5/28/2015
1
Part VIIShort-Term/Working Memory
Ulric Neisser(1928-2012)
On pre-1970s memory research:“If X is an important or interesting feature of human behavior, then X has rarely been studied by psychologists” (Neisser, 1976)
Reaction against the timeBehaviorism
William James: Primary vs. Secondary
Primary Memory
SecondaryMemory
Iconic Memory (~.25 sec)Sperling’s (1960)
Whole Report Partial Report
Echoic Memory (~4 sec)Neisser (1967)
Immediate ReportDelayed Report
Not controllable!
Tachistoscope
Multi-Store Approach
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) model
Components of ModelComponents of Model
Distinction between STM and LTM
5/28/2015
2
Single Store Approach
Embedded Process Model (e.g., Cowan, 1995)
Do we have evidence for this distinction?
Activity
Why is one more active than the other?
AccessAccess
Questions about 30 years war
Availability of info in STM vs. LTM
Phone-number example
Capacity
STM vs. LTM
Maintenance
Code
Clinical Evidence
H.M.
N.A.
Different abilities?
Conclusion
5/28/2015
3
Leaky Bucket Metaphor of STM
Memory SpanMiller’s (1956) Magic Number 7 ± 2
Capacity & Chunking3.5 Nonsense Syl.5.5 Words7.8 Digits
Memory Experts?Other enhancements?
Memory Training?Can we do it?
Transfer of skill?Does the skill aid in other tasks?
What is it?
Why does it occur?
What about Steve Faloon?
STM vs. LTM
Speed
Brown and Peterson Task
Serial Position Effects
Time?
HWJTRKQPTBHS
“Please learn the following”
MXG
Count Backwards by 3s397394391298295…
“Please recall the consonant trigram.” Very Rapid Forgetting
Mutter (1980) Sebrechts, Marsh, & Seamon (1989)
5/28/2015
4
2 competing theories
Rust and Time metaphor
Back to Brown-Peterson task
Keppel & Underwood (1962)
New twist?
Probe Digit (Waugh & Norman;1965)Presentation Rate: 1 vs. 4 per second)Probe Position: Beginning or End of List
Similarity (Reitman, 1973; 1974)
White noiseSyllable detectionCapacity?
Rehearsal and Coding
Acoustic, Visual, Semantic?Intuition?
Nature of Rehearsal/Coding?Rehearsal Rate (Landauer, 1962)
Welsh Digits > English Digits (Ellis & Hennelly, 1980)
Back to perceptual confusions (Conrad, 1964)Word Length Effect (Baddeley et al., 1975)
5/28/2015
5
Alternate Type of Coding?
Hierarchical Organization (Seamon & Chumbley, 1977)
Back to ideas of chunking
Ericcson, Chase, & Falloon (1980): 80 digits!
New conceptualization of STM?
Role of Working Memory
STM and its relationship with LTM
Working Memory and STM
5/28/2015
6
Nine Digits, visuallyThree Conditions
Spoken WordsNonsense SyllablesSilence
Phonological Loop?
New Experiment…
Vallar & Baddeley (1984)Instructions: Repeat the following word over and
over and…
“THE”
Role of Phonological LoopRecodeSubvocal Rehearsal
What is it?
Why does it occur?
Evidence for existence
2 different strategies
Recall for different strategies
Selective interference
5/28/2015
7
Baddeley et al. (1975) & Brooks (1967)More Selective Interference
Role
Why is it hard to pin down?
Back to Reason’s slips of action
Attention
Memory Basics
Two types of models
STM vs. LTM
Working Memory