Ch4 - Human Memory & Cognition

Front 1

Working Memory

Back 1

The use of short term memory as a temporary store for information needed to accomplish a particular task

Front 2

Brown-Peterson Task

Back 2

Info in STM is rapidly lost unless its rehearsed
-3 consonants presented
- # presented & subjects counted backwards by 3's to prevent them from rehearsing
-Light appears after so many seconds signalling recall
-Recall decreases as the delay of light increases
-Rapid forgetting implies we must rehearse verbal info to keep it available in STM

Front 3

Decay vs. Interference Theory

Back 3

DECAY-Info is spontaneously lost overtime, even without interference
INTERFERENCE-Forgetting occurs because other material interferes with the info in memory
- If memory decays overtime, then amount of recall should be determined by the length of the retention interval
- If memory is disrupted by interference, then recall should be determined by the # of interfering items

Front 4

Retroactive Interference

Back 4

Forgetting that occurs because of interference from material encountered AFTER learning

Front 5

Proactive Interference

Back 5

Forgetting that occurs because of interference from material encountered BEFORE learning

Front 6

Release from Proactive Interference

Back 6

Reducing proactive interference by having info be dissimilar from earlier material
-Items that are likley to interfere with each other should be studied at different times rather than during a single session

Front 7

Memory Span

Back 7

The number of correct items that people can immediately recall from a sequence of items
-Magic # 7

Front 8

Chunk

Back 8

A cluster of items that has been stored as a unit in long term memory
-Can help overcome limited capacity in STM

Front 9

Chunking & Chess Expertise

Back 9

DeGroot - The difference in skill between chess masters & less players results more from differences in perception and memory than from differences in how they planned moves
-Asked to reproduce chess board
Masters--90%
Weaker-- 40%
--Master players depended on ability to code pieces into familiar groups (chunks) - Have more chunks and larger chunks--10,000-100,000

Front 10

Acoustic & Semantic Codes

Back 10

ACOUSTIC-Memory code based on the sound of the stimulus - Speech Based - STM
SEMANTIC-Memory code based on the meaning of the stimulus--Meaning Based - LTM

Front 11

Acoustic Confusion

Back 11

An error that sounds like the correct answer
-STM
-Easy for confusion to occur when all letters in a sequence sound alike

Front 12

Phoneme

Back 12

Any of the basic sounds of a language that are combined to form speech
-Some letters are represented by several phonemes because they can be pronounced in different ways - Letter A
-Account for acoustic confusions because words that sound alike usually have phonemes in common

Front 13

Self-Terminating vs. Exhaustive Search

Back 13

Self-Terminating--A search that stops as soon as the test item is successfully matched to an item in the memory set

Exhaustive--A search that continues until the test item is compared with all items in the memory set

Front 14

Phonological Loop
Baddeley

Back 14

Component of working memory model that Maintains & Manipulates Acoustic Info
2 Components
(1)Phonological store for holding verbal info
(2)Rehearsal mechanism that keeps info active in store

Front 15

Visuospatial Sketchpad
Baddeley

Back 15

Maintains & Manipulates Visual/Spatial Info
-not well understood
-not clear how we rehearse visual images

Front 16

Central Executive
Baddeley

Back 16

Manages the use of working memory
-Decision making component of working memory
-Role in when people have to reach conclusions in a logical reasoning task