Lecture 4 Flashcards
how is memory not a unitary system
○ 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
what do we want to know about memory
- 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
- Limiting factors of memory
limiting factors of memory
○ Capacity
Duration
sensory memory
○ 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
atkinson-shiffrin multi-store (modal) model 1968
- sensory memory
- short term memory
attention
Helps pass items in sensory store on to short term memory
sperling’s sensory store investigation
§ 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)
short term memory
A limited capacity store that holds information for a relatively brief period
iconic memory
- 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
limiting factors of short term memory
§ 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
george miller
§ George Miller proposed the Magic number of 7+-2
Meaningful chunks though
naveh-benjamin and ayres
Short term memory span is smaller for rhyming lists (even though info presented visually)
visual short-term memory
Not everything lends itself to verbal coding
luck and vogel
Using a change detection paradigm, they provided evidence that we can store 4 visual items in STM
working memory as an alternative to STM baddeley model
○ 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
baddeley’s WM model
§ 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
phonological loop
□ Limited storage for acoustic/verbal information
Phonological store
- the speech- and sound-related component of working memory and holds verbal and auditory information
articulatory suppression
◊ Provides evidence for Articulatory rehearsal process
◊ Disrupts recall
Reduces or eliminates phonological similarity effect and word length effect
central executive
□ 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
operation span
® Span tasks correlate with many everyday tasks, including academic performance
Researchers who use this method are interested in individual differences in task performance
the binding problem
□ 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
baddeley’s revised WM model 2000
§ 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
other working memory models
§ Others are domain general and assume parallel activation
Ex. Cowan
the binding problem
the problem of how objects, background, and abstract or emotional features are combined into a single experience.
