WORKING MEMORY

WORKING MEMORY

1. Classic Research on Short-Term Memory

   • George Miller (1956): proposed we could only hold seven chunks of information in our STM
   • Brown/Peterson & Peterson technique: prevents rehearsal, shows limited recall for items after a short delay
     • Recency effect in a serial-postion curve also used in measuring limited capacity of STM
   • Word meaning can influence number of items
   • Atkinson-Shiffrin Model (1968): items that we store in STM can be lost within 30s unless repeated. Rehearsal can help improve STM
     • Information that is not lost in STM transfers to LTM

2. Working Memory Approach

   • Alan Baddeley & Colleagues: proposed new approach that WM immediate memory is not a passive storehouse, instead it resembles a workbench where material is continuously being combined and transformed
     • Baddeley & Hitch Study (1974): demonstrated that people could perform a verbal task and a spatial task simultaneously with minimal reduction in speed and accuracy on either
   • Phonological Loop: briefly stores a limited number of sounds. Items stored can be confused with other similar-sounding items
     • Used for long-term memory, self-instruction, learning new words, producing language and solving problems
     • Activates in left hemisphere including frontal lobe (rehearsal) and parietal lobe (storage)
   • Visuospatial Sketchpad: stores visual and spatial information. Limited capacity - two visuospatial tasks will interfere if performed simultaneously
     • Activates in the right hemisphere; esp Occipital region (visual), and frontal and parietal regions
   • Central Executive Network: integrates phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad and episodic buffer (& LTM). Activates in the frontal lobe
     • Important for focusing attention, selecting strategies and suppressing irrelevant information. Does not store information
       • Can't perform two complex tasks simultaneously
   • Episodic Buffer: temporarily stores material from the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad and LTM. Binds together stimuli that were not previously connected

3. Effects on Academic Performance & Mental Health

   • High scores on WM tasks correlate with intelligence, grades in school, reading ability and verbal fluency
   • Adults who experience depression frequently have difficulty with a variety of tasks involving the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad and central executive
   • ADHD shows WM deficits in both visual and verbal working memory tasks. Due to deficits in central-executive functioning