CHAPTER 7: Cognitive Process and Academic Skills Flashcards
Memory during infancy
During infancy, memory improves as a result of development of:
A) hippocampus (formation of memories)
B) prefrontal cortex (retrieval of memories)
Hippocampus
is where memories are initially formed and stored, and it’s not fully developed at birth; in fact, it continues to develop over the first two years of life
Prefrontal Cortex
cortex is responsible for the retrieval of stored memories, and this area develops into the second year
- the memory of infants is quite basic compared to that of toddlers and older children
Rovee-Collier (1995)
- infants learned to move mobile by kicking their leg
- returned several years later
- 3 months old remembered kicking response a week later
- 2-4 weeks later; forgot, but was recalled when given a cue
= infants can retain information they have learned for a few weeks, but not retrierve unless given a cue
encoding
the processing of information into the memory system
storage
the retention of recorded information over time
sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory
retrieval
the process of getting information out of memory storage
4 strategies for remembering
- maintenance rehearsal (aka rote learning)
- mechanical procedure
- children do this by age 7-8
- repeating something over and over - elaborative encoding
- actively relating new information to knowledge that is already in memory
- The more deeply we process an event – pay attention to its meaning – the more likely we’ll be to remember it - organization
- categorizing info according to the relationships among a series of items
chunking - superimposed meaningful structures
- mnemonics - aid in memory
Craik & Tulving (1975) experiment
elaborative encoding
presented with words, asked to make 1 of 3 types of judgments
1. visual (e.g., is it written in uppercase letters?
2. rhyme (e.g., does it rhyme with cat?)
3. semantic (e.g., is it something you can wear?)
results: thinking about a words meaning (making a semantic judgement) results in deeper processing - and better memory for the word later
Stein et al. (1982)
participants were presented with open-ended sentences, containing elements that were unrelated
results: suggest that academically successful students may have a better understanding of the importance of elaborating information in a meaningful way
(eg. studying instead of cramming info)
mnemonic devices
catchy verbal association that can act as a retrieval cue for what you’re trying to remember
verbal mediator
involves making an association between two ideas
hippocampus - picture a hippo on campus
method of loci
mnemonic device that involved imagery
- associating something with an image
- house example
Autobiographical Memory
Memory for specific experiences from our life, including self-related knowledge (semantic) and memory for events (episodic)
- multidimensional
- prone to distortions/errors over time
Fuzzy Trace Theory (FTT)
- explains how false memories can occur
remembering involves 2 things:
1. a gist memory trace (broad)
a verbatim memory trace (speciifc details)
theory = that false memories are possible because our experiences are stored in multiple fragments, and these fragments can be recombined in ways that differ from what actually happened.
Wade et al. (2002)
experiment that tested if participants can recall events that have happend in their life
- after seeing false images over again they were able to re call it even though it didn’t happen but tricked themself that it did
Ceci & Crotteau Huffman, 1997
“mouse-trap” study
kids can be convinced that an event happend to them after hearing about it multiple times over and over even though it didnt happen
younger children have higher ________ than older children and adults
suggestibility
especially suggestible when:
- asked specific questions
- questions are repeated
- interviewer provides info before child was able to answer
- interviewer is of high status
definition of a problem
obstacle between present state and goal
- all ages have problems
definition of encoding
forming mental representation of a problem
definition of problem solving
active efforts to discover what must be done to overcome obstacle and achieve goals
problems of transformation
carry out sequence of transformations to reach a specific goal
- Initial state (knowledge at outset)
- Operators (actions that change your state)
- Goal state (solution)
- Path constraints (limitations that rule out certain solutions)
Tower of Hanoi Problem
tower of 3 discs on a cone that have to be moved with certain conditions
- solved using means end analysis
- the goal is to reduce the difference between the initial and goal states
- set up subgoals
Siegler’s overlapping waves model of strategy use
the use of various strategies
- attempts to explain how children often vary from one attempt to the next in their approach to solving a problem
- as children get older they use more advanced strategies (4 and 5)
- basic = 1 and 2
2 limitations to children’s problem solving
- over-reliance on heuristics (shortcuts)
- problems with planning
- overoptimism
- difficulty inhibiting desire to solve problem immediately
