Memory: Unit III Short-term Memory, a presentation from Universidad Europea

Unit III Short-Term Memory

Memory and Learning Processes

ue
2024/2025
David Prada CrespoTowards a complex STM: Working memory
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Towards a Complex STM

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) Model

Environment
Sensory
memory
Short-term
memory
Long-term
memory

Initial STM concept: this system stores and maintains information.
Evolution of the initial concept: We don't only store and maintain
information. To solve complex problems, we need to manipulate
information (from different sensory modalities).
Working Memory provides a temporary workspace that is necessary
for performing complex cognitive activities.
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Task Example

Try to do this task:
I'll tell you some numbers and letters. You have
to repit them in the correct order, starting from
numers and finishing on letters.

Towards a Complex STM

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) Control Mechanism

Environment
Sensory
memory
CONTROL
Long-term
memory
STM
. It also works as a mechanism of control
· Rehersal (rehearsal loop)
. Coding for the long-term memory
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Towards a Complex STM

Working Memory Systems

Store information
Different systems
related to
different sensory
modalities
Working
Memory
Maintain
information
Manipulate
information
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A
C
T
I
V
E
M
E
M
O
R
Y

Towards a Complex STM

Working Memory Capacity

What would it happen if our working memory is
dedicated to the performance of an activity that fully
occupies its capacity, and at the same time, the
subjects are asked to perform a second task that
requires effort and also depends on the STM (e. g.
verbal reasoning)?
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Towards a Complex STM

Baddeley and Hitch (1974) Experiment

• They combined digit span with the simultaneous
  performance of a range of other tasks such as
  reasoning, learning, and comprehension, which
  were assumed to depend on this limited-capacity
  system.
• Participants were given a sequence of digits
  (from 1 to 8) that they were continually required
  to rehearse out loud at the same time as they
  were performing other cognitive tasks (e. g. verify
  a statement about the order of two letters: B
  comes before A?)
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Towards a Complex STM

Reasoning Time and Errors

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2.8
Reasoning time (sec)
2.6
2.4
2.2
0
Errors (%)
0
2
4 6
8
Concurrent digit load
When the series of numbers
that you must remember
increases, it takes longer to
perform the reasoning task
(that is, there is
interference).
However, that increase over
time is not very large. And
also, the number of errors
does not increase.
Neither seems to be so much
interference, taking into
account that both tasks
(memorize 8 numbers and
reasoning) depend on the
same STM
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Towards a Complex STM

Baddeley and Hitch Working Memory Model

Rehearsal
Information
Sensory mer Ty
Short-term
memory
I
Long-term
memory
Forgetting: after 1 second
Forgetting: after 30 second
The information remains
indefinitely or is forgotten.
Working memory
Attentional control
Central Executive
Verbal attentional span
Visuospatial attentional span
1
Phonological
loop
Episodic
buffer
Visuospatial
sketch pad
1
Phonological
input store
Articulatory
rehearsal
(subvocal speech)
Long Term
Memory
Baddeley and Hitch
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Towards a Complex STM

The Phonological Loop

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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Components of the Phonological Loop

Phonological loop: the component responsible for the
temporary storage of auditory phonological information
(Baddeley and Hitch).
Short-term storage: The duration of
the phonological loop is limited.
Information fades after a few seconds.
Articulatory control process:
Information can be refreshed through
a subvocal rehearsal process.
THE
PHONOLOGICAL
LOOP
Short-term
storage
Articulatory
control process
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word Recall Task 1

Remember the following words
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 1: Apple

Apple
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 1: Bed

Bed
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 1: Table

Table
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 1: Hand

Hand
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 1: Tree

Tree
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 1: Car

Car
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 1: Book

Book
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 1: Chair

Chair
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 1: Pear

Pear
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 1: Class

Class
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Recall Task 1

Write them down
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word Recall Task 2

Remember the following words
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 2: Staircase

Staircase
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 2: Railway

Railway
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 2: Tablecloth

tablecloth
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 2: Notebook

notebook
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 2: Suggestion

suggestion
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 2: Language

language
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 2: Ladybug

ladybug
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 2: Advertisement

advertisement
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 2: Creature

creature
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word List 2: Airplane

airplane
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Recall Task 2

Write them down
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Word-Length Effect

THE
PHONOLOGICAL
LOOP
Short-term
storage
Articulatory
control process
word-length effect
List A
Hand, tree, car,
book, deep, fast,
ring ....
In both cases, you refresh the
information before it fades from
the short-term phonological
store.
List B
Suggestion,
language, creature,
....
L
In list A, words are shorter, so
more words can be refreshed
before fading.
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Empirical Results and Language Acquisition

The phonological loop explains some empirical results,
such as the word-length effect:
. The fact that one generally recalls a larger amounts of shorter
words than their longer counterparts. Short-term preservation is
impacted by the time length needed to practice the words (Our
capacity is based on how many words can I say in a few seconds).
. That could be the reason why our capacity of memory increases
after childhood -> There is an increase of articulation speed with
age that allows to repeat more stimuli before the information
contained in the phonological loop decays.
The phonological loop is involved in language acquisition
(Papagno, Valentine & Baddeley, 1991).
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Neuropsychological Evidence

Broca's area
Inferior parietal
Inferior parietal
A
B
Magnetic Resonance during a verbal memory task vs. a similar nonverbal
memory task.
PHONOLOGICAL LOOP LOCATION: Broca's area (speech
production/subvocal rehearsal) and left inferior parietal (phonological
storage) (Kandell, 2000)
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Towards a Complex STM: The Phonological Loop

Assessment of Verbal Attentional Span

fue
Assessment
Verbal attentional spam
L
Tests that can measure it.
Direct Digit Test (WAIS-IV)
Span Dígitos Directo (WAIS-IV)
9-7
1
6-3
5-8-2
2
6-9-4
7-2-8-6
3
6-4-3-9
4-2-7-3-1
4
7-5-8-3-6
3-9-2-4-8-7
5
6-1-9-4-7-3
4-1-7-9-3-8-6
6
6-9-1-7-4-2-8
3-8-2-9-6-1-7-4
7
5-8-1-3-2-6-4-7
2-7-5-8-6-3-1-9-4
8
7-1-3-9-4-2-5-6-8
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Towards a Complex STM

The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

> Try to count how many windows your parents' house has.
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Towards a Complex STM: The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

Components of the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

The visuo-spatial sketchpad:
Specific component responsable for the temporary storage of
visual and spatial information (Baddeley and Hitch).
Visual Cache: Pasive, limited in capacity,
Items decay within a few seconds.
Inner Scribe: refresh items in the visual
cache.
VISUO-SPATIAL
SKETCHPAD
Visual Cache
Inner Scribe
To study this subsystem, researchers work with visual (what) and spatial (where)
information (e.g .: If we turn off the lights suddenly in a room: would you remember
where the exit is? (spatial) would you remember the objects in the room? (visual)).
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Towards a Complex STM: The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

Neuropsychological Evidence

ευTYO TolupA
The visuo-spatial sketchpad: right inferior parietal cortex
(Kandell, 2000)
Angular Gyrus: transferring visual information to Wernicke's
area (understanding language)
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Towards a Complex STM: The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

Study of Spatial Manipulation

Finke & Slayton, 1988
First, form an image of the capital letter J. Then imagine capital
D. Now rotate the D through 90 degrees to the left and place it
on top of the J.
What does it look like?
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Towards a Complex STM: The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

Paper Folding Problems

Your task is to decide what would happen if the
shapes were folded and made into a cube. Would the
arrows meet head on?
Shepard & Feng, 1972
4
+
Paper folding problems
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Towards a Complex STM: The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

Reaction Time and Folds

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Average
time to
decide
whether the arrows on the
cubes would match as a
function of number of
imaginary folds necessary
to reach that decision.
- The higher the number of
imaginary
folds
→
the
more time to answer the
question.
14
Match cases
12
.
Mean
Mean reaction time (sec)
10
8
6
4
2
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
Number of individual folds
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Towards a Complex STM: The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

Visuospatial Sketchpad Limitation

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Visuospatial sketchpad limitation: performance will be worse when
different tasks of a visuospatial nature compete for cognitive
resources.
E.g., driving (visuospatial task) PLUS listening to a football game
(activation of visuospatial information).
+
=
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Towards a Complex STM: The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

Neuropsychological Evidence

Right inferior parietal cortex
The visuo-spatial sketchpad: right inferior parietal cortex
(Kandell, 2000)
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Towards a Complex STM: The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

Assessment of Visuospatial Attentional Span

fue
Assessment
Visuospatial attentional spam
L
Tests that can measure it.
Corsi cubes test
7
6
9
5
8
9-7
1
6-3
5-8-2
2
6-9-4
7-2-8-6
3
6-4-3-9
4
4-2-7-3-1
7-5-8-3-6
3-9-2-4-8-7
5
6-1-9-4-7-3
4-1-7-9-3-8-6
6
6-9-1-7-4-2-8
3-8-2-9-6-1-7-4
7
5-8-1-3-2-6-4-7
2-7-5-8-6-3-1-9-4
8
7-1-3-9-4-2-5-6-8
3
1
2
4
The therapist should point to the cubes in a
particular order. After that, the patient has to point
to the cubes in the same order (the patient doesn't
see the numbers).
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