w8 Flashcards
what is the law of repetition
More (maintenance) rehearsal- better retention
what is encoding/acquisition
- Transformation from perceptual representations into
cognitive/attentional focus - Attention to select between what is relevant and what is left out
what is storage/maintenance
how information is kept in the focus of attention (STM) or in long term storage (LTM)
what is retrieval
Bringing back into focus of attention
3 elements of the MSM
sensory memory, STM, LTM
what does the sensory store do when there are intermittent blanks
Fills in the blanks
what is the function of the sensory store
To keep sensory information in mind so we can attend to it
iconic memory –
vision
echoic memory-
hearing
haptic memory-
touch
olfactory memory-
smell
gustatory memory-
taste
does info in the sensory store need attention
no
info in the sensory memory is pre-categorical, meaning…
it is not yet interpreted
what did Sperling conclude about the capacity of iconic memory
Large amount held in iconic memory (perhaps anything entering the visual system
what did Sperling conclude about the duration of iconic memory
After about 250-500 ms, performance approached full-report condition
function of STM
Conscious processing of information
why is attention so important for STM
Limits what info comes under the spotlight of short-term memory at any given time
what is the capacity of STM
Magical number 7±2
how can capacity of STM be increased
chunking
define chunking
repackaging of material into conceptual unit
what does chunking require
requires recoding (strategy from LTM)
issue with magical number 7±2
many studies show drop off after 4 items, original experiment allowed for chunking
what is Stenberg’s slope
People scan STM in a serial exhaustive fashion (don’t stop even if a match is found)- the scan rate is about 38 ms per item
what has STM from MSM been replaced by
WMM
what is the duration of the STM
If not rehearsed, info is lost within ± 15-20 sec
define rehearsal
the process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking about the information
what is retroactive forgetting
new learning interferes with old memory
what is proactive forgetting
old learning interferes with new memory
what makes interference more likely
- stimuli similar
- learning of large volumes of info
- learning material close together in time
- learning in the same context
function of the LTM
Organises and stores information
capacity of LTM
unlimited
duration of LTM
permanent
what does WMM say STM is
A “mental workspace” which is the basis for thought
what is the central executive
-modality-free
-central pool of mental resources
-control & decision processes
(cf. attention)
-no real storage
what is the phonological loop
-”inner ear & voice”
-verbal rehearsal
-info = speech-based
what is the episodic buffer
-holds and integrates diverse information
what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad
-”inner eye”
-spatial and/or visual coding
what is the evidence for the phonological loop
Phonological similarity effect
Word length effect
Unattended speech effect
Articulatory suppression effect
what is the phonological similarity effect
errors more likely to be phonologically similar to correct item, more likely to misremember if items sound similar
what is the word length effect
The memory span for short words is greater than for long words
what is the unattended speech effect
Performance impaired if other verbal material needs to be ignored
what is articulatory suppression
when we prevent rehearsal by articulation of other information
what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad
A system for setting up and manipulating images and spatial movement
2 components of the visuospatial sketchpad are:
visual cache: visual information about shape & colour (the “what”)
inner scribe: spatial & movement information (the “where”)
function of the visuospatial sketchpad
construction, maintenance, manipulation of mental images
what is the central executive
an attentional system which can maintain task goals and goal-related information and use this to direct / bias your processing
does CE have storage
no
roles of the CE
Directing attention to task, updating of task at hand
Switching/shifting between strategies
Selective attention & inhibition
location of CE
prefrontal cortex
what is dysexecutive syndrome
Disruption of CE due to frontal lobe damage
define catatonia
remain motionless and speechless for hours due to inability to initiate schemas
perseverance is
inability to sort by value
utilisation behaviour is
automatic responding to cues in environment- failure to focus attention
what do people with Alzheimer’s struggle to do
distribute attention between two tasks
what can the episodic buffer do
integrate information into single complex structure (episode)
coding of episodic buffer
multidimensional
capacity of episodic buffer
4 pieces/chunks of info in multidimensional code
episodic buffer assists in binding, which is…
integrating information about location, colour, size, etc. of objects and scenes
