Task 1

Question 1

What are the three main distinctions among different types of memory according to the Atkinson and Shiffrin model?

Answer 1

1. Sensory memory
2. Short-term memory
3. Long-term memory

Question 2

What is meant by sensory memory in Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model?

Answer 2

Brief, transient sensations of what has just been perceived. Information automatically and rapidly decays

Question 3

What is meant by short-term memory in Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model?

Answer 3

Temporary memory that can be maintained as long as it rehearsed/consciously attended to.

Question 4

What is meant by long-term memory in Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model?

Answer 4

Memories can be retained for long periods, or permanently, without requiring ongoing maintenance/conscious attention.

Question 5

What are transient memories?

Answer 5

Nonpermanent memories that last seconds or minutes; in the Atkinson-Shiffrin model, they correspond to sensory and short-term memory.

Question 6

What is ‘depth of processing’?

Answer 6

Level of activity devoted to processing new information

Question 7

What does Baddeley’s working-memory model consist of?

Answer 7

A visuo-spatial sketchpad and a phonological loop, both controlled by a central executive and stored separately.

Question 8

Which two important distinctions does the Baddeley working-memory model make?

Answer 8

1. It distinguishes between two processes: manipulation (memory buffers) and maintenance (central executive).
2. Its two buffers are material-specific: one stores verbal material and the other stores object and location material.

Question 9

What is the Sperling Task? And what does it show?

Answer 9

– People are presented with 3x4 visual array. Once latter is removed, one of three tones are played. Each tone represents a row of letters. Participants are indicated to report row corresponding to tone.

• Results show that participants can report 75% of letters, and only 30-40% when asked to report total array.
• It means that people have visual memory that persists for very short time but includes all items recently seen.

Question 10

How are each memories forgotten?

Answer 10

Sensory memory: Decay
Short-term memory: Displacement
Long-term memory: Interference

Question 11

How is short-term memory limited in ability to hold information?

Answer 11

• limited in capacity

- limited to what we can pay attention to

Question 12

What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad in Baddeley’s model?

Answer 12

Mental workspace for storing and manipulating both visual and spatial information.

Question 13

How can we test the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 13

Delayed nonmatch-to-sample-task
- monkeys have to learn to remember which unique sample was seen previously and hold this memory in visuo-spatial memory until presented with choice.

Question 14

What is the phonological loop in Baddeley’s model?

Answer 14

It holds auditory memories, maintaining them by means of internal speech rehearsal. Average phonological loop can retain 2 seconds’ worth of speech.

Question 15

What test was used to see if visuo-spatial sketchpad and phonological loop are independent?

Answer 15

Dual-task experiment
-Participants are asked to imagine a * travelling along periphery of letter ‘F’. Whenever it turns a corner, participants have to signal whether it turned at extreme corner rather than at some intermediate corner.

Question 16

What cognitive functions require executive control?

Answer 16

• Controlled Updating of short-term memory buffers
• Setting goals and planing
• Task switching
• Stimulus selection and response inhibition

Question 17

How can researchers test the executive controls’ controlled updating of STM buffers?

Answer 17

• N-Back task

- Petrides’ self-ordered memory task

Question 18

How can researchers test the executive controls’ ability to set goals and plan?

Answer 18

• Tower of Hanoi

Question 19

How can researchers test the executive controls’ Task switching ability?

Answer 19

• Wisconsin Card Sort Test

Question 20

How can researchers test the executive controls’ ability to select stimuli and inhibit responses?

Answer 20

• Stroop task

Question 21

What is the Dysexecutive Syndrome? And how can it be tested?

Answer 21

• Disrupted ability to think, plan and organize.

- Wisconsin Card Sort Test - people show perseveration

Question 22

What is the Wisconsin Card Sort Test?

Answer 22

• Participants are shown cards with graphics that differ in color, shape and number. They are asked to sort them by any of these dimensions. Later, after sorting rule is learned, task changes without warning and participant must learn new rule for sorting, based on one of other dimensions.
• requires learning a rule, keeping it in mind, learning to change the rule and keep track of new one without confusing with old.

Question 23

How is Goldman-Rakic’s eye gaze response test of spatial memory in monkeys structured?

Answer 23

– Monkeys begin task by fixating central point and keeping focus on that central spot when a cue (b) appears on periphery. After cue is removed (c), there is delay of several seconds before central spot disappears. Afterwards (d), monkeys are rewarded if they shift gaze to place on screen where cue had previously appeared.

Question 24

How does the frontal brain activity look like during the Goldman-Rakic task?

Answer 24

• many PFC neurons only fire during delay period, when animal are required to maintain information about spatial location of object

Question 25

What is the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex responsible for?

Answer 25

• Supports encoding and retrieval of information (passive rehearsal for maintenance), performing roles of visuo-spatial sketchpad (right) and phonological rehearsal loops (left) as proposed by Baddeley’s model.

Question 26

How can the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex be separated?

Answer 26

• Anterior regions: activated during tasks involving semantic processing
• Posterior regions: activated during phonological processing

Question 27

What is the Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex responsible for?

Answer 27

Supports higher-order executive-control functions, such as monitoring and manipulating stored information. It functions much like Baddeley’s central executive.

Question 28

Are there anatomical distinctions between the two material-specific rehearsal stores?

Answer 28

Spatial and object working memory are localized differently.

- with spatial working-memory task

Question 29

What are the two most common disorders involving dysfunctional prefrontal circuits?

Answer 29

• Schizophrenia and ADHD

Question 30

What was observed in Schizophrenic patients when performing the Wisconsin Card Sort Test?

Answer 30

• DLPFC of people with schizophrenia showed no evidence of increased blood flow; the greater the blood flow in , the better patients performed task.

Question 31

What might be the reason for people to become schizophrenic?

Answer 31

• deficiencies in cortical dopamine processing.
• schizophrenia patients have more D1 (dopamine recepto) receptors, because DLPFC tries to compensate a lack of sufficient dopamine release in PFC by adding more receptors.

Question 32

What are the effects of gene mutation on frontal-lobe function?

Answer 32

• The more copies of bad COMT gene, the less prefrontal-cortex activity

Question 33

Which three fundamental mental processes have been identified by researchers in memory?

Answer 33

1. Encoding - occurs when information is translated into a form that can be processed mentally. We label it in various ways, before placing it into memory.
2. Storage - occurs when information is maintained in memory for some period of time (from seconds to years).
3. Retrieval - occurs when information is activated in a way that can influence other mental events and behaviors.

Question 34

How can the visuo-spatial sketchpad be tested?

Answer 34

Delayed nonmatch-to-sample task

Question 35

How can the phonological loop be tested?

Answer 35

World-length-effect

Question 36

How can the independence of the VSS and PL be tested?

Answer 36

Dual-task experiment