EXP3604 Exam 2 Study Guide

What is the purpose of having a short-term/working memory?

- Allows us to work with out information and serves as our platform for conscious level thought

Why would it be more beneficial for you to practice recall instead of recognition when studying for this exam?

- Bc there is a short answer question that requires recall and studying for recall is much deeper than studying for recognition

Central executive

- CEO of the working memory approach - integrates information from the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and episodic buffer and uses it to plan, coordinate - decides which issues deserve attention and suppresses irrelevant information

Explain chunking in your own words and provide an example of how it is used. How might this help when studying for an exam or memorizing a phone number?

- Chunking is when we take a few things in a list and group them together to make it easier for us to recall it. It can help while studying for an exam or memorizing a phone number because it makes it less individual things that we have to store and recall. (ie: chunking an area code into one piece rather than 3 numbers)

How can counting backwards prevent rehearsal? What affect does this have on short-term memory?

- Counting backwards prevents rehearsal because we can not focus on counting backwards at the same time as continuously repeating words or stimuli in our head. This affects short-term memory in that it cannot be stored as long term memory and will only last for a very limited time

How can manipulating a specific part of a serial-position curve prove a dissociation between working memory and long-term memory?

- Different manipulations of the curve can show distinctions in memory in that the recency effect or primacy effect will be varied to different degrees which can represent STM and LTM - For example, speeding up the presentation of words will affect the primacy effect because there is less time to rehearse. Placing a delay between the list and the recall will eliminate the recency effect while the primacy effect should be intact.

orienting tasks

- Direct the participant's attention to some aspect of the stimuli - either deep or shallow - but do not alert the participant to the potential of a later memory test

Which techniques have researchers used to measure the capacity of working memory?

- Doing 2 or more phonological loop tasks at once; usually poorly - Doing phonological loop + visuospatial sketchpad task = good performance - two visuospatial = bad - Central executive on two tasks = low

Differentiate between episodic, semantic and procedural memory.

- Episodic memory is our memory about events in our life - Semantic memory is our memory about the world - Procedural memory is our memory of how to do something

Differentiate between implicit and explicit memory. Provide examples of both.

- Explicit memory is when the participants know their memory is being tested whereas implicit they don't know. - Explicit: Recall as many words as you can from the list you saw - Implicit: Fill in the blanks of the missing letter in the word

How did Sperling's experiment demonstrate sensory memory? Use Whole vs. Partial report in your response.

- He flashed an array of 3 rows of 4 letters for a fraction of a second and had people try to recall the letters. He only flashed it for a fraction of a second to ensure that it was not encoded as short-term memory. He then had a whole report group and a partial report group where the whole report group tried to recall as many letters from the array as they could (averaged 5 letter recall) while the partial report group had a tone played that corresponded to a different row and they had to try to recall as many letters from each row (averaged 9 letter recall).

How would you use the self-reference effect in studying for an exam?

- I would take definitions or theories and find ways to apply it to something I do in my life or relate it to an example in my life I can think of

How did Baddeley and Hitch's research both expand and contradict Miller's? What might be the external validity of Baddeley and Hitch's research?

- It contradicted Miller's because he found that they could store things that were >7 digits, but expanded it in that it can be applicable to multiple memory components, not just one - External validity: Can be applied to so many settings: School for instance, using visuospatial sketchpad for a lecture while using phonological loop to record notes

Discuss the criticism regarding the levels-of -processing approach.

- It is circular: Deep processing leads to better memory recall. Better memory recall means they deep-processed (Have to switch up questions in task: shallow processing question for deep processing tasks

Differentiate between levels-of -processing approach and encoding specificity principle.

- Levels-of-processing has to do with the depth of encoding whereas the encoding-specificity principle has to do with the CONTEXT of encoding and rehearsal

What does George Miller's "Magical Number Seven" suggest?

- Miller's magical number seven suggests that short-term memory is a separate memory system than long-term memory and also suggests that our short-term memory is limited without rehearsal.

What role does mood and emotion play in long term memory? (use key words and examples in your answer).

- Mood and emotion through theories like mood congruence, mood-dependent memory, state dependent memory make it more likely for us to recall things easier from times when we were in similar moods or states.

Differentiate between mood congruence and mood dependence.

- Mood congruence occurs when your current mood leads to you only being able to think of things that match that mood. Mood dependent memory is when your mood at retrieval matches the encoding and makes it easier to remember.

Why might sensory memory be hard to prove?

- Sensory memory is so brief and difficult to differentiate between short-term memory because it only lasts a fraction of a second, thus research is limited on it.

Differentiate between sensory memory and short-term memory.

- Sensory memory is the brief memory system that holds environmental stimuli for a fraction of a second while short-term memory holds information in order for it to be manipulated and changed for a limited amount of time.

What caused the transition from the term "short-term" to working memory? How might a classical researcher define short-term memory compared to Baddeley?

- The Atkinson-Shiffrin model was pretty inflexible and people were not convinced that STM and LTM were much different so working memory, a more flexible approach came out. - STM: limited storehouse that stores info for 15-30 seconds - Working memory: active storehouse that holds information and manipulates it to perform diff tasks

distinctiveness

- The phenomenon in memory that states we are better able to remember information if it is distinctive or different from other information.

Differentiate between the recency effect and the primacy effect. Think about which type of memory each one measures and common errors associated with them.

- The recency effect measures short-term memory and says that we remember things better from the end of the list while the primacy effect measures long-term memory and says we remember things from the beginning of a list better than the middle. - Recency effect mistakes: Usually have mistakes based on sensory errors (Rhyming like boulder and folder) - Primary effect mistakes: usually have mistakes based on meaning (award recalled as medal)

Why is the self-reference effect so powerful?

- We are egotistical creatures and love to think or relate things to ourselves so it becomes very meaningful if we can relate it to ourselves

Give an example of the Pollyanna Principle.

- We are much more likely to remember positive moments in our life than things like near-accidents - Bushman: people had more accurate recall for nonviolent stimuli

Differentiate between the Atkinson-Shiffrin model and Baddeley's model. What is the main limitation of the Atkinson-Shiffrin model?

- Working memory focuses on short-term memory and how it uses diff components to manipulate info while atkinson-shifrrin focuses on a series of stages that memory progresses Atkinson shiffrin: It is inflexible and too simplistic to explain memory

Explicit memory task

- a memory task where participants know they're participating in a task testing their memory

Implicit memory task

- a memory task where the participants doesn't know their memory is being tested ie: asking them to fill in the blanks of a word

recognition task

- a method of measuring memory retention that assesses the ability to select the correct answer from among a range of alternative answers

Information-processing approach

- a perspective on understanding cognition that divides thinking into specific steps and component processes, much like a computer

meta-analysis

- a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies

mood

- a temporary state of mind, stable

Self-instruction

- a type of cognitive training technique that requires individuals to talk aloud and then to themselves as they solve problems

Sensory Memory

- a very brief memory system that holds literal information for a fraction of a second to allow cognitive processing - occurs prior to consciousness and can be pulled into STM

Short-term memory

- activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten

Working memory

- acts as a platform for our conscious level thought and a place where we can work with information

Levels-of-processing approach

- approach that argues that we process things deeper or more accurately when they are meaningful - we have better access to remembering something when its meaningful

Expertise

- consistently exceptional performance in a particular area - practice more important than inborn skill

Atkinson-Shiffrin Model

- describes our memory as a series of stages: sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory

Release from Proactive Interference

- if the words are not semantically related, they can be recalled much easier

Anterograde amnesia

- inability to form new memories

procedural memory

- knowledge about how to do something

long-term memory

- large capacity memory system for experiences and information accumulated over a lifetime

incidental learning

- learning that occurs from repetition rather than from conscious processing

retrieval

- locating information from storage and ACCESSING it

Retrograde amnesia

- loss of memory from before the point of injury/onset of amnesia

Semantics

- meaning of words and sentences - can cause proactive interference: very similar information semantically is difficult to encode

episodic memory

- memory for things/events that happen to you - relives events from the past: I REMEMBER

Hippocampus

- neural center located in the limbic system responsible for memory storage

semantic memory

- organized knowledge about the world; similar to an encyclopedia - I KNOW

recall task

- participants must reproduce the items they learned earlier

Acoustic confusions

- people are likely to confuse similar-sounding words or letters

intentional learning

- placing new information into memory in anticipation of being tested on it later

pollyanna principle

- pleasant items are more likely to be processed more efficiently and accurately than less pleasant items

Phonological loop

- processes a limited number of sounds for a short period of time - involved in counting, reading, language, etc.

Visuospatial sketchpad

- processes both visual and spatial information - stores appearance and relative position - used for art, retaining image of a scene, videogames, tv, etc.

Subvocalization

- pronouncing words silently to yourself

encoding-specificity principle

- recall is better if the retrieval context is similar to the encoding context

state dependent memory

- refers to mood states or drug-induced states and how recall is easier when you're in the same mood or drug-induced state

Control processes

- shift information from one memory store to another

Episodic buffer

- temporary storehouse where we can gather and combine info from the phonological loop and visuospatial - acts as a toolbench that combines info to solve problems

positivity effect

- tendency for people to remember more positive than negative information with age

Serial-position effect

- tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

Rehearsal

- the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage

Proactive Interference

- the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

emotion

- transient feeling that regards emotional reactions

self-reference effect

- we call information better if we relate it to ourselves; deeper process than semantic

elaboration

- we recall things better when we can relate them to other material

Primacy effect

- we remember things at the beginning of the list better than in the middle

Recency effect

- we remember things at the end of the list better than at the beginning of the list

mood dependent memory

- when learning occurs during a particular emotional state, it is more easily recalled when one is again in that emotional state

Dissociation

- when we find the effect by measuring task a but not task b ie: levels of processing does really well with explicit recall tasks compared to implicit

mood congruence

- you recall material more accurately if it is congruent with your current mood

Name the type of memory for each (episodic, procedural, or semantic): -Who your first boyfriend/girlfriend was -The capitol of California -What you did for your 18th birthday -The 24th president of the U.S. -How to drive a car

1. Episodic 2. Semantic 3. Episodic 4. Semantic 5. Procedural

Retrograde or anterograde amnesia? A man who endures a brain injury and cannot form new memories after his injury.

Anterograde

What is the duration of short-term memory?

- 15-30 seconds, but if rehearsed it will likely be stored as long-term memory

Repetition priming task

- A memory task in which recent exposure to a word increases the likelihood that a person will think of that particular word, when given a cue that could evoke many different words.

What factors affect working memory's capacity?

- ADHD & Depression - ADHD: low working-memory capacity - Depression: difficulty with central executive; can't concentrate on anything except ruminating thoughts

How can adding more trials to your experiment affect proactive interference?

- Adding more trials with the same semantic categories in each trial will lead to lower recall sequentially and increase proactive interference.

How can manipulating the semantics in an experiment affect the results? Discuss release from proactive interference in your response.

- After asking participants to recall words for several trials of semantically similar words can lead to proactive interference. When manipulate the semantics across trials, it seems that changing the semantic category to something as different as possible leads to the highest recall and release from proactive interference.

Brown/Peterson and Peterson technique

- Demonstrated that material held in STM is frequently forgotten - Had to remember three items and count backwards by three to stop rehearsal

Chunk

- The basic unit of short-term memory, consisting of several components that are strongly associated with one another.

Define Acoustic confusions in your own words.

- When two words sound alike, we can get confused between them

encoding

- initial aquisiton of information; learning or aquiring

Working-memory approach

- our immediate memory is part of a multipart system that temporarily holds and manipulates information as we perform cognitive tasks - emphasizes the active manipulation of info

Retrieval

- the process of getting info out of memory storage

Encoding or retrieval? -Going to class and listening to Dr. Cahill lecture -Taking exam 2

1. Encoding 2. Retrieval

When you subvocalize, which component of Baddeley's model are you using?

Phonological loop

Retrograde or anterograde amnesia? A woman who gets into an accident and cannot remember anything that occurred before her accident.

Retrograde

Scenario #2: you are a participant in the same study as above. Instead of saying couch, you say the word slouch. Which effect error does this demonstrate?

This demonstrates a recency effect error based off of a sensory error since it is an auditory confusion

Scenario #1: you are a participant in an experiment testing short-term memory and recall. The word that you are asked to recall is couch, but you say sofa instead. Which effect error does this demonstrate?

This demonstrates the primacy effect error through level-of-processing since we encode things based on meaning.