© 2016 by w. w. norton & company the acquisition of memories and the working-memory system...

© 2016 by W. W. Norton & Company

The Acquisition of Memories and

the Working-Memory System

Chapter 6Lecture Outline

Chapter 6: Working Memory

Lecture OutlineThe Modal ModelWorking MemoryEntering Long-term StorageElaborate EncodingOrganizing and MemorizingLinks Among Acquisition, Storage, and

Retrieval Implications for Successful Studying

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Chapter 6: Working Memory

One way to frame learning and memoryAcquisitionStorageRetrieval

Analogy to creating, storing, and opening a computer file

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Chapter 6: Working Memory

This view is problematic for at least two reasons.New learning is grounded in previously

learned (stored) knowledge.Effective learning depends on how the

information will be later retrieved.

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The Modal Model

Information processing

Each of these systems is separate.

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The Modal Model

The modal model (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968; Waugh & Norman, 1965)Sensory memory (iconic or echoic)Short-term memory (STM)Long-term memory (LTM)

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The Modal Model

Working memory (WM)—a dynamic form of short-term memoryLess like a storage place and more like a

status

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The Modal Model

Working Memory

Long-Term Memory

Time Temporary Long-lasting

Capacity Limited Large

Access Relatively easy

Relatively hard

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The Modal Model

Experiments supporting the modal modelPresented with a long series of words (e.g.,

30)Perform free-recall afterwardLook at the position in the list (serial recall)

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The Modal Model

Primacy effect Better memory for first

few items Long-term memory Memory rehearsal

allows transfer from WM to LTM

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The Modal Model

Recency effect Better memory for the

last few items Last few items are not

displaced by future items

Based on working memory

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The Modal Model

Testing recency claims

Thirty seconds is not enough to wipe out recency.

Another task is needed to do so.

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The Modal Model

Recency effect is the same.

Memory for the rest of the list is better.

Slow presentation aids pre-recency items.

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The Modal Model

Primacy associated with hippocampus

Working memory associated with perirhinal cortex

Support for primacy claims

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Working Memory

Virtually all mental activities require working memory (WM).ReadingGoal-driven behavior

Some tasks demand more WM resources than others.

Individual differences in WM capacity predict some cognitive abilities.

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Working Memory

Digit-span taskThe participant is asked to remember digits.

The list is increased until memory fails. The maximum number is the digit span.

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Working Memory

ChunkingThe ability to condense informationRequires effortReduces load Does not increase WM

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Working Memory

Operation spanAnother measure of working memoryDecide whether equation is true or falseThen remember wordNumber of words remembered is the

operation span

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Working Memory

Reading span Captures active nature of working memory Participant reads sentences and remembers

the last word in each sentence Number of sentences is increased to failure Number of words remembered is the reading

span

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Working Memory

Reading span and operation span correlate strongly with Standardized test performance Reasoning Reading comprehension

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Working Memory

Working memory is often divided into three componentsCentral executive Visuospatial buffer Articulatory rehearsal loop

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Working Memory

WM is an update to the modal modelA dynamic form of STMBut still fragile

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Entering Long-Term Storage

Two types of rehearsalMaintenance rehearsal—recitingRelational or elaborative rehearsal—linking

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Entering Long-Term Storage

Relational, or elaborative, rehearsal is superior.

Repeated exposure does not guarantee memory.

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Entering Long-Term Storage

Remembered greater than forgotten

Frontal areas Hippocampus and adjacent areas

The need for active encoding

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Entering Long-Term Storage

Incidental learning—unintentional Intentional learning—intentional

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Entering Long-Term Storage

Shallow processing—superficial Deep processing—meaningful

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Entering Long-Term Storage

Deeper processing ensures better recall.

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Entering Long-Term Storage

Imagine an experiment in which you cross depth of processing (three levels)Typeface task (shallow)Phonological task (intermediate)Semantic task (deep)

And intention to learn (two levels) Incidental learning Intentional learning

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Entering Long-Term Storage

Depth of processing is strong. Intention to learn has no effect. Intention to learn can lead you to choose a

deeper strategy.

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Elaborate Encoding

Very hard to find info

Very easy to find info

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Elaborate Encoding

Depth of processing promotes recall by facilitating later retrieval.Consider learning as a way to establish

indexing, a path to the information.Connections between items to be

remembered facilitates retrieval.

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Elaborate Encoding

Memory connections facilitate retrieval.We can use this to help retrieval.

“What words are related in meaning to the word I’m now considering?”

“What words have contrasting meaning?”

“What is the relationship between the start of this story and the way the story turned out?”

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Elaborate Encoding

Craik and Tulving (1975)

Example Result

Elaborate “The great bird swooped down and carried off the struggling chicken.”

Better memory

Simple “She cooked the chicken.”

Worse memory

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Elaborate Encoding

Craik and Tulving (1975)

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Elaborate Encoding

Elaborate sentences result in richer retrieval paths.

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Organizing and Memorizing

Katona (1940) argued that the key to creating connections in the material to be remembered is organization.

We memorize well when we find order in the material.

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Organizing and Memorizing

Mnemonics improve memory through organization.

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Organizing and Memorizing

Peg-word systems: items are “hung” on a system of already well known “pegs” “One is a bun, two is a shoe . . .”

First-letter mnemonicsRoy G. BivKing Phillip Crossed the Ocean to Find Gold

and Silver

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Organizing and Memorizing

Mnemonics Help

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Organizing and Memorizing

The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange items into different groups. Of course one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities that is the next step; otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run, this may not seem important but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first, the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but then, one never can tell. After the procedure is completed one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually they will be used once more and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life.

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Organizing and Memorizing

What is the pattern?

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Organizing and Memorizing

Ambiguous pictures are understood and remembered better if they are identified (Wiseman & Neisser, 1974)

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Links Among Acquisition, Storage, and Retrieval

Memory is facilitated by organizing and understanding.What the memorizer was doing at the time of

exposure matters.The background knowledge of the memorizer

matters.

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Links Among Acquisition, Storage, and Retrieval

Acquisition, storage, and retrieval are not easily separable.New learning is grounded in previously

learned (stored) knowledge.Effective learning depends on how the

information will later be retrieved.

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Links Among Acquisition, Storage, and Retrieval

Implications for studyingUnderstand through self-questioningActively engageForm connectionsSpaced learning

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Chapter 6 Questions

Which group would perform the WORST on a memory test?

a) Participants engaged in shallow processing without previous warning of a memory test.

b) Participants engaged in medium processing with previous warning of a memory test.

c) Participants engaged in deep processing without previous warning of a memory test.

d) Participants engaged in deep processing with previous warning of a memory test.

Someone with a larger working-memory capacity is likely to perform better than someone with a smaller working-memory capacity on which of the following tasks?

a) following directions

b) efficient reading

c) learning a computer language

d) all of the above

Which statement about working memory is TRUE?

a) It has unlimited storage capacity.

b) It functions as a storage container.

c) Information in it is fragile and easily lost.

d) It refers mainly to the resources that are retained over long intervals.

Which of the following would be the LEAST help in improving recall of a difficult-to-understand paragraph?

a) quizzing yourself in order to improve comprehension of the paragraph

b) chunking the sentences in the paragraph into smaller, meaningful groups

c) repeating the paragraph aloud many times

d) giving the paragraph a meaningful title

Veronica wanted to go to the grocery store but was out of paper for writing a shopping list. She came up with several possible ways to remember what she needed to buy (listed below). Which of her ideas is a simple mnemonic strategy?

a) Using the peg-word system to associate different items on the shopping list with words in an easy-to-remember rhyme.

b) Imagining what she can cook with all of the items on the list and imagining what all the food would taste like.

c) Composing a long story with all the items on her list.

d) Repeating all the items on her list multiple times.

What causes the recency effect?

a) The last words heard are still in working memory at testing.

b) The first words heard are also the first words to leave working memory.

c) Words that get more attention are better encoded into long-term memory.

d) Experimenters tend to provide easier words first as warm-up.