Working & Short Term Memory (CH 5) Flashcards
What is Memory?
-Process involved in retaining, retrieving & using info about stimuli, images, events, ideas, skills after info is not longer present
What is Long Term Memory?
- Storing info for long periods of time
- LTM can extend from minutes to a lifetime
What are the different types of Long Term Memories?
- Episodic= memories of past experiences
- Procedural= how to do things/ involve muscle coordination
- Semantic= facts
Why is Sensory Memory useful?
- Helps us when we’re watching movies
- How much info we take in immediately
- How much info remains .5 sec later
Why is Short-Term Memory useful?
-It’s everything you know/ think about each moment in time
What is the Modal Model of Memory?
- Dynamic processes associated w/ structural features= can be controlled by a person & may differ from task to task
- Proposed 3 types of memory= Structural Features
- Process of input transforming into LTM
What are the 3 Structural Features of the Modal Model of Memory?
- Sensory=Inital stage that hold incoming info for secs/ fractions of secs
- Short Term= hold 5-9 items for 15-20 secs
- Long Term= Large amount of info for years/ decades
What strategies are helpful for remembering info?
- Rehearsal= Control process on STM
- Making stimulus relate to something you already know
What is Encoding?
-Process of storing info in LTM
What is Retrieval?
-Process of remembering info that is stored in LTM
What is Sensory Memory?
-Retention, for brief periods of time, of the effects of sensory stimulation
How are light trails from sparklers an example of Sensory Memory?
- Retention of perception of light in the mind from a light trail of a sparkler
- Persistance of Vision helps movies appear smoother by retaining image of previous frame to fill in the darkness between frames
What is Persistence of Vision?
-Continued perception of visual stimulus after it is no longer present
What was Sperling’s experiment focused on? (1960)
- How much info people can take in from briefly presented stimuli
- Flashed array of letters for 50ms & asked participants to report as many letters as possible
- Experimented w/ 3 different report methods
What 4 conclusions did Sperling draw from his experiment?
- Short lived memory registers all/ most info that hits our visual receptors
- Info decays in less than a sec
- Brief Sensory Memory= Iconic Memory/ Visual Icon corresponds to sensory memory stage
- Sound persists in mind as Echoic Memory bc sound lasted few seconds in mind after letters were presented
What were the 3 report methods that Sperling used in his Experiment?
- Whole report= Reporting letters
- Partial report= Reporting letters in corresponding row that tone indicated (High tone= Highest row, etc)
- Delayed Partial report= Delayed tone after letters were flashed
What is Short Term Memory?
- System involved in storing small amounts of info for a brief period of time
- Our window to the present
How long does Short Memory last?
-15-20 secs or less
How many ITEMS can be stored in Short Term Memory?
- Range of 4-9
- Can be dependent on Digit Span, Change Detection, and Chunking
What is Digit Span in Short Term Memory?
- Number of digits a person can remember
- Average is 5-9
What is Change Detection in Short Term Memory?
- Set limit at 4 items
- Experiment (Luck & Vogels) determining if 1st image of colorful squares is the same as the 2nd image of squares
- Participants could only easily recognize if it was the same at a max of 4 squares shown
What is Chunking in Short Term Memory?
- Small units can be combined into larger, meaningful units
- Defined as a collection of elements that are strongly associated w/ one another but weak w/ other element
- Forming words into meaningful sentences increases memory span of 20+ words
How much INFO can be held in Short Term Memory?
- The greater amount info in an image, the fewer the items that can be held in visual short term memory
- Alvarez & Cavanagh= shaded 3D cubes are more complex stimuli vs colored squares= participants had easier time to make judgement w/ simpler stimuli
What is Working Memory?
- Limited capacity system for temporary storage &; manipulation of info for complex tasks (comprehension, learning, reasoning)
- Baddeley concluded that working memory must be dynamic & consist of 3 components that function separately
- Crucial source of individual differences in reading span
What are the 3 Components of the Working Memory?
- Phonological Loop
- Visuospatial Sketchpad
- Central Executive
What does the Phonological Loop component of Working Memory do?
- Holds verbal & auditory info
- Houses Phonological store= Limited capacity & only holds info for few secs
- Houses Articulatory Rehearsal Process= responsible for rehearsal to keep items in Phonological store from decaying
What does the Visuospatial Sketchpad component of the Working memory do?
- Holds visual & spatial info
- Formin picture in your mind/ doing tasks like solving a puzzle
What does the Central Executive component of the Working Memory do?
- Pulls info from long term memory & coordinates the activity to the phonological loop &V.S sketchpad by focusing on specific parts of a task &deciding how to divide attention between tasks
- Traffic cop of WMS
What are 3 phenomena that support the idea that the P.L is specialized for language?
- Phonological Similarity Effect
- Word Length Effect
- Articulatory Suppression
What is the Phonological Similarity Effect?
- one of the phenomena for phonological loop
- Confusion of letters that sound similar
What is the Word Length Effect?
- one of the phenomena for phonological loop
- Memory for lists of words is better for shorter words vs longer ones
What is the Articulatory Suppression?
- Repetition of irrelevant sounds reduces memory bc speaking interferes with rehearsal
- Both short & long words are equally lost from phonological store
What does Baddeley’s 3 component model explain?
- Phonological similarity effect
- Word length effect
- Articulatory suppression
- Mental Rotation
- How inference affects operation of Visuospatial sketchpad
What was the new component added to the original 3 component model?
-Episodic buffer! which can store info (providing extra capacity) & is connected to LTM which makes the interchange between LTM & WM possible
What are the effects of damage to Pre fontal Lobe?
-Causes problems in controlling attention (important function of central executive)
What causes Object Permeance in infants?
-Their prefrontal cortex is still immature until 8mos
What are the important characteristics of memory?
-Delaying & waiting
What is true about neurons in the Prefrontal Cortex?
-Neurons responded only to where the square flashed in a particular location & these neurons continued responding during delay
What is the Neural Dynamics of Working Memory?
- Idea that info can be held in WM by neural activity that continues across time gap
- Fits w/ the idea that neural firing transmits info in nervous system
- W.M involved interplay between different areas of the brain
What is Cognitive Control?
-Set of functions which allow people to regulate their behavior & attentional resources & to resist temptation to give into impulses
