PSYC 305L Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Von Restorff Effect, Stroop Effect, Echoic Memory
Exam 1 305L
1. Stroop Effect (3 points)
a. Describe and explain the Stroop Effect. Is a measurement of cognitive
processing speed; participant is presented either a congruent; green font spells
word green, or incongruent; blue font spells the word green. The task is to identify
the color of the font. Congruent conditions record faster reaction times.
b. What explains The Stroop Effect? There is a conflict between reading and color
naming 4 considerations: 1 processing speed; word information processed faster
than color information; 2 selective attention; word recognition takes less cognitive
resource then color recognition; 3 automaticity; reading has become more
automatized; 4 parallel distribution processing; different pathways for each task,
reading is a stronger pathway.
c. What can the Stroop Effect tell us about ageing? As people age their ability to
process information cognitively declines.
2. Von Restorff Effect (3 points)
a. Describe and explain the Von Restorff Effect. Also known as the isolation
effect; items that are significantly different (stand out) in a presented list are
easier to remember. Explained by attentional capture and pattern recognition.
b. What does it tell us about attention and memory? Unusual items activate
greater attentional resource increasing memory encoding and recall.
c. Describe and explain the Primacy and Recency Effect. Primacy is
remembering items at the front of a list better due to benefit of longer or more
rehearsal; recency is remembering items at the end of a list due to lack or
interference.
3. Memory (3 points)
a. Describe and explain the Baddeley Working-Memory System. There are four
parts; visual-spatial sketch pad; manages visual memory, auditory loop; manages
auditory memory, episodic buffer; serves as link across domains; visual, auditory,
long-term and short-term, and the executive, directs attention to appropriate
domain.
b. Describe and explain how short-term, long-term and working memory work
together. Short-term memory can hold a limited capacity (7 + -2) for a few
seconds; working memory is information that is being currently held or
manipulated in the focus of attention; long-term has limitless capacity.
Cognitively working memory will move information in and out of long-term to
short-term while preforming a memory oriented task.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Exam 1 305l: stroop effect (3 points, describe and explain the stroop effect. Is a measurement of cognitive processing speed; participant is presented either a congruent; green font spells word green, or incongruent; blue font spells the word green. The task is to identify the color of the font. As people age their ability to process information cognitively declines: von restorff effect (3 points, describe and explain the von restorff effect. Also known as the isolation effect; items that are significantly different (stand out) in a presented list are easier to remember. Unusual items activate greater attentional resource increasing memory encoding and recall: describe and explain the primacy and recency effect. Short-term memory can hold a limited capacity (7 + -2) for a few seconds; working memory is information that is being currently held or manipulated in the focus of attention; long-term has limitless capacity.
