PSYC 361 Exam 2 Materials

Information processing model

the study of how ppl take stimili from their environment and transform them into memories

The information processing model is based on a

computer processing metaphor

Assumptions of the information processing model

ppl are active participants and they have control over what they’re doing

In the information processing model there’s an assumption that both

quanitative and qualitative aspects of performance are important

Information is processes through

a series of steps

Representation in information processing model

What

Process in information processing model

How

Sensory memory

 has a large capacity and holds a faithful representation of what comes in from our sensory systems

Sensory memory is

very short lived and pre-attentive

There are typically

no age differences in sensory memory

Attention and working memory processes are influenced by (1) the capacity

to direct and sustain attention

Attention and working memory processes are influenced by (2) the speed

at which information is processed

Attention and working memory processes are influenced by (3) the amount

of information that can be attended to and held in working memory

There are age-related limitations in (1) the amount

of info that can be attended to and held in working memory

There are age-related limitations in (2) some

of the attended information that is maintained in long-term memory

Sensory memory is (1) a brief

 and almost identical representation of stimuli in the observable environment

Sensory memory is (2) likely

supported by sensory brain areas

Sensory memory has

large capacity but short duration

If attention is deployed,

hen the information is processed further along the system (attention/working memory)

No evidence of behavior differences in sensory memory with age

The first sign that aging affects different types of information processing and memory differently

Attention

the process of focusing on one or more stimuli for enhanced processing or analysis

Attention improves the processing of

some info at the cost of others

Attention is relate to

consciousness

Attention is often

effortful and guided

Attention as a

spotlight

Attention as a filter

Attentional bottleneck

Attentional bottleneck

a filter created by the limits of attentional processes that only allows some things to pass through

Voluntary attention (aka endogenous, goal directed, or top-down) (1) attention

is directed toward a specific input depending on our goals

Voluntary attention (aka endogenous, goal directed, or top-down) (2) is the main

type of attention

Voluntary attention includes the

dorsal attention system and conjunction search

Dorsal attention system

related to the control of voluntary attention

Conjunction search

hard, requires effort– depends on voluntary attention mechanisms

Involuntary attention (aka exogenous, reflexive, or bottom-up attention) (1)

Automated reorienting of attention to a particular input, out of your control, is automatic

Involuntary attention includes the

ventral attention system and pop-out or feature search

Ventral attention system

 related to the capture of involuntary attention

Pop-out or feature search

easy, automatic– depends on involuntary attention mechanisms

Brain bases of attention in the dorsal attention network

intraparietal nucleus (IPS), and frontal eye field

Brain bases of attention in the ventral attention network

temporoparietal junction and ventral frontal cortex

Dorsal frontoparietal system

cognitive control of voluntary attention

Right temporoparietal system

reflexive capture of attention

The intraparietal sucleus and frontal eye field are

related to Parietal-frontal integration (P-FIT) theories

Attention is useful for selecting

 relevant information and ignoring distractors

Shadowing experiments

 two or more streams of sensory information are simultaneously presented; the participant is asked to attend to just one

Shadowing experiments can be done in

the auditory or visual domain

People are usually good at reporting attended streams,

but miss most* information from unattended stream

Attention switching

Sometimes, you need to switch or guide your attention across multiple things at once

Divided attention experiments

 a task in which a person is asked to attend to 2+ things at once

divided attention experiments are

very hard to do bc attention is a limited source

Most “multitasking”/divided attention requires

 quickly switching our attentional spotlight back and forth across focus items

Hemispatial neglect

 a condition in which no attention is paid to one side of the body or things presented on that side

Hemispatial neglect is not a sensory or vision disorder but rather

a disorder of attention

Hemispatial neglect is most often seen after damage to the attention network areas

Damage to the frontal eye field, intraparietal sulcus (IPS), ventral frontal cortex, and temporoparietal junction

Hemispatial neglect is more common in

older adults bc of strokes and usualy affects the left side of the brain

People’s performance on selective and divided attention tasks generally

declines with age

Theory on speed of processing in aging

Aging leads to a generalized decrease in the speed of performing mental operations

Limited time mechanism in the theory on speed of processing in aging

the time to perform is restricted when a large proportion of the available time is occupied by the execution of earlier operations

Simultaneous mechanism in the theory on speed of processing in aging

the products of the earlier processing may be lost by the time that later processing is completed

Limitations on the speed diminished speed of processing

automatic processing and effortful processing

Automatic processing

places minimal demands on attentional capacity

Automatic processing gets information into the system

without us being aware of it

Performance on tasks that depend on automatic processes

does not demonstrate significant age differences

Effortful processing

requires all of the available attentional capacity

When there is effortful and deliberate processing involved to remember the information

 age differences emerge

Different theories of attention in aging

diminished speed of processing, diminished processing resources, and loss of inhibitory control

Processing resources

the amount of attention one has to apply to a particular situation (may decline with age)

There are better accounts for decliningin both

attention and other types of tasks (in processing resources)

You have a finite amount of attention that

can spread to other aspects of a task

Inhibitory loss theory

older adults have reduced processing/attention because they have greater difficulty inhibiting the processing of irrelevant information

Older adults have typically more trouble selectively attending to relevant information when

irrelevant and relevant information are both presented in the same sensory modality

The “dripping faucet” stury

Younger and older participants are instructed to read a book and ignore the tones, while ERPs (Event Related brain Potential) are recorded

Do older adults have faster decay of sensory memory?

No, otherwise they would have LARGER N1

Do older adults have less efficient filtering?

yes

Conclusions from the dripping faucet study

Diminished top-down (inhibitory) control from frontal areas and tendency for distractions, not poor hearing

If more processing resources are spent on repeated stimuli,

 fewer resources should be available for the primary task (primary task suffers)

Older adults whose N1s were supressed more (i.e. who were more similar to younger adults)

had a higher performance in the digit matching task

Tone train experiement, trains of 5 tones each and seperated by a silent interval

Participants were instructed to perform a digit-matching task of varying difficulty and ignore the other tones

Different regions of the brain

work together in clustered sets

Loss of separation (segregation) between neworks with age (1) loss of segregation is most

seen for attention-related networks

Loss of separation (segregation) between neworks with age (1) loss

of segregation is correlated with speed of processing and working memory

Older adults are slower and

 make more errors when reading “The Dig” paragraph

In “The Dig” paragraph, olderadults remmeber the distractor items better

if they’re useful in another task

Older adults are worse at invidiual tasks,

not dividing attention specifically

Older adults do well with simple tasks when divided but have

toruble as they get harder (relates to ideas of automatic vs. effortful processing)

Working memory

the process involved in holding information in mind and simultaneously manipulating that information to accomplish a task

Working memory and attention interact

When attention is withdrawn, information will quickly fade

On average, working memory declines with age

especially when tasks are speeded, have higher need for processing, and working memory capacity is strained

Sternberg task

Participants responds with yes/no with a speeded button— RT and accuracy are measured

Memory search

 searching the contents of your working memory for a specific item, while holding several items in working memory

Younger adults show unilateral brain activity while

older adults show bilateral brain activity

CRUNCH Model

Compensation-Related Utilization of Neural Circuit hypothesis 

On average, working memory

declines with age

Example of working memory capacity being strained

sternberg task

It’s not true that older adults working memory decline with age when (1) tasks

don’t require speeded knowledge

It’s not true that older adults working memory decline with age when (2) tasks rely on

world knowledge, vocab, or meaning of info

It’s not true that older adults working memory decline with age when (3) skills

are highly practiced (motor or cognitive)

There are big invidiual differences

when it comes to working memory

Most adults are evening or neutral types while

most older adults perform better in the morning

Memory performance of younger and older adults found

large age differences in the late afternoon

No age differences in memory performance were found in the morning

when older adults but not younger adults were at their peak period

Changes in brain structures supporting working memory function

Prefrontal cortex and its connection to other areas of the brain