Working Memory
True or False: IQ is a better predictor of academic success than working memory capacity
False: Working Memory capacity correlated with life success, IQ, reading comprehension, SAT score
True or False: Movies only have 24 frames/second. It appears natural because of the extremely short duration of the sensory/iconic memory.
True–sensory/iconic memory only lasts for less than 1 second, so the frames are able to blend together
In Godden & Baddeley's 1975 study, divers recalled significantly more words when this variable matched between learning and testing.
What is the physical environment / context?
This effect, demonstrated by Roediger & Karpicke, beats re-reading for long-term retention because retrieval itself strengthens the memory trace.
What is the testing effect?
Filling in this blank from memory would be an example of ____, while answering a MCQ question would be an example of recognition.
Recall
Within the short-term memory, are errors more likely to be made with similar sounding or semantically similar words?
Similar sounding–words in STM are verbally rehearsed. While in the LTM, memory is based on meaning.
If the Chinese language has a shorter number of words than English, which language should be spoken in order to store more digits?
Chinese. Since the phonological loop is a separate aspect, the number of items people can store depends on the rate of speech.
Due to this process, seeing the word NURSE before DOCTOR makes you confirm 'doctor' is a real word faster.
What is spreading activation or semantic priming?
This concept of forgetting argues that your old phone number isn't actually gone, it's just being blocked by your new one.
What is (retroactive) interference?
The best retrieval cue for a memory is one that matches the ____ present at the time of encoding, which is why studying underwater and being tested underwater leads to better recall than switching environments.
Context
Subjects were given a long-list of words and asked to recall the words back in any order. What was the difference in performance between the subjects with a 30-second unfilled delay and a 30-second filled (distracted) delay in the middle?
Subjects with a 30-second filled delay lost the recent effect: remember less words at the end (losing STM)
During the concurrent articulation task, subjects repeat “tah tah tah” aloud while completing a verbal span test. In comparison to the control group, what were the results?
Decreased performance on verbal span test, reducing working memory capacity
Mitchell (2006) showed that implicit memory for visual primes can persist for this strikingly long duration, and many participants had no explicit recollection of the original study.
What is 17 years?
Leonard can still ride a bike and make coffee, but not form new memories of people or events. His implicit memory is intact, but what memory type has been destroyed?
What is episodic memory? (Leonard has anterograde amnesia).
Patient H.M. could not form new episodic memories after his hippocampus was removed, but he showed daily improvement on a mirror-tracing task: evidence that this type of memory is stored independently and does not require conscious awareness. This type of memory is called ____ memory.
Procedural
Patient H.M had a bilateral hippocampal resection. His long-term memory was severely impaired, but his short-term memory remained intact. Describe his performance on the extended digit span task
H.M could not recall a single string that was one larger than his span, numbers not getting into his LTM
Subjects performed visual and spatial tasks simultaneously. During a retention interval, a visual or spatial distractor was introduced. The results showed visual WM was impacted by a visual distractor and spatial WM was hurt by a spatial distract. What can you conclude about the visuospatial sketchpad from the results?
The visual and spatial modules are separable
Patient H.M., despite severe anterograde amnesia, showed steady improvement on this motor task across days without any conscious memory of having practiced it.
What is mirror tracing?
In the hot air balloon photo study, around what percentage of participants developed false memories of an event that never happened after just three interviews with a doctored childhood photo?
What is around 50%?
The ____ model (idea of how STM is transferred to LTM) was proven unreliable by the penny example: showing that even though we interact with a penny often, we don’t truly know what it looks like.
Modal
When tested on reporting letters in an array, trials were completed by whole report and partial report trials in order to test short-term memory. Which of the following accurately describes the study? Select all that apply
A. The whole report procedure consisted of pairing a row of letters with a particular tone to indicate which row the participants should report
B. The partial report procedure consisted of pairing a row of letters with a particular tone to indicate which row the participants should report
C. Subjects could report more combined total letters in the partial report condition
D. Subjects could report more combined total letters in the whole report condition
B and C
I trained everyday for one year trying to improve my performance on my recall of a list of random digits. Since I’m very talented, I was able to recall up to 80 digits! Using the same procedure, how many letters would I be able to recall if presented in the same manner
7+-2 is the old theory. Nowadays, I can remember just 4 chunks of information. My skills from the digit recall do NOT transfer.
Endel Tulving described this type of long-term memory as a form of 'mental time travel,' and argued it was uniquely human, allowing us to re-experience specific personal events.
What is episodic memory?
In Elizabeth Loftus's car crash studies, participants who heard this verb rather than 'hit' or 'contacted' later reported seeing broken glass that was never in the original film.
What is “smashed”?
Retention during the primacy effect shows transfer to the ______, while retention during the recent effect shows information in the ______
LTM; STM