Memory and Knowledge Exam 1

introspection, logic, and discussion

what 3 things did philosophical (pre-scientific) approaches does memory rely on?

sensory memory

which has a larger capacity - vSTM or sensory memory?

multi-component model

prominent model proposed to account for phonological similarity and word length effects

participants would remember the amount of items per slot, but after their slots are filled, they would begin guessing

what patterns would be expected by the fixed resolution slots view on a cued recall task?

responses would gradually pull away from the target color, the more that resources are spread thin, meaning participants are not guessing

what patterns would be expected by the flexible resources view on a cued recall task?

embedded processes approach

process that doesn’t suggest buffers and emphasizes the relation between attention and memory

focusing and dividing attention

what is central executive (multi-component model) related to?

auditory

what is phonological loop (multi-component model) related to?

visual info

what is visuospatial sketchpad (multi-component model) related to?

it relies on activity-related blood flow changes

why are hemodynamic techniques slow?

EEG and MEG

what are examples of electromagnetic scans?

introspection

understanding memory by observing and reflecting on your own mental processes

PET or MRI

what are some examples of hemodynamic scans?

it’s limited to conscious processes and relies on subjective impressions

why is using introspection a limitation to philosophical approaches of memory?

use of introspection, and is testable

what differentiates scientific approaches to memory, from prescientific (philosophical) approaches?

Hermann Ebbinghaus

who was the first major scientific researcher of memory

method of savings

used by Ebbinghaus to determine how long it takes to learn something, comparing the first and second times it was learned (1st learning time - 2nd learning time/1st learning time)

forgetting function

idea that the rate of forgetting decreases over time

they viewed attention and memory as unobservable constructs

why did behaviorists believe that cognitive processes like memory and attention shouldn’t be studied?

information processing is like a computer, encoding and storing information

What central metaphor do cognitive psychologists rely on to characterize cognitive processes?

to map the relationship between mental processes and brain activity

what is the goal of cognitive neuroscience?

rods are highly sensitive to light, cones are less sensitive but more receptive to color

what is the main difference between cones and rods?

saccadic eye movement

when the eye rapidly shifts from one spot to another to ensure an entire scene falls on the fovea

fovea

where is vision the sharpest

glial cells and neurons

what are the two main types of brain cells?

glial cells

primary function as support cells, which hold structure of the brain together, supply nutrients, and maintain chemical environment

neurons

cells that have electrical excitability, produce impulses, and receive/transmit information to other cells of the same kind

neuroplasticity

capacity of the nervous system to modify its organization in response to stimulation

long-term potentiation

long-lasting increase in synaptic strength following prolonged stimulation

Modifications in size of pre- and post-synaptic terminals, formation of new synapses, rearrangement of synaptic inputs

what has been proposed to mediate learning and long-term memory formation?

iconic memory

the quickly decaying and high-capacity storage of visual memories

whole and partial report

what two methods did George Sperling use to examine iconic memory

whole report

Sperling’s method where subjects are shown an array of items and asked to report every single item they saw

partial report

Sperling’s method that required subjects to be shown an array of items, but only asked to report a subset of the items they saw

iconic memory has a high capacity and very short duration

what were conclusions Sperling made from his whole and partial reports on iconic memory?

stimulus persistence

something that looks or sounds like the stimulus continues to be present for a short amount of time after the stimulus is no longer present

information persistence

information can be extracted from a stimulus for a short amount of time

electro-magnetic measures

measures that are very good at temporal resolution and tracking WHEN things happen in the brain

hemodynamic measures

noninvasive measure that is very good at spatial resolution(tracking WHERE something happens)

transcranial magnetic stimulation

non-invasive technique that uses focused magnetic fields to temporarily alter activity in target brain areas, with the goal of clarifying the relationship between brain structure and function.

Hippocampus is not essential for the retention of information in short-term memory.

Patient H.M., whose Hippocampus and other medial temporal lobe structures were completely removed found what?

ERP has excellent temporal precision fMRI has excellent spatial precision

what is the main difference between event-related potential (ERP) method and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

corpus callosum

The brain is separated into left and right hemispheres that communicate via a large fiber bundle called the _____?

cells that fire together, wire together

what did Hebb propose to underlie the storage of information in long-term memory?

12+

according to Sperling, how many items can iconic memory store at a time?

STM has durable changes in synapses while WM is an ongoing activity that fades when attention stops

How does Hebb’s proposal differ from the mechanism thought to underlie the active maintenance of information in short-term or working memory?

neuropsychological approach

approach that studies memory by examining how brain damage or neurological disorders affect memory

not all damage is localized, patients differ, results may not reflect normative healthy brains

what are the limitations of using the neuropsychological approach?

modal model

model that views memory as divisible into separate stores and is defined by how much information they can hold, what type of information they hold, and how long they can hold it.

WM focuses on executive control and reasoning while STM focuses on how long something is held in memory

what is the main difference between working memory and short term memory?

use very short exposure durations, short delays, and discourage verbal recording

what are some effective ways to limit the use of chunking strategies in studies of short-term memory?

speech-like code

in STM, information, whether presented visually or auditorily, is retained in what manner?

word-length effect

effect that describes how longer words are more difficult to remember than shorter words

limits in the ability to hold information in STM and the role of chunking in memory

what topics were the focus of George Miller's highly-influential 1956 paper The Magical Number 7+-2 ?

primacy

idea in verbal STM that relies on retrieval from LTM

recency

idea in verbal STM that depends on dumping from STM

primary memory

what is another term for short term memory?

secondary memory

what is another term for long term memory?

an interference may have caused the lack of memory after the longer time interval, instead of no rehearsal being the explanation

despite finding more accuracy after 3 seconds than 15 seconds, which issue might there be with Brown(1958) and Peterson and Peterson (1959) studies on storage of verbal STM?

phonological loop

part of the multi-component model responsible for the temporary storage of speechlike information.

digit span

Maximum number of sequentially presented digits that can reliably be recalled in the correct order.

phonological similarity effect

A tendency for immediate serial recall of verbal material to be reduced, when the items are similar in sound.

7+- 2

According to Miller (1956) what is the capacity of short-term memory?

Memory Span task

Miller’s study of presenting a list of items (like digits or letters) and asking participants to recall them immediately in order

Luck and Vogel

Which researchers concluded that participants are able to store ~3-4 integrated object representations, each of which may be defined by a potentially unmlimited number of features?

interference instead of passive decay

what was suggested by the work of Waugh & Norman (1965) as a factor influencing forgetting in STM?

a set number of squares were shown, then one would change colors, requiring participants to identify it. to prevent verbal rehearsal, participants were given a sequence (such as 1,2,3) to repeat, before later identifying if a change occurred with the squares.

Describe the change detection paradigm used by Luck and Vogel (1997) to study visual STM

capacity was defined in terms of objects, not features

what did Luck and Vogel (1997) determine about capacity in Visual STM?

3-4 items, decreasing as items increase

about how many items did Luck and Vogel (1997) determine memory capacity of Visual STM was, and how did this change as items were added to the sequence?

grouping features

how did Luck and Vogel (1997) determine a person could increase their visual STM capacity?

fixed slots and flexible resources approaches

what are the two approaches used to explain why there are capacity limits in Visual STM?

vSTM has a fixed number of slots for storing items, memory performance decreases as items increase, and participants are more likely to guess the target color

briefly describe the fixed resolution slots view in Visual STM capacity

there is a limited availability of resources for memory and precision is lost as items increase

briefly describe the flexible resources view of Visual STM capacity

working memory

Cowan described ______ as consisting of a set of processes embedded within long term memory that maintain information in an unusually accessible state

separate working memory stores

Baddeley (1992) demonstrated that the short-term retention of verbal and visuo-spatial information relies on _______?

short term store

a “working” memory that is used in service of reasoning and other cognitive operations

Baddeley and Hitch (1974)

who came up with the visuospatial sketchpad under the multi-component model?

working memory capacity

refers to the extent to which an individual can control and sustain attention in the face of interference and distraction, rather than to the amount of information that can be stored?

articulatory suppression effect

repeating an irrelevant speech sound out loud (e.g., saying “the, the, the”) disrupts verbal working memory, especially tasks that rely on rehearsal. what is this called?

central executive, phonological loop, and visuospatial sketchpad

what are the three components of Baddeley and Hitch’s model (multi-component model)?

dual-task interference

refers to the performance decline that occurs when a person tries to do two tasks at the same time, especially when the tasks rely on the same cognitive resources (both verbal or both visual).

less of an interference

what did the dual-task interference show when a person does two tasks at the same time that don’t require the same resources (a visual task while completing an auditory task)

there is more blood flow in the brain

What neural evidence has been provided to support the existence of specialized buffers for storing different kinds of information in WM, as postulated by Baddeley’s model?

embedded processes approach

model similar to multicomponent model, except views working memory as a currently activated portion of LTM

concreteness effect and frequency effect

what two effects does the embedded process approach capture, when looking at LTM effects on STM?

concreteness effect

concrete words are recalled better than abstract words

frequency effect

high-frequency words are recalled better

activated memory and the focus of attention

what two things does Cowan's (1995) Embedded Processes Model distinguish between?

activated memory

refers to a portion of long-term memory that is in a heightened state of activation

focus of attention

refers to a subset of items that are currently available to conscious awareness

decay rate/rehearsal rate

According to Baddeley's working memory model, the amount of verbal information that can be retained is a trade-off between what two things?