Psychology
Shot-term memory has been the subject of several studies on cognitive functioning of the brain. Several approach and theoretical frameworks were employed in the process in order to determine the implications of different factors to STM. In this discussion, the context of STM was examined by reviewing relevant literatures encompassing the varying approach to STM study. STM problems were associated to childhood ADHD, while the other research focuses on the association of visual recall and order recall. These studies involves identifying the relationship between cognitive functioning and STM, which are critical areas in understanding human brain functioning and in the field of psychology. The end part of the discussion offers an analysis of the findings based on the reviewed studies.
Short-term Memory Problems in Childhood ADHD
The study conducted by Ward et al. (2015) focuses on finding how the variations of parasympathetic dysregulation moderates short-term memory among children with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. It is apparent that ADHD is a significant factor that affects working memory and its impairment results to short-term memory. On the other hand, some children diagnosed with ADHD appear to be in the normative range. This perceived heterogeneity in the ADHD mechanism is the subject of the author’s work, which aims to determine the variations in parasympathetic regulation in moderating short-term memory among children. Primarily, the authors intend to determine the variation by measuring the RSA by collecting cardiac-related indices. The theoretical framework of the study was derived from the concept that common neutral network was assumed to have a connection with cognitive function and heart rate regulation.
In order to determine the described assumption, the authors conducted a series of tests on participants aged between 7 to 12 years old. The target number of subjects is 243 in which 127 are non-ADHD and 116 are children diagnosed with ADHD after meeting the DSM-5 criteria. Physiological recording through combination of ECG and ICG was conducted among the participants including RSA indexing, and spatial span to assess visual-spatial STM-R and STM-S. A baseline physiological recording was also conducted to obtain data for comparison. The raw data from these tests were synthesized using statistical analysis while the ADHD syndrome analysis was referenced from the DSM-5 criteria. According to the results of the ADHD analysis, the condition is associated to short-term memory. Furthermore, the ADHD group showed poorer cognitive performance than the control group as observed on the performance during trial. In terms of the RSA baseline effect in relation to the ADHD diagnosis, children with ADHD appear to have higher RSA at resting baseline as compared to the control group. The results of the statistical test supported the hypothesis STM performance is moderated by RSA activity.
Short-term Memory Recall of Visual Patterns Under Static and Dynamic Visual Noise
Short-term memory was also found to have correlation with vision as the study conducted by Vasques Garcia, and Galera (2016) suggests. The study recalls visual patterns both static and dynamic to an effect of STM. However, DVN interference is difficult to determine considering the task of linking it with STM encompasses a test based on visual stimuli. This is the question that the authors are aiming to answer in the experiment suggesting that the irrelevant sensory input tend to interfere with memory retention. Furthermore, the study involves determining the role of visual stimuli in the capability of visuospatial working memory in retaining visual information considering that the cognitive is the key in generating and manipulation of mental images. Primarily, the study aims to determine if the temporary storage and processing of visual information is interfered by DVN and SVN respectively.
In order to establish the claims of linking visual stimuli with STM, a matrix pattern recall test was conducted in an experiment that involves the subjects to replicate the matrix pattern after a predetermined interval consisted of blank scree, DVN and STN. The experiment was conducted with 20 participants consisting of 10 male and female university students. One of the conditions for inclusion is that the participants should have normal vision. The experiment is composed of 108 white matrix with cells shaded in black. This is the same methodology used in a previous research from the experiment was based from. The sequence of the pattern matrix was timed at 400 ms followed by a 9,000 ms interval with SVN and DVN randomly changing the screen. The results of the experiment revealed that the interaction between interference and difficulty level was significant in which the subject’s performance was significantly disrupted by the DVN and SVN. However, the interference with matrix recall performance was only observed in level 9 difficulty stage and slight tendencies on level 7, but not fairly significant. The findings of the study support the hypothesis that the visual buffer in visuospatial working memory is susceptible to sensory input. Therefore, it concludes that STM is susceptible to STN and DVN.
Order Recall in Verbal Short-term Memory
In a study by Poirier et al. (2015) the role of semantic networks was tested for its effect on order recall in verbal short-term memory. It has been argued that semantic information has an effect on order information linking to STM. In addition, it was hypothesized that order recall is associated with the activation of items in long-term memory network. However, verbal STM was concluded in previous studies as significantly affected by semantic category in terms of recalling items, but not necessarily in terms of recalling order. Based on this assumption, the authors conducted an experiment with an object of determining the role of semantic networks in verbal STM by measuring the subject’s capability of recalling items in order. It is apparent that the primary intention of the study is to separate the mechanism for order coding associated with LTM. Psycholinguistic and LTM network models was often viewed as a system that involves language processing. However, in LTM network, the recall of items does not indicate association with recalling order particularly in STM. Hence, the study will determine if order recall in vernal STM is associated with sematic networks.
The methodology employed in the study involves 40 adults consisting of 14 men and 26 women within the average age of 27. Moreover, the experiment used materials consists of 16 experimental and 16 control lists. The experimental words were generated while considering strong association to the target words, which are identified as cue words with greater association to semantic processing. In terms of procedure, the participants were placed in a soundproof cubicle and asked to complete two practical trials. The procedure involves the use of a monitor where a list of words are presented individually for 1.5 seconds followed by a 500 ms blank screen interval. After which, the participants will type the word in order that they were presented. In the event that the participant forget the word, they will “b” in order to proceed. The experiment returned with the result indicating that if the first three items in the list has a strong association to the later items, it is apparent that the association of the words tends to migrate more in the recall test. This suggests that the recall of the later items with strong association to the first three items is a result of grouping strategy and not with the lexico-semantic LTM. Essentially, the findings did not indicate the role of semantic networks in encoding and maintenance, unless the list is manipulated to activate semantic networks.
Reflection on the Key Findings
The results presented in the reviewed studies have provided a varying perspective on short-term memory in terms visual and verbal STM including its association to ADHD problem among children. By definition, STM or short-term memory is a temporary storage and information processing system of the brain in which the duration of readily available information is limited (Vasques et al., 2016). Stimuli and interferences were found to have an adverse effect on STM in terms of retaining and maintaining information (Poirier et al., 2015). The study conducted by Vasques et al., (2016) asserts that dynamic visual noise and static visual noise encompasses represents visual stimuli that can interfere with visual recall. The same context of cognitive function was tested in the study by Poirier et al., (2015), but it focuses more on verbal STM where the cognitive capability to recall items in correct order was tested.
Between the two studies, the order recall appears to have a more complex parameter in terms of testing assumptions considering the employment of two experimental methodologies to determine support of hypothesis. On the other hand, the visual recall provides a more practical assumption in terms of testing cognitive function on recalling information. Visual stimuli such as matrix patterns represents the visual sensory experience that people uses both consciously and subconsciously, and focusing the study on this sensory area constitutes the level of practicality of the study in terms of everyday application. On the other hand, the study by Ward et al. (2015) presents a significant finding that is different from the other two studies. This is because the focus of the research involves mental condition that has a significant implication towards cognitive functioning, which is ADHD. It is commonly recognized as a dysregulation of cognition, behavior, and emotion, which makes ADHD a favorite subject of exploration in the behavioral area, but not typically associated with STN (Ward et al., 2015).
Short-term Memory and Cognitive Functions of the Brain
The understanding of the brain works in relation to how the humans respond to stimulus involves cognitive functioning in which short-term memory plays a significant role. In the reviewed studies, the short-term memory is affected by interfering stimulus as observed in the visuospatial study involving the DVN and SVN interferences. This means that visual disturbances affect the way people remember things, places, people, and other information picked up by the visual sensory. Furthermore, verbal STN was also found to have association with order recall. In this area of research, it demonstrates that people tend to remember things in order because of a specific function observed in semantic networks. These findings constitute a more in-depth understanding of how cognitive functioning works in the brain and its association to short-term memory. The way people perceive information based on the reviewed study of short-term memory demonstrates that information temporarily stored in the brain is susceptible to factors ranging from interfering stimuli to mental conditions such as ADHD.
Conclusion
The reviewed studies revealed significant insights on how cognitive process such as short-term memory is affected by different factors. In the study of STM in relation to ADHD reveals that the moderation of short-term memory varies in parasympathetic dysregulation. On the other hand, the study of order recall in verbal short-term memory was found to be associated with semantic networks. Lastly, recalling visual patterns given the dynamic and static vosual noise tend to disrupt the recognition of visual information. These three studies were able to demonstrate the different approaches in understanding STM by experimenting on different factors affecting its efficiency. More importantly, the findings encompasses a relatively new perspective in understanding how the brain works particularly in cognitive functioning.
References
Poirier, M., Saint-Aubin, J., Mair, A., Tehan, G., & Tolan, A. (2014). Order recall in verbal short-term memory: The role of semantic networks. Mem Cogn, 43(3), 489-499. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13421-014-0470-6
Vasques, R., Garcia, R., & Galera, C. (2016). Short-term memory recall of visual patterns under static and dynamic visual noise. Psychology & Neuroscience, 9(1), 46-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pne0000039
Ward, A., Alarcón, G., Nigg, J., & Musser, E. (2015). Variation in Parasympathetic Dysregulation Moderates Short-term Memory Problems in Childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.Journal Of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43(8), 1573-1583. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0054-3
