short term/working memory Flashcards
Who is ‘S’ and why is their case significant
- could perfectly recall all types of information in any order
- Had no capacity or duration limits
- could produce things after briefly seeing them but did not know why
- cons: had difficultly remembering faces bc they look diff in diff lighting/angles, hard time generalizing, caught up in details
- how: sounds were visual images (connect sounds), remember details by creating images
- extreme case of synesthesia
synesthesia
- stimulation in one sense leads to impression in another (combo of 2 sense that dont go together)
- trait not a disorder
define memory
- info that persists in your brain for some amount of time
- memories play diff roles in turning sensory signals into meaning (modal mode of memory)
og Modal model of memory
- variation of info processing theory
- input > sensory memory(snapshots/impressions) > short term memory (reversal is how it is maintained, if not output) > long term memory
- seen as wrong, as memory is distributed, brain reconstructs events
what two areas are most studies in sensory memory
echoic: sounds (1-2 seconds, mental replay of sounds=recency effect)
iconic: vision (capacity at least 9 items, but can be bigger, ~1 sec)
updated modal model of memory
- sensory memory > (attention) > working (ST) memory > (rehearsal) > LTM
Sperling task
- presented ppl with set of letters and numbers briefly
- two ways: whole report or partial report (partial report was better recalled even though cues were given after figures were removed)
if you process info in iconic memory it enters _____ memory
short term/working
t or f: only the last peice of info presented gets a bump in cognition
f: first and last
_____ memory is the info that you are currently thinking abt
short term (input and storage of info, rehearsal of info)
STM capacity and duration
capacity: 7 +/- 2 words/numbers (Miller), or what can be said in 2 secs
duration: hard to say approx 10 secs eliminates the recency effect
recency effect
replay of sounds, the last thing you hear
Word length effect
- longer words take longer (fewer held in STM)
- takes up more space, harder to recall
t or f: info in STM is all stored in visual forms
f, also in verbal forms (hard to remember if they sound the same)
- ppl translate visual into auditory when reading
t or f: we can remember things without being able to put them into words
true
how to increase STM capacity
- chunking (ground related items)
What was the brown peterson task (make ppl count backwards by 3s after given a list of letters/numbers) aiming to discover?
- if info can be retained w out rehearsal
- claimed forgetting came from decay (no rehearsal)
interference (memory)
- similar items interfere with each other (ex car brands)
- proactive interference: old in the way of new
- retroactive interference: new in the way of old
without rehearsal STM duration is _______
- 20 seconds
- lost due to decay/interference
short term vs working memory
- STM: ‘storage unit’, easily assessable, most recently processed, limited, imput/storage
- Working: MANIPULATION of info and storage
components of working memory
- Visuospatial sketch pad: rehearsal/articulatory processes
- Central executive: control/decision precess, ‘manager’
- Phonological loop: imagery, visual/spacial process
- Episodic buffer: activates binding in WM and LTM
WM central executive
- manager
- set goals/priorities (info as you try to accomplish task)
- allocates resources when needed to subareas
- switches between tasks when multi are going on @ once
- frontal lobe (prefrontal) damage=slow to switch between tasks/dont switch, shown in children (stuck on first rule they heard)
WM phonological loop
- verbal material (sub-verbally)
- contains: phonological store (representation/passive retention, info you hold onto) and articulatory loop (active rehearsal)
articulatory supression
- difficult to retain words when articulating something else (repeating words when trying to remember numbers)
