Working Memory & Short-Term Memory

What is the primary difference between short-term memory and working memory?

Short-term memory simply holds or stores information, whereas working memory actively manipulates information and maintains it against distraction.

Describe the Brown-Peterson task and its purpose.

Participants count backwards by threes after seeing three consonants (3-18s delay) to prevent rehearsal, studying short-term memory duration.

Explain chunking and how it increases memory span.

Grouping random items into meaningful units; increases span because memory capacity is limited by chunks rather than total individual items.

What are the primary components of Baddeley's Working Memory Model?

Central Executive, Phonological Loop, and Visuospatial Sketchpad.

What is the word length effect and what does it suggest?

Short words are remembered better; suggests phonological loop capacity is constrained by pronunciation time rather than absolute item count.

Define articulatory suppression and its impact on memory.

Repeating an irrelevant sound aloud during memorization; disrupts the phonological loop, reduces rehearsal, worsens recall, and eliminates the word length effect.

Describe the visuospatial sketchpad and give an example task.

Stores visual/spatial information and mental imagery. Examples include mental rotation tasks, counting house windows, or navigation.

How does the central executive contribute to working memory?

Acts as an attentional controller, integrates info from loops and sketchpads, handles planning, coordination, and suppresses irrelevant info.

What are complex span tasks and what do they predict?

Measures combining storage with concurrent tasks (e.g., reading/operation span); predict comprehension, academic learning, test scores, and fluid intelligence.

Explain the relationship between working memory capacity and the cocktail party effect.

Lower working memory capacity makes individuals more susceptible to distraction by hearing their own name, reflecting central executive inhibitory control efficiency.

Articulatory Suppression

A technique where participants repeat an irrelevant sound aloud, preventing subvocal rehearsal and disrupting the phonological loop.

Brown-Peterson Task

A procedure used to measure short-term memory duration by presenting a trigram and preventing rehearsal via a distractor task.

Central Executive

The component of working memory responsible for controlling and regulating information flow, allocating attention, and coordinating subsystems.

Chunking

A memory strategy where individuals group items together into meaningful units to increase memory span.

Complex Span Tasks

Measures of working memory capacity requiring simultaneous maintenance and manipulation of information, such as reading span and OSPAN.

Digit Span

A measure of short-term memory capacity determined by the number of digits an individual can recall correctly in order.

Duration of Short-Term Memory

The length of time information can be held in short-term memory, typically about 15-20 seconds without rehearsal.

Information-Processing Model

A model conceptualizing the mind as processing information through sensory, short-term, and long-term memory stages.

Interference

A phenomenon where retrieval of information is hampered by the presence of other information in memory.

Memory Span

The maximum number of items an individual can recall correctly from a presented list.

Phonological Loop

The working memory component processing auditory information, including the phonological store and articulatory process.

Phonological Similarity Effect

Poorer memory performance when items sound similar, indicating an acoustic code in short-term memory.

Primacy Effect

Better memory for items at the beginning of a list, attributed to transfer to long-term memory.

Proactive Interference

When previously learned information interferes with the learning and retrieval of new information.

Recency Effect

Better memory for items at the end of a list, attributed to still being present in short-term memory.

Release from Proactive Interference

Improved recall when the category of items changes, indicating reduced interference.

Serial Position Curve

A graph depicting recall accuracy as a function of list position, typically showing primacy and recency effects.

Short-Term Memory (STM)

A temporary storage system that holds a limited amount of information for a short period.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

The working memory component responsible for processing visual and spatial information, maintaining and manipulating mental images.

Word Length Effect

Shorter words are easier to recall, supporting limited capacity in the phonological loop based on pronunciation time.

Working Memory

A cognitive system holding information temporarily while allowing active manipulation, crucial for reasoning and comprehension.

Working Memory Capacity

An individual's ability to hold and manipulate information in working memory, often assessed via complex span tasks.