Cognition Flashcards
working memory is…
multifaceted
we temporarily hold information to work with
working memory model
2 slave systems -phonological loop -visual spatial sketchpad episodic buffer central executive - the director
working memory diagram
central executive
visuospatial sketchpad episodic buffer phonological loop
visual semantics episodic ltm language
key assumptions of working memory
limited capacity
central executive
visual spatial sketchpad and phonological loop function largely independently
implications of functioning independent systems
two tasks that use same component of working memory cannot be performed successfully together
if two tasks rely on different components of working memory they can be performed together or separately
what is the phonological loop
a component of working memory for holding speech-based information and subvocal rehearsal takes place
consists of two components - phonological store and articulatory system
what are the roles of the two components of the phonological loop
articulatory control system - verbal rehearsal system; time limited and called the inner voice
phonological store - speech based storage system; has rapid decay rate of 2 seconds; called inner ear
different brain areas associated with these two components
early views on the value of the phonological loop and evidence brief supporting this
important for memory as involves verbal rehearsal
- phonological similarity
- word-length effect
phonological similarity
phonologically similar set has poorer serial recall than the phonologically dissimilar set
3 things today we now see as the value to the phonological loop
useful for learning new vocab
useful for learning a new language
action control
what is the word length effect
memory span for longer words taking a shorter time to say than words taking a longer time to say
articulatory duration of words vs phonological complexity
what is the visual spatial sketch pad and its two components brief
a temporary spatial and visual information storage system
used for the manipulation of visual patterns and movement
components - visual cache and inner scribe
what does the visual cache do
stored information about visual form and colour
what does the inner scribe do
processes spatial and movement information
involved in rehersal of information in the visual cache
transfers information from visual cache to the central executive
evidence for visual / spatital distinction
2 tasks - spatial task = memory for dot locations and visual task = memory for Chinese ideographs
dual task paradigm with secondary tasks
1 movement discrimination (spatial interference)
2 colour discrimination (visual interference)
3 control condition (no secondary task)
hypothesis - spatial interference task should interfere more with spatial main task than visual main. visual interference task should disrupt main task more than spatial main task
result - true
neuroimaging and neurological evidence for visual / spatial distinctioN
ventral prefrontal cortex - activated more during visual working memory tasks as opposed to spatial
dorsal prefrontal cortex - activated during spatial working memory tasks than visual working memory tasks
evidence for independence of visuo-spatial sketchpad and phonological loop
dual task paradigm used
visual and verbal main tasks and secondary competing visual and verbal tasks
hypothesis - simultaneous visual task should show less interference with a verbal main verbal short-term task than a visual short-term task
simultaneously verbal task should show less interference with a main visual short-term memory task than a verbal short term memory task
result - performing two tasks simulataneously reduced performance
imagery secondary task as opposed to secondary arithmetic severely disrupted visual short-term memory task
converseley secondary arithmetic task disrupted verbal short term memory while secondary imagery task had no effect
two slave systems of phonological store are…
independent
the central executive is…
not unitary
it has multiple executive functions
define the central executive
the tern for processes that organize and coordinate the functioning of the cognitive systems to fulful current goals
employ the central executive when carrying out complex activities like reading, problem solving and multi-tasking
where is the central executive located in the brain
prefrontal cortex - part of brain most heavily involved
disruption of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex resulted in impaired performace on multiple complex cognitive tasks
processes comprising the central executive
initial conceptualization - the central executive is a unitary process
however now argued that central executive is comprised of different processes
Miyake et al 2000 view of processes of central executive
3 processes
inhibition - the ability to deliberately halt or stop automatic, dominant or prepotent responses when required (eg stroop)
shifting - the ability to move flexibly between multiple tasks, operations or mental sets. useful skill in everyday functioning
updating - keeping track of working memory operations, involves revising the information that you need to remeber
evidence for miyake’s framework
each executive process was found to have activation associated with a different region within the prefrontal cortex
right intraparietal sulcus is acitvated when there is selective attention to relevant stimuli and supresion of irrelevant information
left superior parietal sulcus is involved in switching and integration
lateral prefrontal cortex is involved in monitoring and updating
unity / diversity miyake and friedman 2012
what is unique to each function
plus
what is common to all three processes
evidence for unity
fMRI evidence showed that tasks assessing each of the functions produced activation in other areas such as the left lateral prefrontal cortex
any executive processes missing from miyake framework
dual task performance - where individuals are performing two different tasks at the same time
dorsolateral cortex activation - when performing two tasks simultaneously as opposed to each task on their own
what is the 4th component of the working memory model
episodic buffer - a temporary store that exists to integrate infromation from 1 phonological loop 2 visuo-spatial sketchpad 3 long term memory
why was the episodic buffer added to the working memory model
limitations associated with the orignial model in terms of the ability to explain findingd
eg people can remember up to 16 words presented in sentences but only 5 unrelated words
episodic buffers offer an explanation - in the buffer information from long term memory can be combined with information held in the phonological loop and visual spatial sketchpad
evidence for the episodic buffer (Baddeley and wilson 2012)
prose recall study
what does good prose recall involve
the capacity of the episodic buffer - 4 chunks
role of long term memory
an efficiently functioning executive so that information can be integrated, chunked and maintened in the buffer
findings of baddeley and wilson 2002
amnesic patients with poor long term memory found it difficult to recall prose
amnesic patients who had poor central executive functioning had poor immediate prose recall
amnesic patients with good central executive functioning displyed better immediate prose recall
brain areas involved in the episodic buffer
hippocampus is important
rudner et al 2007 required participants to construct representation based on both sign language and speech
episodic buffer task as involved combining differnt kinds of information in memory
imaging results showed that activation was found in the left hippocampus and not the prefrontal cortex
what is the status of the episodic buffer
provides the glue for integrating different types of info (phonological vs visual) in working memory
evidence hippocampus is important for this binding and integration of information
what is autobiographical memory
memory for the events of ones life
also knowledge about facts of ones life (personal semantic memory)
can take various forms like specific memories and categoric memories
how is autobiographical memory different from episodic
autobiographical - concerned for ones life
episodic - an awareness arising when individual consciously recalls a speciifc period or state in the past as it was experienced at that time
evidence for autobiographical / episodic memory distinction
Burinova et al 2010 brain imaging studies
IV - picture
DV - autobiographical, episodic and semantic memory
all 3 types of memory shared some brain regions, frontal, temporal and parietal brain areas
however there were also different activations associated with episodic vs autobiographical memory retrieval
how does autobiographical memory develop
infantile amnesia - absece of memories for the first three years of life
causes of infantile amnesia - hippocampal development and density of synapses in prefrontal cortex
the role of self in autobiographical memory development
need a self concept before you can form autobiographical memories
self-recognizing infants have better memory for personal events than non-self-recognizers
language and cultural developmental theory
-state the theory and explain
language and culture influence autobiographical memory retrieval
-language skills of children at time of encoding event influence their retrieval of the event
fund children used words they knew at time of the event even though their vocab had increased by the time they recalled their memory
importance of elaboration
mother reminising style is important
elaboration best style - communication with great detail
culture can influence retrieval style
explain the reminisence bump
bump at teen age (10-30) in autobiographical memories recalled - thats when we make most memories
get childhood amnesia, reminisence bump then period of recency
hyperthymestic syndrome
the ability to recall detailed information about almost everyday for one’s life over a long time period
accompanied by normal performace on standard memory tests
could be due to difference in brain structure
flashbulb memories
autobiographical memories for important, dramatic and unique public events
activate a special neural mechanism that encodes the details of the event in the memory system
what features are contained in a flashbulb memory
person place ongoing event individuals own emotional state emotional state of others consequences
evidence review
- are flashbulb memories more accurate
cubelli and della sall 2008 - tested italians memory of a bomb explosion in bologna - found memory for the explosion was very inaccurate
talerico and rubin 2003 - compared consistency of students memories for 9/11 with their memory for an everyday event over 32 weeks
talerico and rubin 2003 found flashbulb memories were more vivid over time but did not show greater consistency than everyday memories
conclusions on flashbulb memories
may be inacurate involve reconstructive processes are distinctive do not suffer from interference from similar events rehersal
what is the self memory system
describes how autobiographical memories are retrieved
2 major components - autobiographical memory knowledge based and working self
autobiographical knowledge base - contains personal information at different levels of specificity
working self - concerns the self, what self becomes in the future and individuals current goals
2 methods of retrieving autobiographical memory - generative retrieval and direct retrieval
3 sections of autobiographical memory knowledge base
lifetime periods - cover significant period of times and themes
general events - consists of both repeated and single events
event specific knowledge - images, details and feelings related to general events but lasts from seconds to hours. also contains information about the temporal order of the event
retrieval methods
generative retrieval
direct retireival
what is generative retrieval
involves combining the information contained within the working self with information in the autobiographical knowledge base
using generative retrieval to access autobiographial memories is more effort full than direct retrieval
direct retrieval
spontaneous access of memories
key component of working self = current goals
influences what types of memories are store in the autobiographical knowledge base
involved in generative retrieval but no direct retirieval
evidence for self - memory model
evidence for three types of autobiographical knowledge comes from patients with retrograde amnesia - rosenbaum et al 2005
working self - bryant et al 2005
distinction between generative and direct retrieval - addis et al 2012
what brain areas are involved in autobiographical memory retrieval
prefrontal cortex
real autobiographical events as opposed to imagined events were associated with activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex
6 processes involved in autobiographical memory retrieval
search and control self-referential processes recollection emotional processing visual imagery feeling of rightness monitoring involved in preconscious check of accuracy of memories
6 brain areas involved in autobiographical memory retrieva
lateral prefrontal cortex medial prefrontal cortex hippocampus and parts of medial temporal lobes amygdala occipital and cuneus and precuneus areas ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
what is imagery
a form of representation that is similar to one formed in early stages of perception but based on information drawn from memory as opposed to raw sensory inputs
differences between imagery and visual perception
visual perception - patterns of neural activation capture spatial structure of object imposed on the retina
imagery - representation created to make explicit and accessible properties of objects
why dont we confuse imagery with perception
have an awareness that we have deliberately constructed images
images are ususlly less detailed than visual perceptions
perception anticipation theory
visual images are depictive representations - meaning that images are organized spatially int he same ways as information within a percept
involves the same brain areas as that involved in ealry visual processing
evidence for the imagery resembling perception
kossylns perceptual anticipation theory 2005 argues that visual perception and visual imagery depend on the same visual buffer
two predictions follow from his theory - faciliatation and interference
imagery resembles perception - evidence for faciliation
pearson, clifford and tong 2008
participants told to either perceive or imagine a green or red horizontal grating
then see a visual display in which green grating presented to one eye and red to the other at different visual orientations
when two different stimuli presented one to each eye there is binocular rivalry
consequently only one of two stimuli is consciously perceived
facilitation effect explained
under binocular rivalry conditions the stimulus orignially perceived or imagined was more likely to be perceived
degree of oreintation of the grating made a difference
findings imply that visual imagery relies on similar processes to visual perception
interference evidence baddeley and andrade 2000
dual task experiment - shows interference when primary visual imagery task is in same modality as secondary task
task - participants rated vividness of audiotry or visual images under
- control condition
-dual task condition (1 visual-spatial task of taping a pattern on a keyboard)
-dual task (2 phonological loop - counting aloud repeatedly from 1 to 10)
RESULTS
spatial tapping reduced vividness of visual imagery but no auditory imagery
also found that counting task reduced the vividness of auditory imagery more than visual imagery
evidence for mental imagery
pavio 1991 - dual coding hypothesis
one code is for visual representation and the other is for verbal representation
evidence for pavio’s dual coding hypothesis – recall is better for sets of concrete, imageale words than sets of less concrete, non-imageable words
thus 2 types of representation - verbal and visual
mental rotation evidence shepard and metzler 1971
time taken to mentally rotate an image of an object is the same as time it takes to move the object physically through space
task - decide if two objects (one mirror image) were identical
time for the decision was linearly related to degree of rotation
neuroimaging evidence for mental rotation
both viewing an object and imagin the object activates the primary visual cortex
but imagery is associated with greater actvation of posterior left cortex
the case of CK
showed severe deficits in object recognition
however able to imagine these objects as he was able to draw them from memory
object discrimination difficulties but was able to imagine visual shapes, manipulate them and alter them in his minds eye
Do children and adults differ in their use of imagery
kossyln 1976 - yes
young children more likely to rely on imagery as long term memory knowledge is lacking
kosslyn 1976 experiment
task where they had to make judgements about properties of objects for animals
key manipulation - the size of the property varied with its association to the object
also two non-associated properties were included
results - in imagery condition all participants irrespective of age responded faster to larger but less associated properties than smaller more associated properties
difference between imagery and non-imagery conditions was greatest for adults followed by 14 yo and finally 5 yo
when explicity asked to not use imagery, age differences appeared in time to make decisions for the smaller but more associated properties than the larger less associated properties
imagery and emotion
sensory signals in inmages can directly influence emotional systems in the brain
as mental imagery is so closely linked to perception imagined events can be emotionally arusing as real events
how does imagery contribute to psychopathology
negative aversive images are a feature of psychopathology as are attempts to avoid them -agoraphobia OCD social anxiety depression
imagery and trauma - what condition and why is this a special case
trauma imagery has devastating effects for PTSD sufferers
- imagery involves most of the same neural systems as are employed in visual perception
- people with PTSD have strong physiological reactions to cues associated with their traumatic experience
- people with PTSD have reduced hippocampi
social anxiety and the role of imagery
hirsch et al 2003 - manipulated imagery instructions and observed the impact on social anxiety symptoms
asked individuals with social anxiety to either:
-imagine their actual selves while conversing with another person
-have a positive self image whilse conversing with another person
results of self-reported rating as well as independne tjudges found reduced distress associated with positive imagery instruction
2 roles of imagery in the treatment for emotional disorders
desensitization treatment - imagine object until fear diminishes
positive imagery training - in depression, computerised training on producing positive imagery about the future is being conducted in order to improve mood
what is attention
taking into possession of the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought
focused attention
refers to situation where individuals attend or focus resources on one type of stimulus input while ignoring other stimuli presented at the same times - also described as selective attention
why is focused visual attention the most investigated area of attention
vision is our most important sensory modality
easier to control presentation times of visua as opposed to auditory stimuli
what is the endogenous system
top-down voluntary goal directed system
located in dorsal fronto-parietal network
activated by peripheral cues if those cues have information about to-be-presented visual stimuli
what is the exogenous attentional system
automatic involuntary stimulus driven system
involved with the presentation of uniformative peripheral cues
used when unexpected and potentially important stimuli are presented
located in the right hemisphere ventral fronto-parietal network
evidence for two attentional systems
neuroimaging data has identified dissociable areas of activation associated with processing in these two systems
visual neglect - types
persistent neglect - patients ignore stimuli presented on the left side of the visual field
personal neglect - shows personal neglect for the left side of the body like failing to shave
ventral system
nature of focused visual attention - what are the two theories
single spotlight theory or multiple spotlights?
what study and explain provides evidence for the spotlight model
la berge 1983 zoom lens study
5 letter word presented
probe presented instead of or immediately after the word
probe could appear in spatial position of any 5 letters of word
2 conditions
1 subjects must focus attention on middle letter or word by categorizing the letter
2 subjects were required to categorize the entire word
results
probe responded to faster when fell in central attentional beam than when it did not
can either have a very narrow or broad beam
now evidence this analogy oversimplified
multiple spotlight theory
main principle there is splut attention
split attention means that attention can be allocated to two (or even more) non-adjacent areas of visual space
evidence for multiple spotlight theory - methodology
awh and pashler 2005
5x5 visual display, 23 letters, 2 digits
task - idetify 2 digits
just before onset of display participants presented with cues and asked to anticipate location of the digits
20% of trials, cues were invalid with near and far condition
near condition critical - digit presented between the cued locations as opposed to on them
far - digit presented away from the cues
evidence for multiple spotlight theory - predictions and findings
if spotlight theory correct = performance should be better for digit presented in between the two cues locations
as according to spotight theorem the beam or focus would include the area between the cues
if multiple spotlight theory correct performance should be worse for digit presented in near cued location as opposed to at the cue location as focus should only be on the two cued locations
finding supported multiple spotlight theorem
what is selected in attention 3 possibilities
space based attention
object based attention
space and object based attention
evidence for location based attention
both spotlight and zoom lens models characterize space based attention as they are describing attention operating on stimuli in a particular location
evidence for object based attention
dorsal simultagnosia - condition where patients can only perceive portion of visual field and act as if they can obly see single objects at once
if object is presented to patients with Ballint’s syndrome they can describe the object, describe its use and reach for it
however if two objects are presented together they only see one of the two
also have a left sided neglect with sticky fixation
evidence from studies that attention is ….
both obejct and space based
shows attention is a flexible resource
what is inhibition of return
referes to reduced perceptual priority for information in a region that recently enjoyed a higher priority
applies to both space and object based visual attention
what happens to unattended visual stimuli
receive less processing than attended visual stimuli
however there can still be processing of unattended visual stimuli
2 factors that influence processing of unattended visual system and explain
perceptual load - distraction is greater under conditions of low vs high perceptual load
load on executive cognitive control functions - need this control to distinguish between target and distractions, especially when they are similar
these are lavies two functions
evidence for lavies two functions
detect target (x or z) in one of six portions in a row
high perceptual load condition - other 5 positions contained non-target letters
low perceptual load - other 5 positions were empty
also a large distractor letter was presented and varied in terms of whether it was incompatible (other target or neutral)
hypothesis - longer time to indentify target stimuli should occur under high vs low perceptual load and results confirmed prediction
what is divided attention
referes to the allocation of resources when performing two tasks at the same time
why should we study divided attention
provides information about attentional mechanisms and capacity
3 factors explained that influence dual task performance
task similarity - two monitoring tasks interferred with eac other much more when the stimuli on both tasks were in the same sensory modality
task practice - practice makes perfect
task difficulty - shadowing task (repeating back out loud) an auditory message and detecting target words on a non shadowed message at the same time
distinction between automatic and controlled processing
little or no attention vs attention
without conscious awareness vs conscious effort
interferes little with other cognitive activities vs interferes
fast and in parallel vs serial step by step manner
effortless vs effortful
3 resources models for explaining divided attention or dual task activity
central capacity model
multiple resource theory - working memory framework for example
dual task - involves task co-ordination. dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation
case of driving and dual attention
driving and talking on the phone
compared riving in a simulator whilst talking on the phone or not
immediately following driving session drivers asked which of the two objects had been present during the driving stimulation and to rate relevance to driving safety
eye-tracking showed they had viewed the same number of objects but fewer remembered when attention divided by cell phone conversation
explanations (explained) for driving and talking on the phone problem
bottleneck theory - 2 tasks require critical mental operations at the same time
responses to each task serially and create a bottleneck in processing even after prolonged practice
psychological refractor period - effect arising from slowing of response to second of two stimuli until corresponding central stage of processing in first task completed but perceptual and motoric stages can overlap without constraint
what is object recognition
processes involved in identifying objects in the visual field
what is mental chronometry
the time course of cognitive process
what did donders 1868 do
measured two types of reaction time simple and choice. difference in choice was had to decide
2 key systems involved in object recogntion
ventral
dorsal
key theories associated with object recognition (3)
marr’s computational theory of processes involved in object recognition
biederman’s recognition by components theory
3 view point dependent and view-point invariant approaches
what is marrs computation theory
describes different representations that are constructed in object recognition that include 1 grey level input image 2 primal sketch 3 2.5 D sketch 3D model reporesentation
grey level of marrs computation theory
compares intensity of light across different regions of the retina
critically looks at two or more adjacent areas showing light intensity changes in order to identify edges, blobs, a bar or termination
these abstract elements are known as place tokens
raw primal sketch - marrs computation theory
developed by grouping recurring place tokens into patterns that capture scene or object
groupings based on spatial pattern of intensity, size and density of recurring features, distance from each other
once groupings complete the raw primal sketch is constructed from the edge and variations due to texture on the object
2.5D sketch marrs computational model
is viewer centered meaning that it is constructed from the view of the observer
computation has attached vectors to the surface of the edges to indicate orientation of the surface
shows how surfaces appear to the observer
3D model marrs computational
final computation - results in a representation that allows the viewer to imagine objects in a rotated position
mean the observer can recognize the object from different perspectives
modular representation of object parts
summary of marrs approach
recognitionof objects - computational process
bottom up approach
does not consider that top down and bottom up processing can work in parallel
distinguished between viewpoint-dependent and viewpoint-invariant
Biederman’s recognition by components theory
objects are comprised of basic shapes or components known as geons
36 different geons
combine these geons in different ways
key prediction of biederman recognition by components thoeyr
emphasises bottom up processing
object recognition is viewer invariant such that object can be recognised easily from all viewing angles
steps in biederman
edge
segmenting visual object
deciding what types of edges are invariant across different viewing angles
geons contructed
compare geon construction of object with object representation stored in ltm
evidence for biederman
recogntiion by components argument presented observers with degraded line drawings of objects
found object recognition harder when parts of contour supplying information about concacity were missing as compared to when other parts of contour were deleted
evidence demonstrating the importance of geons
asked obervers to decide if two objects presented in very quick succession had the same name
condition a - geon changed
condition b - size varied in terms of being bigger or smaller
task performance worse for condition a when the geon as opposed to size was changed
what is the problematic evidence for biederman
viewpoint invariant recognition - has been found with familiar objects but not novel objects where view point dependence is found
evidence novelty is viewer dependent
participants spend 7hr learning greebles
2 greebles presented in quick succession and observer had to decide if they were the same or different
mainpulation = orientation change betwenn 1st and second greeble
main finding
time taken to identify greeble reduced with expertise
time taken increased with increasing orientation difference
more orinetated = took longer
more trained = quicker
evalutation of biederman
good evidence of importance of edges and contours
bottom up theory
accounts for unsubtle perception like deciding if object is dog or cat but not if objects is our dog or cat
objects consists of invariant geons
object recognition is view invariant
new theories of recognition
both viewpoint dependent and viewpoint invariant
viewpoint invariant processes - object recogntiion equally rapid irrespective of viewing angle
viewpoint dependent processes - object recognition depends on viewing angle
when are different types of viewpoint used
categorization - view point invariant
identification - view point dependent
vanrie et al 2002
argued complexity influenced whether object recognition is viewer invariant or dependent
evidence that complexity influences viewer perspective
obervers visually presented with pairs of 3D block figures in different orientations - had to decide if figures did or did not match
2 conditions - invariance (side components were tilted upward or downward 10 degrees), rotation (condition where one object was the mirror image of the other
prediction - object recognition would be viewpoint independent in invariance condition, viewpoint dependent in the rotation condition
results - performance in the invariance condidiotn not influenced by angular difference between the objects
performance in the rotation condition viewer dependent as influenced by the angular difference between the objects
another theory of object recongition and evidence to support it
viewpoint dependent and viewpoint invariant information is used cooperatley to produce object recognition
forser and gilson 2002
participants were presented with pairs of simple 3D objects - same of different judgements
objects differed in a viewpoint invariant way or viewer dependent way
both viewpoint invariant and viewpoint dependent evidence was used
factors that influence viewpoint of object recognition
task complexity
judegements involve identification or categorization
cognitive neuroscience an object recognition
within inferotemporal cortes there are some neurons having high invariance and others have low invariance
different sections of the inferotemporal cortex are specialized for different categories of objects
greatest evidence for ventral bottom up processing
also evidence dorsal stream contributes to object recognition indicating that top down processes are also involved
evidence for top down object processing
traditional view obejct recognition is a bottom up pocess based on hierarchical serial nature of visual processing
but
visual system has forward and backward projecting neurons
when does top down processing occur
after object recognition (semantic processing)
or
before object recognition and necessary for recognition to occur
- greatest impact of top down processing - when bottom up processes are uninformative due to nature of stimuli
evidence for top down processing
research on ambiguous figures having two possible interpretations
primes bias interpretation of ambiguous figures
bar et al 2006
masking drawings so hard to recognise - activates orbitofrontal cortex first before recognition related areas of temporal cortex
what is visual agnosia and name the three types
a person can see an object as have preserved visual fields, visual acuity but cannot recognise the object 3 types -apperceptive agnosia -integrative agnosia -associative agnosia
apperceptive agnosia
perceptual deficits (eg edge grouping)
integrative agnosia
deficits in feature biding / segregation
associative agnosia
perceptual processes intact but cant use visual information to access knowledge about objects from memory
case of DJ - associative agnosia
good at tasks involving basic perception
-length, size, orientation and position discriminatino
-copying and matching objects, integration of parts
-difficulty in using visual cues to access semantic knowledge
only recognized 16% of objects when presented visually
impaired gesturing, the use of objects so not simply a naming deficit
not a problem with the semantic representations per se
normal performance when common objects presented verbally using a characteristic sound or tactile format
able to gesture use of objects when presented verbally
found it hard to use structural knowledge to access semantic knowledge about objects contained in long term memory
the role of forgetting
adaptive
maladaptive
types of forgetting - unintentional forgetting
unintended whereby the act of retrieving some material i memory inadvertantly leads to forgetting related information in memory
unintended whereby we lack the cues to retrieve information that is required - called cue dependent hypothesis
consolidation problems
cue dependent forgetting
encoding specificity principle - the probabilty of retrieving information increases with the overlap between information present at retrieval and information stored in memory
evidence for encoding specificity
thomson and tulving 1970
pairs of words presented first wprd was the cue and second word was to be remebered
mainpulation - cues were either weakly or strongly associated with the list words
retrieval - recall tested by either giving weak or strong cues
most words recalled for strong input and retrieval cues
consolidation - what is it, brain areas associated and its vulnerabilities
a process lasting several hours or more that fixes information in long term memory
hippocampus
recently formed memories are more vulnerable (new memories are clear but fragile and old are faded but robust
evidence for consolidation hypothesis (not experimental)
effects of alcohol on memory
retrograde amnesia - worse memory for events just prior to amnesia onset than long ago
what is intereference theory and two types of interference
what an individual is currentl learning can be disrupted by
- what they have previously learnt - proactive interference
- what they will learn in the future - retroactive interference
what is proactive interference and how have we investigated it
what we have previouslylearnt
typically investigated with explicit memory paradigms
2 possible explanations for proactive interference and which one is true
correct response is very weak (discriminability)
or incorrect response is strong
jacoby et al 2001 found that the incorrect response provided the best account
experiment
kane and engle 2006
attentional control an proactive interference results
high working memory capacity is associated with reduced proactive interference
proactive interference occurs under high attentional demand even with high working memory capacity
when is retroactive interference most pronounced
when new learning resembles old
what is motivated forgetting
can be conscious or unconscious
deliberately attempting to forget information in memory
can occur in response to implicit or explicit cues by ourselves or other people
repression
a case of motivated forgetting
traumatic memories that can not gain consciousness
repressed memories can be recovered
repressed memories and false memories - a connection
what is directd forgetting
impaired memory retrieval when an instruction is given to forget some material presented in learning
two methods for studying direct learning
- item
- list
item method for studying direct learning
words presented followed by instruction to either remember of forget the word
once all words presented participants tested for recall and recognition of words
memory on both recall and recognition were poorer for the to be forgotten words than remember words
list method for studying direct learning
first list presented and participants told to either remember or forget the words
then get second list then recall tested for all words
recall is typically poorer for words they have been told to forget
example of directed forgetting research anderson and green 2001 think no think paradigm - explain set uo
participants presented with a series of unrelated word pairs
learning phase - participants asked to learn word pairs
recall phase - whereby participants are shown a cue word and told to recall the corresponding word
think/no-think phase - respond vs supress cue (dont think about corresponding word
final recall -shown a cue word and asked to recall the corresponding word
anderson and green 2001 results
used neutral cues
enhanced recall of respond words in comparison to baseline.
recall improved across repetitions for respond items
impaired recall of supressed item in comparison to baseline. impairment increased with supression practice
inhibition - involves engaging executive control mechanisms to prevent unwanted information from entering consciousness
eyewitness testimony overview why we should (n’t) trust it
highly influential in jury decisions
cases that have eyewitness testimony are more likely to produce convictions
but also the single most important cause of wrongful conviction
the construction of memories - what we take to the situation
memories are based partly on what we perceive at the time but also on our expectations, beliefs and current knowledge
confirmation bias
process in which event memory is distorted by the observers expectations
greater focus on evidence that confirms as opposes to contradicts ones hypothesis
evidence for confirmation bias
swedish and immigrant students saw a videotaped simulated crime in which perpetrator inflicted a knife wound on a cashier
after video presentation both groups shown colour photos of 8 men (4 swedes, 4 immigrants)
both groups selected the immigrants over the swedes based on evidence immigrants are overrepresented in swedish crime stats
why does confirmation bias occur
memory for the event is influenced by expectation of the observer
expectations are stored in schemas in long term memory
schemas alter the way we can reconstruct an events details
factors affecting eyewitness accuracy
event factors - cross-race id (1.56 times greater chance of miss id), duration, stress, lighting, number of perpetrators, violence, presence of weapon
provision of expert evidence, cross examination briefs
the weapon effect - evidence
loftus
participants required to watch one of two sequences
1 a person pointing a gun, a cashier recieving some cash
2 person handing check to the cashier then retrieving some cash
found participants looked more at the gun than at the cheque and memory for details unrelated to the gun / cheque was poorer for the weapon condition
what are the effects of anxiety on eyewitness testimony
meta anlysis by valentine and mesout 2009
culprit details, crime scene detail and actions of key characters were recalled more accurately in low vs high stress conditions
the impact of age on eye witness testimony
older adults have less accurate memories than younger adults
doson and krueger 2006 - video shown to both young and old adults
after the video they completed a questionnaire that misleadingly referred to events that were not in the video
older adults were more likely to produce false memories to the misleading suggestions and be more confident about their false memories
found older adults identification of culprits presented in a video was more accurate when culrpit was the same age
impact of race on eyewitness testimony
cross-race effect - same race faces are identified better than cross race faces
evidence found that actual suspects were more correctly identified when they were of the same race as the eyewitness vs different race
2 explanations for the cross -race effect
expertise - familiarity factors
social cognitive hypothesis - ingroup vs outgroup
evidence for expertise explanation of cross-race effect
eyewitnesses having greater experience with another race show reduced cross-race effect as compared to those with less expertise
evidence for social cognitive ingroup explanation
middle class white students
white and black faces presented in 2 contexts - wealthy and impoverished
found cross race efect in the wealthy context but not in the impoverished contest, white faces recognised better in wealthy context
impact of post and pre-event information
leads back to interference theories of forgetting - proactive and retroactive interference
impact of post-event information = the retroactive interference theory account
loftus and palmer
information presented after the event can easily distort eyewitnesses fragile memories
information most subject to distortion are questions asked about the incident
evidence for effect of post information
showed eyewitnesses a film of multiple car accident
eyewitnesses described the accident then answered specific questions
manipulation - nature of the questions - how fast was the car going when it smashed vs hit the other car
one week after they were asked if there was any broken glass
significiant difference occured in that those given word smashed made more false distrotions than those given the word hit
5 types of misleading information and how it distorts memory
source missattribution - memory probe activates memories from different sources, memory traces for original and misinformatino stored in memory but the ontext suurounding the original misinformation is highly similar
vacant slot explanation - misinformation likely to be accepted when related informatino from original event is not stored in memory
coexistence explanation - both representations from original event and post-event exist and eyewitnesses selec post event information because they think that they are supposed to due to source missattribution
blend explanation - post-information and information from the original event combined in memory
response bias explanation - way a study is conducted may bias the eyewitnesses toreporting the misinformation rather than information from the original event
information presented before the event - imapct on eyewithness accuracy
particiaptns shown a video of a meseum burglary
previous day had listened to a story that was either thematically similar (burglary of a palace) or thematically dissimilar (school trip to a palace) to the video
more errors arose in the thematically similar condition as opposed to the dissimilar thematic condition
why is eyewitness identification (the way we do it) inaccurate
involes physical identification or identification from photos
not very accurate - single photos are worse
imporatnce of information provided - telling the witnesses the culprit may not be in the line up is important but has biggest impact on mistaken identity as opposed to correct identifications
how could we improve eyewitness memory
line ups - simultaneous vs sequential
sequential line up more prefereable as reduced misidentifications
cognitive interview
-reinstatment of context
-recalling from different perspectives
-repeated recall using different temporal orders
-recording all details even the minor ones
all based on encoding specificity principle
encoding specificity principle
importance of contextual reinstatement
cognitive interview more beneficial than standard police interview in increasing number of details correctly realled by eyewitness
there are ….. in our understanding of spatial cognition
developmental milestones
what do we use spatial cognition for
locating objects locomotion navigation assembling science and tech
history of psychological study of spatial cognition
piaget
-milestones in spatial cognition for identifying and locating objecys
frames of reference allocentric and egocentris
types of information - metric and categorical
symbolic spatial tools
ego vs allo centric
ego = viewer dependent
allo - viewer-independent
metric vs categorical
metric - objects are located with reference to distance and direction of other objects
cateogiral - objects located with reference to a larger region but exact co-ordinates are not specified
infancy - dead reckoning - what and when
by 9 months simple changes in position can be accounted for
by 12 months
more complex changes in position such as translation and rotation together is understood
infancy - allocentric codgin
infants (6m, 8.5m, 1yo) hear an auditory cue followed by a visual stimulus at 3 o’clock
two sets of training trials with infant at 6 then 9 o’clock
one set of trials with infant at 12 o’clock
do infants know where to look for the stimulus in the test trial
infancy categorical coding by preferential looking
3-4 no preference for particular test stimuli
6-7 months - look longer at novel test stimulus
infancy - metric coding
- 5 months - no surprise at either impossible event
6. 5 surprise only at more impossible event
infants are bron with….
they get better at ….
what are not present at birth but develop over time
born with basic egocentric and categorical coding
get better at egocentric and categorical coding
dead reckoning, allocentric coding, metric coding are not present at brith but also develop over time
toddlerhood - spatial reorientation
object hidden in corner of room
toddler spun around with eyes covered then asked to find object
toddlers can use landmarks in large spaces
geometry used first the landmarks?
or geometry and landmarks are both used but in a weighted way depending on salience, reliability etc
toddlerhood - mapping
children aged 2.5-3 years can understand the relationship between objects on a model / map and in the real world - some reliance on unique landmakrs till at least 6yo
understanding the relationship between distance on a model/map and distance in the real world does not develop until 4 yo
later childhood - ego and allocentric coding
by age of 6 children can find teddy accurately
indicates allocentric representation of world
however they still struggle with using egocentric and allocentric cues in combination - instead alter between them
later childhood - categorical coding
by 6 can vreate mental subdivision in spatial layouts
by 7 can integrate information about the location of objects along multiple dimensions
by 11 can group objects more closely together when they belong in the same region of a model than when they belong in different regions of a model
later childhood - mapping
by 4 can use distance cues in maps to understand location of hidden objects
by 5 can use angular information to place objects in locations indicated on a map
what underlies developmental changes in spatial cognition
biology - hippocampal development and location memory
experience - self-locomotion, interaction with objects in physical world, allocentric coding
interaction of bio and experience - self-locomotion impacts on hippocampal development
reading from an evolutionary standpoint
relatively recent development
similarities and differene between reading and speech perception
consequences of not reading
social deisadvantages
3 processes involved in reading
othography
phonology
semantics
research methods for studying reading
lexcial decision task - individual required to decide as rapidly as possible is a string of letters form a word
naming task - task requiring individuals to pronounce aloud visually presented words as rapidly as possible
priming - influencing the processing of and response to a target by presenting a stimulus related to it in some way before hand
recording eye movements - recording eye movements during reading provides a detailed record of attention related processes
the debate on phonological processes in reading
weak phonological model - phonological processing of visual words is relatively slow and inessential for word identification vs
strong phonological model - some phonological coding occurs rapidly when a word is presented visually, automatic
masked phonological oriming
word processing faster when preceeded by phonologically identical nonword primes than by primes similar in orthography but not phonology
when does phonological processing occur
readers fixated homophones longer when they were incorrect than when correct
neuropsychological and electrophysiological evidence - patient PS
understood meanings of words
could not pronounce words accurately
syllable information in prined words was processed 250-300ms after word onset using ERP
conclusion on the phonological processes in reading deate
weak phonological model underestimates the imporatance of phonological processing
-automatic and rapid word recognition
-phonological representations develop first
-phonemic skills predict reading skills
bu
the strong phonological model is prbably too strong
-little evidence that phonological processing is truly necessary
-phonologcizl dyslexia - can still read fmailiar words
-processing may occur after accessing word meaning
automatic processing theory
word identification is generally fairly automatic eg stroop effect
letter and word identification - 2 theories
a two-stage undirectional process?
or
word superiority effect
-a letter string is presented very briefly followed by a pattern mask
-determine which of two letters was presented at a particular position
levels in McCelland and Rumelhart’s interactive activation model for word recognition
feature
letter
word
interactive activation model and orthographic neighbours
word identification time shouls depend in part on its orthographic neighbours
when a word is presented orthographic neighbours become activated increasing the time necessary to correctly identify the target word
interactive activation model - strengths and weaknesses
strengths -shows connectionist processing system can e applied to visual word recognition -this accounts for -word superiority effect -pseudoword superiority effect weakness -only designed for four letter words -phonological processing ignored -role of meaning
context effects on word recognition
the semantic priming effect
-nurse-doctor vs library-doctor
semantic priming task
-the cateogry name is followed by a member of a different but expected category
-the category name is followed by a member of the same but unexpected category
what are the two approaches explained for reading aloud
dual-route cascaded model
-processes involved in reading, some processes are rule based
distributed connectionist approach
-various processes involved in reading are used flexibly
-all relevant knowledge is called to the fore in parallel including
-word sounds
-spelling
-meanings
-some processes are used for words and nonwords
key assumptions in dual-route cascaded model
a weak phonological model
individuals use both non-lexical and the lexical routes when reading aloud
naming visually-presented words primarily depends on the lexical route
grapheme-phoneme conversion
converting spelling (graphee) into sound (phoneme)
surface dyslexia
problems reading irregular words
lexicon + semantic system
representation of fammiliar words are stored in an orhtographic input lexicon
meaning is activated
sound patter is generated in the phonological output lexicon
phonological dyslexia - difficulties reading unfamiliar and non words
deep dyselxia
characterised by
-particular problems in reading unfamiliar words
-inability to read non-words
-semantic reading errors
left-hemisphere brain damage to language areas
neuroimaging evidence on dual-route cascaded model
lexial - left anterior occito-temporal region associated with reading pseudo words
non-lexical route - left posterior occipito-temporal region associated with reading pseudowords
stengths and weaknesses of dual-route cascaded modeal
stengths -accounst for surface dyslexia phonological dyslexia naming performance in healthy individuals lexical-decision performance in healthy individuals received some neuroimaging support limitations unable to learn phonological processing of visually presented words actually occurs rapidly/automatically semantic processes not well explained doesnt apply to many other languages
distributed connectionist approach
triangle model
all information is used to read both words and non-words
words and non-words vary in consistency
semantic knowledge has largest impact on inconsistent words
plaut et als 1996 simulations
performance of the network closely resembles that of adult readers
- consistent words named faster than inconsistent ones
- rare words took longer to name than common ones
- pronounced 90% of words correctly
distributed connectionist approach - evaluated1
strengths
-evidence suppotrs notion that orthographic semantic and phonological systems are used in parallel
-greater emphasis on involvement of semantics in reading aloud - surface dyslexia
-includes an explicit learning mechanism
limitations
-lack of attention to processes involved in complex, multisylabic words
-nature of semantic processing not fully explicated
-explanations for phonological and surface dyslexia oversimplified
-does not formally consider role of attention
what are saccades
radip jerks
ballistic - once initiated they cannot be changed
20-30ms to complete
roughly eight letters/ spaces in distance
separated by fixations lasting 200-250ms
information from the page is not extracted during saccades, only during fixations
perceptual span
effective field of view expanding 3-4 letters left of fixation and up to 15 letters to the right (for left to right languages)
what do we fixate on
80% of content words (nouns, adjectives, verbs)
20% of function words (articles, conjunctions, pronouns)
spillover effect
major assumptions in reichle and colleagues E-Z reader model
readers check familiarity of the word they are currently fixating
complettion of frequency checking of a word is the signal to initiate an eye movement program
also engage in the second stage lexical access
complettion of the second stage lexical access is the signal for a shift of covert (internal) attnetion to the next word
frequency checking and lexical access are completed faster for common words than rare ones
frequency checking and lexical access are completed faster for predictable than for unpredictable words
evidence for the E-Z reader
reichle et at 2011 - ERP evidence supports the idea of word frequency’s early influence
rayner, li and pollatsek 2007 - findings generalise to chinese
close connection between mind and eye fixations
evidence against e-z reader
too much focus on explaining eye movement data
impact of context
kennedy and pynte 2008 - readers can deivate from prescribed order without incident
models of spelling and reading are ….
similar
is speech production difficult
we speak 2-3 words per second pre-formulation under-specification effects of alcohol speech errors
3 processes involved in speech production
semantic level
syntactic level
morphological level
phonological level
brocas aphasia - brain area
interior frontal gyrus
wernicke’s aphasia
superior temporal gyrus
development of language - initial languages they can hear
initially infants sensitive to both sound in their native language and other nominative languages
sensitivity to sound of speech (b and p)
when is the critical period of neural consolidation of speech sounds - what happens
10 months
childrens sensitivty to non-native speech decreases
when do infants aquire words and how
between 1 year and 18 months utter first word
build vocab
children are also use “rule” for constructing morphemes from the sounds of language
does language comprehension preced language production - experiment
pre-speech infant sit on mothers lap and between two screens
each screen played a different video event and only one matched the auditory stimulus
left screen picture of cookie - hear where is cookie
right picture of a sock
attention directed towards cookie
emergence of grammar
can be seen through how young children imitate adult utterances
process vs production
pivot words and open words
key processes of writing (inc Hayes and Flower 1986)
1 the planning process
2 the sentence-generation process
3 the revision process
directed retrospection
writing planning relies on…..
3 kinds of knowledge
conceptual
socio-cultural
metacognitive
sentence generation
the gap between the writing plan and the actual writing of sentences is usually large
- essays vs outlines
- expert writers vs average writers
alzeihmers disease and writing
longitudinal analyses of writers like agatha chritie and iris murdoch
sharp decreases in vocab size, increase repetitions, irrelevant phrases
hayes and flower on expert writers
expert writers devote more of their writing time to revision than non-expert writers
writing expertise, other than revision, what else is important
planning
knowledge-telling strategy = simply writing everything known about a topic
knowledge-transforming strategy - using high level main points capturing important themes
focus on reader - they attain knowledge-crafting vs knowledge effect stage
developing expertise in writing
instructing writers to read as the reader
feedback from readers
procedural facilitation
-after each sentence writers are asked to evaluate what they have written
-yielded more effective writing
kellogg’s 2001 working memory theory
all main writing processes depend on working memory’s central executive
-reaction time to auditory signals greater while writing than in isolation and depended on demands of writing process
essay quality in children predicted by working memory
reviewing is more demanding than planning and translating
working memory theory Vanderberg and Swanson 2007
individuals with the best central executive functioning had better performance
working memory theory evaluated
stengths
writing seems to rely heavily on working memory - central executive
phonological loop
visuo-spatial sketchpad
limitations
-why are pkanning, revising and sentence generation so demanding
-the ways in which working memory components interact in writing
word processing
writing on the computer is associated with better outcomes than handwriting
goldberg and rapps 2008 two route model for spelling
there are 2 routes between hearing a word and spelling it
-lexical route
-non-lexical route
both routes make use of the graphemic buffer
phonological dysgraphia
no problen spelling familiar words
difficulty spelling unfamiliar and non-words
therefore the lexical route for spelling is not impaired
surface dysgraphia
some sucess in generating appropriate spellings of non-words
produce misspellings that sound like the relevant word
more accurate at spelling regular than irregular words
the non-lexical route for spelling is therefore not imparied
are the lexical and non-lexical routes to speLling independent?
Alzeihmers patient LAT - many spelling errors
some indicated he was using both routes
evidence for lexical influences on nonword spelling
takes longer to write irregular than regular words
what is the orthographic lexicon
contains knowledge of word spellings
debate surrounding orthographic lexicon
is there only one single orthographic lexicon or multiple lexicons
evidence supports single
evidence most brain damaged patients with reading difficulties also have spelling and writing difficulties
same brain areas activated in reading and spelling
what is problem solving
purposeful
a problem only exists when someone lacks the relevant knowledge to produce and immediate solution
what are well-defined problems
all aspects of the problem are specified
have an optimal strategy and only one right answer
what are ill defined problems
underspecified goals
case of PF and problem solving
damage to the right prefrontal cortex
laboratory vs ill-defined problems
knowledge rich problems
can only be solved by individuals possessing a considerable amount of specific knowledge
knowledge-lean problems
don’t require the possession of specific knowldege
thorndike approach to problem solving
trial and error learning
used arbitrary relationships between behaviour and goals
gestaltists approach to problem solving
focussed on the more complex, productive thinking - insight
what is insight and how does it occur
the sudden restructuring of a problem representational change theory constraint relaxation re-coding elaboration
newell and simon 1972 - the computational approach to probem solving
general problem solver-computer program designed to solve numerous well-defined problems problem space includer - intial state of the problem -goal state -possible mental operators
what is heuristics
rules of thumb
often no clear idea of structure
focus on short-term goals
what are algorithms
methods or procedures for solving a problem
mathematics
means-end analysis
note the difference between the current state of the problem and the goal state
form a subgoal that will reduce the difference between the current and goals state
select a mental operator that will permit attainment
evidence supporting newell and simon 1972 computation framework
the approach works well with several well-defined problems
specifies the shortest sequence of moves from intial state to goal
problens with newell and simons computational framework
better than humans at remebering what happened on a problem but infrerior to humans at planning future moves
everyday life problems are ill defined
performance on insight problems
individual differences
analogical problem solving
involves using the similarities between current problem and one or more problems solved in the past
ernest rutherford used a solar system analogy to understand the structure of the atom
how does analogical problem solving occur
detecting similarities between problems
- superficial
- structural
- procedural
when to use analogical problem solving
when direct knowledge does not exist
depends on working memory
depends on frontal executive processes
what defines expertise
highly skilled performance in one or more task domains
chase and simon - what makes a chess expert
chunking theory
-detailed information about chess positions stored in LTM
problems with chunking in chess
predicts that it will take longer than it actually does to encode chess positions
explain template theory
a core - similar to fixed information stored in chunks
slots - contain variable information about pieces and locations
adatable and flexible
abstract schematic structure
predictions of template theory
chess positions stored in 3 large templates
template knowledge can be accessed rapidly
precise location of chess pieces stored in templates
template theory evaluated
stengths
evidence supports the notion that board positions are stored in a few templates
outstanding chess players posses much more template based knowledge of chess positions than non-experts
experts have better memory for random positions
limitations
slow search processes are more important than credited
doesnt fully explain adaptive expertise
controvery over what is stored in LTM
individual differences
engle’s implicit / explicit divide in medical expertise
explicit - analytical reasoning or focal search slow deliberate associated with conscious awareness analytic rule based strategy implicit/ non-analytic reasoning or global impression fast / automatic hollistic / global gist-based
pathologists anf how they examine slides
spent less time examining each slide than students
more information extracted from intial fixation for pathologists - relying on global impression
medical expertise research evaluated
strengths
medical experts generally do rely on more fast and automatic processes in diagnosis than novices
experts tend to outperform non-experts
limitation
not enough has been done to learn how experts gain their expertise
raises the danger of underestimating analytic processing
if and how experts use stored exemplars vs gist = needs to be explored
chess vs medicine expertise
chess
knowledge stored in fairly abstract templates
need to relate current position to stored knowledge and think deeply about the implications for their subsequent moves and their opponents
medicine
knowledge stored as less abstract exemplars
face a more narrowly-focused task, relating information they have to stored knowledge
deliberate practice and expertise
task difficulty informative feedback repetition of task correct errors relevant knowledge base time factor innate talent / ability should not matter (idiot savants)
how does deliberate practice work
different reliance on working memory vs LTM
experts rely on LTM
deliberate practice evidence
SF increased his digit span from 7 to 80 digit over two years extensive practice
- made effective use of LTM
- natural abliity may be important (especially in learning a musical instrument
deliberate practice evaluated
strengths most experts develop superior LTM deliberate practice is more important than non-deliberate practice limitation how do you assess deliberate practice silent motivation / innate factors deliberate practice isnt relevant to all skills/professions needs more evidence for causailty
bottom up and top down processing as determinants of our emotional experience
bottom up - stimulus driven - perception and attention
top down - appraisal of situation drawing on sotred knowledge of similar situations
ochsner et al 2009 bottom up and top down experiment
bottom up conditino - see aversive photos and told to respond naturally
top down - interpret neutral photos as if they were aversive
both common and distinct brain areas activated
what is inhibitory control
keep top down process in emotion regulation
cognition determines what about emotion
when we experience emotional states
what particular emotional states we experience
what is ppraisal
the process of evaluation the importance of environmental changes for ones well being
appraisals influence our emotions
how to appraisals work
initiate 1 physiological 2 expressive 3 behavioural 4 other changes that constitute the ensuing emotional state
smith and kirby 2001 - framework of appraisal
appraisal processes occur in parallel using three mechanisms
1 - associative processing that involves priming and activating memories
2 reasoning
3 continuous monitoring of appraisal information that comes from associative and reasoning porcesses
do appraisals cause emotion
manipulate appraisals when individuals encounter eomtional stimuli
mainpulations should impact on how emotions are experienced
emotions can result from different combinations of appraisals
positive training - silver lining
no appraisal just watch film
positive appraisal reduced ratings of negative emotions and galvanic skin response
clinically relevant - cognitive interpretive bias training
can appraisal occur unconsciously
presented pictures of snakes, spiders, flowers and mushrooms subliminally to snake and spider phobics
studied reactions to the pictures
found phobic specific arousal and negativity
all participants - greater arousal and negativity to snake and spider pictures
evidence appraisal theory works in the real world
bennet and lowe 2008 - real world test of appraisal theory
identified most recent stressful work incident
resulting emotions - linked to appraisal of situations
emtion regulation
emotion regulation referes to the management and control of ones emotions
it is an effortful process that endeavours to override spontaneous emotional responses
strategies for emotion regulation
strategies include controlled breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, distraction and stress induced eating, exercising
some adaptive and some maladaptive
different strategies can be used at different points in time
when are emotion regulation strategies employed
attentional deployment stage - distraction
vs
cognitive change state - changing meaning of emotional information
distraction - early strategy - less cognitively demanding - useful for high negative intensity situations
reappraisal - cognitively demanding and long lasting benefits - useful when emotional stimuli encountered many times
attentional deployment and emotional regulation - distraction
can rediret attention away from negative emotional information to distracting stimuli
argument is that working memory has a limited capacity and can fill it with processing distracting stimuli
thinking about pleasant thoughts when sad
evidence for working memory hypothesis
gave participants either strongly negative or weakly negative or neutral photos
then asked participants to do a very demanding or weakly demanding working memory task of arithmetic
found mood ratings following strong negative pictures were less negatively when engaing in the more demanding working memory task than in the less demanding working memory task
cognitive reappraisal
two types of cognitive reappraisal have been identifies - reinterpretation and distancing
evidence that reappraisal processes designed to reduce negative affect involved the early prefrontal cortex and the reduced activity in the amygdala
what is reinterpretatuion
involves changing the meaning of the context in which the stimulus was presented
what is distancing
involves making a detached third person perspective
effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies
acceptance, problem-solving and reappraisal - reduce depression and anxiety
rumination (repetitive thinking ) and avoidance increase symtoms of anxiety and depression
efectiveness - depends on context
troy et al reabraisal study
assessed participant reaprraisal ability and judged how stressfulness and controlability of recent negative life experineces
when high stress uncontrolable - participatns with high as opposed to low appraisal levels were less depressed
but when high stress controllable - participtan in high reappraisal ability were more depressed than particiaptns with low appraisal ability
emotion regulation and associated brain area
emotion evalutation - ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
initiation of regulation - dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
execution of regulation - superior temporal gyrus, supplementary motor area and the angular gyrus
2 most common emotional disorders
anxiety (attentional phenomenon) and depression (memory phenomenon)
attnetional bias
where you orient attention
interpretative bias
how you interpret ambiguous stimuli
explicit memory bias
conscious recollection
implicit memory bias
unconscious recollection
beck’s cognitive schema and depression
congnitive structures that influence a persons perceptions, interpretations and memories
depression schemata - global negativity, negativity triad
anxiety schemata - exaggerted vulnerability and danger to self
bowers network theorty
based on human associative memory network theory
each distinct motion has a specific node in memory that joins other aspects of emotion to it by associative pointers
