Lecture 2: Short term memory

Question 1

What are sensory registers?

Answer 1

modality-specific registers -> iconic, echoic and haptic, available in water-down, highly selective way

Question 2

How much is available in iconic memory?

Answer 2

Sperling studied ability of people to remember array of letters vs rows of letters. The row to-be-remembered was based on auditory cue. People in general performed much better in cued condition, however, there was effect of delay interfering with recall. Good performance was limited to immediate recall, suggesting that iconic memory has extremely limited duration.

Question 3

How much is available in echoic memory?

Answer 3

In the experimental task, participants needed to listen to different lists in different ears. Whole report vs visually cued recall were investigated. In general. people were better in partial reproduction condition and could hold up to 4 seconds of extra information.

Question 4

What is short term memory?

Answer 4

it is responsible for processing and retaining information beyond sensory registers, but has limited duration (about a minute or so)

Question 5

Who came up with limited store concept of short - term memory?

Answer 5

Miller came up with limitation of short-term memory being 7 chunks of information (+/-2). Importantly, whether information is retained for longer period of time in short-term memory depends on rehearsal.

Question 6

What is Brown-Peterson task?

Answer 6

In this task, rehearsal of information is inhibited. Participants receive 3 words to remember and then they need to perform mathematical operations. Retention of 3 words is really low - after 15 seconds they are pretty much gone.

Question 7

What did Waugh and Norman in probe digit experiment?

Answer 7

They wanted to investigate whether effect of delay or interference causes forgetting. In probe digit experiment, participants saw different digits in series and needed to remember when they last saw this digit and crucially what digit followed the target. Digits clearly interfere with each other. The effect of delay has been manipulated (fast vs slow task). The data showed that there was no effect of delay on performance.

Question 8

What differentiates delay and interference?

Answer 8

Delay is autonomous - it is noise in the system causing you to lose information (such as mere passage of time). Interference is active - it pushes away existing information.

Question 9

What is proactive interference?

Answer 9

it is caused by past learned information

Question 10

What is retroactive interference?

Answer 10

it is caused by future information (new digits cause you to forget old digits)

Question 11

What effects are associated with short term memory when investigating position of information in serial sequence?

Answer 11

primacy effect and recency effect

Question 12

How did Crowder disrupt recency effect?

Answer 12

He presented participants with list of words. At the end of list presentation, the experimenter either said sth (speech suffix) or there was a noise (buzz suffix). This diminished recency effect, especially in case of speech suffix.

Question 13

What are examples of short-term memory tests?

Answer 13

1) serial reproduction in reverse order
2) N-back

Question 14

What did Baddeley and Warringtion found while investigating amnesia patients?

Answer 14

Patients show both primacy and recency effects although in general they reproduce fewer items

Question 15

What is central executive in Baddeley’s working memory model?

Answer 15

control center of the model - regulate the flow of information in the current stream of thought as a sort of supervisory attentional system

Question 16

What is visuo-spatial sketchpad in Baddeley’s working memory model?

Answer 16

responsible for processing visual and spatial knowledge

Question 17

What is episodic buffer in Baddeley’s working memory model?

Answer 17

it is added component; it integrates the available information into single episodic memory trace → not specific for speech or other modules → it brings together information from other portions of working memory as well as long-term memory

Question 18

What is phonological loop in Baddeley’s working memory model? What are its subdivisions?

Answer 18

Phonological loop processes verbal and auditory information. It can be divided into phonological store (inner ear) and articulatory loop (inner voice)

Question 19

What sorts of phonological effects are found in short-term memory?

Answer 19

Similarily sounding words (with the same vowels) are harder to reproduce than phonologically distinct words or words related in meaning. This is phonological similarity effect.

Moreover, longer words are harder to remember. This is called word length effect.

Question 20

What is relation between digit span and one’s language?

Answer 20

the more syllables a number (in one’s native language), the smaller digit span

Question 21

What tasks are used to investigate visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 21

1) mental rotations (the bigger the angle, the longer it takes to identify the shape)
2) map learning and then following a path from memory (distances on the map affected how fast people responded)
3) Corsi block task
4) visual memory span (figure reproductions)

Question 22

What is interesting about chimpanzees’ visuospatial sketchpad?

Answer 22

It seems to be very good. They perform much better at remembering and reproducing layout of letters.

Question 23

What are advantages of Baddeley model?

Answer 23

it explains many effects, easy to understand, helpful in clinical neuropsychology

Question 24

What are disadvantages of Baddeley model?

Answer 24

It does not explain everything and it may be vague (what exactly is cental executive?)

Question 25

What are advantages of Atkinson Shiffrin model?

Answer 25

It provides good basis and is mathematically precise

Question 26

What are disadvantages of Atkinson Shiffrin model?

Answer 26

It assumes sequential stream from short-term to long term stores, however that may not be necessary. It may put too much emphasis on rehearsal. It ignores phonological effects which suggests that it is incomplete

Question 27

What are different types of short-term memory? (historical distinction)

Answer 27

1) primary memory = lasts about 15-20s - measured in Brown-Peterson task
2) short-term memory assumes chunks and is preserved for about 30s without rehearsal - Atkinson and Shiffrin model
3) working memory - Baddeley and Hitch model

Question 28

In what conditions is working memory affected?

Answer 28

dyslexia, ADHD, depression

Question 29

How to improve working memory?

Answer 29

form chunks of information