Problem 1
Learning Goals:
1. What is a serial position curve?
2. What influences remembering?
3. How does working memory function?
4. What is the role of interference?
5. What is the role of attention in memory?
6. How and why do we get distracted?
7. What are filter theories and how do they explain task-switching?
8. What influences our attention?
Problem A.
Memory is limited in both duration and capacity
Short term memory- memory system that holds a small amount of
information newly acquired information
Long term memory- memory system that has a large capacity and
contains your memory for experiences and information that
develops throughout one’s lifetime
The Magical number 7+/-2 (Miller)
we can usually remember 5-9 items
Chunk – a basic unit in short term memory that consists of several
items that are strongly associated together.
- E.g. 2001 (1 chunk) – 19 (1 chunk) – 39548 (5 chunks)
Brown/Peterson and Peterson
material held in memory for less than 1 minute is frequently
forgotten
Ppt are instructed to remember some items - Perform a distracting
task – Asked to recall the original items
- Recall was better early on as there was less interference
- Recall was better with a shorter delay period
Serial position effect
U-shaped relationship between word position in a list and the
probability of recall
Strong recency effect- better recall of items at the end of the list
due to them still being in short term memory at the time of recall
3-7 item capacity
Strong primacy effect- better recall of items at the beginning of the
list as 1. they don’t need to compete with earlier items and 2. They
are rehearsed more frequently
Semantic similarity of the items in short term memory
Semantics – the meaning of words and sentences
, Proactive interference (PI) –previously learnt material interferes
with to-be-learned material and thus it is hard to learn new material
Release from proactive interference- usually occurs when the
category of items is changed (e.g. from letters to numbers) or the
semantic category is changed
Semantic factors influence the number of items we can store in STM
- Previously stored words can interfere with the recall of new
words that are similar in meaning
- The degree of similarity is related to the amount of interference
Atkinson and Shiffrin model- information processing model –
sensory memory, short term store, long term store – computer
model
Problem B.
Working memory (Baddeley and Hitch)
We use short term memory when performing complex tasks
We briefly store information about the outcome of early processes in
STM as you move on to later processes
1. Central executive- modality free attentional system
- Limited capacity
- Resembles attention
- Deals with cognitively demanding tasks
2. Phonological loop- speech- based storage system
- Slave system used by the CE for specific purposes
- Preserves the order in which words are presented
- Limited capacity
3. Visio-spatial sketchpad- spatial and visual storage system
- Slave system used by the CE for specific purposes
- Stores and manipulates spatial and visual information
- Limited capacity
4. Episodic buffer- integrates information from the VS sketchpad and
P loop
Assumptions:
- If 2 tasks use the same component, they can’t be performed
successfully together
- If 2 tasks use different components, it should be possible to
perform them together as well as separately
Phonological loop
Consists of 2 components
- A passive phonological store directly concerned with speech
perception
- An articulatory process linked to speech production (i.e.
rehearsal) giving access to the phonological store
Phonological similarity effect- reduced immediate serial recall
when words are phonologically (sounds) similar e.g. FEE, HE, KNEE
- Semantic processing also plays a part
Learning Goals:
1. What is a serial position curve?
2. What influences remembering?
3. How does working memory function?
4. What is the role of interference?
5. What is the role of attention in memory?
6. How and why do we get distracted?
7. What are filter theories and how do they explain task-switching?
8. What influences our attention?
Problem A.
Memory is limited in both duration and capacity
Short term memory- memory system that holds a small amount of
information newly acquired information
Long term memory- memory system that has a large capacity and
contains your memory for experiences and information that
develops throughout one’s lifetime
The Magical number 7+/-2 (Miller)
we can usually remember 5-9 items
Chunk – a basic unit in short term memory that consists of several
items that are strongly associated together.
- E.g. 2001 (1 chunk) – 19 (1 chunk) – 39548 (5 chunks)
Brown/Peterson and Peterson
material held in memory for less than 1 minute is frequently
forgotten
Ppt are instructed to remember some items - Perform a distracting
task – Asked to recall the original items
- Recall was better early on as there was less interference
- Recall was better with a shorter delay period
Serial position effect
U-shaped relationship between word position in a list and the
probability of recall
Strong recency effect- better recall of items at the end of the list
due to them still being in short term memory at the time of recall
3-7 item capacity
Strong primacy effect- better recall of items at the beginning of the
list as 1. they don’t need to compete with earlier items and 2. They
are rehearsed more frequently
Semantic similarity of the items in short term memory
Semantics – the meaning of words and sentences
, Proactive interference (PI) –previously learnt material interferes
with to-be-learned material and thus it is hard to learn new material
Release from proactive interference- usually occurs when the
category of items is changed (e.g. from letters to numbers) or the
semantic category is changed
Semantic factors influence the number of items we can store in STM
- Previously stored words can interfere with the recall of new
words that are similar in meaning
- The degree of similarity is related to the amount of interference
Atkinson and Shiffrin model- information processing model –
sensory memory, short term store, long term store – computer
model
Problem B.
Working memory (Baddeley and Hitch)
We use short term memory when performing complex tasks
We briefly store information about the outcome of early processes in
STM as you move on to later processes
1. Central executive- modality free attentional system
- Limited capacity
- Resembles attention
- Deals with cognitively demanding tasks
2. Phonological loop- speech- based storage system
- Slave system used by the CE for specific purposes
- Preserves the order in which words are presented
- Limited capacity
3. Visio-spatial sketchpad- spatial and visual storage system
- Slave system used by the CE for specific purposes
- Stores and manipulates spatial and visual information
- Limited capacity
4. Episodic buffer- integrates information from the VS sketchpad and
P loop
Assumptions:
- If 2 tasks use the same component, they can’t be performed
successfully together
- If 2 tasks use different components, it should be possible to
perform them together as well as separately
Phonological loop
Consists of 2 components
- A passive phonological store directly concerned with speech
perception
- An articulatory process linked to speech production (i.e.
rehearsal) giving access to the phonological store
Phonological similarity effect- reduced immediate serial recall
when words are phonologically (sounds) similar e.g. FEE, HE, KNEE
- Semantic processing also plays a part
