10 26 15 PSY 317 Notes Housekeeping Assignment 3 was due yesterday at 11 55pm o If you did not complete it do it quick Exam 2 is THIS Wednesday Oct 28 o Bring your own scantron and 2 pencils Tachistoscope a device to control the duration of stimulus presentation o An outdated device but will most likely be on your exam because the book seems to think it s a pretty big deal Keep an eye out for the data collection for Assignment 4 o Half of it is already done Acquisition of Memories and the Working Memory System o Remember this class focuses on how we acquire and deal with information Introduction which is cognition o So far we have discussed The basic hardware brain functioning How information gets into the system sensory processing How we select and control what information is important to get into the system attention Focuses on how momentary information gets into the system o How does information that we want to keep stick around Memory Introduction o Stages Acquisition gaining information and placing it in memory Storage holding on to information in memory until needed Retrieval remembering or pulling that information when needed o An example of these stages would be listening to a lecture and then taking exam Another example would be if like your brain was a computer you create a new document in your brain save it as a file then pull it up later The Route to Memory o Information Processing next step o Modal Model Basic Ideas Information processing older theory of cognitive psychology in which cognitive processes such as learning require several small steps Each step has to be completed so that information can move to the Information processing involves different types of memory have modified Working Memory and or Long Term Memory o Free recall memory task 10 26 15 o Sensory memory iconic visual echoic auditory How can we interfere with these o Short term memory temporary storehouse for memory o Long term memory larger and more permanent warehouse for memories Current Views thought Sensory memory now deemed less important that originally Short term memory working memory items that you are currently working with The role of working memory in memory o Originally thought of as the loading unloading dock of long term memory This view has been modified not a place but a status of memory more details later However we have not scrapped this idea completely but rather we Participant hears a word list about 30 words and is immediately asked to recall as many as possible This is an explicit memory task People remember about 12 15 words Primacy effect the first few words are remembered Recency effect the last few words are remembered What causes this pattern been bumped out Recency reflects what is in working memory previous items have o I m going to quickly say everything I just recently heard so I can get those out of the way while I try to recall the older words Primacy reflects what is in long term memory mental rehearsal early words get more attention o At the beginning of the test I m going to pay really close attention and remember every word o Middle of test this is too hard o End of test Well at least I studied at the beginning and I can remember those early words How Might we Wipe Out the Recency Effect o Have participants do a task that requires working memory Ex Counting backwards from 507 by sevens filled delay o Should this affect the primacy effect 10 26 15 o Slow presentation of the word list so that participants have more time to rehearse Slow presentation often creates better results Two Types of Memory o Summary Evidence that working memory and long term memory are two independent memory systems Doing a working memory task after memorizing a word list will bump out the last words eliminating the recency effect Slow presentation of the word list will improve memory for early words boosting the primacy effect Neuroimaging support fMRI studies show hippocampal regions active when recalling early words on the list but not for words at the end of the list How Working Memory Differs from Long Term Memory o Size of storage o Ease of entry o Ease of retrieval o Working memory depends on current activity fragile The Function of Working Memory o Think about the nature of the world Sometimes we get information piece by piece Examples reading language murder mysteries Sometimes we get all the information at once Examples vehicle controls computer homescreens o Regardless of how information is presented the goal of working memory is to keep this information active for when we need it Measuring Working Memory o How much information can working memory hold Historically measurement has changed over time reflecting changes in our conception of working memory Example Repeat a list of numbers until errors are made o Number of correctly recalled numbers reflects digit span o Digit span about 7 plus or minus 2 Chunks units of information Exam Wednesday October 28 Multiple choice and T F questions Bring your own scantron