Familiarity Speeds Up Visual Short-term Memory Consolidation: Electrophysiological Evidence from Contralateral Delay Activities

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weizhen Xie ◽  
Weiwei Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory ◽  
Stimulus Familiarity ◽  
And Storage

To test how preexisting long-term memory influences visual STM, this study takes advantage of individual differences in participants' prior familiarity with Pokémon characters and uses an ERP component, the contralateral delay activity (CDA), to assess whether observers' prior stimulus familiarity affects STM consolidation and storage capacity. In two change detection experiments, consolidation speed, as indexed by CDA fractional area latency and/or early-window (500–800 msec) amplitude, was significantly associated with individual differences in Pokémon familiarity. In contrast, the number of remembered Pokémon stimuli, as indexed by Cowan's K and late-window (1500–2000 msec) CDA amplitude, was significantly associated with individual differences in Pokémon familiarity when STM consolidation was incomplete because of a short presentation of Pokémon stimuli (500 msec, Experiment 2), but not when STM consolidation was allowed to complete given sufficient encoding time (1000 msec, Experiment 1). Similar findings were obtained in between-group analyses when participants were separated into high-familiarity and low-familiarity groups based on their Pokémon familiarity ratings. Together, these results suggest that stimulus familiarity, as a proxy for the strength of preexisting long-term memory, primarily speeds up STM consolidation, which may subsequently lead to an increase in the number of remembered stimuli if consolidation is incomplete. These findings thus highlight the importance of research assessing how effects on representations (e.g., STM capacity) are in general related to (or even caused by) effects on processes (e.g., STM consolidation) in cognition.

scholarly journals Correlated individual differences suggest a common mechanism underlying metacognition in visual perception and visual short-term memory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Samaha ◽  
Bradley R. Postle
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Visual Perception ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Stimulus Feature ◽  
Relevant Stimulus ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory

AbstractAdaptive behavior depends on the ability to accurately introspect about one’s own performance. Whether this metacognitive ability is supported by the same mechanisms across different tasks has thus far been investigated with a focus on correlating metacognitive accuracy between perception and long-term memory paradigms. Here, we investigated the relationship between metacognition of visual perception and metacognition of visual short-term memory (VSTM), a cognitive function thought to be more intimately related to visual processing. Experiments 1 and 2 required subjects to estimate the perceived or remembered orientation of a grating stimulus and rate their confidence. We observed strong positive correlations between individual differences in metacognitive accuracy between the two tasks. This relationship was not accounted for by individual differences in task performance or average confidence, and was present across two different metrics of metacognition and in both experiments. A model-based analysis of data from a third experiment showed that a cross-domain correlation only emerged when both tasks shared the same task-relevant stimulus feature. That is, metacognition for perception and VSTM were correlated when both tasks required orientation judgments, but not when the perceptual task was switched to require contrast judgments. In contrast to previous results comparing perception and long-term memory, which have largely provided evidence for domain-specific metacognitive processes, the current findings suggest that metacognition of visual perception and VSTM is supported by a domain-general metacognitive architecture, but only when both domains share the same task-relevant stimulus feature.

scholarly journals Correlated individual differences suggest a common mechanism underlying metacognition in visual perception and visual short-term memory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Samaha ◽  
Bradley R Postle
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Visual Perception ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Common Mechanism ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory ◽  
Metacognitive Accuracy

Adaptive behavior depends on the ability to accurately introspect about one’s own performance. Whether this metacognitive ability is supported by the same mechanisms across different tasks is an open question that has thus far been investigated with a focus on correlating metacognitive accuracy between perceptual and long-term memory paradigms. Here, we investigated the relationship between metacognition of visual perception and metacognition of visual short-term memory (VSTM), a cognitive function thought to be more intimately related to visual processing. Across two experiments that required subjects to estimate the perceived or remembered orientation of a grating stimulus and rate their confidence, we observed strong positive correlations between individual differences in metacognitive accuracy between the two tasks. This relationship was not accounted for by individual differences in task performance or average confidence, and was present across two different metrics of metacognition and in both experiments. In contrast to previous results comparing perception and long-term memory, which have largely provided evidence for domain-specific metacognitive processes, the current findings suggest that metacognition of visual perception and VSTM is supported by a domain-general metacognitive architecture.

scholarly journals An Approach toward the Development of a Functional Encoding Model of Short Term Memory during Reading

1978 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-148
Author(s):  
Mary Anne Herndon
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Information Unit ◽  
Subsequent Storage

In a model of the functioning of short term memory, the encoding of information for subsequent storage in long term memory is simulated. In the encoding process, semantically equivalent paragraphs are detected for recombination into a macro information unit. This recombination process can be used to relieve the limited storage capacity constraint of short term memory and subsequently increase processing efficiency. The results of the simulation give a favorable indication of the success for the use of cluster analysis as a tool to simulate the encoding function in the detection of semantically similar paragraphs.

Working Memory: Models and Applications

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stoo Sepp ◽  
Steven J. Howard ◽  
Sharon Tindall-Ford ◽  
Shirley Agostinho ◽  
Fred Paas
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

In 1956, Miller first reported on a capacity limitation in the amount of information the human brain can process, which was thought to be seven plus or minus two items. The system of memory used to process information for immediate use was coined “working memory” by Miller, Galanter, and Pribram in 1960. In 1968, Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed their multistore model of memory, which theorized that the memory system was separated into short-term memory, long-term memory, and the sensory register, the latter of which temporarily holds and forwards information from sensory inputs to short term-memory for processing. Baddeley and Hitch built upon the concept of multiple stores, leading to the development of the multicomponent model of working memory in 1974, which described two stores devoted to the processing of visuospatial and auditory information, both coordinated by a central executive system. Later, Cowan’s theorizing focused on attentional factors in the effortful and effortless activation and maintenance of information in working memory. In 1988, Cowan published his model—the scope and control of attention model. In contrast, since the early 2000s Engle has investigated working memory capacity through the lens of his individual differences model, which does not seek to quantify capacity in the same way as Miller or Cowan. Instead, this model describes working memory capacity as the interplay between primary memory (working memory), the control of attention, and secondary memory (long-term memory). This affords the opportunity to focus on individual differences in working memory capacity and extend theorizing beyond storage to the manipulation of complex information. These models and advancements have made significant contributions to understandings of learning and cognition, informing educational research and practice in particular. Emerging areas of inquiry include investigating use of gestures to support working memory processing, leveraging working memory measures as a means to target instructional strategies for individual learners, and working memory training. Given that working memory is still debated, and not yet fully understood, researchers continue to investigate its nature, its role in learning and development, and its implications for educational curricula, pedagogy, and practice.

The Effects of Activation Levels of Visual Long-Term Memory on Visual Short-Term Memory

2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1086
Author(s):  
Xuhui BAO ◽  
Ming JI ◽  
Jie HUANG ◽  
Liguo HE ◽  
Xuqun YOU
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory

scholarly journals Pre-existing long-term memory facilitates the formation of visual short-term memory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weizhen Xie ◽  
Weiwei Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Neural Data ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Theoretical Predictions

The current chapter aims to solidify converging observations in the literature concerning the contribution of pre-existing LTM to the formation of VSTM. Our approach primarily focuses on identifying conditions under which pre-existing LTM can facilitate VSTM (Xie & Zhang, 2017c), instead of the traditional focus on whether or not pre-existing LTM affects VSTM task performance (e.g., Brady, Störmer, & Alvarez, 2016; Quirk, Adam, & Vogel, 2020). This approach could provide a novel context for the development of theories about VSTM, LTM, and their interactions. Here, we will begin with some theoretical predictions of the roles of pre-existing LTM in VSTM formation. Next, we will summarize converging evidence from behavioral and neural data in support of some of these predictions. Finally, we will discuss mechanisms underlying these empirical observations and propose some open questions for future investigations.

The short-term dynamics within a network of connections is creative

2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 752-753
Author(s):  
William A. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory ◽  
Sensory Storage

Although visual long-term memory (VLTM) and visual short-term memory (VSTM) can be distinguished from each other (and from visual sensory storage [SS]), they are embodied within the same modality-specific brain regions, but in very different ways: VLTM as patterns of connectivity and VSTM as patterns of activity. Perception and VSTM do not “activate” VLTM. They use VLTM to create novel patterns of activity relevant to novel circumstances.

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