Short-term and working memory Flashcards
articulatory rehearsal process
rehearsing/repeating process in working memory that stops losing things from the phonological store
articulatory suppression
interfering with operation of phonological loop by repeating an irrelevant word while using it
central executive
part of working memory that coordinates the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad
chunk
collection of elements strongly associated with each other
chunking
used to increase capacity of memory
eg individual words combined into sentence
control processes
eg rehearsal
Atkinson & Shiffrin’s modal model of memory
active processes that can be controlled by the person, differs from task to task
decays
where information is lost from memory after time
delayed partial report method
Sperling - visual icon experiments
where participants had to identify only some of the stimuli after a delay of presentation
digit span
number of digits someone can remember
used to measure capacity of STM
echoic memory
sensory memory for sounds - lasts a few seconds after stimulus stopped
episodic buffer
backup store - added to Baddeley’s working memory model
communicates with LTM and WM
ERP
event related potential
event related potential
records the response of thousands of neurons near the electrode that fire together
waves occur at different delays and can be linked to different functions
iconic memory
sensory memory for visual stimuli - lasts a fraction of a second after stimulus stops
memory
process involved in retaining, retrieving and using information about stimuli after original info no longer present
mental rotation
rotating an image of an object in the mind
modal model of memory
Atkinson & Shiffrin
people process information through a series of stages including STM and LTM
partial report method
Sperling - visual icon experiments
where participants had to identify only some of the stimuli after presentation
perseveration
difficulty in switching from one behaviour to another
when PFC has been damaged
persistence of vision
being able to see light for a fraction of a second after it has stopped
eg sparkler
phonological loop
part of WM that holds and processes verbal and auditory information
phonological similarity effect
where letters or words that sound similar are confused eg T and P
phonological store
holds a small amount of verbal and auditory information for a few seconds
reading span
Daneman & Carpenter
number of 13-16 word sentences that a person can read then remember the last word
reading span test
Daneman & Carpenter - to measure reading span
recall
where you report stimuli you have previously seen or heard
rehearsal
process of repeating something over and over to remember it - keeps it in STM
sensory memory
brief stage of memory that holds information for seconds or fraction of a second
first stage in modal model of memory
STM
holds limited amount of information for up to 30 seconds unless there is rehearsal
structural features
type of memory in the model of memory
sensory memory, STM, LTM
visual imagery
mental imagery involving vision - image created in the absence of visual stimulus
visuospatial sketchpad
part of WM that holds and processes visual and spatial information
whole report method
Sperling - visual icon experiment
where participants had to report all stimuli after brief presentation
word length effect
the idea that it is more difficult to remember a list of long words than short words
working memory
limited capacity for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks - reading, learning, reasoning
