Postgraduate Course: Working Memory (PSYL11079)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Working memory refers to the cluster of processes engaged while thinking: retrieving information already learned, attending to information in the environment, and using this information in the service of some goal. Theories of working memory describing how these functions relate to each other will be covered, drawing upon empirical evidence from cognitive experiments, typical and abnormal neural functioning, and development in childhood and across the adult lifespan. |
| Course description |
Students meet twice per week. One meeting is a 2-hour lecture and the other is a 1-hour tutorial for discussing relevant readings supplementing the lectures.
Schedule of Lecture topics:
Week 1 What is working memory and why does it matter?
Week 2 Working memory limits
Week 3 Time, knowledge, and variability in healthy populations
Week 4 Development of working memory
Week 5 Neuroscience and neuropsychology of working memory
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate knowledge of current working memory theory, including the ability to critically evaluate evidence favouring various theories
- demonstrate understanding of the methods used to measure WM
- reason about how working memory theory can predict everyday cognitive functioning
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Reading List
Indicative Reading List:
These references provide important reading material for the course. Additional references will be provided for each lecture during the course. Note that the assessment will require knowledge that has been learned from background reading as well as from the lectures.
Camos, V. (2017). Domain-specific versus domain-general maintenance in working memory: Reconciliation within the Time-Based Resource Sharing Model. In B.H. Ross (Ed.) The Psychology of Learning and Motivation, vol 67, 135-171. (Note only available as a printed copy for reference in Psychology Library)
*Cowan, N. (2017). The many faces of working memory and short-term storage. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 24, 1158-1170. DOI 10.3758/s13423-016-1191-6
*Logie, R. H. (2011). The functional organization and capacity limits of working memory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 240-245
*Logie, R.H. (2016). Retiring the Central Executive. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 69, 2093:2109. DOI 10.1080/17470218.2015.1136657
*Norris, D. (2017). Short-term memory and long-term memory are still different. Psychological Bulletin, 143(9), 992-1009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000108
*These are all available in electronic journals available through the Library pages after logging on to MyED. Go to library homepage and scroll to the bottom, the select E-Journals A-Z title list. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will have the opportunity to practice speaking in small discussion groups and will receive feedback on their understanding and presentation skills during this course. |
| Keywords | working memory,memory,attention,psychology,neuroscience,neuropsychology |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Robert Logie
Tel:
Email: rlogie@staffmail.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Toni Noble
Tel: (0131 6)51 3188
Email: Toni.noble@ed.ac.uk |
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