Midterm 2 Flashcards
memory
processes involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills after the original information is no longer present; active system that stores, organizes, alters, and recovers information
Clive Wearing
worst case of amnesia ever known; unable to form new memories; can remember skill sets; remembers his wife; memory lasts about 20 seconds
acquisition
the process of gaining information and placing it into memory
encoding
converting information into a useable form
storage
holding the information in memory until it is needed
retrieval
locating the needed information and bringing it into active use
three different types of memory
sensory memory, working (short-term) memory, and long-term memory
sensory memory
storing an exact copy of incoming information for less than a second; the first stage of memory
types of sensory memory
iconic memory and echoic memory
iconic memory
a fleeting mental image or visual representation
echoic memory
after a sound is heard, a brief continuation of the sound in the auditory system
short-term memory
holds five to seven items for about 15-20 seconds
long-term memory
can hold a large amount of information for years or even decades
modal model by Atkinson and Shiffrin
input –> sensory memory –> short-term memory (rehearsal) –> output OR long-term memory
sensory memory has a large capacity…
but decays fast
working memory
replaced short-term memory; duration is temporary and fragile; capacity and size is limited; relatively easy entry; relatively easy retrieval
primacy effect
better memory for the first few items relative to middle items; based on long-term memory
recency effect
better memory for the last few items; last few items are not displaced by future items; based on working memory
working memory is limited to approximately this many words
5-6 words
claims about recency
manipulation of working memory should affect the recall of recent items but not items presented earlier in the list; engaging in an activity that requires working memory should displace any contents currently in working memory; early items should not be affected because LTM does not depend on the current activity
function of working memory
used whenever multiple elements or ideas are combined or compared in the mind; virtually all mental activities require the coordination of multiple pieces of information; individuals can differ in WM capacity; a status
digit-span task
the number of digits the person can echo back without errors is that person’s digit span
average WM capacity
7 plus-or-minus 2 chunks
chunking
repackaging of the information held in WM; reduces WM load, but does not increase capacity
working memory capacity correlates strongly with scores on…
standardized academic tests, reasoning tests, reading comprehension tests
two different buffers in working memory
phonological loop and visuospatial sketch pad
articulatory rehearsal process
responsible for rehearsal that can keep items in the phonological store from decaying
launches the rehearsal loop
subvocalization (silent speech)
phonological buffer
holds verbal and auditory information; temporary storage
visuospatial sketch pad/buffer
holds visual and spatial information
central executive
pulls info from long-term memory, coordinates other components, directs and maintain attention; the traffic cop of working memory
four components of working memory
central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketch pad, episodic buffer
rehearsal loop
this loop draws on subvocalized speech, which serve to create a record in the phonological buffer; materials in this buffer then fade, but they can be refreshed by another cycle of covert speech
phonological buffer
a passive storage system used for holding a representation of sound; subvocalization produces a representation in this
evidence for the phonological rehearsal loop
phonological similarity effects; word-length effect; articulatory suppression
phonological similarity effects
letters or words that sound similar are confused
word-length effect
memory for lists of words is better for short words than for long words
articulatory suppression
speaking interferes with rehearsal
visuospatial sketch pad experiment
Brooks: participants memorize a sentence; indicate whether each word is/is not a noun; condition 1 –> indicate by speaking, condition 2 –> indicate by pointing; found that pointing was easier than speaking because the phonological loop was busy processing the sentence but the sketch pad was free
Brooks - the F demo
participants were told to memorize a shape (of the letter F); indicate whether each corner is an “inside corner” or an “outside corner”; condition 1 –> indicate by speaking, condition 2 –> indicate by pointing; found that speaking is easier than pointing because the sketch pad was busy processing the image but the phonological loop was free
visuospatial sketch pad experiments found that…
tasks are easier when information being held in mind and the operation being performed on it involve different types of working memory
episodic buffer
helps the executive organize information into chronological sequence
concurrent articulation task
the speaking or miming of speech while doing some other task; these procedures occupy the muscles and control mechanisms needed for speech, so they prevent the person from using these resources for subvocalization; support the model of the articulatory rehearsal loop
maintenance rehearsal
a rote, mechanical process in which items are continually cycled through working memory, merely by being repeated over and over; simply focus on the to-be-remembered items with little thought about what the items mean
relational (elaborative) rehearsal
a form of mental processing in which one thinks about the relations, or connections, among ideas; the connections created (or strengthened) in this way will later guide memory search
this type of rehearsal is superior to the other
relational (elaborative) rehearsal is superior to maintenance rehearsal
incidental learning
learning in the absence of an intention to learn
intentional learning
deliberate learning, with the expectation that memory will be later tested
Craik and Tulving experiment on incidental learning
for some words shown, participants did shallow processing (say whether the word was printed in capital letters or lowercase); another group had to do a moderate level of processing (judge whether each word shown rhymed with a cue word); final group had to do deep processing (identify whether each word would fit into a particular sentence); found that deeper processing led to better memory
shallow processing
a mode of thinking about material in which one pays attention only to appearances and other superficial aspects of the material; typically leads to poor memory retention
deep processing
a mode of thinking in which a person pays attention to the meaning and implications of the material; typically leads to excellent memory retention
intention to learn has…
little or no effect on memory
deep processing promotes recall through…
facilitating later retrieval
mnemonics strategies
techniques designed to improve memory accuracy and to make learning easier; in general, mnemonic strategies seek to help memory by imposing an organization on the materials to be learned
visualization strategies
using mental pictures to link items to each other; aids memory
peg-word system
a type of mnemonic strategy using words or locations (images) as “pegs” on which to “hang” the materials to be remembered
downside of using mnemonics
typically focus on just one aspect of the material trying to memory; cuts short the effort toward finding multiple connections between the material and other things you know; can make retrieval more difficult later
the case of H.M.
received brain surgery to control epilepsy; hippocampus was removed; lost the ability to form new explicit memories, but maintained implicit memories; could learn new procedures and past memories affected his current behavior though he couldn’t remember exposure
two forms of LTM
procedural and episodic
context-dependent learning
a pattern of data in which materials learned in one setting are well remembered when the person returns to that setting, but are less well remembered in other settings; dependent on the state the learner is in during acquisition
experiment with deep-sea divers
participants learned material under the sea or on land; couple days later, the material was tested under the sea or on land; results found that retrieval paths are less accessible if the context at test is different than it was during study
