PSY2002 S2 W2 Working Memory II

Question 1

How does Charles spearmann understand intelligence?

Answer 1

Concept of General Intelligence, 1925
Performance on all cognitive task’s stems from a single factor - ‘g’

Question 2

What does Hebb and Cattell understand intelligence?

1941 & 1943

Answer 2

Moved away from one general factor for intelligence.
Crystalized intelligence
Fluid intelligence

Question 3

What is Crystallized Intelligence?

Answer 3

Putting learned knowledge to use correctly (Vocabulary, Knowing the rules of a board game or sport, Running a statistical test - in SPSS, Applying technique you have practised before).
Any situations where you are applying previous knowledge and experience to a task.
Understanding and applying knowledge

Question 4

What is fluid intellgience?

Answer 4

The ability to reason through and solve novel problems. Requires understanding of rules (Crystalised knowledge) but adaptive understanding to create solutions to novel issues. (e.g. Interpreting findings from a statistical test, Winning a board game)
Not relied on rules. Requires crystalized intelligence Create solutions to novel problems. Adapts and change knowledge to solve novel problems.

Question 5

What is fluid intelligence?

Oberauer, Süß, Wilhem, & Sander, 2007

Answer 5

We think that what is common to all reasoning tasks is the fact that their solutions require the construction of new structural representations. The complexity of the new structures is limited by the capacity of working memory

Question 6

What is fluid intelligence?

Chuderski, Taraday, Ne˛cka, & Smoleń, 2012

Answer 6

Crucial cognitive mechanism underlying fluid ability lies in storage capacity, which enables people to actively maintain distinct chunks of information and flexibly construct task-relevant bindings among them.

Question 7

Why is working memory capacity key?

Answer 7

WM capacity we have provides a workspace to think and act creatively, if we are limited in WM our creativity to think and act is also limited.

Question 8

What is Miller’s magical number 7?

Answer 8

Memorise the series of latters in sequence. On average participants get 7 +- 2 correct. It can be boosted.

Question 9

How can miller’s magical number 7 be boostered?

Answer 9

Active Rehearsal & Chunky

Question 10

What is Cowan’s magical number 4?

Answer 10

Only representations in the focus of attention are available to conscious awareness and report. On average, the capacity limit of adults’ focus of attention is 4 ± 1 information elements.
The focus of attention (purple circle) is working memory workspace

Question 11

What is the set-size effect?

Answer 11

The bigger the set the harder it will to recall items from that set = set-size effect – complex/simple span task are effect equally but differently.

Question 12

What limits working memory?

Answer 12

Decay, Interference, limited resource

Question 13

What is the hypothesis of decay?

Answer 13

Working memory representations rapidly decay over time.

Question 14

What are some restoration mechanisms to prevent decay?

Answer 14

Rehearsal and refreshing

Question 15

What’s rehearsal?

Answer 15

subvocally repeat memoranda to maintain them

Question 16

What is refreshing?

Answer 16

think of memoranda to keep memory traces active

Question 17

Is time/decay the only thing that limits working memory?

Answer 17

The passage of time causes nothing by itself – time is correlated with processes that cause forgetting. Something else going on not just time. Time doesn’t cause the decay but something else might affect it. It is not a passive thing that happens.
Forgetting might not be based on time but processes that happen during time

Question 18

What is time-based decay?

Answer 18

Representation in working memory get weaker over time.
The first item that is presented should be forgotten because it has the most time gap between recall but that is not the case with the recency effect and primacy effect.
Your ability to restore and rehearsal dictate how well you are to recall it – explains the primacy effect. If you actively work and engage with it you are restoring the item.
More likely to be based on processes than time.

Question 19

What are the types of interference?

Answer 19

confusion, superposition, overwriting

Question 20

What is the interference hypothesis?

Answer 20

Working memory is limited by mutual interference between representations. Competition – interference.
Transceince: Proactive and Retroactive interference

Question 21

What is proactive intergerence?

Answer 21

older memories impair the retrieval of new memories

Question 22

What is retroactive interference?

Answer 22

new memories impair retrieval of older memories

Question 23

What are types of interferences?

Answer 23

Confusion
Superposition
Overwriting

Question 24

What is confusion?

Interferences

Answer 24

multiple items you have to study and asked to remember where they were located.

Question 25

What is superposition? | Interference

Answer 25

items that are closely located so when you recall them you average out, it’s a blend. the more dissimilar the less performance.

Question 26

What is overwriting? | Interference

Answer 26

high similarity lower performance

Question 27

What is the limited resource hypothesis?

Answer 27

Working memory capacity is determined by a limited quantity of resource that enables holding representations available. Not defined by the stimuli but by the resource, we only have a certain amount to give so we need to allocate it appropriately.

Question 28

How is the resource allocated to representations?

Answer 28

Discrete and Continuous

Question 29

What is discrete resource allocated to representation?

Answer 29

Allocation of resource to a limited number of items, with no information stored about additional items. Whole units

Question 30

What is continuous resource allocated to representation?

Answer 30

Equal spread of resource among all items, with fewer resource per item for larger arrays.

Question 31

What are resource models ? | Oberauer, et al. 2016

Answer 31

A resource is a limited quantity that enables a cognitive function or process, such that its probability of success increases the larger the amount of resource assigned to it

Question 32

What is the egg-carton Metaphor ?

Answer 32

Slot models: Resources are distributed in discrete units (defining the number of items one can store). Quality of the retained representations is not perfect, but sufficiently high

Question 33

What is the memory drive metaphor?

Answer 33

Flexible- resource models: Resources are distributed flexibly. Allowing for: (a) a small number of high quality objects or (b) a high number of low quality objects

Question 34

What findings provided evidence for different interference hypothesis?

Answer 34

Set size effect + complexity of items [D -] [R +] [I 0] Set-size effect when delay is O s [D -] [R ++] [I ++] Domain specificity [D +] [R +] [I ++] Cross-domain set-size effect [D +] [R ++] [I 0] Heterogeneity benefit [D -] [R -] [I ++]

Question 35

What is the cowan's magical number 4?

Answer 35

Only representations in the focus of attention are available to conscious awareness and report. On average, the capacity limit of adults’ focus of attention is 4 ± 1 information elements.

Question 36

Working memory Capacity is greater in what?

Answer 36

... older children than younger children, … younger adults than older adults, … healthy people than people with frontal-lobe damage, … some younger adults than other younger adults.

Question 37

What does working memory activities correlates with?

Answer 37

* Reading comprehension * Reasoning * Problem solving

Question 38

What did working memory capacity predict?

Answer 38

* Cognitive development * Individual differences in intellectual abilities

Question 39

How do you measure variation in working memory?

Answer 39

Measuring individual differences in cognitive abilities. Letter updating task: Always remember the last 3 letters. Inhibition, attention, cognitive flexibility.

Question 40

What is the task impurity problem? | Measuring varaition

Answer 40

Any task that assesses a cognitive ability (e.g. working memory) also demands other abilities that are needed to process the structure and materials of the task.

Question 41

What is a solution for the task-impurity problem?

Answer 41

Latent variable modelling

Question 42

What is the latent variable modelling?

Answer 42

1. Select multiple tasks that seem different on the surface but capture the same target ability. 2. Statistically extract what is common among those tasks. 3. Use the resulting variable as a measure of the target ability Rather than designing perfect task we get lots of tasks and we look for what is common and extracting the statistically common elements.

Question 43

Do abilities correlate?

Answer 43

Correlation between different abilities. We understand/think WM is crucial to our application of fluid intelligence. Allows us to draw correlations and compare different abilities

Question 44

Why do people differ in WM?

Answer 44

Working memory task Reasoning task

Question 45

What are proposed explanation for peoples differences in working memory?

Answer 45

Executive attention hypothesis Binding hypothesis

Question 46

What is the executive attention hypothesis? | Shipstead et al., 2016

Answer 46

Executive attention as the key to success: * System 1: Quick - easy access to all info that you know * System 2: Controlled, effortful processing of info. Attention Control System

Question 47

What is executive attention like in working memory task?

Answer 47

Maintain access to relevant information and append new information to the list Disengage from and suppress outdated information from previous trials

Question 48

What is executive attention like in working reasoning task?

Answer 48

Disengage from outdated hypotheses and prevent returning to them Maintain problem and allow systematic hypothesis testing

Question 49

What is a similarity between working memory capacity and reasoning abilities?

Answer 49

Working memory capacity and reasoning ability are two sides of the same coin: both arise from limited executive attention.

Question 50

People with better executive attention will performe how in other tasks?

Answer 50

People with better executive attention will perform better in working memory, reasoning, and other similar tasks.

Question 51

What is a problem with executive attention tasks?

Answer 51

Do not correlate well adn is difficut to directly test this hypothesis.

Question 52

What is the binding hypothesis? | Oberauer et al., 2007

Answer 52

A system for rapid formation of temporary bindings underlies both working memory and reasoning task performance. WM binding = construction adn manipulation of representation of novel structure => reasoning

Question 53

How does binding hypothesis understand working memory differenciation?

Answer 53

Bindings are temporary links of content representations to places in a mental coordinate system. The working memory capacity limit is the number of bindings maintained; it arises from interference between bindings. People who suffer less interference can build more complex structural representations. Therefore, they will perform better in working memory, reasoning, and other similar tasks.

Question 54

What is a problem of the binding hypothesis?

Answer 54

Bindings may be constructed and maintained with the help of executive attention, making it difficult to directly test this hypothesis against the executive attention hypothesis.

Question 55

What has been hypothesised to explain the limits of working memory capacity?

Answer 55

decay, interference or resource