Lecture 4

Question 1

how is memory not a unitary system

Answer 1

○ We can remember input for diff amounts of time
○ The type of stimulus influences the duration of memory
Neuropsychological evidence suggested a double-disassociation between long term and short term memory

Question 2

what do we want to know about memory

Answer 2

• The type of things our memory can hold
  ○ How is info coded and stored?
  
  • Limiting factors of memory
    The processes that allow info to enter and exit memory

Question 3

limiting factors of memory

Answer 3

○ Capacity
Duration

Question 4

sensory memory

Answer 4

○ A limited capacity store that holds basic sensory information for a very limited amount of time
We have a different store for each of our senses

Question 4

atkinson-shiffrin multi-store (modal) model 1968

Answer 4

• sensory memory
• short term memory

Question 5

attention

Answer 5

Helps pass items in sensory store on to short term memory

Question 6

sperling’s sensory store investigation

Answer 6

§ How much can we encode during a single, brief instance?
§ When asked to remember as many letters as they can, could only remember 3-4 items
§ Thought maybe it was because the duration was so short that people would forget the items before they could report them all
□ Low note: bottom row, middle note: middle row, top note: top row
□ When cued to report one row only (partial report), people could remember approximately 3 items in the row (76%)
§ Similar evidence for brief sensory stores in other modalities
Echoic and tactile sensory memory tend to have longer durations (4-5sec)

Question 7

short term memory

Answer 7

A limited capacity store that holds information for a relatively brief period

Question 8

iconic memory

Answer 8

• Term for visual sensory memory
  First studied by Sperling
• an immediate, brief memory of a visual image that lasts no more than half a second

Question 8

limiting factors of short term memory

Answer 8

§ Without rehearsal the duration of STM is only a few seconds
Rehearsal keeps info in STM and helps pass it on to long-term memory

Question 9

george miller

Answer 9

§ George Miller proposed the Magic number of 7+-2
Meaningful chunks though

Question 10

naveh-benjamin and ayres

Answer 10

Short term memory span is smaller for rhyming lists (even though info presented visually)

Question 11

visual short-term memory

Answer 11

Not everything lends itself to verbal coding

Question 12

luck and vogel

Answer 12

Using a change detection paradigm, they provided evidence that we can store 4 visual items in STM

Question 13

working memory as an alternative to STM baddeley model

Answer 13

○ Based on evidence of different effects of modality on memory, Baddeley proposed an alternative model to STM
Visuo-spatial sketch pad <-> central executive <-> phonological loop

Question 14

baddeley’s WM model

Answer 14

§ Allows us to both temporarily store and manipulate information
□ STM can be considered part of a larger WM system
§ WM is a limited capacity system but (like attention) is not determined by any one factor
§ Since WM is actively manipulating material, we don’t really talk about duration
§ Consisted of 2 auxiliary storage systems under central control
Each component has its own pool of resources but only the auxiliary systems are capable of storage

Question 15

phonological loop

Answer 15

□ Limited storage for acoustic/verbal information
Phonological store
- the speech- and sound-related component of working memory and holds verbal and auditory information

Question 16

articulatory suppression

Answer 16

◊ Provides evidence for Articulatory rehearsal process
◊ Disrupts recall
Reduces or eliminates phonological similarity effect and word length effect

Question 17

central executive

Answer 17

□ Control centre for WM - where the processing goes on
□ Often considered an attentional control mechanism
□ Required for initiating retrieval, planning actions and integrating information
□ Does not have any storage capacity itself, but has attentional resources that can be shared among components
Regulating relevant and irrelevant information is an important function

Question 18

operation span

Answer 18

® Span tasks correlate with many everyday tasks, including academic performance
Researchers who use this method are interested in individual differences in task performance

Question 19

the binding problem

Answer 19

□ Any cognitive model that proposes separate processing subsystems needs to explain how this information is combined into an integrated cognitive experience
Doesn’t address the binding problem nor how chunking increases WM capacity

Question 20

baddeley’s revised WM model 2000

Answer 20

§ Episodic buffer added
□ Used to integrate information from different modalities into a complete memory
□ Binds information from WM components and LTM
□ A limited capacity buffer
Controlled by central executive

Question 21

other working memory models

Answer 21

§ Others are domain general and assume parallel activation
Ex. Cowan

Question 22

the binding problem

Answer 22

the problem of how objects, background, and abstract or emotional features are combined into a single experience.