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Module #3-Annoted Bibliography

#1: Baddeley, A.D. (1992). Working memory. Science, 255, 556-559.
This article begins by defining working memory as a brain system that provides temporary
storage and manipulation of the information necessary for complex cognitive tasks (556).
Throughout the 1960s on through to the 70s, working memory evolved from a single
unitary system, to a dichotomy of two, on to a tripartite system.
The psychometric approach was to create tasks that would in turn require memory capacity
and correlate with performance on cognitive skills. This would test their memory span. It
was found that people with higher memory spans were better at comprehending what they
read.
The three sections of Baddely and Hitchs working memory model are the visuospatial
sketch pad having to do with visual perception and action, the central executive which is the
control of behavior, and the phonological loop. The phonological loop is the simplest and
most extensively investigated piece of working memory. It is where speech perception and
speech production come into play.
#2: Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction (3rd ed.) (pp. 7791). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
This section of the chapter begins with an explanation of sensory memory and how we
process information through our senses. It has been found that we process more through
auditory sensory memory than visual sensory memory most likely because due to the
requirements of speech perception, the sounds must stay in our sensory memory longer in
order to be understood. Attention is brought up and described as a resource with limited
capacity, but having the ability to be shared when there are competing goals (79).
Automaticity is another feature of sensory memory. When a task is done so much, that is
can be done with very little attention, then automaticity has occurred, and attention can be
directed elsewhere to perform simultaneous tasks.
Next, working memory is discussed at length. George Miller conducted tests in which
subjects were asked to recall a list of numbers they had been read. His conclusion, was
that most could recall about seven, plus or minus 2 of the numbers. Several other tests
were done centered around this same theory yielding similar results. Working memory can
however be improved through the process of chunking, in which smaller chunks of

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information are put together and remembered instead of one larger string at one time. This
makes me think of how we recall telephone numbers. I instead of recalling a telephone
number as a string of 10 digits, most people with recall 3-4 digits at a time in chunks.
Rehearsal and encoding are also discussed as ways to maintain items in working memory.
When repeated, or rehearsed over and over, information will begin to store longer into
working memory. Encoding is the process of associating input with ideas already stored in
long-term memory that are related in some way to the new information. An example of this
is the mnemonic devices we use to help as a study aide.
#3: (additional) Giesbrecht, Barry, Jocelyn Sy, Claus Bundesen, and Soren Kyllingsbaek.
"A New Perspective on the Perceptual Selectivity of Attention under Load." Annals of the
New York Academy of 1316.1 (2014): 71-86.
I chose this article because I think it is interesting to learn how our students pay attention and
how and why they pay attention to only certain things. During one of the earlier readings in this
module, the idea of selective attention was brought up as a function of working memory. This
article discusses selective attention and how the cognitive load theory determines what our
attention is directed towards.
In the first part of the article, load theory is addressed and its historical views are discussed. It
is said that our attention is selected based on the cognitive demands that are placed on us.
Next, the weaknesses of load theory are discussed. Lastly, the article discusses the
implications for how attention selection changes with the tasks that are demanded.

#4: Kalyuga, S. (2010). Schema acquisition and sources of cognitive load. In J.L.
Plass, R. Moreno, & R. Brnken, Cognitive Load Theory (pp. 48-64). New York:
Cambridge.
Kalyuga writes about principles for efficient instruction that are based on ones base of
knowledge. The three main principles are direct initial instruction principle, and expertise
principle, and a small step-size of change principle. Kalyuga explains what schema is and
how it is acquired. An example of schema is the concept of a chunk of information that has
traditionally served as a unit of measurement for memory capacity (p. 49).
Cognitive load is discussed as how much demand there is on working memory during a
cognitive activity. When elements that are unnecessary for learning are taken into that

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cognitive load, it is known as extraneous cognitive load. This can be reduced by following
the principles mentioned above.
In the direct instruction principle, the appropriate level of support should be provided to the
novice learner in or for there not to be so much overload. The expertise principle states that
only an appropriate amount of guidance should be given so as not to overload and to
reduce redundant information. The small step-size of knowledge change principle breaks
larger tasks into smaller tasks so that they may build upon one another.
#5 Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: some limits on
our capacity for processing information. Psychological review, 63(2), 81.
In this article, Miller explains how people process information by assigning numbers to
various aspects of a stimulus. He calls this experiments in absolute judgement (1). Over
time this label has evolved into the capacity at which people transmit information.
Miller is writing about the magic number of seven, and how it applies to our memory
processing. When our judgements are one-dimensional, or unidimensional, it has been
shown that we keep about seven, give or take one or two, in our working memory. However,
we can identify several hundred faces, and many more words and objects. There are many
more variables added in, and the more variables added in, it is found that our memory
capacity increases.
The article outlines several tests done by Miller in which this theory of seven was tested. In
these tests, the participants were given various stimuli such as tones, volumes, tastes,
colors, etc. to put in a sequence. In most cases they could get close to five without making
mistakes. This shows that his theory has variance.