Short Term Memory

Question 1

What are early views on memory?

Answer 1

Memory has been of interest since antiquity
-Plato proposed that memory is like a tablet of wax.

-for centuries, memory was seen as a passive store

-However, experimental research in the last century has identified several functions:
Encoding,storage, retrieval and processing of information.

Question 2

What neuropsychology evidence suggests memory is made of two components?

Answer 2

Scoville & Milner 1957

• HM a patient suffering from epilepsy underwent surgery.
• ablation of sorts of his right and left temporal load occurred (including two thirds of hippocampus and amygdala)

results :
After surgery he was unable to store new memories into long term memory. But could perform tasks that required short term memory. E.G holding a convo.

-He had an intact short term memory but damaged long term memory.

Question 3

What neurobiological evidence is there for two memory systems?

Answer 3

Kandle 2001

Long term memory and short term memory use different biological mechanisms

Question 4

Outline Murdock experiment (1962)

Answer 4

• used a free recall task
• tested hypothesis that there are two different memory systems
• participants had to remember lists of 10,15,20,30 and 40 words
• presentation time for each item was 1s or 2s
• they were asked to immediately recall

He found a serial curve, with primacy and regency effects.

Question 5

Outline postman and Phillips research

Answer 5

Tested hypothesis of two memory systems

-free recall paradigm with lists of 10,20 and 30 words

• two main conditions :
  1. No retention interval
  2. recall after a delay of 15 or 30 seconds, filled in with a counting task

-The presence of a retention interval led to the elimination of the recency effect.

Question 6

What is the primacy effect?

Answer 6

The probability of getting words correct from a free recall task correct as they are placed first serially on the list

Question 7

What is the recency effect?

Answer 7

The probability of getting a word correct on a free recall task as they are placed serially last on a list but only if there is not interval between the encoding of the list.

Question 8

Outline the procedure of Waugh and Normas research (1965)

Answer 8

Participants were shown a list of digits

• they were given a probe: one of the digits in the list
• their task was to retrieve the digit following the probe:
• Particpants have to focus on one digit rather than the entire lists, this technique suppresses rehearsal.

Question 9

Outline the results of Waugh and Normans experiment

Answer 9

Weak memory for last items

-suppressing rehearsal eliminates recency effect

Question 10

What has research into the MSM found about memory?

Answer 10

• there is a component in memory that temporarily stores information for a short while
• if the information is not rehearsed, then it is lost.
• if there are interferences (counting backwards), then it is lost

Question 11

Summarise atkinsons and shrifins model of memory

Answer 11

-It is a cognitive architecture which is proposed, with three major stages:

• Input is received
• the input turn generates cognitive processing
• some behaviour is produced- the output of the system
• Memory stores are places where information is maintained and processed
• Control processes regulate and control the information flow between the memory components

Question 12

What is architecture with regards to memory?

Answer 12

the way in which the memory system is organised

Question 13

What is processes with regards to memory?

Answer 13

The activities occurring within the memory system.

Question 14

Outline Atkinsons and Shriffins. Model

Answer 14

• stimuli of input is received by the sensory register
• it is then transferred into the Short term memory. There is a rehearsal buffer.
• if the information in the stm is rehearsed enough it will be transferred to the LTM and stored there.

Question 15

Describe the sensory register in the atkinsons and shriffins model

Answer 15

• it will temporarily store information of sensations until the information is forwarded to the short term store.
• the information is modality specific which is held for a few hundred milliseconds
• the information is not accessible to consciousness
• the memory capacity of the sensory register is large

Question 16

Describe the long term store in the Atkinson and Shrifins model

Answer 16

• holds all the information that one has acquire through learning
• information is stored permanently
• capacity is assumed to be infinite
• Insensitive to interferences

Question 17

Describe the short term memory store in the Atkinson and shriffins model

Answer 17

• Holds and processes information in all modalities
• organises information to produce behaviour
• information is sensitive to interferences
• forgetting is rapid in absence of rehearsal
• items must be rehearsed constantly to avoid forgetting
• Short term memory is also called:
• primary memory
• immediate memory
• working memory

-conscious experience occurs at this store

Question 18

What do control processes do in the Atkinson and shriffins model?

Answer 18

Control the input of the short term store

• filter the amount and quality of the information coming from the sensory registers (attention or selective attention)
• Control how much information and which information is retrieved from the long-term store

They select what type of cognitive operations are applied to the information held in the short-term store.

Question 19

What are incorrect assumptions about atkinsons and shriffins model for long term memory?

Answer 19

items are encoded in long term memory as a result of their stay in the short term store:

• Items can be processed frequently in short term memory without it being store in long term memory
• what matters is not the amount of rehearsing but the type of rehearsing

Question 20

What are incorrect assumptions about the short term memory in Atkinson and shriffins model?

Answer 20

Short term store is considered to process unitary information:

• Assumes that there are no differences in the type of information used
• but short term memory deals with at least two types of information (verbal information and visual-spatial information)

Short term store can be considered as a unit:

• resources engaged by one process are not available for another process (this is not the case)
• baddley and hitch dual task technique

Question 21

Outline how forgett

Answer 21

Decay theory of forgetting:

-Forgetting is due to decay (the fading of memory traces)

Question 22

Describe the interference theory of forgetting

Answer 22

Forgetting is due to interferences caused by neural events

• two types:
• Proactive interference: influence of previously learnt items on the learning of new material

-Retroactive interference: The influence for new items on previously learnt items

The more similar new items are to items in memory in particular semantic information forgetting is more likely.

Question 23

What did Baddeley and Hitch question about the short term store and what did they develop?

Answer 23

The concept of the short term store being one component As proposed by Atkinson and Shriffin

-the working memory model

Question 24

What components make up the working memory model?

Answer 24

• Central executive
• phonological loop
• visual-spatial sketch pad
• episodic buffer

Question 25

Describe the phonological loop

Answer 25

Dedicated to speech-based information

-consists of two sub components that cooperate

Articulatory control system
phonological store :
-holds items online in a passive way, in either an acoustic or a phonological format
-the activation of items decreases over time
-information is lost if it is not refreshed
-this happens after two seconds, on average

Question 26

How does the rehearsal process occur in the phonological loop?

Answer 26

Visual input is recorded into its phonological equivalent by an orthographic to phonological translator

Auditory input passes a phonological detector in charge of detecting words.

Question 27

What is the output of the phonological loop?

Answer 27

Spoken words.

Question 28

Describe the visuospatial sketchpad

Answer 28

Holds and manipulates visuospatial information

Only 3 to 4 items can be held simultaneously

Items are subject to decay

Question 29

Describe the two components that make up the VSS

Answer 29

Visual cache- holds visuospatial information

Inner scribe- carries out cognitive operations on this information (e.g rotating an object)

Question 30

What mechanisms has the VSSP have to process information?

Answer 30

Visual format

Spatial format

Question 31

Describe the central executive

Answer 31

Monitors attentional processes:

• dividing attention
• switching attention
• focusing attention on task relevant items

Question 32

Describe the function of the CE

Answer 32

Controls information flow between the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad

Controls information arriving from the sense and supervises retrieval from memory

Question 33

What is a limitation of the CE and why?

Answer 33

It is a component that has not been the focus of much research:

-perhaps due to the fact that it is difficult to pinpoint its specific properties.

Question 34

Describe the episodic buffer

Answer 34

Coordinates information between two slave systems

Aims to explain we perceive things as a whole rather than discrete parts

Integration of information in single precepts is done in the episodic buffer

Also integrates information from long term memory

Integrated information is stored/held and is available to consciousness

Span of episodic buffer reflects performance of working memory.

Question 35

What limitations of MSM does the WMM address?

Answer 35

• It does better job than atkinson and shriffins model at accounting for the data on STM
• It offers useful framework for organising a large amount of empirical data on working memory

Question 36

What Is the WMM limitations?

Answer 36

It is vague on many details such as how does the CE inter grate information from different modalities

The phonological store and articulation mechanism have been challenged

Question 37

What does Cohan’s theory of working memory suggest about STM?

Answer 37

Working memory emerges as the interaction of processes talking place at different levels.

Question 38

What three components does Cohan’s working memory theory consists of?

Answer 38

Central executive
Long term memory
Short term store

Question 39

Describe the CE in Cohan’s working memory model?

Answer 39

Allocates attention to task relevant stimuli and monitors voluntary processing

Question 40

Describe the long term memory in Cohan’s working memory model

Answer 40

The central component of the theory

Emphasises dynamic nature of memory

Memory records have a level of activation which reflects their accessibility to consciousness

Question 41

Describe the short term store in Cowan working memory model

Answer 41

Contains Set of records available for processing by central executive

Question 42

What does CWMM suggest about how information is processed ?

Answer 42

It can only be processed when it is under the focus of attention

Question 43

What is the three level view of memory processing for CWMM

Answer 43

1. Set of long term memory records that are not activated and are outside the scope of central executive active processes
2. Set of activated memory records that constitute the stm store but that are not focused upon
3. Set of items under the focus of attention that can benefit from cognitive operations

Question 44

CWM what should i do

Answer 44

Read the book cos slides are shit