Cognitive Psychology: Working Memory and Memory Processes

Textbook: Galotti, K. M. (2017). Cognitive Psychology In and Out of the Laboratory (6th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US).

Memory is foundational to nearly all cognitive tasks, including recalling personal events and performing basic calculations.
Retrieval: This refers to the process of bringing stored information back to mind, such as remembering special dates or significant events.
Everyday activities (e.g., managing finances, comprehending sentences) involve the short-term retention of information, which is part of working memory.
Failures of Memory: Memory failures highlight its significance; for instance, Clive Wearing's amnesia left him with only a few minutes of recall ability, although certain procedural and musical skills persisted.
The chapter focuses on how information is encoded, stored, retrieved, and why forgetting occurs.
Research predominantly derives from controlled lab settings (e.g., using word or picture lists) but will connect to real-world memory applications.
Memory significantly correlates with attention and perception; the capacity of working memory is closely associated with attentional control.

Encoding: The initial step involves converting incoming information into a brain-compatible format.
Memory Trace: This represents the encoded "record" created within the brain.
Storage: This entails maintaining the memory trace accessible over time.
Retrieval: This is about recalling previously stored information.
Retrieval vs. Forgetting: Successful recall is termed retrieval, while the inability to retrieve is experienced as forgetting.

Historical Perspective: Various metaphors have been used to explain memory, evolving from concepts such as:
- Aviary
- Wax tablet
- Cave
- Cabinet
- Exercise; and later shifts to telephone systems and computer analogies.
Modal Model of Memory (1960s–70s): This model includes:
- Sensory Memory: An ultra-brief store designed for unattended input.
- Short-Term Memory (STM): Known also as primary memory or short-term storage, retaining attended information for approximately 20–30 seconds.
- Long-Term Memory (LTM): Also referred to as secondary memory or long-term storage, serving as a durable archive for minutes to years.

Free-Recall Evidence: The serial position curve exhibits better recall for the first and last items in a list compared to those in the middle.
- Primacy Effect: The initial items receive more rehearsal, facilitating their transfer to long-term memory; rapid presentation can diminish this effect.
- Recency Effect: Last items are maintained in sensory/short-term memory; introducing a brief distractor task prior to recall obliterates the recency advantage.
The distinct manipulation of primacy and recency supports the notion of multiple memory stores (sensory, STM, LTM).
Roadmap of Chapter 5:
1. Sensory memory
2. Short-term memory
3. Baddeley’s working memory model
4. Executive processes governing cognitive operations
5. Neuropsychological evidence for active processing.
Discussions regarding long-term memories over extended periods will be deferred to Chapter 6.

Definition: A momentary trace that briefly holds fresh sensory input.
Perception vs. Memory: Psychologists debate whether this transient trace constitutes perception or memory; current consensus leans towards it being a memory aspect.
Modality-Specific Stores: Evidence supports the existence of separate traces for each sensory modality (vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch), allowing the brain to process various types of incoming information concurrently without immediate interference.
Most researched forms of sensory memory include:
- Iconic Memory (Visual): An instantaneous "snapshot" of a visual scene that disappears within a second, facilitating tasks such as reading and rapid perception.
- Echoic Memory (Auditory): A transient "echo" that lasts for a few seconds, aiding in speech comprehension by retaining the last sounds until the remainder of the sentence is heard.

Description: A fleeting visual "afterimage" residing in the mind; its persistence is psychological rather than dictated by external stimuli.
Sperling’s Whole vs. Partial Report:
- Whole Report: When shown a 3x4 letter grid for 50 ms, participants recalled an average of 4–5 out of 12 letters. Extending display time did not enhance performance.
- Partial Report (Tone-Cued Row): After viewing the display, participants received a tone indicating a specific row. Near-perfect recall of that row suggests that roughly 75% of the entire row was momentarily accessible.
- Sperling observed that a one-second delay for the tone eradicated the partial-report advantage, resulting in scores akin to the whole-report assessments.

Partial > Whole Recall: Performance during reporting diminishes quickly within approximately 150–1,000 ms; delays (around 1 second) cause the advantage to vanish.
Masking (Erasure): A subsequent visual pattern can overwrite the icon, negatively impacting recall from the original letter positions. For instance, if letters are displayed, followed by circles, participants struggle to identify where the original letters were, as the circles 'erase' those images.
Summary: Iconic memory maintains an almost complete, raw visual snapshot that decays in a fraction of a second and can be overwritten, explaining why rapid cues enhance recall while lag or masks diminish it.

Definition: It represents a very brief auditory "echo" that remains after sounds, supporting short-term recall.
Contrast: In classic studies, individuals exposed to four streams of letters could better recall when cued to report just one stream (partial report), demonstrating that a fleeting echo retains more information than can be immediately articulated.
Suffixed Items: An additional spoken item following a list impairs recall of the last few items, primarily when the suffix resembles the list (acting as an auditory mask); tones or visual cues have a lesser effect.
General Properties of Sensory Memory:
- Modality-specific: separate stores for visual, auditory, etc.
- Extensive but fleeting: can hold substantial information for well under a second (echoes potentially last longer).
- Primarily unprocessed: captures physical characteristics rather than initial meanings.
Summary: Echoic memory is a short-lived auditory trace capable of momentarily holding more than what is immediately reportable, susceptible to auditory suffix effects, and likely persists a bit longer than visual icon memory.