Short-Term Memory & Capacity
This cognitive psychologist proposed that we can hold about seven items, plus or minus two, in short-term memory.
Who is George Miller?
This cognitive psychologist developed the concept of working memory as an active "workbench" rather than a passive storehouse.
Who is Alan Baddeley?
This brain imaging technique measures blood flow to assess neural activity, often used in memory research.
What is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)?
Individuals with this psychological disorder often have deficits in working memory, especially in the central executive component.
What is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?
This cognitive strategy involves grouping multiple items into meaningful units to enhance short-term memory capacity.
What is chunking?
This effect describes the U-shaped pattern in recall, where words at the beginning and end of a list are remembered better than those in the middle.
What is the serial-position effect?
This component of working memory processes verbal and auditory information and is essential for tasks like language comprehension.
What is the phonological loop?
This neuroscientific method briefly disrupts brain activity using magnetic fields to study cognition.
What is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)?
This cognitive style, common in major depression, involves repetitive focus on negative thoughts, impairing working memory.
What is a ruminative style?
This theoretical model of memory suggests information flows through sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.
What is the Atkinson & Shiffrin model?
This technique prevents rehearsal by requiring participants to count backward before recall, demonstrating how quickly short-term memory fades.
What is the Brown/Peterson & Peterson technique?
This cognitive process describes the silent repetition of words to keep them in working memory.
What is subvocalization?
This lobe of the brain is most associated with the central executive's functions, such as decision-making and attention control.
What is the frontal lobe?
Individuals with this anxiety-related disorder experience excessive worry, which can deplete working memory resources.
What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)?
This phenomenon explains why long-term memory can influence what we perceive and remember in working memory.
What is top-down processing?
This type of interference occurs when old information makes it harder to learn new information.
What is proactive interference?
This part of working memory is responsible for manipulating visual and spatial information, such as mental imagery.
What is the visuospatial sketchpad?
This term refers to the inability to suppress irrelevant information, often observed in people with ADHD.
What is executive dysfunction?
This term describes an individual's ability to hold and manipulate information, which correlates with intelligence and academic performance.
What is working-memory capacity?
This cognitive function, managed by the central executive, involves ignoring distractions to focus on a task.
What is selective attention?
This effect explains why the last few words in a list are recalled better due to their presence in short-term memory.
What is the recency effect?
This part of working memory integrates information from multiple sources, including long-term memory, and binds it into meaningful representations.
What is the episodic buffer?
This part of the brain, typically in the left hemisphere, is active when people perform tasks involving the phonological loop.
What is the parietal lobe?
This disorder, characterized by persistent sadness and loss of interest, has been linked to reduced performance on working-memory tasks.
What is major depression?
This applied area of research studies how memory functions in real-world settings, such as classrooms and workplaces.
What is ecological validity?