Attention, Memory, Cognition Flashcards
Divided Attention
Does not work well, individuals cannot actually focus their attention on two things simultaneously, so instead end up switching their attention between the two tasks
Deutch and Deutch’s Late Selection Theory
Places Broadbent’s selective filter after perceptual processes (all sensory information is assigned meaning)
sensory register> perceptual process> selective filter> consciousness
Selective Attention
Ability to maintain attention on something while being presented with masking/interfering stimuli
Exogenous/External clues
Capture our attention without us having to tell ourselves to look for them (i.e. bright colors, loud noises)
This is called the pop out effect
Driven by bottom up/ external events
Endogenous/Internal clues
Require internal knowledge to understand the clue and intention to follow it
For example, the cocktail party effect. Ability to concentrate on a single voice within a crowd or to respond to your name when it is called.
Inattentional Blindness
Failure to notice something in your visual field because attention is directed elsewhere
Change Blindness
Failure to notice something from previous to a current state in your environment
Broadbent’s Early Selection Theory (selective attention)
Information first goes to a sensory register, which stores all sensory information. Information is then sent to a sensory filter, which filters out information based on physical characteristics. It then moves through a perceptual process where meaning is assigned to the information, then to consciousness.
sensory register> selective filter>perceptual process> consciousness
Treisman’s Attenuation Theory
Replaces selective filter with an attenuator that allows attended information to be processed to a greater extent
Sensory register> attenuator> perceptual process> consciousness
Spotlight model of attention
Information is taken in by all five senses, but we don’t pay attention to all of it (selective attention)
Priming occurs when one stimulus affects a response to another, even if we are not aware of it
Resource Model of Attention
We have limited attentional resources and are easily overtasked if we try to pay attention to multiple things at once.
Factors affecting divided attention
Task similarity: it is harder to multitask when tasks are similar (listening to music vs an interview while writing a paper)
Task Difficulty: it is harder to concentrate on more difficult tasks
Practice: it is easier to focus on more practiced tasks
Information Processing Model of Memory
People get input from the environment, process it, and output decisions
Bottom up model
Assumes serial processing (but brain is capable of parallel processing)
Two type of sensory memory
Iconic: visual stimuli, lasts half a second
Echoic: verbal stimuli, lasts 3-4 seconds
Working memory (short term memory)
Sensory information that you are actually working with in that moment
Can hold 7+/- 2 pieces of information at a time
Where is visual information processed in the working memory? Auditory information?
The visuo-spatial sketchpad, the phonological loop
The central executive coordinates this information
Serial Position affect (primacy and recency effects)
Information presented first and last is most easily recalled
Episodic Buffer
Combines with phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad to give memories a component of time
Two types of long term memory
Explicit memories: declarative and conscious
Implicit memories: nondeclarative and unconscious (i.e. procedural memory)
Two types of explicit memories
Semantic (facts) and episodic (event related memories)
Autobiographical memory combines these two types of memory
Priming
Previous experience influences current interpretation of an event.
Positive priming speeds up processing, while negative priming slows it down
Encoding
Transferring information from working to long term memory
What is the least effective method for encoding?
Rote rehearsal
What are some effective strategies for encoding?
- Chunking
- Mneumonics
- Imagery
- Pegword system (one is bun, two is shoe, etc)
- Method of loci
- Self referencing: how does the info relate to you
- Spacing
What are some example of retrieval cues that make recalling previously encoded information easier?
1. Priming: activation of a memory without conscious awareness (if you read a book about rabbits, then asked to choose between hair/hare)
2. Context: more likely to recall info if you are tested in the same environment as encoding
3. State dependent: more likely to recall info if state/mood of endcoding matches retrieval
Free recall
Asked to recall information without cues, most difficult
Serial position affect
You are more likely to remember things at the beginning of a list (primacy effect) and end of a list (recency effect)
Recognition
Being presented with several choices and asked which one was presented, easiest method of retrieval
What are some factors that distort memory reconstruction?
1. False information: inaccurate recollections of an event
2. Misleading information: major problem in polic investigations
3. Source monitoring: difficulty recalling an information’s source
Flashbulb memories
Memories of an emotionally arousing event that feel extremely vivid, but are still subject to errors in reconstruction
Long term potentiation
A type of synaptic plasticity involving the strengthening of a synapse. When a presynaptic neuron is repeatedly stimulated, this increases the postsynaptic potential. This is how learning occurs
Ebbinhaus’s theory of decay (forgetting)
The rate of forgetting occurs very quickly at first, but then levels off over time
Describe the two types of interference
1. Retroactive interference: when learning new information interferes with old information
2. Proactive interference: when old information interferes with learning new information
What cognitive abilities remain stable with age?
Procedural memory and recognition
What cognitive abilities improve with age?
semantic memories (verbal skills improve) and emotional reasoning
What cognitive abilities decline with age?
Recall, episodic memories, processing speed, divided attention, and prospective recall (remembering to do things in the future)
Korsakoff’s Syndrome
Due to lack of vitamin B1 or thiamine (converts carbs to glucose). Caused by malnutrition, eating disorders, and alcoholism.
First signs include Wernicke’s encephalopathy. Symptoms include poor balance, mild confusion, and memory loss.
KS is treatable
Retrograde vs anterograde amnesia
Retrograde: inability to recall old information
Anterograde: inability to learn new information
Semantic network
Describes how concepts in the mind are organized as connected ideas. Closely related concepts are closer together than less closely related ones.
Hierarchical Semantic Network
Theory stating that information is stored in a hierarchical way at the highest level possible
Modified semantic network
Theory stating that individual experiences and knowledge promote development of semantic network
Spreading activation refers to when the activation of one concept leads to the activation of others
Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development
- Sensorimotor Stage
- Preoperational stage
- Concrete Operational Stage
- Formal operational stage
Sensorimotor stage
0-2 years old
Children gather information about the world through the senses
Develop object permanence (recognizing that an object is not there when removed)
Preoperational Stage
2-6/7
Children begin to enage in pretend play and assign symbols to things
Characterized by egocentrism (can’t see perspective of others)
Concrete operational stage
7-11 years old
Children learn math skills and empathy
Children learn the idea of conservation (if you take two glasses with the same amount of water and put in different sized cups, they still have the same amount of water)
Formal operational stage
12+
Children learn abstract and moral reasoning
What are the three components of the blood?
- The plasma
- Red blood cells
- Buffy coat (white blood cells)
Plasma
Matrix of the blood containing water, ions, urea, ammonia, and proteins
The body regulates overall blood volume by changing the amount of water in the plasma
What are the three proteins contained in the plasma?
1. Albumins: involved in transport of fatty acids and steroids, regulate osmotic pressure of the blood
2. Immunoglobulins: aka antibodies
3. Clotting factors: fibrinogen is a type of clotting protein (involved in formation of blood clots)
Serum
Plasma from which the clotting protein fibrinogen has been removed
Erythrocytes
Contain hemoglobin, role is to transport oxygen and carbon dioxide
Contain no organelles (including nuclei)
Leukocytes
White blood cells, protect the body from foreign invaders
Describe granular vs agranular leukocytes
Granular leukocytes include neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils. They last for a very short time and fight nonspecifically against infectious agents.
Agranular leukocytes include monocytes, lymphocytes, and megakaryocytes. They last for a long time and fight specifically against infectious agents.
Stem Cells
Cells from which all blood cells differentiate from
What are platelets and why are they important?
Platelets are pieces of membrane bound cytoplasm torn from megakaryocytes.
They have an important role in coagulation
Is the circulatory system a closed or open system?
Closed; there are no openings for blood to leave the vessels
What is the pathway of blood in systemic circulation?
Systemic circulation carries oxygenated blood to the tissues and returns deoxygenated blood to the heart
Left ventricle>aorta>arteries>arterioles>capillaries> venules> veins> superior and inferior vena cava> right atrium
What is assimilation and accomodation?
Assimilation refers to how we describe new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
Accomodation refers to how we adjust our schemas to incorporate new experiences
Heuristic
Mental shortcut that allows us to more quickly find the solution to a problem
Two types include means end analysis and working backwards
Type I vs Type II errors
Type I: false positive
Type II: false negative
What are some factors that affect decision making?
1. Heuristics: mental shortcuts, include availability and representative heuristics
2. Biases: include overconfidence, belief perserverance, and confirmation bias
3. Framing effects: how the decision is presented
Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
There are three types of intelligence:
- Analytical intelligence (knowledge, measured by IQ tests)
- Creative intelligence: ability to adapt to new situations
- Practical intelligence: ability to solve ill defined problems
Fluid vs. Crystalized intelligence
Fluid intelligence: ability to reason quickly and abstractly
Crystalized intelligence: accumulated knowledge and verbal skills
Wernicke’s Aphasia
Fluent aphasia, unable to comprehend speech but can produce fluent sentences
Results from damage to temporal lobe
Broca’s Aphasia
Nonfluent aphasia, people can comprehend speech, but produce disjointed speech
Results from damage to frontal lobe
Global Aphasia
When both Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas are damaged
Conduction aphasia
Occurs when arcuate fascilus is damaged (nerve fibers that connect Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas)
Difficulty connecting speaking and listening
