STM & WM

Question 1

What are the 3 things memory researchers are concerned about?

Answer 1

Type of things memory can hold (memory code)

Limiting factors of memory (capacity and duration)

Processes that allow info to enter and exit memory

Question 2

What evidence shows that memory doesn’t act as a unitary system?

Answer 2

We can remember input for diff amounts of time

Type of stimulus influence duration of memory

Double-dissociation between long-term and short-term memory

Question 3

Encoding
Storage
Retrieval

Answer 3

Initial processing of info
Retention of encoded info
Brain’s ability to access stores info for some cognitive purposes

Question 4

Atkinson and Shiffrin
Multi-store (modal) model of memory

Answer 4

3 distinct memory stores:
Sensory (Unattended info lost through attention)
- ~1 sec

Short-term (Unrehearsed info is lost through encoding)
- 15-30 secs

Long-term (Some info may be lost over time)

Question 5

Sensory store investigation (Sperling)

Answer 5

Looked at how much we can encode during a single brief instance

Whole report procedure done (ppl asked to remember as many letters as they can
- Only remembered 3-4 items

When partial report done (report one row only)
- Only 3 items remembered

Question 6

Capacity and duration of iconic memory
(Sensory store investigation)

Answer 6

3-4 visual items
~15 ms

Question 7

Duration of echoic (sound) and tactile (touch) sensory memory

Answer 7

4-5 seconds

Question 8

Persistence of vision

Answer 8

Retention of an image of an object or event for a brief period after it’s no longer present

Question 9

Rehearsal

Answer 9

Keeps info in STM and helps pass it on to LTM

Question 10

George Miller
Capacity of STM

Answer 10

Magical Number 7+/- 2

We remember in STM thru meaningful groups if info (chunk)

Question 11

Naveh-Benjamin and Ayres
Coding and storage

Answer 11

Tested how much of digit span you can remember between languages

As # of syllables for digit increases (bcuz of language), digit span items remembered decreases
- The more you can say in a second, the more you can remember

Question 12

True or false?
STM span is smaller for rhyming lists

Answer 12

True

STM stored acoustically (verbally)
- Similar sounding words make it harder to differentiate

Question 13

Capacity of visual STM

Answer 13

3-4 visual items

Question 14

Maintenance rehearsal

Answer 14

Mental repetition of info in STM which reactivates the initial encoding

Question 15

Baddeley’s Working Memory model

Visuo-spatial sketch pad
Central executive
Phonological loop

Answer 15

Working memory allows us to temporarily store and manipulate info
- Capacity differs between people
- No exact duration bcuz WM is actively manipulating material

Temporary store for visual info
Processing component that takes input from the visual and verbal store
Temporary store for verbal info

Question 16

Articulatory rehearsal process
Articulatory suppression
(Baddeley’s working memory model)

Answer 16

Process allowing info to be processed from visual to verbal code

Saying a verbal utterance out loud occupies the articulatory rehearsal process
- Disrupts recall
- Reduces/eliminates phonological similarity effect and word length effect

Question 17

Result of Vogel’s study on working memory

Answer 17

Ppl w/ high WM capacity are able to ignore irrelevant input
- Allows them to have more resources available

Question 18

Operation span task
- What do they correlate with?
- What are researchers who use this interested in?

Answer 18

Correlated w/ academic performance

Interested in individual diffs in task performance

Question 19

Why doesn’t Baddeley’s working memory model address the binding problem?

Answer 19

Not sure how chunking increases WM capacity independently from attention

Everyday WM performance suggests capacity is much higher than lab findings (4 +/-1)

Question 20

Episodic buffer
(Revised Baddeley’s working memory model)

Answer 20

Integrates info from diff modalities into a complete memory
- Binds info from WM components and LTM
- Limited capacity buffer controlled by central executive

Question 21

Proactive interference
Retroactive interference

Answer 21

Info encoded earlier interferes with something you learn in the future

Info encoded later interferes with something you learned in the last

Question 22

Working memory is correlated with what?
(Conway)

Answer 22

General intelligence

Question 23

Cowan’s working memory model

Answer 23

Domain general
Assumes parallel activation
- WM is just a memory we’re attending

Question 24

Recurrent neural networks (RNNs)

Answer 24

Applied to sequential data that contain recurrent nodes that loop output back into themselves as inputs
- Allows them to process past and current inputs simultaneously
- Useful for processing present input with previous input