TASK 1 – WORKING MEMORY
LITERATURE
Course Book
Gluck M.A., Mercado, E., Myers, C. Learning and memory: From brain to behavior. 3rd edition. Worth
Publishers, NY. 2016. Chapter 9: Working memory and cognitive control, p351-393.
Book chapters, historical papers and supporting documents
Chapter: Braver, T.S. (2007). Working Memory. In Cognitive Psychology: Mind and Brain. (skip 253-256
on patient studies, continue with the visuo-spatial sketchpad on p256 – very similar to Gluck)
Chapter: Gazzaniga, M., Ivry R., Mangun G. (Eds). Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind.
Norton & Company. Inc., 1998, p247-256 (stop at long-term memory, skip Flashbulb memories on p248
– these selected pages give a brief, somewhat less detailed overview)
Historical paper: Fuster, J.M. & Alexander, G.E. (1971) Neuron activity related to short-term memory.
Science 173: 652-654. (Discovery of neuronal activity related to short-term memory: Students should
read this in as much detail as they can)
Supporting Document: ‘Stages of memory – encoding of input, storage, retrieval’ (Can be downloaded
from the Course Materials page on Canvas)
Internet links
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tracy-alloway-phd-and-ross-alloway-phd/iq- tests_b_4168628.html (on
the link between WM and intelligence)
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/everybody-is-stupid-except-you/201407/how- major-
depression-impaired-my-cognitive-ability (on negative effect of depression on WM)
LANDMARKS
(1) ATKINSON & SHIFFRIN’S SHORT TERM MEMORY MODEL (STM)
• Provide figures of both models and explain the function and interrelation of their main components
• For each model, discuss which experiments and cognitive tasks have been used to support the
existence of hypothesized components and processes
• Briefly discuss similarities and differences between models. Which aspects of STM can be most
criticized?
(1) BADDELEY’S WORKING MEMORY MODEL (WM)
Provide figures of both models and explain the function and interrelation of their main components
, • For each model, discuss which experiments and cognitive tasks have been used to support the
existence of hypothesized components and processes
• Briefly discuss similarities and differences between models. Which aspects of STM can be most
criticized?
(2) DISCOVERY OF MAINTAINED NEURAL ACTIVITY RELATED TO WM
• Use the figures in the paper to explain the task of the monkey and the main result
• Explain the conclusion of the paper and possible criticisms of that conclusion
• Explain the eye movement experiment of Funahashietal (1989)
• Then explain which WM function this experiment may illustrate, but also indicate the difficulties of
that interpretation
(3) BRAIN ACTIVITY IN A HUMAN FMRO EXPERIMENT DURING WM
• Explain the task used by Petrides (2000) and why the elecited fMRI activity falls in one part but not
the other of the frontal lobe
• Take a picture from the internet that shows a lateral view of a human brain with 4 lobes, and explain
very briefly what you know about their main function
• Within the frontal lobe, indicate the tho major subdivisions and their relationship to Baddeley’s WM
model
• Give a brief overview of all the behavioral tasks you encountered in the chapter (including tasks used
in monkey and human fMRI experiments) and explain which part of the frontal lobe helps most in
performing them. You could add keywords to the whiteboard with arrows pointing to the relevant
part of the brainn
(4) PREFRONTAL CORTEX, INTELLIGENCE AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
• What arguments are there to support that the capacity for intelligence and the capacity for WM are
basically the same? Which arguments may argue against?
• What are the behavioral indicators of ADHD? What are the causes of ADHD (neurotransmitters,
cortex, subcortical structures)? What are current treatments (and their advantages and
disadvantages)
• Are there general paraleles between ADHD and schizophrenia?
,CHAPTER 9 – WORKING MEMORY & COGNITIVE
CONTROL
Working memory = the active and temporary representation of information that is maintained for the short
term to help think and allow what to decide next
Cognitive control = the manipulation and application of working memory for planning, task switching,
attention, stimulus selection and inhibition of inappropriate reflexive behaviors
9.1 BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES
Atkinson-Shiffrin Model of Memory
Depicted incoming information as flowing first into sensory memory, then to short term memory, then
through various control processes and in some cases transferred into long term memory
1. Sensory memory à information automatically and rapidly decays
§ Brief, transient sensations of what has just been perceived when someone hears,
sees, touches, smells or tastes something
§ Here information automatically and quickly decays
§ Information that is attended to is transferred into short term memory
2. Short term memory à the active and temporary representation of information that is
maintained for the short term in one’s mind
§ information can be maintained as long as it is rehearsed or consciously attended to
§ in some cases information gets transferred into long term memory
3. Long term memory à memories can be retained for long periods, without requiring ongoing
maintenance or conscious
attention
, Short term (working) memories
• Part of the memory system used as a temporary storage area and as the site of working memory
operations
• Are transient, existing briefly for seconds/minutes
• Crucial for performing many high-level cognitive control functions (planning, organization, task
management)
TRANSIENT MEMORIES
Transient memories = non permanent memory that lasts seconds or minutes. Atkinson-Shiffrin model has 2
types of transient memory:
1. Sensory memory
2. Short term memory
1. SENSORY MEMORY
Sensory memories = brief, transient sensations of what
you have just perceived when you have
seen/smelled/touched/heard something
Visual sensory memory = temporary storage in sensory
memory for information received by your visual system
Sperling task à Subjects presented by a 3 x 4 visual
array of letters for a very short time
» Tone was played. High medium and low tones correspond to the need of subjects to report the first,
second or third row of letters
» On average participants were able to report 75% of the letters. Only 30-40% of letters when they are
asked to report as manu letters as they can after the array is REMOVED
» Conclusion: people have visual memory that persists for a very short time (<1 s) but includes ALL
items recently seen
• Studies have shown similar phenomena with auditory memory / other modalities
There is a form of sensory memory for each sensory modality that lasts very briefly and captures raw
incoming sensory stimuli so that they can be processed and passed on to the short term memory, and long
term memory
LITERATURE
Course Book
Gluck M.A., Mercado, E., Myers, C. Learning and memory: From brain to behavior. 3rd edition. Worth
Publishers, NY. 2016. Chapter 9: Working memory and cognitive control, p351-393.
Book chapters, historical papers and supporting documents
Chapter: Braver, T.S. (2007). Working Memory. In Cognitive Psychology: Mind and Brain. (skip 253-256
on patient studies, continue with the visuo-spatial sketchpad on p256 – very similar to Gluck)
Chapter: Gazzaniga, M., Ivry R., Mangun G. (Eds). Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind.
Norton & Company. Inc., 1998, p247-256 (stop at long-term memory, skip Flashbulb memories on p248
– these selected pages give a brief, somewhat less detailed overview)
Historical paper: Fuster, J.M. & Alexander, G.E. (1971) Neuron activity related to short-term memory.
Science 173: 652-654. (Discovery of neuronal activity related to short-term memory: Students should
read this in as much detail as they can)
Supporting Document: ‘Stages of memory – encoding of input, storage, retrieval’ (Can be downloaded
from the Course Materials page on Canvas)
Internet links
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tracy-alloway-phd-and-ross-alloway-phd/iq- tests_b_4168628.html (on
the link between WM and intelligence)
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/everybody-is-stupid-except-you/201407/how- major-
depression-impaired-my-cognitive-ability (on negative effect of depression on WM)
LANDMARKS
(1) ATKINSON & SHIFFRIN’S SHORT TERM MEMORY MODEL (STM)
• Provide figures of both models and explain the function and interrelation of their main components
• For each model, discuss which experiments and cognitive tasks have been used to support the
existence of hypothesized components and processes
• Briefly discuss similarities and differences between models. Which aspects of STM can be most
criticized?
(1) BADDELEY’S WORKING MEMORY MODEL (WM)
Provide figures of both models and explain the function and interrelation of their main components
, • For each model, discuss which experiments and cognitive tasks have been used to support the
existence of hypothesized components and processes
• Briefly discuss similarities and differences between models. Which aspects of STM can be most
criticized?
(2) DISCOVERY OF MAINTAINED NEURAL ACTIVITY RELATED TO WM
• Use the figures in the paper to explain the task of the monkey and the main result
• Explain the conclusion of the paper and possible criticisms of that conclusion
• Explain the eye movement experiment of Funahashietal (1989)
• Then explain which WM function this experiment may illustrate, but also indicate the difficulties of
that interpretation
(3) BRAIN ACTIVITY IN A HUMAN FMRO EXPERIMENT DURING WM
• Explain the task used by Petrides (2000) and why the elecited fMRI activity falls in one part but not
the other of the frontal lobe
• Take a picture from the internet that shows a lateral view of a human brain with 4 lobes, and explain
very briefly what you know about their main function
• Within the frontal lobe, indicate the tho major subdivisions and their relationship to Baddeley’s WM
model
• Give a brief overview of all the behavioral tasks you encountered in the chapter (including tasks used
in monkey and human fMRI experiments) and explain which part of the frontal lobe helps most in
performing them. You could add keywords to the whiteboard with arrows pointing to the relevant
part of the brainn
(4) PREFRONTAL CORTEX, INTELLIGENCE AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
• What arguments are there to support that the capacity for intelligence and the capacity for WM are
basically the same? Which arguments may argue against?
• What are the behavioral indicators of ADHD? What are the causes of ADHD (neurotransmitters,
cortex, subcortical structures)? What are current treatments (and their advantages and
disadvantages)
• Are there general paraleles between ADHD and schizophrenia?
,CHAPTER 9 – WORKING MEMORY & COGNITIVE
CONTROL
Working memory = the active and temporary representation of information that is maintained for the short
term to help think and allow what to decide next
Cognitive control = the manipulation and application of working memory for planning, task switching,
attention, stimulus selection and inhibition of inappropriate reflexive behaviors
9.1 BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES
Atkinson-Shiffrin Model of Memory
Depicted incoming information as flowing first into sensory memory, then to short term memory, then
through various control processes and in some cases transferred into long term memory
1. Sensory memory à information automatically and rapidly decays
§ Brief, transient sensations of what has just been perceived when someone hears,
sees, touches, smells or tastes something
§ Here information automatically and quickly decays
§ Information that is attended to is transferred into short term memory
2. Short term memory à the active and temporary representation of information that is
maintained for the short term in one’s mind
§ information can be maintained as long as it is rehearsed or consciously attended to
§ in some cases information gets transferred into long term memory
3. Long term memory à memories can be retained for long periods, without requiring ongoing
maintenance or conscious
attention
, Short term (working) memories
• Part of the memory system used as a temporary storage area and as the site of working memory
operations
• Are transient, existing briefly for seconds/minutes
• Crucial for performing many high-level cognitive control functions (planning, organization, task
management)
TRANSIENT MEMORIES
Transient memories = non permanent memory that lasts seconds or minutes. Atkinson-Shiffrin model has 2
types of transient memory:
1. Sensory memory
2. Short term memory
1. SENSORY MEMORY
Sensory memories = brief, transient sensations of what
you have just perceived when you have
seen/smelled/touched/heard something
Visual sensory memory = temporary storage in sensory
memory for information received by your visual system
Sperling task à Subjects presented by a 3 x 4 visual
array of letters for a very short time
» Tone was played. High medium and low tones correspond to the need of subjects to report the first,
second or third row of letters
» On average participants were able to report 75% of the letters. Only 30-40% of letters when they are
asked to report as manu letters as they can after the array is REMOVED
» Conclusion: people have visual memory that persists for a very short time (<1 s) but includes ALL
items recently seen
• Studies have shown similar phenomena with auditory memory / other modalities
There is a form of sensory memory for each sensory modality that lasts very briefly and captures raw
incoming sensory stimuli so that they can be processed and passed on to the short term memory, and long
term memory
