Working memory

what’s the flow of the modal model?

1. sensory registers

2. STM

3. LTM

sensory registers

Immediate storage for visual (iconic), auditory (echoic), and touch (haptic) data.

STM store

Acts as a temporary working memory that controls rehearsal, coding, and retrieval decisions.

LTM store

The permanent repository. It was originally assumed that holding information in STS automatically transferred it to LTS.

what are the 2 limitations of the modal model?

1. Levels of Processing: Research by Craik and Lockhart suggested that retention depends on the "depth" of processing (meaning) rather than the duration of time held in STM.

2. Neuropsychological Evidence: Some patients showed gross impairment in STM (e.g., a digit span of only two items) but retained a perfectly normal ability to learn and store information in LTM, contradicting the idea that STS is the only gateway to long-term storage.

Working memory model

Challenging the idea of a single STM store, Baddeley and Hitch proposed a tripartite system (later expanded to four) that divides labor between a controller and specialized storage "slave systems."

phonological similarity effect

Similar sounding items (e.g., man, cap, can, map) are harder to recall than dissimilar ones.

Memory is confused by similar acoustic codes, even when presented visually.

word length effect

Memory span is smaller for multi-syllabic words than mono-syllables.

We can remember as many words as we can say in approximately two

language difference effect on digit span

Digit spans vary by language (e.g., Chinese spans are higher).

Chinese digits are "packaged" more tightly, allowing faster rehearsal within the two-second window.

neural basis of working memory

Activation in the temporal parietal region (store) and Broca’s area (production).

PET scans show a link between speech perception and production areas

what were patient PV’s abilities?

had a pure phonological loop deficit, could learn meaningful word pairs but was completely unable to learn new foreign language vocabulary (e.g., Russian).

visuo- spatial sketchpad

Responsible for setting up and manipulating visual images and spatial information.

pattern/object memory

what things look like

corsi block test

A measure of spatial span where a participant taps a sequence of blocks. Spatial span is typically two items lower than verbal digit span.

interference on spatial tasks

(like Brooks' matrix task) are severely disrupted by concurrent tracking tasks (like using a pursuit rotor).

interference for visual imagery

can be disrupted by bright lights or color patches, but not necessarily by purely spatial tracking, confirming the visual/spatial split.

the central executive

most complex component. It is an attentional system that chooses and runs strategies.

whats the SAS model?

(Supervisory Attentional System): Proposed by Norman and Shallice, it suggests two levels of control:

1. automatic/habitual - eg driving a familiar route

2. supervisory - Overriding habits when a change occurs (e.g., a traffic accident requiring a new route).

frontal lobe syndrome

Patients with damage to the frontal lobes often exhibit executive dysfunction, including:

1. utilisation behaviour

2. confabulation

3. perseveration

utilisation behaviour

Being "captured" by stimuli (e.g., drinking from an examiner's cup just because it is there).

confabulation

Creating false memories or "misremembering" actions due to retrieval failures.

perseveration

The inability to break away from a task or strategy (e.g., "Roger" continuing to cut tape in the wrong place despite knowing it was incorrect).

the episodic buffer

Added later (circa 2000) to address how the different systems communicate.

Definition: A temporary storage system capable of holding multi-dimensional episodes.

Binding: It serves as the location where information from the loop (verbal), sketchpad (visual), and LTM (semantic) is integrated.

Conscious Awareness: The buffer is theorized to be the seat of conscious awareness, allowing us to perceive integrated "chunks" of information.

the recency effect

A phenomenon where the last few items in a list are remembered best.

short term recency

Attributed to the temporary store; disappears if there is a brief delay with a distractor task.

LT recency

Found in LTM (e.g., remembering the last rugby game played or the last party attended).

primacy effect

The tendency to remember the first items in a list, usually attributed to more rehearsal and transfer to LTM.

non word repetition task

A task requiring participants to repeat nonsense syllables (e.g., wugalamic). It is a highly sensitive measure of phonological loop capacity and a predictor of language impairment in children.

embedded process model

An alternative view suggesting working memory is simply the activated portion of long-term memory under the focus of attention.