use semantic codes.

• Recall on the first three lists got progressively worse.
- as long as the list came from the same category they got worse and worse

• The older lists seem to proactively interfere with the related incoming information.
• When the list is from a new category, the percent correct goes back up.
• The relatedness seemed to moderate the improvement.

because you’re activating in memory “fruits” , it became more and more difficult to know what you had just seen but when given something completely different (wasn’t getting proactive interference from same semantic category)

Question 12

when you’re encoding something ____ is important, because you’re not just encoding individual items but you’re looking for the relatedness of those items and that’s extending in time

Answer 12

meaning, semantics

Question 13

It seems that representations can also take the form of CHUNKS of semantic information.

• George Miller (1956)

Answer 13

• did a review of people’s abilities to process information from a variety of domains (tones, words, letters, smells, etc.). He found that people could consistently recall about 7 items, +/- 2.

• He suggested that the limits on STM are not physical cues,
but chunks of meaningful information.

Question 14

Chunks?

Answer 14

are based on the application of top-down, prior
knowledge and will vary by individual expertise.

people have different ways of chunking semantic info cause it’s based on what you know, how you make sense of the environment

e.g.

Fourscoreandsevenyearsago = 25 letters, nearly impossible.

Four score and seven years ago = 6 words, difficult if scrambled.

“Four score and seven years ago” = One famous phrase, easy
–> as long as you have the right background

Question 15

We have limited capacity in STM

Answer 15

When studying, task switching may use up some of this capacity (you are remembering to go
back to the other task).

So, no distractions!

Question 16

Keeping things available in STM can depend on…

Answer 16

…semantic links (e.g. chunking). Other information can act as distractors and push the relevant information out.

Question 17

If you memorize individual facts,

Answer 17

you are increasing the

processing demands. If you combine items semantically as chunks, you make storage (and retrieval) easier

Question 18

_____ can take up short-term memory and cause a

decrease in performance (Beilock, 2010).

Answer 18

stress and anxiety

Question 19

An interesting finding from Miller’s 1956 work was that…

Answer 19

…the mode (most frequently found number) for number of items recalled seemed to be 5.

most often people could remember 5 chunks

Question 20

Nelson Cowan (2001) points out that

Answer 20

• the number of items in
STM seems to be closer to four semantically distinct items .

• While Miller was originally concerned with how many items could be temporarily stored, Cowan and other are concerned with how many items can be used and manipulated.

- problem solving, creativity
- short term memory is a work space  

• This (and other shortcomings) led to a reconceptualization of
STM by Baddeley & Hitch (1974) as working memory (st. that is a workspace in memory).

Question 21

Working memory

Answer 21

is an alternative to short-term memory.

a workspace in memory

Question 22

working vs. short terms

Answer 22

Whereas short-term memory was primary conceived as a short-term
storage and encoding space, the working memory model describes how you manipulate current and long-term memories.

how do you change things?
how do you bring stuff from long term memory and mix it in with stuff you’re experiencing right now?

Question 23

Baddeley & Hitch (1974) originally envisioned three components:

Answer 23

1) central executive - monitoring, updating, rerouting
2) phonological loop - verbal
3) visuospatial - object and location

Question 24

Baddeley & Hitch (1974)

visuospatial sketchpad

Answer 24

visual world, things you’re seeing

Question 25

Baddeley & Hitch (1974)

The phonological loop

Answer 25

is the subsystem of working memory
that maintains and processes auditory information.

It has two components:

1) Phonological store
2) Articulatory control process

Question 26

Phonological store:

Answer 26

This can hold speech-based information for
about 2 seconds.

the immediate auditory memory - the stuff that you’re bringing over from sensory memory and that’s what you’re working on: you’re internal voice

• you can also read stuff and encode it has auditory info

Question 27

Articulatory control process

Answer 27

This is the inner, subvocal inner voice that allows you to rehearse and refresh the items in the phonological store.

Question 28

Phonological similarity effect

Answer 28

Letters or words that sound similar are often confused. (e.g. V sounds like T, mop sounds like cop).

Question 29

word length effect

Answer 29

Since the phonological store is only 2 second long (on average), it can be difficult to remember longer
words.

 − Wash, tap, bit, stop, pot, zip (remembered better)

vs.

− Carwash, tapping, bitten, stoplight, potholder, zipper.
(take longer to rehearse in internal voice)

Question 30

In general, we have worse recall for longer words because…?

Answer 30

they can’t be rehearsed as much in the 2 second window.

Question 31

The phonological loop can be studied through the use of…

articulatory suppression.

Answer 31

• Task 1: Read the following list, then turn away and recall as many
words as you can.

 - e.g.Applesauce, mouthwash, carwash, theatre, treehouse, saxophone

• Task 2: Read the following list while repeating “the, the, the…” out loud. Then turn away and recall as many as you can. (producing some phonological info)
- suppressing the loop with your own production

 -e.g. Football, milkshake, tumbleweed, bluebird, residence, hospital

• With articulatory suppression, the second list is more difficult because
speaking our loud interferes with the phonological loop.

Question 32

what is the phonological loop for?

Answer 32

• May be important for early language acquisition

–> articulatory work, rehearsal

Question 33

phonological loop in language comprehension?

Answer 33

as you’re talking to someone or listening to someone, the words are on a loop and you can monitor those words and start pulling out the meaning?

NOOOOO

you don’t need the loop to monitor speech in real-time

Question 34

articulatory suppression also seems to eliminate

Answer 34

the word length effect (e.g. shorter words have no advantage because they can’t be rehearsed).

Question 35

The visuospatial sketchpad

Answer 35

part of working memory
involved with visual imagery –
the creation of visual images once the physical stimulus is no longer available.

could be something that you look out and see something and you have a mental image of it (representing the physical stimuli currently there)

OR

you’re asked “what did your fifth grade teacher look like?” (re-creating an image of physical stimuli that are no longer there)

Question 36

Shepard & Metzler (1971) experiment with mental rotation tasks

Answer 36

• measured reaction times to decide whether pairs of objects were the same or different. This is called a mental rotation task. Objects could have a difference between 0 and 180 degrees.
• Press A if same, B if different.

Question 37

Shepard & Metzler (1971) results

Answer 37

found that reaction times increased as the differences in angular rotation got larger.

the greater the angular separation, the more time it took in the visuospatial sketchpad to take that image and move it

shows that it takes effort and takes capacity that can be measured in time differences

Question 38

The central executive

Baddeley model?

Answer 38

fulfills the function already discussed in the attention section. However, in the Baddeley model, it’s
primary importance is in the manipulation of information.

• Information taken from visuospatial sketchpad and phonological loop
is reviewed and ordered.

• **Relevant background knowledge from long-term memory is retrieved.
- “what is this like? what have i seen before? what’s relevant that i’ve experienced in the past with the things i’m experiencing now?”

• But how does this happen? Where is this combined information stored?

Question 39

Baddeley (2000) updated his model to include an

episodic buffer

Answer 39

• This is something with a larger capacity system that takes information from longterm memory and combines it with incoming data.
- glueing all the things (LTM, current stuff, visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop)together

 - (maybe where binding takes place)

• It can reconstruct an ‘episode’ that extends in space and time (e.g. some current event).

• It is multi-dimensional,
combining information from
different senses.

Question 40

fluid systems

Answer 40

• visuospatial sketchpad
• episodic buffer
• phonological loop

you’re manipulating them, they’re changing, they’re in flux,

Question 41

crystalized systems

Answer 41

• visual semantics
• episodic LTM
• language

these things don’t change as often

e.g. think about your fifth grade teacher: her name or look is less likely to change

Question 42

what is an episodic buffer?

key difference?

Answer 42

reconstructing an episode

taking all the stuff “right now”

in multidimensional space

**key difference: also from long-term memory

Question 43

memory in the moment.

Answer 43

• Short-term or working memory models take limited information from a larger ‘sensory memory’.

• Computational complexity is reduced by using attention to
primarily focus, enhance, and bind the most relevant stimuli.

• Within STM/WM, we maintain and control/manipulate real-time
information.

Question 44

semantic links

Answer 44

important for encoding info at first and retrieving info later

chunking!

making meaningful links between what’s happening now and what’s happened in the past

Question 45

Computational complexity is reduced by

Answer 45

using attention to

primarily focus, enhance, and bind the most relevant stimuli

Question 46

Within STM/WM

Answer 46

we maintain and control/manipulate real-time information.

Question 47

Short-term or working memory models take limited information

from a larger ‘sensory memory’.

Answer 47

there’s more out there in sensory memory then we can use

these take this info and takes into a bottleneck

reducing computational complexity!!

Question 48

What about long-term memory?

Answer 48

• These are memories that are maintained for days, months, and
years. They are your ‘top down’ information.

• There are many distinctions/types of LTM.
• How do we encode, store, and retrieve in this different space?

Question 49

Baddeley & Hitch (1974) proposed their working memory model…

Answer 49

… as an alternative to Atkinson’s short-term memory.

Question 50

primary difference between WM and STM?

Answer 50

The primary difference is that WM focuses on the manipulation and
use of information, while STM was mainly storage.

Question 51

The phonological loop is made up of the ____

and _____.

Answer 51

phonological store

articulatory control process

Question 52

The phonological loop can hold about _____
worth of verbal information. This coding and capacity limitation
leaves it vulnerable to the ____ and
_____.

Answer 52

2 seconds

phonological similarity effect

the word length effect

Question 53

The visuospatial sketchpad allows you to maintain

Answer 53

visual imagery

Question 54

The visuospatial sketchpad is measured with the _____

Answer 54

mental rotation task.

Question 55

To make use of the central executive as a manipulator of information, an ___ was added.

Answer 55

episodic buffer

Question 56

episodic buffer

Answer 56

This is a multidimensional
space that combines sensory data with long-term
memories to aid in organization and planning.