Short-Term and Working Memory

Question 1

Modal Model of Memory

Answer 1

Proposed three types of memory: 
Sensory 
Short term 
Long term 
Information processes through these stages

Question 2

Sensory memory

Answer 2

A brief stage of memory that holds information for seconds or fractions of a second

Question 3

Persistence of vision

Answer 3

The continued perception of light for a fraction of a second after the original light stimulus has been extinguished.

Question 4

Sterling’s experiment on measuring duration and capacity of sensory memory

Answer 4

Flashed an array of letters on the screen for 50 milliseconds and asked his participants to report as many of the letters as possible

Used three different report methods: whole, partial, and delayed

Conclusion: sensory memory registers all or most information that hits our visual receptors but this information decays within less than a second

Question 5

Iconic memory

Answer 5

Sensory memory for visual stimuli that lasts for a fraction of a second

Question 6

Echoic memory

Answer 6

Sensory memory for auditory stimuli that lasts a few seconds

Question 7

Short-term memory (STM)

Answer 7

Holds a limited amount of information for a brief period of time (around 30 seconds without rehearsal)

Question 8

How many items can be held in STM?

Answer 8

4-9 items

Question 9

Chunking

Answer 9

Combining small units into larger ones to increase memory capacity

Question 10

Alvarez and Cavanagh used the change detection theory with more complex objects to conclude that…

Answer 10

the greater amount of information in an image, the fewer items that can be held in STM

Question 11

Working memory

Answer 11

A limited capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information

Question 12

Working memory is used for…

Answer 12

complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning

Question 13

Three components of working memory proposed by Baddeley?

Answer 13

1. Phonological loop
2. Visuospatial sketch pad
3. Central Executive

Question 14

Phonological loop

Answer 14

Holds and processes verbal and auditory information. Attached to the central executive

Question 15

Visuospatial sketch pad

Answer 15

Holds visual and spatial information. Attached to the central executive

Question 16

Central executive

Answer 16

Coordinates the activity of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad. “Traffic cop” of working memory

Question 17

Three phenomena that support the idea of a system specialized for language

Answer 17

1. Phonological similarity effect
2. Word length effect
3. Articulatory suppression

Question 18

Phonological similarity effect

Answer 18

The confusion of letters or words that sound similar

Question 19

Word length effect

Answer 19

It is more difficult to remember a list of long words than a list of short words

Question 20

Articulatory suppression

Answer 20

Prevented from rehearsing items to be remembered by repeating an irrelevant sound

Question 21

The central executive is related to…

Answer 21

executive attention

Question 22

The frontal lobe (prefrontal cortex) plays a central role in working memory, so people with frontal lobe damage…

Answer 22

have trouble controlling their attention

Question 23

Perseveration

Answer 23

Difficulty in switching from one behaviour to another, which can hinder a person’s ability to solve problems that require flexible thinking.

Question 24

The capacity of working memory can be increased by…

Answer 24

chunking

Question 25

Episodic buffer

Answer 25

Additional component added to Baddeley’s working memory model. Represents a way of increasing storage capacity and communicating with LTM

Question 26

What experiment supports that idea that the prefrontal cortex is important for holding information for brief periods of time?

Answer 26

Delayed response task used to test STM in monkeys

Question 27

One reason why we can describe young infants’ memory behaviour as “out of sigh out of mind”

Answer 27

Their frontal and prefrontal cortex do not become adequately developed until about 8 months

Question 28

When the prefrontal cortex is removed in monkeys during the delayed response task…

Answer 28

they are unable to hold information about an objects location

Question 29

In Stoke’s model, information is held in memory by…

Answer 29

a brief change in the connectivity of neurons in a network

Question 30

The idea that a number of areas of the brain are involved in working memory is an example of _________

Answer 30

distributed representation