unit 4: immediate/short term memory Flashcards
What are the capacities and durations of each of the memory systems in the modal model?
Sensory memory: large capacity; very brief duration
Short-term memory: small capacity; short duration
Long-term memory: large capacity; very long duration
example of a method used to investigate sensory memory
-“Span of apprehension” - what the system registers in one glance (flash of words)
4-5 items
-Whole Report vs. Partial Report
Entire array vs. specific line in an array
What is the Brown-Peterson task? In general, what does it demonstrate?
- present items to be remembered (count backward by 3s starting with 954)
- prevent participant from rehearsing
- request recall of info after a delay
- record proportion of info recalled
used to demonstrate the limited duration of STM
According to Miller, what is the “magical number”?
7 +/- 2 (amount of discrete items held in STM)
Why does the primacy effect occur?
initial items are stored in long-term memory more efficiently
Why does the recency effect occur?
last few items are still in working memory and are readily available
What is meant by “chunking”?
- A unit or grouping of information held in STM
- functionally increases how much we can hold in STM
- PANAMA = 1 chunk, NA MA PA = 3 chunks
What factors might influence whether a person is able to chunk info in STM?
-characteristics of presentation like speed
-knowledge base (expert vs. novice chess players)
What is the Word Length Effect?
List of short words are recalled better than long words
What is the Phonological Similarity Effect?
Similar sounding items are more difficult to remember than different sounding items
What are two explanations of why we forget info in STM?
Decay: loss of info due to passage of time
Interference: loss of info due to influence of other info
proactive interference
earlier info interferes with ability to remember later info
retroactive interference
later info interferes with ability to remember earlier info
What is meant by “release from proactive interference”?
the improvement of memory that occurs when new information is dissimilar to previously learned information
Short-term memory
-where current and recently attended info is held
-sometimes loosely equated with attention & consciousness
Working memory
-maintains features of STEM, but more complex
-where conscious processing takes place
-contains executive controller
-in charge of devoting conscious processing resources to the various other components in the memory system
Articulatory loop
phonological store: temporarily hold info
subvocal rehearsal: rehearse/repeat info
not necessarily vocal
Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad
for storage & manipulation of visual and spatial info
What is meant by “articulatory suppression”?
Speaking while being presented with an item to remember
no word length effect or phonological similarity effect
What’s the basic purpose of the Central Executive in Baddeley’s model of WM?
Controls attention
deploys appropriate resources
responsible for higher level thought processes
What’s the basic purpose of the Episodic Buffer in Baddeley’s model of WM?
-Temporary storage of multimodal code
-integrates info from various WM components, integrates across time and space, integrates with LTM
-controlled by CE and interacts with LTM
Dual-task method
visual-spatial sketchpad and articulatory loop do not interfere with one another
Neuropsychological evidence
different components of WM correspond to activation of different brain areas
What is a simple span task, and what does it measure?
Recall items in order after they have been presented in a sequence
measures STM
What is a complex span task, and what does it measure?
-read equation aloud
-determine if equation is correct or incorrect
-read the target word aloud & try to -remember it for a later recall test
measures WM
complex span performance predicts…
- a variety of higher-order cognitive tasks
- better inhibition (being able to ignore distractions)
Systems view
refer to separate memory systems to explain memory function
- modal model
- working memory
Unitary view
claim that immediate memory is not a separate set of mechanisms or processes, but rather, it’s the currently activated portion of long-term memory
