Lecture 6: Language and memory

Question 1

What kind of information did the 1968 Atkinson & Shriffin “multi-store model of memory” work with? Why?

Answer 1

This model was mostly based upon the processing of visual information, since that’s what we had the most data on.

Question 2

What is conduction aphasia? Is this aphasia linked to STM (short-term memory) or LTM (long-term memory)?

Answer 2

Conduction aphasia is a language disorder were patients have trouble repeating words and phrases.
The disorder is linked to STM issues, LTM is unaffected.

Question 3

What happens in the STS (short-term store) of the 1968 Atkinson & Shriffin “multi-store model of memory”?

Answer 3

• Communication between STM and LTM
• Workspace where reasoning and comprehension happen
• Information decay and information loss also happen in this part of the brain

Question 4

Desribe the LTS (long-term store) of the 1968 Atkinson & Shriffin “multi-store model of memory”.

Answer 4

• Less information decay or loss than the STS

- Memories stored here are more stable, but can still be changed

Question 5

What is the problem with the 1968 Atkinson & Shriffin “multi-store model of memory”?

Answer 5

In this model, the STM (short-term memory) contains the working memory. The working memory let different complex cognitive tasks interact .
-> According to this model, if your STM was impaired, your cognitive abilities would also be impaired.

BUT

People with STM problems often don’t have trouble with all cognitive tasks.

Question 6

What are the three components of the working memory model proposed by Baddeley & Hitch?

Answer 6

• Visuospatial Sketchpad (visual information)
• Central Executive
• Phonological Loop (auditory information)

Question 7

What’s the phonological loop?

Answer 7

The phonological loop is one of three components of the working memory model proposed by Baddeley & Hitch. It processes all the auditory information and rehearses our verbal output.

Question 8

What are the 2 parts of the phonological loop? Describe them and their connection.

Answer 8

• Storage system
• Subvocal rehearsal system

The storage system has a fast decay. It relies on the rehearsal system to combat that fast decay.

The subvocal rehearsal system is dependent on language knowledge: If your native language has sounds similar to those you’re trying to remember, it’s easier.

Question 9

What is the Similarity Effect? Was it found in deaf people as well?

Answer 9

Phonologically similar words are harder to remember.

The Similarity Effect was also found with ASL. Similar signs were harder to remember than dissimilar ones.

Question 10

Does word length affect STM (short-term memory) storage?

Answer 10

Yes, short words are easier to remember than long words. Longer words take longer to rehearse and also to recall, which leads to faster decay.

Question 11

What are the functions of the phonological loop?

Answer 11

• Involved in sentence comprehension
• Facilitates language acquisition (Letting children repeat sounds: a non-word repetition task)
• > Score on this task predicts vocabulary learning in normal children
• > SLI children perform badly in this task
• > The score correlates with ability to learn a second language
• Allows for subvocalization
• > Action control (Rehearsal keeps you focussed on a task: “I need to take exit 4. Alright, this is exit 3. I need exit 4.”)
• > Cognitive switch (“I need to finish this summary, and then I’ll start cooking dinner”)
• > Strategic control (“No actually, maybe I should finish this summary before I do something fun.”)

Question 12

How is the “deaf” version of the phonological loop called? How was this tested?

Answer 12

Sign loop with two components: “Rehearsal process”, and “buffer” instead of “storage system”

ASL signers were shown a list of similar signs they had to recall. The suppressed condition (participants had to watch, and then reproduce) had worse recall than the non-suppressed condition (participants could sign while watching, and then reproduce)

Question 13

What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 13

It’s one of the components of working memory concerned with the ability to temporarily store and manipulate visual, spatial and kinesthetic (movement) information.

Experiment: Participants had a hard time going over/tracing a shape (doing some specific movement) on a table with a laser while describing a picture.
-> Spatial tracking disrupts visual memory, but not verbal memory

Question 14

What do people with William’s syndrome suffer from? Which skills are still preserved?

Answer 14

• Preserved verbal skills

- Hard time processing visual information

Question 15

Sentence comprehension was compared for typically developing children, children with a mild
learning disability, and children with William’s syndrome: Compare.

Answer 15

Two conditions: visual sentences, and non-visual sentences

• > On visual sentences (such as: The dog sits in front of the fence), children with William’s syndrome scored worse than the other two groups
• > On non-visual sentences, all groups scored about the same

Question 16

What is the Central Executive? Does it have storage capacity?

Answer 16

It is the ‘control room’ for the STM (short-term memory).
It is located in the frontal lobe (everything related to control is FRONTAL).

The CE has NO storage capacity, it only controls processes but doesn’t store anything.

Question 17

What are the functions of the Central Executive?

Answer 17

• According to first working model, combining storage and processing information
• > It combines information from the Phonological Loop and Visuospatial Sketchpad
• Influences language comprehension capacity
• > When trying to understand long and difficult sentences, the CE makes syntactic decisions
• Out of the three parts of the model, it’s the most important in terms of cognition

Question 18

What is the additional component Baddeley proposed later for his working memory model? Why was it added later?

Answer 18

The episodic buffer.

In the previous model, there was no part that could integrate information from the Phonological Loop and Visuospatial Sketchpad. It has a larger storage capacity than the other components, since it needs to store big chunks of information from both kinds

Question 19

What is the proof of existence of the episodic buffer?

Answer 19

People with amnesia are the proof for the episodic buffer. These people cannot recall their past, which means that their LTM (long-term memory) is impaired

BUT

They could remember long prose passages, which was previously thought to be a function of the LTM, but had now be proven that amnesiacs could do it.

-> Remembering something episodic had to come from the STM

Question 20

What does the current version of the working model of baddeley look like?

Answer 20

The episodic buffer is able to assess the information of the phonologic loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad and is in fact the ONLY store place the central executive is connected to, which means that the CE can only asses combined information from VSS and PL.