Memory and attention Flashcards
What was the old model of working memory?
- called ‘short term memory’
- thought of as a storage depot
- length of maintenance rehearsal determines likelihood of long term storage
Who developed the working memory model?
Baddely
What was different about Baddely’s working memory model?
emphasised the nature of processing mechanisms over the length of time held in the store
Define maintenance
mentally holding info for brief periods after actual stimulus presentation is over
What is manipulation?
performing a mental operation on info over and above maintenance
What is the modern idea of working memory?
- made of processes that serve maintenance and manipulation function
- operates in multiple sensory-perceptual modalities
What are the components of working memory?
- central executive
- phonological loop
- episodic buffer
- visuospatial sketchpad
What is the central executive?
- modality free
- attention like
- resource allocator
- linked to subsystems
- may link to long term memory
What is the phonological loop?
- processes speech-based info
- storage buffer
What is the visuospatial sketchpad?
- processes visuospatial info
- storage buffer
What is the episodic buffer?
1, processes diverse info
2. demanding of central executive
3. holds, integrates, and binds info together, including from other sub-systems
What is declarative long term memory also known as?
explicit memory
What are the subtypes of declarative LTM?
- semantic
- episodic
What is semantic LTM?
facts in the broadest sense
What is episodic LTM?
events over time
How is declarative memory linked to communication?
stored info (e.g. facts, events, items) are necessary for speech, language, literacy, social interaction
How might working memory be assessed?
digit span immediate recall (forwards and backwards)
How might LTM be assessed?
word lists, sentence/story recall after a longer interval
How might verbal fluency be tested?
e.g. name as many animals as you can in one minute
How does verbal fluency use memory?
- needs LTM to access stored items
- need WM to monitor spoken items and not repeat them
Define sensation
the effect of a stimulus on sensory organs
Define perception
the elaboration and interpretation of a sensory stimulus based on our knowledge
What is the order of cognitive processes occurring when we hear someone speak?
- sensory reception (speech sounds)
- sensory processing (temporal and spectral waveform features)
- perception (speech sounds)
- memory (stored speech sounds and combined speech sounds)
What is attention?
from a psychological perspective, can be used to describe various behaviours, cognitive processes, and states of being
What are the main parts of attention?
- physical orientation
- cognitive resource allocation
What is physical orientation?
- putting the sensory system within gathering range of the stimulus
- move as needed to achieve this
- overt attention
What is cognitive resource allocation?
- filtering stimuli from sensory-perceptual input so certain elements are available for further processing
- diverting focus between cognitive processes to prioritise
- sustained concentration over time
- covert attention
What experiment is a famous example of inattentional blindness?
Gorillas in the midst
What is the dichotic listening technique and shadowing?
One message is played to the left ear and another to the right. The listener repeats one message while both are presented
What did the experiment using the dichotic listening techniques show?
- little info recalled from non-shadowed ear
- initially thought that only the attended message was processed from secondary perceptual info to memory
- however, experience improved recall of non-shadowed message
What test can be used to assess higher order cognitive attention?
the stroop test
What were the results of the stroop test?
- speed reading was the fastest
- speed ink colour naming where the written words read different colour to ink was the slowest
How is attention related to perception?
- overt physical orientation shapes sensory input
- covert filtering will shape perception
- covert prioritising of info will shape memory and higher order cognitive function
