PSY 305 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Verbal Memory, Memory Span, Stroop Effect
29 Jun 2018
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24 October Class Notes
Making Representations
● The role of attention in memories
○ Divided attention: SGR #2
● Memory acquisition and retrieval
● One way to fram learning and memory:
○ Analogy to creating, storing, and opening a computer file
● This view is problematic for at least two reasons:
○ New learning is grounded in previously learned (stored) knowledge
○ Effective learning depends on how the information will be later retrieved
○ Information processing
● Concept formation and knowledge
The Modal Model
● Atkinson & Shiffrin, (1968); Waugh & Norman, (1965)
○ Sensory memory (iconic or echoic) - inputs in raw sensory form
○ Short-term memory (STM) // Working memory - holds the info currently in use
■ Time is temporary, capacity is limited, and access is relatively easy
○ Long-term memory (LTM) - all of the information one can remember
■ Time is long-lasting, capacity is large, access is relatively hard
● Experiments supporting the modal model:
○ Participants hear a long series of words (e.g. 30)
○ The position of an item in the presentation list is its serial position
○ Task is to repeat back as many words as they can in any order; free-recall
procedure
●Early items are recalled because they are rehearsed more than later ones and therefore
have a better chance of being encoded into LTM
● Primacy effect shows loss of performance with faster presentation time
● Final items recalled because they are still in STM
● Recency effect shows loss of performance with increases in recall delay
The Modal Model Cont.
● 30 seconds of filled delay displaces the last few items from working memory
● This eliminates the recency effect
● 30 seconds of unfilled delay does not change the recency effect
● Slowing down the presentation of the list allows for more rehearsal of all items
● This improves all parts of the curve that reflect LTM, i.e. all items except for the last
The Modal Model pt 3
● Neuroimaging data
○ Memory for the items at the beginning of the list (but not the end) is associated
with activity in the hippocampus
○ Retrieval from long-term memory specifically activates the hippocampus
■ Primacy associated with hippocampus
○ Retrieval from working memory specifically activates the perirhinal cortex
■ Working memory associated with multimodal parts of medial temporal
cortex
Working Memory
● Virtually all mental activities require working memory (WM)
○ Reading
○ Goal-driven behavior
● Some tasks demand more WM resources than others
● Individual differences in WM capacity predict some cognitive abilities
● Digit-span task
○ Used to determine an individual's working memory capacity
■ Participant hears a series of digits and repeats them back
■ The longest list length that can be reliable repeated back by the
participant is his or her digit span
○ Working memory capacity is typically 7 plus-or-minus 2 items
Working memory: Chunking
● Refers to a repacking of the information held in working memory
○ Working memory can hold 7 +/- 2 chunks of info
○ Chunking especially useful if one can organize items to match something in LTM
○ Effort and attentional resources are required to repackage the input
○ Reduces load (not an increase in capacity)
Measures of working memory
●Reading span - a measure that captures the active nature of working memory
○ Participant reads a series of sentences and must remember the last word in each
sentence
○ The number of sentence-final words that can be remembered is the operation
span
●Operation span - another measure that captures the active nature of working memory
○ Participant determines whether an equation is true or false, and must remember
a word paired with each equation
○ The number of words that can be remembered determines the operation span
● Reading span
& Operation span
correlate more strongly with test performance,
reasoning, and reading ability than does the digit span
Working memory
● The working-memory system is not a single entity
○ Working memory is often divided into three components:
○ Sensory buffers monitored by a central executive
○ One assistant is the articulatory rehearsal loop
○ The articulatory rehearsal loop has two elements:
■ Subvocalization: silently pronouncing words
■ Phonological buffer: auditory image of the words
○ One assistant is the visuospatial sketchpad
WM: The Phonological loop
Document Summary
One way to fram learning and memory: Analogy to creating, storing, and opening a computer file. This view is problematic for at least two reasons: New learning is grounded in previously learned (stored) knowledge. Effective learning depends on how the information will be later retrieved. Atkinson & shiffrin, (1968); waugh & norman, (1965) Memory for the items at the beginning of the list (but not the end) is associated. Retrieval from long-term memory specifically activates the hippocampus with activity in the hippocampus. Retrieval from working memory specifically activates the perirhinal cortex. Sensory memory (iconic or echoic) - inputs in raw sensory form. Short-term memory (stm) // working memory - holds the info currently in use. Long-term memory (ltm) - all of the information one can remember. Time is long-lasting, capacity is large, access is relatively hard. Time is temporary, capacity is limited, and access is relatively easy. Participants hear a long series of words (e. g. 30)
