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69 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What are the 3 stages of memory? Define each stage. |
Encoding: when incoming information is acquired and processed (i.e. keyboard) Storage: a record of the encoded information is stored in the brain (i.e. motherboard) Retrieval: theinformation is recovered from the memory stores and brought to consciousness orused to execute a behavior (like a motor act) (i.e. desktop screen) |
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What is forgetting, and when can it occur? |
Forgetting is when memory fails. It can happen at any of the three stages of memory. |
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Why are the three stages of memory not perfectly "neat" (as they are in a computer). |
Because: 1) new learning (encoding) is dependent on one's previous knowledge 2) "successful" memory (aquisition) is dependent on how that information is to be used later |
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What was Atkinson & Shiffrin's Modal Model of Memory? |
Memory model that used a computer as a model for human cognition |
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What are the structural features of the Atkinson & Shiffrin Modal Model of Memory? |
Sensory memory, short-term memory, & long-term Memory |
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What are control processes? |
Activeprocesses that can be controlled by a person
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What are the control processes involved in the Modal Model of Memory? |
Rehearsal, selective attention, encoding, & retrieval |
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How does selective attention affect our memory? |
In order to move information from our sensory memory to our short-term memory, information has to be attended to |
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What is rehearsal and how does it affect our memory? |
Rehearsal is repeating information. This action will keep the information in our short-term memory, or will even possibly move it to our long-term memory if we rehearse it enough. Once we stop rehearsing, the information is lost from our short-term memory. |
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How do we encode & retrieve information? |
We encode information into our long-term memory if it's important enough or if we rehearse it enough. Then once information is in our long-term, we can retrieve it (most of the time). |
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What is the idea of persistence of vision? Name two examples of this. |
It says that our sensory memory very temporarily holds all of the sensory information that hits our receptors, which allows us to see the world continuously. Examples: a sparkler's trail of light in the air frames in a film as appearing continuous |
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How would we see the world if we didn't have persistence of vision? |
As very broken, as if through a strobe light
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What was Sperling's Partial-Report experiment? |
Measured the capacity and duration of sensory memory by quickly flashing an array of letters on a screen and asking participants to report as many as possible from a certain row (either immediately, or after a delay). |
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What were the findings of Sperling's Partial-Report experiment? |
Immediate report: 82.5% correct average with any of the rows Delayed report: the longer the delay, the more rapidly their accuracy decreased The decrease in performance was due to the rapid decay of the iconic memory. |
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What is working memory? |
A limitedcapacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information forcomplex tasks (e.g. comprehension, learning, and reasoning)
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How is working memory different from short-term memory? |
STM: single component holds information for a brief period of time WM: multiple parts involved in the processing & manipulation of information |
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What is short-term memory? |
Memory storage unit that stores small amounts of information for a brief period of time. It includes both information received from sensory memory and information retrieved from long-term memory. |
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What is long-term memory? |
Memory storage unit that stores an unlimited amount of information for an unlimited time period |
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What are the differences between short-term and long-term memory? |
STM: small capacity short duration easy to get information into or out of LTM: unlimited capacity & duration harder to get information into or out of |
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What is the serial position curve? |
A curve made from an experiment in which participants must try and remember as many words from a list (read aloud) as possible. It shows that people remember the first few words and the last few words the best. |
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What is the primacy effect? |
The effect of better remembering the first few items from a list that is read aloud to you |
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Why does the primacy effect occur? |
Due to memory rehearsal: you are allowed to repeat the first few items of a list in your head the most, so it increases the likelihood that these items will be transfered into your long-term memory |
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What is the recency effect? |
The effect of better remembering the last few items from a list that is read aloud to you |
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Why does the recency effect occur? |
Due to working memory: these last few items are still in your working memory when you are asked to repeat them, so you remember them the most |
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How does a 30-second filled delay affect the recency effect? |
Performing another task after being read a list of words removes the recency effect because it fills up the participant's working memory with different information |
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How does slow presentation of a list affect the primacy effect? |
This increases the primacy effect by allowing people to have more time to rehearse the words presented to them (This also increases memory for the rest of the list as well, while the recency effect in unchanged) |
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What parts of the brain are the primacy effect and recency effect associated with? |
Primacy: hippocampus (long-term memory) Recency: perirhinal cortex (working memory) |
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What experiment shows how long working memory holds information? |
Participants read 3 letters then a number, then count backwards by 3s (to prevent repetition) and recall the letters. After 3 seconds: 80% accuracy After 18 seconds: 10% accuracy |
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How long can working memory hold information? |
15 - 20 seconds |
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What is proactive interference and how does it explain duration of working memory? |
When previously learned information interferes with learning new information. Explains the large drop in memory accuracy when trying to remember information or a large number of trials. |
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What were the results of Peterson & Peterson's working memory experiment? |
Over many trials, the accuracy of participants' working memories significantly dropped between a 3-sec delay & an 18-sec delay. Whereas, there was only a slight drop between 3 & 8 sec delays on the participants' first trials. This proves that proactive interference occurs. |
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What is a digit span? |
How many digits (items) a person's working memory can hold at a time (5 - 8 items) |
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What is chunking and why is it important? |
Combining small units (e.g. numbers, letters) into larger, meaningful units It's important because it's very useful in increasing how much information we can store in our working memory |
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Name two examples of chunking experiments |
1) S.F.: had an original digit span of 7, but was able to increase it to 79 by chunking 2) Chase & Simon chess experiment: showed that chess masters could easily remember real chess board layouts (compared to beginners) because they chunked the pieces' positions into meaningful arrangements (couldn't do this if board was arranged randomly) |
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What is an operation span? |
A more modern version of the digit span--measures working memory when it is "working" (actively manipulating information rather than just holding it) |
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What is a reading span and how does it measure working memory capacity? |
Another form of an operation span--participants read sentences and remember the last word of each sentence until their working memory capacity is reached. Measures "working" memory because participants have to store some material (last word of the sentences) while simultaneously working with other material (reading the sentences) |
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How is working memory capacity related to intelligence? |
People with high-capacity working memory have better focus, and are therefore able to perform better on intelligence tests |
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What experiment proved a correlation between working memory capacity and intelligence? |
Vogel et al.'s experiment
Showed that high-capacity working memory participants were better able to ignore distractors presented to them and perform well on tests, whereas low-capacity working memory participants perform worse on tests when presented with distractors |
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What is coding and what are the different ways information is coded in the working memory? |
Coding is the way information is represented Physiological coding: how stimulus is represented by the firing of neurons Mental coding: how stimulus or experience is represented in the mind |
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Name an experiment that deals with auditory coding and what its results were. |
Conrad experiment: participants briefly saw letters and were asked to write them down. Errors most often occured with letters that sounded alike, rather than looked alike (i.e. more likely to confuse T with C, rather than F). Showed that working memory is primarily auditory (prefers auditory coding) |
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Name an experiment that deals with visual coding and what its results were. |
Della Sala experiment: participants were presented with visual information that is difficult to verbalize and asked to recreate it. They could recreate patterns of up to 9 items. Showed that working memory is also visual (but mainly auditory) |
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Name an experiment that deals with semantic coding and what its results were. |
Wickens et al. experiment: participants listened to 3 words, counted backwards for 15 seconds, then attempted to recall the 3 words. On the 4th trial the category of words was switched, and participants' accuracy improved. Showed that working memory is also semantic because participants were released from proactive interference when the category was switched |
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What is Beddeley & Hitch's working memory model? |
A model that divides working memory into 3 components: the central executive, the visuospatial buffer (or sketchpad), & the articulatory rehearsal loop (or phonological loop) |
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What is the phonological loop responsible for? |
Verbal and auditory information in the working memory |
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What is the phonological similarity effect? |
When letters/words that sound similar are confused (i.e. T confused with C; F confused with S) Evidence for a specialized language portion of the working memory (phonological loop) & auditory coding in the working memory |
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What is the word-length effect? |
Says that the memory for lists of words is better for short words than for long words This is because it takes longer to rehearse long words (with subvocal speech) and to produce them during recall |
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What is articulatory suppression and what are its effects? |
Repeating a single word out loud while studying a list of words in order to prevent one from rehearsing items to be remembered Reduces memory span, eliminates word-lenth effect (because subvocal loop can't be used at the same time as phonological loop), & reduces phonological similarity effect for reading words |
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What is the visuospatial sketchpad responsible for? |
The visual and spatial portion of working memory Used for visual imagery, mental rotation, etc. |
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What was part 1 of Brooks' experiment and what were its results? |
Participants had to memorize a sentence then consider each word (mentally) and say whether the word is a noun or not. Response is either: phonological (say YES or NO) or visuospatial (point to a Y or an N) Pointing was easier than speaking because the task of memorizing the sentence and verbally responding overloaded the phonological loop |
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What was part 2 of Brooks' experiment and what were its results? |
Participants had to visualize a captial letter, starting at the top left corner, and say whether that corner was exterior or interior. Response is either: phonological (say OUT or IN) or visuospatial (point to OUT or IN) Speaking was easier than pointing because the task of visualizing a letter and pointing to a response overloaded the visuospatial sketchpad |
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What does Brooks' experiment prove about how working memory processes different types of information? |
Working memory is set up to process different types of information simultaneously, but has trouble when similar types of information are presented at the same time |
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What is the central executive responsible for? |
Attention (focus, divide, & switch attention) Suppression of irrelevant information & "habit" responses Planning & setting goals |
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What is the episodic buffer? |
The backup store that communicates with the long-term memory and central executive It holds information longer and has a greater capacity than the phonological loop or visuospatial sketchpad |
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How is working memory represented in the brain? |
In the prefrontal cortex (which is responsible for processing incoming visual and auditory information) |
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What is Funahashi et al.'s working memory experiment and what were its results? |
Single-cell recording are taken from monkeys' prefrontal cortexes during a delayed-response task in which monkey look at a cue area and move their eyes to that same cue area after a short delay. Monkeys without a prefrontal cortex perform at 50% in this task, showing that they difficulty holding information in their working memory |
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What is maintenance rehearsal? |
Reciting information Maintains information but unlikely to transfer it to long-term memory |
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What is elaborative rehearsal? |
Linking information More likely to transfer information to long-term memory than maintenance rehearsal |
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What areas of the brain are most active when successfully encoding? |
Left frontal cortex & medial temporal lobe |
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What is the difference between intentional and incidental learning? |
Intentional learning: consciously trying to learn Incidental learning: learning without any intent to learn |
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What is the depth of processing theory? |
Says that memory depends on how information is encoded Shallow processing: superficial, little attention to meaning, leads to poor memory Deep processing: close attention to meaning, leads to good memory |
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What was the Hyde & Jenkins experiment and what were its results? |
Participants look at words & answer either arbitrary questions (e.g. count the letters) or meaningful questions (e.g. how pleasant?). Showed that the level of processing had an effect on level of learning (answering meaningful questions led to stronger recognition) & that there is no difference between intentional learning & incidental learning |
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How does elaborative encoding aid memory? |
By making the level of processing deeper, which promotes recall by facilitating later retrieval Learning is a way to "index" information, and creating more connections between items makes it easier to recall information later on |
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What was Craik & Tulving's experiment and what were its results? |
Asked participants whether the last word in a sentence fit within that sentence. When the sentence was elaborate, participants had better memory of the last word. Supports the idea of elaborate encoding improving memory. |
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How do mnemonics improve memory and what are different mnemonic strategies? |
Mnemonics improve memory through organization of material by using: peg-word systems--items are "hung" on a system of already well-know "pegs" first-letter mnemonics--matching the first letters of information to memorable phrases (i.e Roy G. Biv) |
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How does organization improve memory? |
We remember material better when we can find meaning in it, so we can improve our memory by organizing material into something meaningful |
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What was the organization demo and what does it show? |
1st group is shown a picture that relates to an ambiguous story, 2nd group is not shown that picture. It's much easier for 1st group to decipher the story and remember it afterwards because they're able to organize the information around their prior knowledge of the picture. Shows that organizationof non-arbitrary material is highly dependent on understanding the material |
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How are acquisition, storage, and retrieval connected? |
New learning (encoding) is grounded in previously learned (stored) knowledge Effective learning (encoding) depends on how the information will later be retrieved and what the memorizer was doing at the time of exposure |
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What is the testing effect? |
The finding that long-term memory is increased (over just rereading information) when some of the learning period is devoted to testing with proper feedback
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What is cued recall? |
The presentation of a cue that is related to the memory trying to be recalled, which aids in the retrieval of this information |
