Chapter 5: Short-term and Working Memory

Chapter 5: Short-term and Working Memory

1. Sensory Memory

   • An initial stage that holds all incoming information for seconds or fractions of a second
   • Retention, the effects of sensory stimulation
     • Example: The way a sparkler is moved around on the air and the trail is actually in your memory not in the air
       • Persistence of Vision: the continued perception of a visual stimulus even after it is no longer present
         • Delayed Partial Report CogLab
           • A group of 12 letters are flashed on the screen. After they are displayed a tone tells them what row to report
   • Iconic
     • Vision
   • Echoic
     • Hearing

2. Short-term Memory

   • Holds five to seven items for about 15-20 seconds depending on how complex
     • Peterson and Peterson used method of recall to determine the duration of STM
     • Digit Span: the number of digits a person can remember (five to nine)
   • The system involved in storing small amounts of information for a brief period of time

3. Long-term Memory

   • Hold large amount of information for years or even decades

4. Working Memory

   • A limited Capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning
   • Phonological Loop
     • Has two components
       • Phonological Store
         • Limited capacity and holds information for only a few seconds
       • Articulatory Rehearsal
         • Responsible for rehearsal that can keep items in the phonological store from decaying
     • Word Length Effect
       • When memory for lists of words is better for short words than long words and the second list is harder to remember because the words are longer
     • Irrelevant Speech
       • Where a random sequence of letters are given and you are to recall and half the trials have a german man reading
     • Articulatory Supression
       • Reduces memory because speaking interferes with rehearsal and eliminates the word length effect
   • Visuospatial Sketch Pad
     • Holds Visual and spatial information
     • Brooks (1968)
       • Visualize the letter "F", is the corner exterior or interior, either point to out or in or say out or in
         • More difficult to point because imagining the letter and pointing both use visuospatial sketch pad
   • In the Frontal Cortex
   • Central Executive
     • Control center of the working memory system
       • Focus, divide, switch attention
       • Controls suppression of irrelevant information
       • Decreases perseveration
   • Episodic Buffer
     • Store information (extra capacity) and connected to LTM (interchange between WM and LTM)

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