Working Memory& Executive Function Flashcards
Short Term Memory (STM) and it’s importance to Working Memory
STM occupies working memory—> seed of consciousness (Where the actions happens)
LTM is for storing info.
*STM lasts only about 15-20s—> much longer than sensory memory
STM: Bottleneck Concept & Span of Apprehension
STM: The neck of in an hour glass
Span of Apprehension- is just the amount of STM can hold and is a facet of all IQ tests
Miller’s Magic Number Theory
Magic number 7 plus or minus 2
~ 7 + or -
-This magic number reflects the number of units of info.; often called CHUNKS; Between 5 or 9 things we can pay attention to (Chunks)
Schmitt (1981)
Showed that grouping of categories is an ex. of adaptation of chunking to other tasks
*Gave a task with three conditions; no instruction, active rehearsal, and strategy—> People with strategy, had the best recall
Chunks Meaningless Concept
Take a meaningful concept, break it down into parts—> makes it meaningless
Chunks Meaningful Concept
Can makes chunks meaningful by creating #’s that have meaning
*Things that are personally meaningful, easily accessible.
Mneomincs
*Anything that helps you remember something (mental only)
For it to work needs to be peaceful, meaningful
Language Comprehesnion
Lanuage comprehesnsion recoding—> Putting something into your own words—> setting something up to go into semantic memory
Intervention…
Doesn’t allow decay or interference, but prevents encoding
Interference (Proactive and Retroactive)
- Proactive Interference: the first thing that you learn, prevents you from learning later things
- Retroactive Interference: Learn something new, and it prevents something learned before that,
Clears Proactive Interference by…
Changing the stimulus clears out proactive interference… want to do this bc we basically want to unlearn something
Interference vs. Decay
Interference is more common than decay..
-Delay seldom happens because there is always something going on
Primacy Effect and Recency Effect
- Primacy Effect: Accuracy of recalls for the early list positions
- Recency Effect: Accuracy of correct recall on the last items presented on a list
“We remember the 1st things and the last things, but things in the middle suffer”
Weak Primacy
Is the result of poor rehearsal example of list presentations where time is varied
~Stuff at beginning should have easy recall, but doesn’t always happen due to factors (Ex. interference)
Rehearsal Buffer
A mental recycling system for holding info. temporarily
…more short term memory
Sternberg Task
“We go from a parallel process to a serial process”
- Sternberg’s Task—> showed levels of capacity in memory (working memory)…falls apart under great stress.
- When stressed, we go towards more serial processing
Codes
3 types of codes used in STM:
-Acoustic Articular Code: sound or the pronunciation—> sound codes, however also overlaps with language
- Semantic codes: are like a neural net model—> codes based upon MEANING..useful for problem solving…*Higher levels of STM
- Visual codes: mental rotation studies; manipulation visual images similar to the game tetris
Working Memory
Baddely wanted to investigate the ROLE OF WORKING MEMORY, not the description of working memory… He had 3 components of working memory:
- Articulatory rehearsal loop (sounds)
- Visuospatial sketchpad (visual)
- Central executive (semantic memory; decision making)
Central Executive, Visual spatial sketchpad, and Articular rehearsal loop
*Organized with a hierarchy
“Resources can be shared between the two, the central executive allows and determines this”
~Slave system—> another higher up system has access to them
Central Executive, Visual spatial sketchpad, and Central executive continued…
~Central Executive: Responsible for… making decisions, planning, oversees memory storage and retrieval, and also inhibition—> either going with a decision or suppressing it
***Central executive is you, it is your consciousness and self awareness
~ Visual spatial sketchpad and articulatory rehearsal loop are slave systems
Slave Systems
Lowlevel processors, they are domain specific, and have their own pool of resources.
*Utilizing all 3 systems at once has NEGATIVE consequences due to capacity
-The draining goes up from slave (visual spatial and auditory rehearsal loop) to executive: slave will suffer because Central executive is going to take the resources
Wisconsin Card Sort Test
Top cards have 4 different factors, bottom you have a card…have to sort it, you have to guess.
Results can either be by number of objects, color, shape…Then criteria changes—> Shows errors that count
***Even when consciously aware that criteria has changed, old tasks occasionally creep in and mess us up.
Controlled attention and working memory…
Controlled attention correlates with working memory= consciousness.
~N-back task—> showed higher rate of interference with working memory
Negative Priming, Gamboz (2002) did an experiment with it…
Negative Priming is when a distracter on a previous trial becomes a target on the current..
- It increases reaction time
- Short term memory has the response code lingering
The Atkinson Model
Stimulus—>Sensory memory—>STM—>LTM
***“Our decisions are made in STM…place for integration and work
The Frontal Lobe Connection
Case studies on injuries to the frontal lobe has shown dramatic changes in memory, decision making, and personality
*Damage to the frontal lobes leads to dysexecutive syndrome—> “The central executive was damaged”
Mild Cognitive Impairment
(MCI) is a disorder similar to dementia found in older adults
Ex: Forgetting where your keys are, forgetting dorctor’s appts., having to write things down bc forgetful of important things.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD) has neurological evidence indicating involvement of the frontal lobe
***ADHD individuals have trouble with inhibiton (impulse control), which is handled by teh central executive. And spatial attention , handled by the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
