Running Head: MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 1

Transcription

1 Running Head: MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 1 HF700 MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS Vignesh Krubai Bentley University

2 HF700 MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 2 Introduction Memory is defined as the store of things learned and retained from an organism's activity or experience as evidenced by modification of structure or behavior or by recall and recognition ( Memory : Merriam Webster, 2011). Memory can be broadly classified as sensory, working and long term-memory. The working memory, also commonly represented as short-term memory will be the focus of this paper. The characteristics of working memory ranging from being a function of capacity and duration to a more executive function involving verbal and visual representations will be discussed. The paper will also discuss the factors that contribute to the efficiency of working memory such as age and other emotional parameters such as anxiety and resulting motivation. A case will be discussed on a financial website Vuru ( in comparison to Bloomberg and will relate the practical application of the topics discussed in the paper. Evolution of Working Memory Concepts The earliest discussions on memory in relation to the effects of recall and retention were discussed by Ebbinghaus (1885). He touches upon the effects of duration and the overlay of new information over existing knowledge in the mind. The concepts related to the short-term memory were brought to attention by Miller (1956) when he discussed the limitations in our capacity to process information. He determined that the span of immediate memory is limited and is as dependent on the span of absolute judgment and the span of perceptual dimensionality. This implies that the span can significantly increase if the string of characters or words can be combined to make a meaningful interpretation. Miller (1956) termed this effect as chunking and determined that at a given point in time, seven chunks can be simultaneously processed in the short-term memory. Peterson & Peterson (1959) determined by experimental testing that the information in the short-term memory decays after about 15 seconds. The term working memory was first coined by Miller, Galanter, & Pribram (1960) as the memory that that was easy to access for quick execution of one s plans. This memory is constantly refreshed as new plans are made in the mind. Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) distinguished memory into three categories and described the working memory as the intermediate location where the input from the sensory memory is processed and the required information is transferred to the long-term memory. The sensory memory, short-term store and the long term store have an increasing order of retention capabilities.

3 HF700 MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 3 Kroll et al. (1970) proved that visually memorized letters were recalled more easily that aurally memorized letters when both were accompanied by a differently voiced aural version of the letter. Hence they inferred that the visually memorized letters were subject to less retroactive interference because they were stored in a different location than the aurally memorized letters. Baddeley & Hitch (1974) felt that there was very limited research done in the field of working memory and hence performed a series of experiments and compared the results to try to obtain a holistic understanding of the working memory. Table 1 compiles the results of the study. (Table 1)(Baddeley & Hitch, 1974) As shown in the table, Baddeley & Hitch (1974) focused on three primary tasks: verbal reasoning, language comprehension, and free recall of unrelated works. An important result is that when there is a heavy load (6 items) on the memory, there is a decrease in verbal reasoning, comprehension and free recall capabilities. They confirmed from these studies that the working memory has a limited capacity which is divided between storage of information and control processing functions. There is a sensitive trade-off between these two aspects since they cannot always be clearly differentiated. Baddeley & Hitch (1974) also examined the effect of recency of occurrence and its relation to working memory. By comparing several other research as well as their own experiments they were able to determine that the recency effect was not associated directly with the working memory but was more a result of semantic processing in the long term memory. In summary, they came up with the working memory model that had a central executive attentional control system that comprised of a phonological loop system and a visuospatial sketchpad system. This storage of verbal and acoustic information was stored in phonological loop. Some of the characteristics of this loop are the phonological similarity effect where similar sounding words are harder to remember, word-length effect, where shorter words are easier to

4 HF700 MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 4 remember etc. The sketchpad on the other hand processes the visual, spatial and even kinesthetic components.( Baddeley, 2000) Hasher & Zacks (1988) looked at the effects of age on the working memory and found that the accuracy of inferences would depend on pacing and the amount of information needed to be retrieved from memory. At a standard speaking rate, older people found it harder to make inferences. When the pace was reduced, only the harder inferences remained difficult. The more times the elderly people use external information and not rely on their memory, the higher is their inference level. This is because they take longer to respond to priming cues. Just & Carpenter (1992) viewed the working memory as not just a temporary storage of information for recall but also as partial storage of an elaborate sequence such as in the organization of languages. The reader uses the working memory to store and retrieve the order of letters or words and string them together along with the theme of the passage so that they are put into context. Just & Carpenter (1992) presented a computation theory according to which the level of storage and processing in the working memory is determined by the level of activation. When the element is above a certain minimum threshold of activation it remains in the working memory. Once it drops below the threshold it is forgotten. Also there is a maximum capacity of activation and if this capacity is reached then the storage and processing activation levels are scaled down accordingly. However different people have different maximum capacities and this is determined by factors like age, literacy level etc. Ericsson & Kintsch (1995) recognized short-term and long-term memory as distinctive but suggested that the connections between the two are largely dependent on skill level. The working memory contains retrieval cues which occupy minimal resources in the working memory and can easily connect with the area in the long-term memory that contains the information of that skill. They termed this long-term working memory and attributed this to the ability of experts in chess, mental calculations etc. and can also be associated with Anderson's (1983) activation theory. Luck & Vogel (1997) elaborated on the chunking concept in the visual working memory where they empirically proved that for objects with multiple features, the working memory stores information as a conjunction of all its features rather than allocating temporal space for each individual feature. Cohen et al. (1997) used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure activation in the brain while undergoing a task that employs the working memory. They determined that the prefrontal cortex is used for executive control processes. The dorsolateral area of the prefrontal

5 HF700 MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 5 cortex along with the parietal cortex is used for maintenance of ongoing information flow in the working memory. Baddeley (2000) updated his existing working model to include an episodic buffer that could codify multi-dimensional attributes by combining visual, auditory or kinesthetic inputs into coherent episodes which can then be easily assimilated by the long term memory. Figure 1 represents the most current version of the working memory model. (Figure 1)(Baddeley, 2000) Role of Emotion in Functioning of Working Memory Emotion is described as a conscious mental reaction (as anger or fear) subjectively experienced as strong feeling usually directed toward a specific object and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body ( Emotion : Merriam-Webster, 2011) In looking at the emotions that affect working memory, anxiety is often considered to be directly impacting the functioning of the working memory. Anxiety is defined as an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physiological signs (as sweating, tension, and increased pulse), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one's capacity to cope with it ( Anxiety : Merriam-Webster, 2011) Eysenck (1992) looked at anxiety from a cognitive perspective. He considers anxiety to be an unpleasant and aversive state and a person is usually anxious if they sense any form of threat to their goals and objectives. Eysenck & Calvo (1992) also came up with the processing efficiency theory. This theory is based on the efficiency and effectiveness principle. The efficiency is the quality of performance and effectiveness is the level of efficiency of performance, given the amount of effort applied.

6 HF700 MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 6 The processing efficiency theory also has some fundamental assumptions. The first assumption is that worry is an element that directly impacts process efficiency and effectiveness and it is activated under anxiety. The second assumption is that the effects of worry are primarily on the central executive portion of the Baddeley s working memory model. Due to this worry, the storage and processing faculties of the working memory are impaired as the anxiety consumes the limited resources that are available. Concurrently, there is also a certain degree of motivation to nullify the cause of anxiety. In other words since the efficiency is compromised due to anxiety, there is a motivation to increase the amount of effort applied so that the effectiveness can be maintained at the same level. The availability of external support resources can be useful in supporting the reduction of working memory capacity. If there is adequate support, then the additional motivation derived from anxiety can increase the amount of effort to a level that the person is more effective under anxiety than if they were not. However some of the arguments against this theory include the validity of the assumption that anxiety primarily impacts the central executive. Also the theory does not clearly explain the effects of distracting factors and the conditions in which an anxious individual would perform better than a non-anxious individual. In order to account for this, Eysenck et al. (2007) improved on the processing efficiency theory to develop the attentional control theory. As per this theory, allocation of attentional control, a function of the central executive, is relinquished from the primary task unless it is in itself the perceived threatening situation that is causing anxiety. Also, according to attentional control theory, anxiety impacts both categories of Corbetta & Shulman's (2002) attentional system the stimulus-driven and the goal directed attentional systems. Attentional control theory is also based on what Miyake et al. (2000) identified as major functions of the central executive. They include inhibition of current stimuli that are not related to the current task, shifting of attention between multiple tasks and updating and observing existing working memory operations. Eysenck et al. (2007) performed multiple experiments and proved the following: - Anxiety impacts efficiency more than effectiveness. - Adverse effects of anxiety increase as the number of tasks in the central executive increase - Anxiety biases attention control by increasing the influence of stimulus-driven attentional systems - Anxiety impairs the inhibition function and allows the distracting threat to occupy the working memory

7 HF700 MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 7 - Anxiety impairs the shifting function and causes focus on only the threat-related distraction. - Anxiety reduces the ability to perform the updating function under stressful conditions. Case Discussion Let us assume a scenario where an undergraduate finance major has done poorly in his final exam on company valuations. His professor has given him the chance of writing a report on the financial analysis of the Walt Disney Company as a way to boost his score. He has to get at least a B+ in this assignment in order to pass the class. This is also his final semester and passing this class is imperative for him to graduate. The student in the above mentioned scenario is anxious about the assignment since his graduation depends on it. Most students use Bloomberg terminals to access financial information about companies. Figure 2 and Figure 3 represent screenshots of a Bloomberg report on Walt Disney s financials. Apart from these, there are multiple other screens that are used to describe the financial strength of the company. the Bloomberg Terminal for Data, n.d.) (Figure 2)( Using

8 HF700 MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 8 the Bloomberg Terminal for Data, n.d.) (Figure 3)( Using Since a high level of anxiety is occupying the central executive of the working memory, the student s inhibition function will not be able to completely inhibit the distracting threat of failing the class. The shifting and updating functions are also impeded and so he may not be able to go through the vast amount of data available and assimilate them to understand the financials. Though there is a motivation to pass the exam, the large amount of information may still prove to be too much for the reduced capacity of the working memory. Hence, though there is an increased effort due to motivation, it may require a lot more additional effort to maintain the same level of effectiveness if there was no threat of failure. By providing external support functions that reduce the amount of working memory required, this motivation derived from anxiety can be put to good use and the student can perform more effectively than if he did not have the high anxiety level. A good example of additional support is the website Vuru ( which provides stock analysis for companies. Firstly, this website uses lesser data points thereby reducing the amount of shifting and updating requirements. The website also describes the meaning of the financial data and in doing so, reduces the need to interpret the meaning of the numbers and graphs. Figure 4, 5 and 6 illustrate these observations.

9 HF700 MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 9 (Figure 4)( Vuru - Walt Disney Company, 2011) (Figure 5)( Vuru - Walt Disney Company, 2011)

10 HF700 MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 10 (Figure 6)( Vuru - Walt Disney Company, 2011) Conclusion The working memory is an important resource that unfortunately has a limited capacity. It is not always possible to control the distracting-threats that trap the resources of the working memory. In order to account for this in design, we must ensure that we provide as much scaffolding as possible so that the cognitive load is kept minimal. In this way, resources are available for switching and updating activities and also provide a buffer in the event of a distracting threat. The additional scaffolding will also help in an anxious state of mind to improve the amount of effort so that it can positively adjust for the reduction in efficiency of the working memory and result in a net positive level of effectiveness.

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12 HF700 MEMORY AND EMOTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 12 Just, M. a, & Carpenter, P. a. (1992). A capacity theory of comprehension: individual differences in working memory. Psychological review, 99(1), Kroll, N. E., Parks, T., Parkinson, S. R., Bieber, S. L., & Johnson, a L. (1970). Short-term memory while shadowing: recall of visually and of aurally presented letters. Journal of experimental psychology, 85(2), Luck, S. J., & Vogel, E. K. (1997). The capacity of visual working memory for features and conjunctions. Nature, 390(6657), Memory : Merriam Webster. (2011). Merriam Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved December 13, 2011, from Miller, G. A., Galanter, E., & Pribram, K. H. (1960). Plans and the structure of behavior. Holt. Miller, G. a. (1956, April). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological review. Miyake, a, Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, a H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex Frontal Lobe tasks: a latent variable analysis. Cognitive psychology, 41(1), Peterson, L., & Peterson, M. J. (1959). Short-term Retention of Individual Verbal Items. Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance, 58(3). Using the Bloomberg Terminal for Data. (n.d.).. Retrieved December 13, 2011, from Vuru - Walt Disney Company. (2011). Vuru Inc. Retrieved December 13, 2011, from