PSYC 213 - Chapter 5, short-term memory

What is memory?

-processes involving retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas, skills, after the original information is no longer present

What are the kinds of memory according to Atkinson & Shiffrin’s model?

-sensory memory: holds all incoming info for seconds or fractions of a second (from senses)

-short-term: holds 5-7 items for 15-20 secs

-Long-term: can hold a large amount of information for years & even decades

What are control processes?

-Active processes that can be controlled by the person

• Rehearsal

• Strategies used to make stimulus more memorable

What is sensory memory?

-Large amount of information from sensory stimulation for short-term retention

-Information decays very quickly

What is persistence of vision in sensory memory?

-Retention of the perception of light

• Trail of light from a moving sparkle

What is the whole report method

-Participants were asked to report as many as they could see after seeing an array of letters flashed quickly on a screen

What is the partial report method?

-Participants heard a tone that told them which row of letters to report

What is the delayed partial report method?

-Presentation of tone delayed for a fraction of a second after the letters were extinguished

-Performance decays rapidly

What is the difference between iconic and echoic memory?

-Iconic: Sensory memory of what we see - persistence of vision

-Echoic: What we hear - persistence of sound

What is short-term memory?

-Stores small amounts of info for a brief duration

• New info recalled to put into long-term

What is the capacity of memory?

-Digit span: number of digits capable of being remembered

• Typically 5-8 items

How does chunking help with memory capacity?

- small units combined into large meaningful units

- linking info with something you already know

• controlled process (method of loci, mnemonics)

How does complexity help with memory retention?

- Alvanez and Cavanagh discovered that the more complex the items, the greater difficult they are in remembering

What is working memory?

-Bradley and Hitch’s working memory model

• limited-capacity system for temporary storage

• manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning

What is the phonological loop?

-Phonological similarity effect

• Letters or words that sound similar are confused

What is the word length effect?

-Memory for lists or words is better for short words than long words

-Rehearsing long words and producing them during recall takes longer

What is auditory suppression?

-Speaking prevents the rehearsal of items to be remembered

• Reduces memory span

• Eliminates word length effect

• Reduces the phonological similarity effect for reading words

Whart is the visuospatial sketchpad?

-creation ot visual images in the mind in the absence of a physical visual stimulus

-mental rotation

What is the central executive?

- Attention controller

• allows attention to be focused, divided, switched

-controls suppression of irrelevant into

-preservation: repeatedly performing the same action or thought even if it is not achieving the desired goal

What is an episodic buffer

--Backup store that communicates with long-term and working memory components

- Holds info longer and has greater capacity than the phonological loop or visuospatial sketchpad

- Different buffer for different kinds of working memory (ex: language episode)

What happens to working memory if the prefrontal lobe is damaged?

-The prefrontal cortex is responsible for processing incoming visual & auditory info

• Monkeys without a prefrontal cortex have difficulty holding information in working memory

What are the neural dynamics of working memory?

-Information is stored in short-term changes in neural networks

• Incoming stimuli strengthen connections between neurons in the network