WME flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Phonological loop

The speech-based component of working memory that holds acoustic-linguistic information for about two seconds, maintained by subvocal rehearsal. Suppression of rehearsal abolishes its typical word-length and similarity effects.

Word length effect

Serial recall is poorer for lists of long spoken words than for short ones, because longer items take more time to rehearse and decay more before refresh. It vanishes under articulatory suppression.

Phonological similarity effect

Acoustically similar items are harder to recall in order than dissimilar items, indicating that verbal material is coded in a speech-based format. The effect disappears when rehearsal is blocked.

Articulatory suppression

Repeating an irrelevant sound such as 'the' during encoding. It blocks subvocal rehearsal, removes word-length and similarity effects, and reduces verbal span.

Irrelevant sound effect

Background speech or changing sound tokens impair serial recall of visually presented lists, while steady noise does not. The interference is specific to changing acoustic sequences.

Echoic memory

A brief, high-capacity sensory store for acoustic information lasting roughly two to four seconds. Partial-report methods reveal capacity that full report underestimates.

Digit span

The maximum number of digits repeated in order after one presentation. Forward span averages about seven items; backward span is typically one to two items smaller.

Iconic memory

A fast-decaying visual sensory store of about 250 to 500 milliseconds. A trailing pattern mask erases it, showing that it holds raw features, not interpreted content.

Picture superiority effect

Pictures are remembered better than their verbal labels on free recall, especially after a delay. Dual coding, giving visual and verbal routes, is the usual explanation.

Change blindness

Failure to notice a visual change when the transient is masked or the display is interrupted. It shows that visual memory retains gist and selected detail rather than a complete copy.

Boundary extension

A memory distortion in which viewers recall a photographed scene as extending beyond the actual frame. It reflects schema-driven reconstruction rather than literal storage.

Dual coding theory

The proposal that images are stored in both visual and verbal codes while words get mainly verbal codes. Two retrieval routes explain the picture superiority effect.

Visual similarity effect

Recognition of briefly shown forms is worse when the alternatives are visually confusable, such as mirror images or similar symbols. It implicates a capacity-limited visual store.

Visual long-term memory capacity

Recognition memory for thousands of distinct scenes and objects is high, but accuracy drops when test foils are same-category lures that share gist with studied items.

Cowan's K formula

Capacity estimate from change detection: K equals set size times the difference between hit rate and false-alarm rate. Values plateau near three to four objects.

Slot versus resource models

Slot models posit a fixed number of discrete item stores, so performance plateaus at capacity. Resource models posit a shared pool, so precision declines gradually as load rises.

Contralateral delay activity

A sustained posterior EEG negativity over the hemisphere opposite a memorized hemifield. It rises with set size and plateaus at each person's visual working memory capacity.

Feature binding

Combining features such as color and shape into one object representation. Binding is accurate when attention is available at encoding but produces illusory conjunctions under load.

Change detection task

A brief array is followed by a probe, and the observer judges whether an item changed. Correcting for guessing yields capacity estimates of about three to four objects.

Continuous report task

Observers reproduce a feature such as color or orientation on a wheel. The spread of responses separates how many items were stored from how precisely each was stored.

Visual working memory capacity

The number of object representations held simultaneously, estimated at about four plus or minus one. It is lower than verbal span because rehearsal and chunking are unavailable.

Immediate memory

Recall or recognition tested with little or no delay and no intervening distraction. It draws on the recency portion of the serial position curve and on working memory.

Brown-Peterson paradigm

A small item set is followed by a filled delay, usually backward counting, before recall. Recall drops sharply within seconds, showing decay and interference.

Recency effect

Better recall of the final items of a list. It is largest in immediate free recall and is abolished by a filled delay or an extra auditory suffix.

Modality effect

Auditory presentation produces a larger recency advantage than visual presentation in immediate free recall, reflecting the contribution of a brief echoic store.

Proactive interference

Older material impairs recall of newer material, as when prior trials with the same item category depress immediate recall despite an unchanged delay.

Working memory span

Tasks such as reading or operation span require holding items while processing other material. Scores predict fluid reasoning better than simple digit span.

Delayed memory

Retention tested after minutes to years, usually with distraction during the interval. Performance depends on consolidation and on the match between study and test cues.

Forgetting curve

Ebbinghaus's finding that retention falls steeply in the first hours and then levels off. Spaced repetition flattens the curve and slows later forgetting.

Systems consolidation

The gradual transfer of declarative memories from hippocampal dependence to neocortical storage over weeks to years. Sleep and repeated reactivation support the process.

Retrieval practice effect

Testing yourself on material produces better delayed retention than restudying it for the same time. The advantage grows as the retention interval lengthens.

Levels of processing

Semantic encoding yields better memory than shallow perceptual encoding. The advantage is larger on delayed tests than on immediate tests.