Short-Term Memory

Question 1

Modal model of memory

Answer 1

The model proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin that describes memory as a mechanism that involves processing information through a series of stages, including short-term memory and long-term memory. It is called the modal model because it contained features of many models that were being proposed in the 1960s.

Question 2

Memory

Answer 2

The processes involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills after the original information is no longer present.

Question 3

Control processes

Answer 3

In Atkinson and Shiffrin’s modal model of memory, active processes that can be controlled by the person and that may differ from one task to another. Rehearsal is an example of a control process.

Question 4

Structural features

Answer 4

Types of memory indicated by boxes in models of memory. In the modal model, the types are sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Question 5

Rehersal

Answer 5

The process of repeating a stimulus over and over, usually for the purpose of remembering it, that keeps the stimulus active in short-term memory.

Question 6

Persistence of vision

Answer 6

The continued perception of light for a fraction of a second after the original light stimulus has been extinguished. Perceiving a trail of light from a moving sparkler is caused by the persistence of vision. See also Iconic memory.

Question 7

Sensory memory

Answer 7

A brief stage of memory that holds information for seconds or fractions of a second. It is the first stage in the modal model of memory. See also Iconic memory; Persistence of vision.

Question 8

Whole report method

Answer 8

Procedure used in Sperling’s experiment on the properties of the visual icon, in which participants were instructed to report all of the stimuli they saw in a brief presentation. See also Partial report method; Sensory memory.

Question 9

Partial report method

Answer 9

Procedure used in Sperling’s experiment on the properties of the visual icon, in which participants were instructed to report only some of the stimuli in a briefly presented display. A cue tone immediately after the display was extinguished indicated which part of the display to report. See also Delayed partial report method; Sensory memory; Whole report method.

Question 10

Delayed partial report method

Answer 10

Procedure used in Sperling’s experiment on the properties of the visual icon, in which participants were instructed to report only some of the stimuli in a briefly presented display. A cue tone that was delayed for a fraction of a second after the display was extinguished indicated which part of the display to report. See also Partial report method; Whole report method.

Question 11

Decays

Answer 11

Process by which information is lost from memory due to the passage of time.

Question 12

Iconic memory / visual icon

Answer 12

Brief sensory memory for visual stimuli that lasts for a fraction of a second after a stimulus is extinguished. This corresponds to the sensory memory stage of the modal model of memory.

Question 13

Short-term memory (STM)

Answer 13

A memory mechanism that can hold a limited amount of information for a brief period of time, usually around 30 seconds, unless there is rehearsal (such as repeating a telephone number) to maintain the information in short-term memory. Short-term memory is one of the stages in the modal model of memory.

Question 14

Echoic memory

Answer 14

Brief sensory memory for auditory stimuli that lasts for a few seconds after a stimulus is extinguished.

Question 15

Recall

Answer 15

Subjects are asked to report stimuli they have previously seen or heard.

Question 16

Digit span

Answer 16

The number of digits a person can remember. Digit span is used as a measure of the capacity of short-term memory.

Question 17

Chunking

Answer 17

Combining small units into larger ones, such as when individual words are combined into a meaningful sentence. Chunking can be used to increase the capacity of memory.

K. Anders Ericsson and coworkers (1980) trained someone to recall 79 numbers without error with chunking techniques.

Question 18

Chunk

Answer 18

Used in connection with the idea of chunking in memory. A chunk is a collection of elements that are strongly associated with each other but weakly associated with elements in other chunks.

Question 19

Phonological store

Answer 19

Component of the phonological loop of working memory that holds a limited amount of verbal and auditory information for a few seconds.

Question 20

Phonological loop

Answer 20

The part of working memory that holds and processes verbal and auditory information. See also Central executive; Visuospatial sketch pad; Working memory.

Important for preventing decay.

Question 21

Working memory

Answer 21

A limited-capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning.

Introduced by Baddeley and Hitch (1974).

Question 22

Visuospatial sketch pad

Answer 22

The part of working memory that holds and processes visual and spatial information. See also Central executive; Phonological loop; Working memory.

Question 23

Articulatory rehearsal processes

Answer 23

Rehearsal process involved in working memory that keeps items in the phonological store from decaying.

Question 24

Word length effect

Answer 24

The notion that it is more difficult to remember a list of long words than a list of short words.

Question 25

Phonological similarity effect

Answer 25

An effect that occurs when letters or words that sound similar are confused. For example, T and P are two similar-sounding letters that could be confused. R. Conrad (1964) demonstrated with letters.

Question 26

Visual imagery

Answer 26

A type of mental imagery involving vision, in which an image is experienced in the absence of a visual stimulus. Sergio Della Sala and coworkers (1999) conducted experiment where people use visual imagery to fill in matrices. Lee Brooks (1968) conducted experiment where pointing and visualisng interfered in a task due to both being visuospatial. Speaking did not interfere due to being phonological.

Question 27

Articulatory suppression

Answer 27

Interference with operation of the phonological loop that occurs when a person repeats an irrelevant word such as “the” while carrying out a task that requires the phonological loop.

Question 28

Central executive

Answer 28

The part of working memory that coordinates the activity of the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketch pad. The “traffic cop” of the working memory system.

Question 29

Mental rotation

Answer 29

Rotating an image of an object in the mind. Roger Shepard and Jacqueline Metzler (1971) conducted experiment demonstrating that people create mental images and rotate them mentally to determine if they are the same. the more the image needed to be rotated, the longer the response.

Question 30

Preservation

Answer 30

Difficulty in switching from one behavior to another, which can hinder a person’s ability to solve problems that require flexible thinking. Perseveration is observed in cases in which the prefrontal cortex has been damaged.

Question 31

Episodic buffer

Answer 31

A component added to Baddeley’s original working memory model that serves as a “backup” store that communicates with both long-term memory and the components of working memory. It holds information longer and has greater capacity than the phonological loop or visuospatial sketch pad.

Question 32

Delayed response task

Answer 32

A task in which information is provided, a delay is imposed, and then memory is tested. This task has been used to study short-term memory by testing monkeys’ ability to hold information about the location of a food reward during a delay.

Question 33

Activity-silent working memory

Answer 33

Short-term changes in neural network connectivity that has been hypothesized as a mechanism for holding information in working memory. Proposed by Mark Stokes (2015).

Question 34

Reading span

Answer 34

Measure used by Daneman and Carpenter to determine individual differences in working memory. It is the number of 13- to 16-word sentences that a person can read and then correctly remember the last words of all of the sentences.

Question 35

Reading span test

Answer 35

The test used by Daneman and Carpenter to measure reading span.

Question 36

Event-related potential (ERP)

Answer 36

An electrical potential, recorded with disc electrodes on a person’s scalp, that reflects the response of many thousands of neurons near the electrode that fire together. The ERP consists of a number of waves that occur at different delays after a stimulus is presented and that can be linked to different functions. For example, the N400 wave occurs in response to a sentence that contains a word that doesn’t fit the meaning of the sentence.

Question 37

Capacity of short-term memory

Answer 37

Lloyd Peterson and Margaret Peterson (1959) in the United States presented participants with three letters, such as FZL or BHM, followed by a number, such as 403. Participants were instructed to begin counting backwards by threes from that number. This was done to keep participants from rehearsing the letters. Participants correctly recalled about 80 percent of the three letter groups when they had counted for only 3 seconds, but recalled only about 12 percent of the groups after counting for 18 seconds. Results such as this have led to the conclusion that the effective duration of STM is about 15 to 20 seconds or less. *Luck and Vogel (1997) determined about four items with change detection experiment.* Alvarez and Cavanagh (2004) demonstrated less for more complex visual stimuli. George Miller (1956) 7 items give or take 2.

Question 38

Funahashi and Stokes both focused on which concept relating to memory?

Answer 38

Delay