Exploring Memory: FAQ

What is working memory?

Working Memory- functional short-term memory.  WM – temporary storage and manipulation of information relevant to immediate goal(s).  WM – a type of short-term memory subserved in part by the prefrontal cortex, it integrates moment-to-moment perceptions over a relatively short period and combines them with memories of past experiences. 

3 Component Model of Working Memory- Baddeley & Hitch,1974 (Baddeley, 2000)

Phonological loop (articulatory rehearsal loop)- stores verbal material

Visuo-spatial sketchpad- stores visual materials

Central executive – director of the working memory system, binds information from a number of sources into coherent episodes

4 Component Model of Working Memory (Baddeley, 2000)

Fourth component added to the model of working memory

Episodic buffer -  provides a temporary interaction between the phonological loop,  the visuospatial sketchpad and LTM.

The revised model differs from the old by primarily focusing attention on the processes of integrating information, rather than on the isolation of the subsystems.

 

Does mental rehearsal promote memory? 

Rehearsal promotes memory only if it’s rehearsed in the right way. 

2 Types of rehearsal    

Maintenance – focus on the items that one is trying to remember in a mechanical fashion while paying little attention to meaning and how the items are related to items that are already stored in memory – example:  repeating a definition over and over, word for word (rote learning) 

Elaborative (relational) – thinking about the meaning of the items that one is trying to remember, and thinking about how they are related to items already in memory

Elaborative rehearsal is the right way. 

Why is Elaborative rehearsal the right way?  It provides the stimulus required to form numerous memory connections (synaptic connections).   This means more retrieval paths- paths that can guide thoughts toward the content to be remembered.  Connections allow one memory to trigger another, and then that memory to trigger another and so on.  Similar to the domino effect until finally the target is located.  Generally, the more retrieval paths that exist for a target (item to be remembered) the easier it will be to recall. 

What is muscle memory?

The idea of muscle memory is a misnomer.  Muscles do not remember. What is really meant when one refers to muscle memory is implicit memory.  Implicit memory (procedural, unconscious) – the storage of information that does not require conscious attention for recall- often in the form of habits, perceptual or motor strategies, and associative and non-associative conditioning.  Examples of implicit memory include the memory utilized for riding a bike, or throwing a ball.  IM has an automatic quality, it is recalled through performance. 

If you are interested in hosting an Exploring Memory Seminar you can contact me at Jamie.hale1@gmail.com