working memory

(noun)

The system that actively holds multiple pieces of information in the mind for execution of verbal and nonverbal tasks and makes them available for further information processing.

Related Terms

Examples of working memory in the following topics:

  • Short-Term and Working Memory

    • Short-term memory, which includes working memory, stores information for a brief period of recall for things that happened recently.
    • Though the term "working memory" is often used synonymously with "short-term memory," working memory is related to but actually distinct from short-term memory.
    • Baddeley and Hitch's 1974 model of working memory is the most commonly accepted theory of working memory today.
    • It also links the working memory to the long-term memory, controls the storage of long-term memory, and manages memory retrieval from storage.
    • The process of storage is influenced by the duration in which information is held in working memory and the amount that the information is manipulated.

  • The Role of Attention in Memory

    • Working memory is the part of the memory that actively holds many pieces of information for short amounts of time and manipulates them.
    • The working memory has sub-systems that manipulate visual and verbal information, and it has limited capacity.
    • We take in thousands of pieces of information every second; this is stored in our working memory.
    • The working memory decides (based on past experiences, current thoughts, or information in long-term memory) if any particular piece of information is important or relevant.
    • This stimulus is then encoded into working memory, at which point the memory is manipulated either to associate it with another familiar concept or with another stimulus within the current situation.

  • Sensory Memory

    • It is retained just long enough for it to be transferred to short-term (working) memory.
    • In sensory memory, no manipulation of the incoming information occurs as it is transferred quickly to working memory.
    • The amount of information is greatly reduced during this transfer because the capacity of working memory is not large enough to cope with all the input coming from our sense organs.
    • Echoic memory is the branch of sensory memory used by the auditory system.
    • Haptic memory is the branch of sensory memory used by the sense of touch.

  • Transience and Encoding Failure

    • Transience refers to the general deterioration of a specific memory over time.
    • Memory is associative by nature; commonalities between points of information will not only reinforce old memories, but serve to ease the establishment of new ones.
    • It is posited that during sleep, our working memory is converted into long-term memory.
    • The main task for working memory is to store information for a short period of time (a few seconds or minutes) in order to be manipulated.
    • There is a limited capacity of working memory, so little can be remembered at a later time unless the information is encoded to long-term memory.

  • Neural Correlates of Memory Storage

    • It is theorized that memories are stored in neural networks in various parts of the brain associated with different types of memory, including short-term memory, sensory memory, and long-term memory.
    • Encoding of working memory involves the activation of individual neurons induced by sensory input.
    • Recent functional-magnetic-resonance-imaging (fMRI) studies detected working memory signals in the medial temporal lobe and the prefrontal cortex.
    • These areas are also associated with long-term memory, suggesting a strong relationship between working memory and long-term memory.
    • Sensory memory is the briefest form of memory, with no storage capability.

  • Introduction to the Process and Types of Memory

    • Two other types of sensory memory have been extensively studied: echoic memory (the auditory sensory store) and haptic memory (the tactile sensory store).
    • The role of sensory memory is to provide a detailed representation of our entire sensory experience for which relevant pieces of information are extracted by short-term memory and processed by working memory.
    • Short-term memory is also known as working memory.
    • Long-term memories are all the memories we hold for periods of time longer than a few seconds; long-term memory encompasses everything from what we learned in first grade to our old addresses to what we wore to work yesterday.
    • Summarize which types of memory are necessary to which stage of the process of memory storage

  • Introduction

    • The three components of the IP model is the sensory receptor (SR), short-term memory (STM), and long-term memory (LTM).
    • Information is moved from the sensory receptor to short-term memory and compared to information stored in the long-term memory.
    • Caption: The illustration above represents my coffee cup example.Light reflects off the cup and into the eye.The image is then transferred through the optic nerve to the sensory register.From the sensory register, the image is moved into Short-term Memory (STM) as information about the cup is drawn from Long-term Memory (LTM).The process of elaboration occurs when information is retrieved from the LTM in order to link to the new information.I would like to thank Liyan Song for her work on the Flash model shown above.
    • Short Term Memory includes the Central Processing Unit.
    • Long Term Memory would be viewed as the hard drive or storage.

  • Memory Retrieval: Recognition and Recall

    • Memory retrieval, including recall and recognition, is the process of remembering information stored in long-term memory.
    • Memory retrieval is the process of remembering information stored in long-term memory.
    • Some theorists suggests that there are three stores of memory: sensory memory, long-term memory (LTM), and short-term memory (STM).
    • The theory behind this is that the participant has had more time to rehearse these words in working memory.
    • Past memories can inhibit the encoding of new memories.

  • Network Models of Memory

    • According to network models of memory, the connections between neurons are the source of memories, and the strength of connections corresponds to how well a memory is stored.
    • Network models of memory storage emphasize the role of connections between stored memories in the brain.
    • There are several types of network models in memory research.
    • Network models are not the only models of memory storage, but they do have a great deal of power when it comes to explaining how learning and memory work in the brain, so they are extremely important to understand.
    • Under PDP, neural networks are thought to work in parallel to change neural connections to store memories.

  • Immunological Memory

    • Immunological memory refers to the ability of B and T cells to produce cells that become long-lived memory cells against specific pathogens.
    • Immunological memory can either be in active long-term memory or passive short-term memory.
    • As the infant matures, their thymus and bone marrow will work to raise a stock of mature lymphocytes that will form the foundation for the infant's personal adaptive immune system.
    • Because the passive memory from the mother is short term and comes from antibodies instead of B cells themselves, infants do not inherit long term immunological memory from the mother.
    • The key components to long-term active memory are that they consist of rapid response and are form permanent immunological memory so long as those memory cells survive.