varieties of memory thomas g. bowers, ph.d. penn state harrisburg 2000
TRANSCRIPT
Varieties of MemoryVarieties of Memory
Thomas G. Bowers, Ph.D.Penn State Harrisburg
2000
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What Types of Memories What Types of Memories Are There? Are There?
• I. Working Memory– Appears to be convergent evidence about
the nature of working memory– William James early work (1890/1950)
• Spoke of primary memory, inseparable from the stream of thought.
• Rich diversity of content• Early identification of attention
What Types of Memories What Types of Memories Are There? Are There?
• I. Working Memory– Auditory or Verbal Memory
• Speech-based store• Some Qualities:
– Digit Span - average is 7 (+/- 2) – Subvocalizing has been observed– Errors tend to be “sound alike”– Longer words or stimulus material is less likely to
recall, because of difficulty in subvocalization– Phonological storage system– Other tasks as letter number sequencing– Tend to be left hemisphere tasks
What Types of Memories What Types of Memories Are There? Are There?
• I. Working Memory– Visual Memory or Imagery
• Short term - Connect stars, blocks or other items
• Scanning appears to preserve distance if using a imagery strategy, judging by preserved relationships between distance and reaction times
• Mental rotation of block figures - Processing speed matches the degree of rotation required
What Types of Memories What Types of Memories Are There? Are There?
What Types of Memories What Types of Memories Are There? Are There?
Visual Memory ProcessingVisual Memory Processing
• As the degree of rotation increases, the amount of time to process the change also increases
• There can be selective interference with imagery– There is a small but reliable reduction of
accuracy under imagery conditions
Selective InterferenceSelective Interference
Percentage of false alarms
7.8% 3.7%
3.6% 6.7%
Visualizing
Auditory Image
Visual signal Auditory Signal
Imaginary ProcessingImaginary Processing
• Kosslyn suggests imaginary may be processed differently than verbal or propositional information
• Some ambiguity in spatial imagery– Images are saturated with meaning– Some suggest we should be concerned
with spatial imagery
Imaginary ProcessingImaginary Processing
• Spatial imaginary– examples of Necker cube and Duck/Rabbit
precept
Working MemoryWorking Memory
• Working memory system– 1. Executive functions – 2. “Slave systems
– Rehearsal loop– Visuospatial scratchpad
• Subvocalization thought to be importart
Long Term MemoryLong Term Memory
• Propositional Material• Imaginary Material
– Nonverbal material may be handled by applying a meaningful context
– Imaginary mnemonics• Image elements interacting with each other• For a word pair learning task• As a “cigar-smoking piano”
Dual Coding Theory of Dual Coding Theory of MemoryMemory
• Independent processing of verbal and nonverbal material
• Proposed by Paivio in 1970’s
Dual Coding TheoryDual Coding Theory
Sensory Analysis
Imagen Logen
Nonverbal Verbal
Dual Coding TheoryDual Coding Theory
• Verbal and Nonverbal material should be processed more quickly in the appropriate modality
Dual Coding TheoryDual Coding Theory
0
20
40
60
80
Resp
Time
Dual Coding Experiment Pictures
Words
Association Size
Secondary MemorySecondary Memory
• Despite the evidence of different processing in terms of short term memory, evidence suggests secondary memory operates on a single process– Appears to be the same for verbal and
visual material
Secondary MemorySecondary Memory
• Memory for faces may operate independently of other systems
• We tend to demonstrate better recall for faces relative to abstract stimulus material
• This effect can be impaired by changes in orientation
• Prosopagnosia - impairment of facial recognition
Secondary MemorySecondary Memory
• Example from Thompson (1980)• Upside down face of Margaret Thatcher
Other Types of MemoryOther Types of Memory
• Procedural Knowledge– Knowing how to do things, solve or
approach particular problems
• Declarative Knowledge– Knowing about particular specific facts and
elements of knowledge
Other Types of MemoryOther Types of Memory
• Hemispherical specialization in knowledge and memory– There is extensive evidence of
hemispherical specialization