SPP 520 COG: Working Memory (copy)

“_____ Memory” and “_____ Memory” refer to:

Short-term memory and working memory

Same cognitive processes

• working memory represents an updated view of short term memory

Short Term memory (example)

You’re given a phone number

You didn’t practice or rehearse it so you forget it

Long term memory (example)

Rehearsed

Cannot really damage LTM unless physical brain part is extracted

Declarative and Nondeclarative Memory

Declarative - can declare, aware

• Ex. What did I do yesterday? I ate lunch at Monte

• Episodic - time, place, person (hippocampus pulls out the memory, medial temporal lobe)

• Semantic - facts (amnesia, cortex)

Nondeclarative - not declarative, unconscious

• Ex. skills, behavioral conditioning, habituation reflex, priming, procedural

Magic Number 7

george miller

suggested people can remember ~7 items (± 2)

• compact info into chunks to retain info

• proposed that people engage in internal mental processes in order to convert stimuli into a manageable number of chunks

Chunk

memory unit consisting of strongly associated components

Early research on Short term Capacity: The brown/peterson & peterson technique

• material held in memory for less than minute is frequently forgotten

• present some items to be remembered; count backwards by 3’s (distractor task); attempt recall

• rehearsal

Early research on Short term Capacity: Serial Position Effect

recency effect - last on list

primacy effect - 1st on list

• person with amnesia learning new stuff

Semantic similarity of the items in short term memory: Wickens and colleagues (1976)

• proactive interference (PI)

  • Ex. Multiple classes with similar info so info interferes when trying to recall

• Brown/Peterson & Peterson task varying semantic similarity on tail 4

• release from proactive interface

• retroactive - new info interfering with old info

Atkison and Shiffrins model of information processing

a) mental processes are similar to the operations of a computer

b) information progresses through a series of stages, 1 step at a time

Atkinson-Shiffrin model

• sensory memory

• short-term memory (working)

• long term memory

• control processes

Diminished Influence

• most cognitive psychologists now consider sensory memory to be part of perception rather than memory

• researchers question the clear-cut distinction between short-term and long-term memory

Working memory approach

our immediate memory is a multipart system that temporarily holds and manipulates info while we perform cognitive tasks

• central executive

• visuospatial sketchpad

• episodic buffer

• phonological loop

• long term memory

Evidence for components with independent capacities

working memory is NOT unitary

baddeley and hitch (1974)

• random numbers and spatial reasoning task

• people performed remarkably quickly and accurately on both of these 2 simultaneous tasks (bc they were different modalities)

• Ex. Same modalities interfere

  • Viseospatial task + Visuospatial task = interference

  • Visuospation task + Phonological task = only small interference

phonological loop

processes a limited number of sounds for a short period of time

• we tend to turn to this modality more often

Subvocalization

because as humans we tend to think about things in words → it is a go-to method to remember things

Acoustic Confusions

• list of letters, presented visually

• make fewer errors when letters do not sound similar (this is bc they were processing sounds AND visual input, aka the letters)

• brain had to convert visual letters to a sound-based code

examples of how the phonological loop plays a central role in other cognitive processes

this is our main processing unit (as humans)

1. working memory as the “gateway” to long term memory

2. using the phonological loop during self-instruction

3. learning new words in your first language

4. producing new language

5. mathematical calculations and problem solving tasks

• the loop is also used to articulate things

• frontal lobe and left temporal lobe

Visuospatial sketchpad

aka visuospatial working memory, short-term visual memory

processes both visual and spatial info

Allows you to:

• store visual appearance and relative position

• store visual info encoded from verbal stimuli

limited capacity

• cognitive map - hippocampus

  • certain neurons fire depending on where you’re at in space and the direction you’re going

research on the visuospatial sketchpad

performing 2 visuospatial tasks simultaneously

• no standardized set of visual stimuli

• tendency to provide names for visual stimuli, thus using phonological loop instead

• brandimote et al 1992: say “lalala” while looking at a complex visual stimulus

  • saying lalala occupies the phonological loop, which prevents you from labeling the visual stimuli with words, so you can actually remember the visual stimuli (bc we automatically think about things in words)

neuroscience research on the visuospatial sketchpad

lot of areas involved:

• right hemisphere

• occipital lobe

• frontal cortex

• frontal and parietal lobes

noticeably not the front left cortex

central executive

Strategizer and gear switcher

• integrates info from the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer and long term memory

• plays role in: focusing attention, selecting strategies, transforming info and coordinating behavior

• suppresses irrelevant info

• plans/coordinates, does NOT store info

• executive supervisor

• decides which issues deserve attention

• selects a strategy

• decides how to tackle the problem

• limited ability to perform simultaneous tasks

Neuroscience research: central executive

• limited to the frontal region of cortex

recent views of central executive

• the executive attention network seems to have a lot in common with the central executive

• strong correlation between working memory tasks and tasks used by cognitive neuroscientists to study the prefrontal executive attention network

Episodic Buffer

• holding cell for memories

• temporary storehouse that can hold and combine info from the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and LTM

• integrates info from different modalities

• manipulates info for interpretation

• make connections between concepts

• limited capacity

• temporary memory systems

• ex. pulls things to solve problems

Working memory and Academic performance

• Varies by individual

• can depend on intelligence

1. scores on working memory tasks are correlated with overall intelligence and grades in school

2. scores on tests of working memory(especially the phonological loop) are usually corretlated with reading ability

3. scores on central-executive tasks are correlated with verbal fluency, reading cophresenion, reseoning ability and note taking skills

Ex. Someone who has attentional issues —> different working memory

Ex. Larger working capacity —> buffer distractions

working memory abilities in clinical populations: Major Depression

Christopher and MacDonald (2005)

• phonological loop

• visuospatial sketchpad

• central executive

• difficulty concentrating

ruminative style

• Many internal and external distractions

• the executive worrying so indicative of GAD may very well cause reductions in working memory resources, thus reducing one’s ability to perform other cognitive and perceptual tasks

Ex. Worrying about something (rumination) takes up space in our brain

• less space for other info

• highlights importance of giving your brain a break

• cannot attend as well and hurts performance

People with ADHD often have _____ than others on central-executive tasks

more difficulty

• adhd & ASD → lower experience of flow

working memory: anxiety

excessive worrying indicative of GAD may very well cause reductions in working memory resources, thus reducing ability to perform other cognitive and perceptual tasks