Characteristics of STM
Limited Capacity
Limited duration
Distinct from LTM
Span task
to test STM capacity.
Letters coming up in ordera nd you have to repeat as many as you can
Miller’s magic number
7 +/- 2
STM chunk allowance
So the more you know, the better able you are to use these chunks effectively
Brown-Peterson-Peterson task
shown three letters followed by a large number to count back from by 3s.
Shows that in the absence of rehearsal, STM duration is less than 30 seconds.
Serial position effect
The U shaped curve of how we remember things in lists.
Primacy and recency effects account for high recall.
Support the idea that LTM and STM are distinct (primacy due to LTM and recency due to STM)
Primacy effect
things at the beginning of a list are remembered better because (1) they don’t compete with any other items and (2) they are rehearsed more frequently
Recency effect
Things presented recently are remembered well
Still fresh in STM
semantics
meaning of words or sentences
Proactive interference
people have troublel earning new material when previously learned material keep interfering with new learning.
eg. if last trial was diff category than first trials, there will be better recall - release from proactive interference
Modal Model
Atkinson Schiffrin Model
STM is fragile and those memories lost in 30 seconds if not rehearsed
Control processes can be used to improve memory.
Criticisms of Modal Model
STM depicted as a single entity - if this were true, two tasks that need STM would interfere.
Baddeley’s WM Model
WM isn’t just a passive store house. It is where we manipulate information
Evidence of Baddeley’s WM model
People can do verbal (counting) tasks while also doing spatial reasoning tasks. Therefore, WM must have multiple components that operate somewhat independently of one another.
Phonological loop
brain regions?
Can process a limited number of sounds for a short period of time.
Activate frontal lobe and part of temporal lobe in left hemisphere of brain
Phonological store
limited duration phonological code.
The articulatory loop
brain regions?
the mind’s voice - subvocal rehearsal
Visuo-spatial sketchpad
brain regions?
Represents visual and spatial information
Episodic buffer
combine info from phonological loop and VS sketchpad and LTM
Central Exec
brain regions?
How do we know that LTM and WM interact?
Semantic effects on WM
- Words easier to remember than nonwords bc they mean something to us/we have seen them before
proactive interference
- LTM impaired by repeated storage of similar concepts
WM and academic performance
Major Depression and WM
Depressed patients had less phonological loop ability
Total time hypothesis
time spent studying ha something to do with amount learned
BUT THIS IS WRONG
Deep processing in study is much more important.
Deep levels of processing facilitate learning because of two processes
elaboration and distinctiveness