workin memory

Question 1

what is working memory

Answer 1

working memory acts a bridge between perception (what you notice) and action (what you do). for example, you hear a phone number, working memory holds it, then you dial the phone number

Question 2

explain discontinuity of perception

Answer 2

it is important that working memory can intergrate information to understand whats happening.
intergrating infromation is easy when the infromation is continuous as you can piece it together bit by bit.
intergration is harder when perception is discontinuos (broken up, interrupted) as it means working memory has to reconnect pieces of information from the past which is hard due to its limited capacity.

Question 3

what is iconic memory

Answer 3

holds information for 200-300 ms

Question 4

what research was conducted into iconic memory

Answer 4

Partial Report Task;
1. ppts shown a grid of letters
2. delay - shown nothing
3. tone cue= tells them which row to recall
4. recall
results= the number of letters recalled decreased as delay time increased.

Question 5

what research was conducted into short-term visual memory

Answer 5

1. ppts shown a shape
2. delay
3. shown either same or a different shape. had to state whether it was the same or different shape

results= ppts found it harder to remember the shape the longer the delay
the more complex the shape, the harder it was for ppts to recall the right shape over delays.

Question 6

examples of functional segrigation WM tasks

Answer 6

visual span forward
visual span backward
spatial span forward
spatial span backward

Question 7

results of the functional segrigation task

Answer 7

spatial info= increased activity in dorsol PFC
verbail info= increased act in ventral PFC

Question 8

outline ecological study into role of frontal lobe in WM

Answer 8

• six element task= complete six tasks in 15 minutes
• multiple errands task= shop for several items and obtain several pieces of information
  results= 3 frontal lobe lesion patients were impaired in each task

Question 9

outline lab study for frontal lobe lesion patients

Answer 9

had to find out the arrangement of cards using trial and error
results= frontal lobe lesion pateints were slow at the task and kept repeating the same mistake

Question 10

outline study into the role of PFC in WM on monkeys

Answer 10

• shown 2 wells, one with food
• delay= covered both wells with screen
• monkey had to point to where food was
  results= monkeys with PFC lesion were impaired at remembering where food was

Question 11

whats the ROLE OF PFC IN WM

Answer 11

MAINTANENCE OF ITEMS