W7.1 (C): Working memory Flashcards
(16 cards)
What did patient HM suffer with as a result of a bilateral removal of the temporal lobe?
Severe amnesia and inability to form new long term memories for events and facts (proactive interference), but short term and procedural memory were maintained
What did patient KF suffer with?
Reduced digit span and impaired short term memory, but long term memory was preserved
What do the cases of patients KF and HM suggest for memory?
Case of double dissociation for short and long term memory- if two functions depend on the overlapping brain regions, then a lesion to one brain region tends to affect both functions, suggests the existence of separate stores
Describe the components of the working memory model (Baddeley and Hitch) and the behavioural evidence this provides
Visuo spatial sketchpad, central executive, phonological loop
Provides behavioural evidence for separable phonological and visuospatial stores
What is the articulatory suppresison effect?
Subvocal rehearsal impairs short term memory for words but has no effect on performance of a visuospatial task
What is Spearman’s ‘g’ factor and what are the two sub divisions?
General intelligence
Gf- fluid intelligence, involves reasoning and problem solving
Gc- crystalised intelligence, general knowledge
How did Kyllonen and Christen (1990) measure ability to reason?
Gave subjects tests of different processes e.g. working memory, general knowledge and processing speed. Also gave subjects reasoning tasks including tests of fluid intelligence e.g. identifying the odd sequence of letters, inductive reasoning and memory tests
What did Kyllonen and Christen (1990) find when measuring reasoning abilities?
Strong correlation for working memory and reasoning ability tasks
suggesting WM ability underlies general/fluid intelligence
What are some issues with working memory tests?
Not necessarily a valid measure of intelligence i.e. monkeys have better working memory than humans but this does not mean they are more intelligent
The problem with such working memory tests is that they do not distinguish between the two different aspects of WM and executive processes- what determines performance on some complex tasks is the ability to manipulate that information in your mind
How did Kane and Angle investigate working memory in tasks that used or didn’t use working memory?
Tasks either involved working memory or not- in complex span tasks, subjects had to solve an equation and say a word out loud, and then recall words at the end
In the simple span tasks, subjects merely had to say each word out loud and then recall them at the end
They wanted to see whether the complex span task would correlate more strongly with tests of fluid intelligence
The tests they used included Raven’s matrices, in which subjects saw groups of patterns and had to find the pattern that fit into the space
They then computed a structural equation model which was used to identify 3 factors underlying performance of these tasks to measure WM, STM and processing speed- then examined the extent to which these factors correlated with either gF or gC
What did Kane and Angle find when investigating working memory in tasks that used or didn’t use working memory?
Correlation between working memory and gF was almost perfect but the correlation between STM and gF was negative
What is the key distinction between working and short term memory?
The working component of WM predicts fluid intelligence but simple short term capacity does not
Fluid and general intelligence seems to involve executive attention component of WM
What is the complex span task (Duncan) and how is it carried out?
A task that highlights the ability to follow a complex set of task rules is what underlies fluid intelligence
Involves solving maths problems and saying the word aloud, then recalling the words at the end- complex span requires the active processing, manipulation and updating of this info (working memory) whilst also following a fairly complex set of task rules
Animals and shapes task
What did Duncan find in his study on the complex span task?
Strong correlation between rule working memory and fluid intelligence, as well as other types of WM such as complex span correlated with fluid intelligence but not as strongly- it appears that the process of manipulating or processing info in WM might be a key component of fluid intelligence, it is the construction and use of a set of task rules that underlie individual differences in fluid intelligence
Found 3 features that define items in the display- colour, shape and size. Consideration of each feature individually narrows down options until you select the correct one
Key point: what is a fundamental component of fluid intelligence?
Working memory
Key point: what are the underlying factors of general (fluid) intelligence?
The ability to follow rules and manipulate information in WM, not storage capacity per se- more specifically, the ability to break down a task into component parts
